The Roman deities most widely known today are those the Romans identified with Greek counterparts (see interpretatio graeca), 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
Empire. Many of 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 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.
An extensive alphabetical list follows a survey of theological groups as constructed by the Romans themselves.[1] For the
cult pertaining to deified
Roman emperors (divi), see
Imperial cult.
Titles and honorifics
Certain honorifics and titles could be shared by different gods, divine
personifications, demi-gods and divi (deified mortals).
Augustus and Augusta
Augustus, "the elevated or august one" (
masculine form) 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 the
North AfricanMarazgu 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 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.
Bonus and Bona
The
epithetBonus, "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 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.[2]
Caelestis
From the middle Imperial period, the title Caelestis, "Heavenly" or "Celestial" is attached to several goddesses embodying aspects of a single, supreme Heavenly Goddess. [citation needed] The Dea Caelestis was identified with the
constellation Virgo ("The Virgin"), who holds the
divine balance of justice. In the Metamorphoses of
Apuleius,[3] 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 is
worshipped at Ephesus; or
Proserpina as the triple goddess of the underworld.
Juno Caelestis was the Romanised form of the Carthaginian
Tanit.[4]
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
Invictus ("Unconquered, Invincible") 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 is probably a synonym for Omnipotens. It is also used in the
Mithraic mysteries.[6]
Mater and Pater
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 was a
compital deity credited with preventing fires in the city.[7]
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 the title
Matres or Matronae).[8] 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.
Magna Mater
"The Great Mother" was a title given to
Cybele in her Roman cult. Some Roman literary sources accord the same title to
Maia and other goddesses.[9]
Collectives
Even in
invocations, which generally required precise naming, 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. The following groups, however, are numberless collectives.
Spatial tripartition
Varro grouped the gods broadly into three divisions of heaven, earth, and underworld:
di superi, the gods above or heavenly gods, whose altars were designated as altaria.[10]
di terrestres, "terrestrial gods," whose altars were designated as arae.
di inferi, the gods below, that is, the gods of the underworld, infernal or
chthonic gods, whose altars were foci,
fire pits or specially constructed hearths.
More common is a dualistic contrast between superi and inferi.
Di indigetes and novensiles
The di indigetes were thought by
Georg Wissowa to be Rome's indigenous deities, in contrast to 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".
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
AugustanhistorianLivy places the deities in gender-balanced pairs:[13]
Divine male-female complements such as these, as well as the
anthropomorphic influence of Greek mythology, contributed to a tendency in Latin literature to represent the gods as "married" couples or (as in the case of Venus and Mars) lovers.[citation needed]
Dii Consentes
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.[14] Although individual names are not listed, they are assumed to be the deities of the lectisternium. A fragment from
Ennius, within whose lifetime 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.[15]
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 a council or consensus of deities.
Di Flaminales
The three Roman deities cultivated by major
flamens[16]
Elsewhere, Varro claims
Sol Indiges – who had a
sacred grove at
Lavinium – as Sabine but at the same time equates him with
Apollo.[21][22] 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."[c]
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.[23] But 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.[24] Varro says that the altars to most of these gods were established at Rome by
King Tatius as the result of a vow (votum).[d]
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 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,[25] though other scholars may differ with him on some points.
Aesculapius, the Roman equivalent of Asclepius, god of health and medicine.
Aeternitas, goddess and personification of eternity.
Agenoria, goddess and personification of activity.
Aion (Latin spelling Aeon), Hellenistic god of cyclical or unbounded time, related to the concepts of aevum or saeculum
Aius Locutius, divine voice that warned the Romans of the imminent
Gallic invasion.
Alernus or Elernus (possibly Helernus), an archaic god whose sacred grove (
lucus) was near the
Tiber river. He is named definitively only by
Ovid.[26] The grove was the birthplace of the nymph
Cardea, and despite the obscurity of the god, the
state priests still carried out sacred rites (
sacra) there in the time of
Augustus.[27] Alernus may have been a
chthonic god, if a black ox was the correct sacrificial offering to him, since dark
victims were offered to underworld gods.[28]Dumézil wanted to make him a god of beans.[29]
Angerona, goddess who relieved people from pain and sorrow.
Angitia, goddess associated with snakes and
Medea.
Camenae, goddesses with various attributes including fresh water, prophecy, and childbirth. There were four of them:
Carmenta,
Egeria,
Antevorta, and
Postvorta.
Cardea, goddess of the hinge (
cardo), identified by
Ovid with Carna (below)
Dea Tacita ("The Silent Goddess"), a goddess of the dead; later equated with the earth goddess
Larenta.
Dea Tertiana and Dea Quartana, the sister goddesses of tertian and quartan fevers. Presumably daughters or sisters of
Dea Febris.
Decima, minor goddess and one of the
Parcae (Roman equivalent of the
Moirai). The measurer of the thread of life, her Greek equivalent was
Lachesis.
Devera or Deverra, goddess who ruled over the brooms used to purify temples in preparation for various worship services, sacrifices and celebrations; she protected midwives and women in labor.
Diana, goddess of the hunt, the moon, virginity, and childbirth, twin sister of Apollo and one of the
Dii Consentes.
Manes, the souls of the dead who came to be seen as household deities.
Mania, the consort of the Etruscan underworld god
Mantus, and perhaps to be identified with the tenebrous Mater Larum; not to be confused with the Greek
Maniae.
Mantus, an Etruscan god of the dead and ruler of the underworld.
Mars, god of war and father of Romulus, the founder of Rome; one of the
Archaic Triad assigned a flamen maior; lover of Venus; one of the
Dii Consentes. Greek equivalent-Ares.
Mater Matuta, goddess of dawn and childbirth, patroness of mariners.
Meditrina, goddess of healing, introduced to account for the festival of
Meditrinalia.
Mefitis or Mephitis, goddess and personification of poisonous gases and volcanic vapours.
Mellona or Mellonia, goddess of bees and bee-keeping.
Mena or Mene, goddess of fertility and menstruation.
Mercury, messenger of the gods and bearer of souls to the underworld, and one of the
Dii Consentes. Roman counterpart of the Greek god Hermes.
Minerva, goddess of wisdom, war, the arts, industries and trades, and one of the
Dii Consentes. Roman equivalent of the Greek goddess Athena.
Mithras, god worshipped in the Roman empire; popular with soldiers.
Molae, daughters of Mars, probably goddesses of grinding of the grain.
Moneta, minor goddess of memory, equivalent to the Greek
Mnemosyne. Also used as an epithet of
Juno.
Mors, personification of death and equivalent of the Greek
Thanatos.
Morta, minor goddess of death and one of the
Parcae (Roman equivalent of the
Moirai). The cutter of the thread of life, her Greek equivalent was
Atropos.
Murcia or Murtia, a little-known goddess who was associated with the myrtle, and in other sources was called a goddess of sloth and laziness (both interpretations arising from
false etymologies of her name). Later equated with
Venus in the form of Venus Murcia.
Nerio, ancient war goddess and the personification of valor. The consort of Mars.
Neverita, presumed a goddess, and associated with
Consus and
Neptune in the Etrusco-Roman zodiac of
Martianus Capella but otherwise unknown.[33]
Nixi, also di nixi, dii nixi, or Nixae, goddesses of childbirth.
Nona, minor goddess, one of the
Parcae (Roman equivalent of the
Moirai). The spinner of the thread of life, her Greek equivalent was
Clotho.
Nortia a Roman-adopted Etruscan goddess of fate, destiny, and chance from the city of
Volsinii, where a nail was driven into a wall of her temple as part a new-year ceremony.
Nox, goddess of night, derived from the Greek
Nyx.
Quirinus, Sabine god identified with Mars; Romulus, the founder of Rome, was deified as Quirinus after his death. Quirinus was a war god and a god of the Roman people and state, and was assigned a flamen maior; he was one of the
Archaic Triad gods.
Quiritis, goddess of motherhood. Originally Sabine or pre-Roman, she was later equated with
Juno.
R
Robigo or Robigus, a god or goddess who personified grain disease and protected crops.
Venti, the winds, equivalent to the Greek
Anemoi: North wind Aquilo(n) or Septentrio (Greek
Boreas); South wind Auster (Greek
Notus); East wind Vulturnus (
Eurus); West wind Favonius (
Zephyrus); Northwest wind Caurus or Corus (see
minor winds).
Venus, goddess of love, beauty, sexuality, and gardens; mother of the founding hero
Aeneas; one of the
Dii Consentes.
Veritas, goddess and personification of the Roman virtue of
veritas or truth.
A number of figures from
Greek mythology who were not part of Roman religious practice appear in Latin mythological narratives and as poetic allusions; for these names, see:
^Latin: e quis nonnulla nomina in utraque lingua habent radices, ut arbores quae in confinio natae in utroque agro serpunt: potest enim Saturnus hic de alia causa esse dictus atque in Sabinis, et sic Diana.
^Robert Schilling, "Roman Gods," Roman and European Mythologies (University of Chicago Press, 1992, from the French edition of 1981), pp. 75
online and 77 (note 49). Unless otherwise noted, citations of primary sources are Schilling's.
^Hendrik H.J. Brouwer, Bona Dea: The Sources and a Description of the Cult pp. 245–246.
^Benko, Stephen, The virgin goddess: studies in the pagan and Christian roots of mariology, Brill, 2004, pp. 112–114: see also pp. 31, 51.
^CIL 03, 11008"A soldier of the
Legio I Adiutrix [dedicated this] to the Unconquered God" (Deo Invicto / Ulpius Sabinus / miles legio/nis primae / (A)diutricis).
^Steven Ernst Hijmans, Sol: The Sun in the Art and Religions of Rome (diss., University of Groningen 2009), p. 18, with citations from the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum.
^Lawrence Richardson, A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992), pp. 156–157.
^R.W. Davies, "The Training Grounds of the Roman Cavalry," Archaeological Journal 125 (1968), p. 73 et passim.
^Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.12.16–33. Cited in H.H.J. Brouwer, Bona Dea: The Sources and a Description of the Cult (Brill, 1989), pp. 240, 241.
^Varro, Divine Antiquities, book 5, frg. 65; see also Livy 1.32.9; Paulus apud Festus, p. 27;
Servius Danielis, note to Aeneid 5.54; Lactantius Placidus, note to Statius, Theb. 4.459–60.
^Varro, De re rustica 1.1.4: eos urbanos, quorum imagines ad forum auratae stant, sex mares et feminae totidem.
^Ennius, Annales frg. 62, in J. Vahlen, Ennianae Poesis Reliquiae (Leipzig, 1903, 2nd ed.). Ennius's list appears in poetic form, and the word order may be dictated by the metrical constraints of
dactylic hexameter.
^Rehak, Paul (2006). Imperium and Cosmos: Augustus and the northern Campus Martius. University of Wisconsin Press. p 94.
^Clark, Anna. (2007). Divine Qualities: Cult and community in republican Rome. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp 37–38; Dench, Emma. (2005). Romulus' Asylum: Roman Identities from the Age of Alexander to the Age of Hadrian. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp 317–318.
^Fowler, W.W. (1922). The Religious Experience of the Roman People. London, UK. p 108.
^W.H. Roscher, Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie (Leipzig: Teubner, 1890–94), vol. 2, pt. 1, pp. 187–233.
^Ovid, Fasti 2.67 and 6.105 (1988 Teubner edition).
^This depends on a proposed
emendation of Aternus to Alernus in an entry from
Festus, p. 83 in the edition of Lindsay. At Fasti 2.67, a reading of
Avernus, though possible, makes no geographical sense. See discussion of this deity by Matthew Robinson, A Commentary on Ovid's Fasti, Book 2 (Oxford University Press, 2011), pp. 100–101.
^As noted by Robinson, Commentary, p. 101;
Georges Dumézil, Fêtes romaines d'été et d'automne (1975), pp. 225ff., taking the name as Helernus in association with Latin holus, holera, "vegetables." The risks and "excessive fluidity" inherent in Dumézil's reconstructions of lost mythologies were noted by Robert Schilling, "The Religion of the Roman Republic: A Review of Recent Studies," in Roman and European Mythologies, pp. 87–88, and specifically in regard to the myth of
Carna as a context for the supposed Helernus.
^Marko Marinčič, "Roman Archaeology in Vergil's Arcadia (Vergil Eclogue 4; Aeneid 8; Livy 1.7), in Clio and the Poets: Augustan Poetry and the Traditions of Ancient Historiography (Brill, 2002), p. 158.