<P> Archeological evidence from Pompeii suggests that Mercury was among the most popular of Roman gods . The god of commerce was depicted on two early bronze coins of the Roman Republic, the Sextans and the Semuncia . </P> <P> When they described the gods of Celtic and Germanic tribes, rather than considering them separate deities, the Romans interpreted them as local manifestations or aspects of their own gods, a cultural trait called the interpretatio Romana. Mercury, in particular, was reported as becoming extremely popular among the nations the Roman Empire conquered; Julius Caesar wrote of Mercury being the most popular god in Britain and Gaul, regarded as the inventor of all the arts . This is probably because, in the Roman syncretism, Mercury was equated with the Celtic god Lugus, and in this aspect was commonly accompanied by the Celtic goddess Rosmerta . Although Lugus may originally have been a deity of light or the sun (though this is disputed), similar to the Roman Apollo, his importance as a god of trade made him more comparable to Mercury, and Apollo was instead equated with the Celtic deity Belenus . </P> <P> Romans associated Mercury with the Germanic god Wotan, by interpretatio Romana; 1st - century Roman writer Tacitus identifies him as the chief god of the Germanic peoples . </P> <P> Mercury is known to the Romans as Mercurius and occasionally in earlier writings as Merqurius, Mirqurios or Mircurios, had a number of epithets representing different aspects or roles, or representing syncretisms with non-Roman deities . The most common and significant of these epithets included the following: </P>

What are some of the god mercury's special powers