Jupiter Dolichenus

A thunderbolt in one hand and a double-headed axe in the other mark Jupiter Dolichenus as a military deity. He stands on a sacrificial bull and wears the dress of a Roman Army officer, including a breastplate, leather skirt, tunic, cloak and eagle-headed sword. The thunderbolt links him with Jupiter. Soldiers were his main worshippers, although civilians also worshipped him.

Jupiter Dolichenus was originally known as Baal, a Syrian thunder and fertility god. His epithet comes from Doliche in Commagene, where he had a major sanctuary. His origins seem to reach back to the second millennium BC and to Hittite and Syrian storm gods. He emerged as a deity in the Roman Empire during the early second century AD. His temples and dedications were concentrated in military areas, especially along the Danube and Rhine frontiers and in Britain. He has no recorded parentage or independent myth. He belonged to the Roman military cult, where local warrior gods could be identified with Jupiter.