Belatucadrus
Belatucadrus is the first native deity that will be discussed because this deity has been equated with Mars, the Roman god of war. One must be careful though when discussing the dual god, Mars Belatucadrus, because Mars has been equated with gods that are not war gods. Mars himself has also been associated with fertility and agriculture. Belatucadrus is found exclusively in the western part of Hadrian’s Wall with 28 altars. A concentration is in the Eden River Valley with 7 at Brougham, which suggests the main cult centre for his worship. Belatucadrus means “fair in destruction” or “fair shining one”.
There are only five altars that have Belatucadrus equated with Mars, i.e., Old Penrith, Carvoran, Carlisle, Burgh by Sands and Netherby. The dedicators of these altars to Belatucadrus are military for a small set, an optio from Maryport (RIB 809), cuneus from Brougham (RIB 772), and the third a veteranus from the area of Old Carlisle (RIB 887). There are six altars, which could be classified as military from their findings though it is uncertain as to their dedicator, and the remaining altars come from civilian dedicators (RIB 759, 775, 776, 777, 888 and 889). It has been argued, because of the wide misspelling of the name and the small size of the altars, that this points to the lower class of Roman Britain.
The dating for the cult based on tenuous evidence is suggested as in the second century; there is very strong support for the third century, and survival into the fourth century with a drop off by the middle of the fourth century. Based on the meaning of Belatucadrus, scholars believe he was a solar god and should be equated more with Apollo than with Mars. The range of dedicators demonstrates that Belatucadrus was not only worshipped by soldiers, but also by Roman civilians in Roman Britain.
