Artaius is a Celtic epithet applied to the Roman god Mercury during the Romano-Celtic period. It is known from a single inscription from Beaucroissant in the Isère:
In Gaulish, the word artos means âÂÂbearâÂÂ, and artaios would have been a derivative (meaning something like âÂÂursineâÂÂ). Miranda Green considers Mercury Artaius to have been a bear-god. It is also possible that Artaius is derived from a place name (so that, as an "Artaian Mercury", he would only indirectly have any association with bears). Based on the inscription found at Beaucroissant, Auguste Longnon surmised that the location was once called Artay; there is a similarly named town, Artaix, in Saône-et-Loire.