The dedication of their cities was annually celebrated by the Gauls with libations made to the Genius of the place; and the practice lasted far into Christian times. The names of some of these Genii are known, such as Nemausus, Vesontio and Vasio, the tutelary divinities of Nînes, Besançon and Vaison respectively;[1] but the Allobroges have left no monuments of great interest in this respect. However, one from Geneva may be mentioned; it reads:[2] Deo Invicto, Genio Loci, Firmidius Severinus, mil(es) leg(ionis) viiiae Aug(ustae) P(iae), &c. The name of the god is not given, and all we learn from the inscription is that he was assimilated with Deus Sol Invictus or Mithras, whose worship was introduced by the Romans, as inscriptions in various places in the Allobrogic land clearly prove.
Next come the mother goddesses, who are usually called, in Gaulish inscriptions written in Latin, Matrae, Matres or Matronae: the dative is the only case that occurs in those of the Allobroges, and it is found to be matris or matrabas,[3] for which the pure Gaulish form would have been mâtrebo, as in a vernacular inscription at Nîmes.[4] As figured in ancient bas-reliefs, the Mothers take the form of three young women of a benevolent countenance and clad in long robes. They are mostly represented in a sitting posture, with fruit on their laps or, occasionally, an infant on their knees; but an uninscribed altar in the museum of Vienne shows the Mother in the middle sitting with a basket full of fruit on her lap, while her two sisters stand by her in long robes which
