Celtic Mother Goddess Andarte

Andarte                                                                                                                                                                         The Mother Goddess worshipped by The Voconti in Gaul, known as Dea Augusta Andarta, and was possibly equated with Magna Mater. The name Andarte denotes rulership.                                                                                                                                                                 The Vocontii were a Gallic people living on the east bank of the Rhone, the main towns were Lucus Augusyi; Luc-en-Diois, and Vasio; Vaison-la-Romaine, Their area was extensive, stretching from Vercors in the north, the buttresses of Mont Ventoux in the south west, Manosque in the south east and Embrum in the east. Their territory covered over five departments of France; Drome, Isere, Hautes-Alpes, Alpes de Haute-Provence, Vaucluse.                                                                                                                                                                  The first inhabitants of the region were Ligures. During the 4^th century BC, the Celtic Vocontii settled there, with a large late Iron Age settlement with banks and ditches, used to control trade between the Rhone and Durance rivers, withits own politics and religion, with an area in excess of 100,000 sq. metres, south of modern Vaison;                                                                                                                                                                 The earliest mention of the Vocontii is 218, regarding the crossing of the Alps by Hannibal, as recounted in Livy.                                                                                                                                                                                        The Vocontii became Romanised between 125 BC-118 BC, at the time of the Roman conquest of the province of Gallia Narbonensis.                                                                                                                                                               During 1^st century BC the Vocontii signed a treaty of friendship with Rome, enabling them to have a certain amount of autonomy and keep their traditional institutions.                                                                                                                                                                 The Voconti are mentioned by Caesar, and their location and borders are described in two passages by Strabo in his book ‘Geographica', and by Tacitus in 69 AD.                                                                                                                                                           Between the 2^nd and 3^rd centuries AD, the towns of Gap, Sisteron and Vaison-la-Romaine became independent of the Vocontii, whose territory was now centred on the valley of the Drome, with Dea, modern Die, their new capital city. The city was honoured with the status of colony, was fortified by a rampart in later Antiquity and became the seat of a bishop in 325 AD. Audentius, bishop of Die in the 5^th century carried the title Bishop of Voconces.                                                                                                                                                                    A 500 strong auxiliary cavalry unit, the ‘Ala Augusta Vocontiorum Civium Romanorum' was raised among the Vocontii. The troopers were Roman citizens. After service in Germania Inferior, from 122 it served at Trimontium, a mixed cavalry and infantry fort near Newstead, Scottish Bordersin the train of Emporer Hadrian, during his visit to Britain, very likely during the Antonine occupation of the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway.                                                                                                                                                                 The unit is known by an inscription ‘To the sacred Goddesses of the Parade Ground, Aelius Marcius, decurion of the Vocontian Wing, willingly, gladly and deservedly fulfilled his vow.'                                                                                                                                                                   The unit received two military diplomas, dated 122 AD from Brigetio in Pannonia and 126 AD from Britannia.