the
numerous local gods, some of whom may have been adopted from the
aborigines. An examination of the divine names in Holder's
_Altceltischer Sprachschatz_ will show how numerous the local gods of
the continental Celts must have been. Professor Anwyl reckons that 270
gods are mentioned once on inscriptions, 24 twice, 11 thrice, 10 four
times, 3 five times, 2 seven times, 4 fifteen times, 1 nineteen times
(Grannos), and 1 thirty-nine times (Belenos).[55]

The god or gods identified with Mercury were very popular in Gaul, as
Caesar's words and the witness of place-names derived from the Roman name
of the god show. These had probably supplanted earlier names derived
from those of the corresponding native gods. Many temples of the god
existed, especially in the region of the Allobrogi, and bronze
statuettes of him have been found in abundance. Pliny also describes a
colossal statue designed for the Arverni who had a great temple of the
god on the Puy de Dome.[56] Mercury was not necessarily the chief god,
and at times, e.g. in war, the native war-gods would be prominent. The
native names of the gods assimilated to Mercury are many in number; in
some cases they are epithets, derived from the names of places where a
local "Mercury" was worshipped, in others they are derived from some
function of the gods.[57] One of these titles is Artaios, perhaps
cognate with Irish _art_, "god," or connected with _artos_, "bear."
Professor Rh[^y]s, however, finds its cognate in Welsh _ar_, "ploughed
land," as if one of the god's functions connected him with
agriculture.[58] This is supported by another inscription to Mercurius
Cultor at Wurtemberg. Local gods of agriculture must thus have been
assimilated to Mercury. A god Moccus, "swine," was also identified with
Mercury, and the swine was a frequent representative of the corn-spirit
or of vegetation divinities in Europe. The flesh of the animal was often
mixed with the seed corn or buried in the fields to promote fertility.
The swine had been a sacred animal among the Celts, but had apparently
become an anthropomorphic god of fertility, Moccus, assimilated to
Mercury, perhaps because the Greek Hermes caused fertility in flocks and
herds. Such a god was one of a class whose importance was great among
the Celts as an agricultural people.

Commerce, much developed among the settled Gauls, gave rise to a god or
gods who guarded roads over which merchants travelled, and boundaries
where the