38-538: Lateranus is an ancient Roman tutelary god of hearths (foci) and a Genius of brick ovens, according to a satirical passage in the Christian writer Arnobius : Lateranus, as you say, is the god and genius of hearths, and received this name because men build that kind of fireplace of unbaked bricks. What then? if hearths were made of baked clay, or any other material whatever, will they have no genii? and will Lateranus, whoever he is, abandon his duty as guardian, because
76-487: A council or consensus of deities. The three deities cultivated by the major flamens were: The twelve deities attended by the minor flamens were: Varro gives a list of twenty principal gods of Roman religion: Varro, who was himself of Sabine origin, gives a list of Sabine gods who were adopted by the Romans: Elsewhere, Varro claims Sol Indiges – who had a sacred grove at Lavinium – as Sabine but at
114-468: A tendency in Latin literature to represent the gods as "married" couples or (as in the case of Venus and Mars) lovers. Varro uses the name Dii Consentes for twelve deities whose gilded images stood in the forum . These were also placed in six male-female pairs. Although individual names are not listed, they are assumed to be the deities of the lectisternium. A fragment from Ennius , within whose lifetime
152-664: Is worshipped at Ephesus ; or Proserpina as the triple goddess of the underworld. Juno Caelestis was the Romanised form of the Carthaginian Tanit . Grammatically, the form Caelestis can also be a masculine word, but the equivalent function for a male deity is usually expressed through syncretization with Caelus , as in Caelus Aeternus Iuppiter, "Jupiter the Eternal Sky." Invictus ("Unconquered, Invincible")
190-563: Is a dualistic contrast between superi and inferi . A lectisternium is a banquet for the gods, at which they appear as images seated on couches, as if present and participating. In describing the lectisternium of the Twelve Great gods in 217 BC, the Augustan historian Livy places the deities in gender-balanced pairs: Divine male-female complements such as these, as well as the anthropomorphic influence of Greek mythology, contributed to
228-488: Is an honorific and title awarded to Octavian in recognition of his unique status, the extraordinary range of his powers, and the apparent divine approval of his principate . After his death and deification, the title was awarded to each of his successors. It also became a near ubiquitous title or honour for various minor local deities, including the Lares Augusti of local communities, and obscure provincial deities such as
266-527: Is based on the traditional sequence of the consuls of the Roman Republic —supplemented, where necessary, by inserting "dictatorial" and "anarchic" years. It has been demonstrated to be somewhat erroneous but has become the widely accepted standard chronology, in large part because it was inscribed on the arch of Augustus in Rome; though that arch no longer stands, a large portion of the chronology has survived under
304-573: Is probable that Varro was discontented with the course on which Pompey entered when the First Triumvirate formed c. 60 BC, and he may thus have lost his chance of rising to the consulship. He actually ridiculed the coalition in a work entitled the Three-Headed Monster ( Τρικάρανος in the Greek of Appian , The Civil Wars , II.ii.9). He was one of the commission of twenty that carried out
342-596: Is probably a synonym for Omnipotens . It is also used in the Mithraic mysteries . Mater ("Mother") was an honorific that respected a goddess's maternal authority and functions, and not necessarily "motherhood" per se. Early examples included Terra Mater (Mother Earth) and the Mater Larum (Mother of the Lares ). Vesta , a goddess of chastity usually conceived of as a virgin, was honored as Mater . A goddess known as Stata Mater
380-510: The di novensides or novensiles , "newcomer gods". No ancient source, however, poses this dichotomy, which is not generally accepted among scholars of the 21st century. The meaning of the epithet indiges (singular) has no scholarly consensus, and noven may mean "nine" (novem) rather than "new". Certain honorifics and titles could be shared by different gods, divine personifications , demi-gods and divi (deified mortals). Augustus , "the elevated or august one" ( masculine form)
418-545: The Academic philosopher Antiochus of Ascalon (died 68 BC). Varro proved a highly productive writer and turned out more than 74 Latin works on a variety of topics. Aside from his many lost works (known through fragments), two endeavors stand out for historians: Nine Books of Disciplines and his compilation of the Varronian chronology . His Nine Books of Disciplines became a model for later encyclopedists , especially for Pliny
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#1732852830441456-462: The Church Fathers who sought systematically to debunk Roman religion while drawing on the theological works of Varro, also surviving only in quoted or referenced fragments. W.H. Roscher collated the standard modern list of indigitamenta , though other scholars may differ with him on some points. The di indigetes were thought by Georg Wissowa to be Rome's indigenous deities, in contrast to
494-487: The North African Marazgu Augustus . This extension of an Imperial honorific to major and minor deities of Rome and her provinces is considered a ground-level feature of Imperial cult . Augusta , the feminine form, is an honorific and title associated with the development and dissemination of Imperial cult as applied to Roman Empresses , whether living, deceased or deified as divae . The first Augusta
532-553: The Elder ( c. 23 to 79 AD). The most noteworthy portion of the Nine Books of Disciplines is its use of the liberal arts as organizing principles. Varro decided to focus on identifying nine of these arts: grammar , rhetoric , logic , arithmetic , geometry , astronomy , musical theory, medicine, and architecture . Using Varro's list, mediated through Martianus Capella 's early-5th century allegory, subsequent writers defined
570-523: The Empire, the deities of peoples in the provinces were given new theological interpretations in light of functions or attributes they shared with Roman deities. A survey of theological groups as constructed by the Romans themselves is followed by an extensive alphabetical list concluding with examples of common epithets shared by multiple divinities. Even in invocations , which generally required precise naming,
608-546: The Republic, the epithet may be most prominent with Bona Dea , "the Good Goddess" whose rites were celebrated by women. Bonus Eventus , "Good Outcome", was one of Varro's twelve agricultural deities, and later represented success in general. From the middle Imperial period, the title Caelestis , "Heavenly" or "Celestial" is attached to several goddesses embodying aspects of a single, supreme Heavenly Goddess. The Dea Caelestis
646-489: The Romans sometimes spoke of gods as groups or collectives rather than naming them as individuals. Some groups, such as the Camenae and Parcae , were thought of as a limited number of individual deities, even though the number of these might not be given consistently in all periods and all texts. Others are numberless collectives. Varro grouped the gods broadly into three divisions of heaven, earth, and underworld: More common
684-486: The Romans' own gods remain obscure, known only by name and sometimes function, through inscriptions and texts that are often fragmentary. This is particularly true of those gods belonging to the archaic religion of the Romans dating back to the era of kings , the so-called "religion of Numa ", which was perpetuated or revived over the centuries. Some archaic deities have Italic or Etruscan counterparts , as identified both by ancient sources and by modern scholars. Throughout
722-461: The correct divinity was invoked for rituals. List of Roman deities The Roman deities most widely known today are those the Romans identified with Greek counterparts , integrating Greek myths , iconography , and sometimes religious practices into Roman culture , including Latin literature , Roman art , and religious life as it was experienced throughout the Roman Empire . Many of
760-470: The great agrarian scheme of Caesar for the resettlement of Capua and Campania (59 BC). During Caesar's civil war of 49 to 45 he commanded one of Pompey's armies in the Ilerda campaign of 49 BC. He escaped the penalties of having backed the losing side in the civil war through two pardons granted by Julius Caesar , before and after the 48 BC Battle of Pharsalus . Caesar appointed him to oversee
798-500: The importance of the Sabines in the early cultural formation of Rome is evidenced, for instance, by the bride abduction of the Sabine women by Romulus 's men, and in the Sabine ethnicity of Numa Pompilius , second king of Rome , to whom are attributed many of Rome's religious and legal institutions. Varro says that the altars to most of these gods were established at Rome by King Tatius as
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#1732852830441836-420: The kingdom which he possesses has not been formed of clay? And for what purpose, I ask, has that god received the charge of hearths? He runs about the kitchens of men, examining and discovering with what kinds of wood the heat in their fires is produced; he gives strength to earthen vessels, that they may not fly in pieces, overcome by the violence of the flames; he sees that the flavour of unspoilt dainties reaches
874-508: The lectisternium occurred, lists the same twelve deities by name, though in a different order from that of Livy: Juno, Vesta, Minerva, Ceres, Diana, Venus, Mars, Mercurius, Jove, Neptunus, Vulcanus, Apollo. The Dii Consentes are sometimes seen as the Roman equivalent of the Greek Olympians . The meaning of Consentes is subject to interpretation, but is usually taken to mean that they form
912-465: The name of Fasti Capitolini . Varro's literary output was prolific; Ritschl estimated it at 74 works in some 620 books, of which only one work survives complete, although we possess many fragments of the others, mostly in Gellius' Attic Nights . He was called "the most learned of the Romans" by Quintilian , and also recognized by Plutarch as "a man deeply read in Roman history". Varro
950-583: The public library of Rome in 47 BC, but following Caesar's death Mark Antony proscribed him, resulting in his losing much of his property, including his library. As the Republic gave way to the Empire c. 27 BC , Varro gained the favour of Augustus , under whose protection he found the security and quiet to devote himself to study and writing. Varro had studied under the Roman philologist Lucius Aelius Stilo (died 74 BC), and later at Athens under
988-566: The result of a vow ( votum ). The indigitamenta are deities known only or primarily as a name; they may be minor entities, or epithets of major gods. Lists of deities were kept by the College of Pontiffs to assure that the correct names were invoked for public prayers. The books of the Pontiffs are lost, known only through scattered passages in Latin literature . The most extensive lists are provided by
1026-422: The same time equates him with Apollo . Of those listed, he writes, "several names have their roots in both languages, as trees that grow on a property line creep into both fields. Saturn, for instance, can be said to have another origin here, and so too Diana." Varro makes various claims for Sabine origins throughout his works, some more plausible than others, and his list should not be taken at face value. But
1064-437: The same title to Maia and other goddesses. Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BCE) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome 's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Virgil and Cicero ). He is sometimes called Varro Reatinus ('Varro of Rieti') to distinguish him from his younger contemporary Varro Atacinus . Varro
1102-485: The seven classical "liberal arts" of the medieval schools. In c. 37 BC, in his old age, Varro wrote on agriculture for his wife Fundania, producing a "voluminous" work De re rustica (also called Res rusticae )—similar to Cato the Elder 's work De agri cultura —on the management of large slave-run estates . The compilation of the Varronian chronology was an attempt to determine an exact year-by-year timeline of Roman history up to his time. It
1140-461: The taste of the palate with their own pleasantness, and acts the part of a taster, and tries whether the sauces have been rightly prepared. The name Lateranus is based on the Latin stem meaning brick , later- , as in opus latericium , a type of brickwork (compare also laterculus ). No other ancient writer mentions this god. W.H. Roscher places Lateranus among the indigitamenta , the list of deities maintained by Roman priests to assure that
1178-404: The title Matres or Matronae ). See also Magna Mater (Great Mother) following. Gods were called Pater ("Father") to signify their preeminence and paternal care, and the filial respect owed to them. Pater was found as an epithet of Dis , Jupiter , Mars , and Liber , among others. "The Great Mother" was a title given to Cybele in her Roman cult. Some Roman literary sources accord
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1216-545: The work is his anticipation of microbiology and epidemiology . Varro warned his readers to avoid swamps and marshland, since in such areas ...there are bred certain minute creatures which cannot be seen by the eyes, but which float in the air and enter the body through the mouth and nose and cause serious diseases. A modern scholar, Bertha Tilly, assesses Varro's work as follows: For the immense mass of work completed, for his patriotic fervour, his high moral sentiments, for versatility in forms of writing and in subjects, for
1254-623: Was Livia , wife of Octavian , and the title is then shared by various state goddesses including Bona Dea , Ceres , Juno , Minerva , and Ops ; by many minor or local goddesses; and by the female personifications of Imperial virtues such as Pax and Victoria . The epithet Bonus , "the Good," is used in Imperial ideology with abstract deities such as Bona Fortuna ("Good Fortune"), Bona Mens ("Good Thinking" or "Sound Mind"), and Bona Spes ("Valid Hope," perhaps to be translated as "Optimism"). During
1292-518: Was a compital deity credited with preventing fires in the city. From the middle Imperial era, the reigning Empress becomes Mater castrorum et senatus et patriae , the symbolic Mother of military camps, the senate , and the fatherland. The Gallic and Germanic cavalry ( auxilia ) of the Roman Imperial army regularly set up altars to the "Mothers of the Field" ( Campestres , from campus , "field," with
1330-500: Was born in or near Reate (now Rieti in Lazio) into a family thought to be of equestrian rank. He always remained close to his roots in the area, owning a large farm in the Reatine plain (reported as near Lago di Ripasottile, ) until his old age. He supported Pompey , reaching the office of praetor , after having served as tribune of the people , quaestor and curule aedile . It
1368-544: Was identified with the constellation Virgo ("The Virgin"), who holds the divine balance of justice . In the Metamorphoses of Apuleius , the protagonist Lucius prays to the Hellenistic Egyptian goddess Isis as Regina Caeli , " Queen of Heaven ", who is said to manifest also as Ceres, "the original nurturing parent"; Heavenly Venus (Venus Caelestis) ; the "sister of Phoebus ", that is, Diana or Artemis as she
1406-470: Was in use as a divine epithet by the early 3rd century BC. In the Imperial period, it expressed the invincibility of deities embraced officially, such as Jupiter, Mars, Hercules , and Sol . On coins, calendars, and other inscriptions, Mercury, Saturn, Silvanus , Fons , Serapis , Sabazius , Apollo, and the Genius are also found as Invictus. Cicero considers it a normal epithet for Jupiter, in regard to whom it
1444-583: Was recognized as an important source by many other ancient authors, among them Cicero , Pliny the Elder , Virgil in the Georgics , Columella , Aulus Gellius , Macrobius , Augustine , and Vitruvius , who credits him (VII.Intr.14) with a book on architecture. His only complete work extant, Rerum rusticarum libri tres ("Three Books on Agriculture"), has been described as "the well digested system of an experienced and successful farmer who has seen and practised all that he records." One noteworthy aspect of
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