In the religion of the Roman Empire , the Silvanae are nymphs or goddesses associated with the woodland god Silvanus . They are attested by inscriptions mainly in Pannonia , with a little more than a third of the evidence scattered in the rest of the Western Roman Empire . Elsewhere, and in Latin literature , Silvanus is accompanied by nymphs. Silvanae may be a regional preference in naming, not a form of cultic devotion distinct from the Nymphs of Silvanus. Like similar nature deities, Silvanus himself is found sometimes conceived of as plural (Silvani) , and Silvani/Silvanae form a male-female complement characteristic of the Roman conception of deity .
8-519: A Silvana is often depicted holding a tree branch, and although the evidence is sketchy, they may have been a form of hamadryades , nymphs who inhabit trees. The Silvanae sometimes bear the epithet augustae , given to deities associated with Imperial cult , or silvestres , "woodland". In Dacia , they are once called Campestres , like the "Mothers of the Field" honored by the Roman military. They are sometimes in
16-530: A certain tree on which its life depends. Some maintain that a hamadryad is the tree itself, with a normal dryad being simply the indwelling entity , or spirit , of the tree. If the tree should die, the hamadryad associated with it would die as well. For this reason, both dryads and the other gods would punish mortals who harmed trees. The name of the hamadryades was compounded from the ancient Greek words háma ( ἅμα , Doric: ἁμᾶ , "together, concurrently" ) and dryás ( δρυάς , "tree, wood nymph" ). This informs
24-411: A row with their hands or arms intertwined. They can also appear singly, or in a group of as many as nine figures. When Silvanus appears with them, he stands to the left or right without interrupting their grouping. The Silvanae carry tree branches, flower pots, conch shells, or wreaths. With one exception, in which they appear nude from the waist up, Silvanae are clothed. Because of their concentration in
32-473: The Gromatici Veteres and by St. Augustine . Hamadryad A hamadryad or hamadryas ( / h æ m ə ˈ d r aɪ . æ d / ; Ancient Greek : ἁμαδρυάς, pl: ἁμαδρυάδες , romanized : Hamadryás, pl: Hamadryádes ) is a Greek mythological being that lives in trees . It is a particular type of dryad which, in turn, is a particular type of nymph . Hamadryads are born bonded to
40-603: The Danubian provinces , Silvanae are sometimes thought to be Imperial forms of the Celtic Matres or Matronae , "mother" goddesses who often appear as a clothed triad bearing flowers or other vegetative symbols. The identification is particularly suggested by an inscription from Lugdunum that names Matres Pannoniorum . M.L. West thought them more likely to be Illyrian nymphs than Italic . The three Silvanae may reflect an understanding of Silvanus's tripartite nature as described in
48-476: The hamadryas baboon , and the original (but no longer valid) genus name of the king cobra (originally Hamadryas hannah , now Ophiophagus hannah ). The cracker butterfly is more arboreal than most butterflies, as it commonly camouflages itself on trees. It feeds on sap, rotting fruit and dung. The hamadryas baboon is one of the least arboreal monkeys, but was the most common monkey in Hellenic lands. The king cobra
56-587: The company of the crossroads goddesses known as Quadruviae, Triviae or Biviae (Four-, Three- or Two-Ways), found in Celtic regions of the Empire. Most dedications to the Silvanae were made by free citizens and military personnel, including legionaries , a military prefect of equestrian rank , and a decurion . About a quarter of the dedications were made by women . Silvanae, usually three in number, are depicted frontally in
64-480: The understanding that the life of a hamadryas is concurrent with that of its tree: one cannot exist without the other. The Deipnosophistae of Athenaeus lists eight hamadryads, the daughters of Oxylus and Hamadryas : The mother, Hamadryas, is immortalized in three scientific names, two of which are still valid: the generic name of the cracker butterfly , the specific name of the northernmost monkey in Asia Minor ,
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