Roman Deities

Aurora Goddess of the dawn, and Divine Herald of the day, and by extension, new beginnings of any sort. Similar in many respects to the Hellenic Eos.

Bacchus God of wine, intoxication, and ecstatic celebration. Similar in most important respects to Dionysios.

Bellona A Goddess of war, attended to by violent and frenzied rites

Ceres Goddess of agriculture and the harvest, and Divine source of Life energy. Similar in many respects to the Hellenic Demeter, Ceres is also

responsible for seasonality in abdicating her Attribute during winter, the time when her daughter Proserpina spends underground with Pluto.

Consus God of secret plans and conspiracies.

Cupid Son of Venus, and God of love and sexual passion.

Castor & Pollux Twin Deities associated with the sea, the Roman equivalents of the Hellenic Kastor & Polydeukes.

Diana Goddess of the Moon, the natural world, a huntress and protectress of animals. A perpetual maiden, she was usually conflated with the Hellenic Artemis.

Dispater Underworld ruler of the dead, similar in many respects to the Hellenic Hades.

Fauna and Faunus Paired Deities of grove and forest, and the life therein. Faunus was originally a mythical King of Latium, but in later times, these

spirits were conflated with Hellenic Pan, and the Race of Satyrs.

Flora Goddess of plant life, especially flowers. Her festival was one noted for sexual extravagance, but She also has connections with the Dead.

Genius Any of a class of Spirits, each one the Guide and Protector of a particular person of male gender. Similar in most respects to the modern

idea of a Guardian Angel. See also Juno (II).

Janus God of time, space, and passage. Guardian of roadways and gates, and presiding over all beginnings and cycles. He can see past, present, and future, and is responsible for the orderly movement of people and ideas through their appointed rounds. He is an example of the Roman obsession with boundaries, edges, transfer from one state to another, and organization.

Juno I Consort of Jupiter and queen of Heaven. Similar in most respects to the Hellenic Hera, Juno was considered the Protectress of Women and Patroness of the Matronly virtues. As with Her Greek counterpart, she suffers from jealous rages at her Consort's constant infidelities, although the

Latins tended to downplay this somewhat from the Greek model, since Roman notions of appropriate feminine conduct differ somewhat from Hellenic.

Juno II Any of a class of Spirits, each one the Guide and Protector of a particular person of female gender. Similar in most respects to the modern idea of a Guardian Angel. See also Genius.

Jupiter Lord of the Universe, and King of Heaven. As with nearly all Aryan Gods of Sovereignty, He is a sky-lord, and his chief instrument of power is

the thunderbolt. Similar in many respects to the Hellenic Zeus. Differences in personality are subtle, but real; Jupiter has more of the Roman character trait of Gravitas (dignity, stolid propriety) than Zeus, while Zeus is rather a bit more temperamental and spontaneous than Jupiter.

Juventas Goddess of youth and youthful activity. Closely paralleling the Hellenic Hebe.

The Lares A set of household Gods worshipped by nearly everyone. They were said to be the offspring of Mercurius by Larunda, an Etruscan Goddess who was recognized in Roman times as the nymph Lara. The Lares were associated

with the Lar Familiaris, ancestral spirits tied to particular tracts of land.

Liber A God of vegetation and husbandry. His cult was conflated with that of Dionysios to a degree, and his festival was kept as a celebration for young men who had achieved adulthood.

Libitina Goddess of death or, more specifically, recipient and custodian of corpses. Her priests were needed in order to ritually purify a dead body,

and claim it for the Goddess; before this was done, mere contact with a corpse was spiritually polluting. Her temple contained all the mortuary

records and death registers.

Lucifer (light-bearer) The morning star. Said to be the son of Aurora.

Lupercus God of wolves, significant to Romans in that the mythological founders of the Roman Nation (Romulus and Remus) were suckled by a she-wolf in infancy.

Mars God of war and soldiers. Often identified with the Hellenic Ares, Mars did not have that Deity's grim and brutal reputation, but was seen rather as

a legitimate apotheosis of the State's power and majesty.

Mellonia Presiding Goddess of bee-keeping.

Mefitis Goddess of miasmas and sulphuric vapours; associated closely with plagues and malarias, as these were regarded as the results of the volcanic emissions so common in Italy.

Mercurius The Messenger and Herald of the Gods, He also had responsibility for travelers and roadways. Similar in many ways to the Hellenic Hermes, Mercurius in the Roman world bore the caduceus (a serpent entwined staff) as a symbol of his office. The Romans also gave him authority over winds, and in this context he is said to be always a bane to Apollo, in that he constantly is stealing away Apollo's herds (the clouds).

Minerva Daughter of Jupiter, Goddess of war and peace or, more properly, the decisions and actions of the State. As such, she is also a Goddess of wisdom. Based on an early Etruscan Goddess, She became heavily conflated with the Hellenic Pallas Athene.

Neptune Conflated in many important ways to the Hellenic Poseidon, Neptune is nevertheless not a Sea God as such, but to the Roman mind came out of an agricultural background. He is watery in that he is a Patron of irrigation, and like Poseidon he is a Master of Horse-kind.

The Penates A group of household Divinities, Guardians of a particular House and Family. They had special patronage over the hearth and kitchen, and the head of each household served as their priest.

Pluto A Cthonic Deity, Lord of the Underworld and Ruler of the Dead. In many ways identical to the Hellenic Hades, Pluto also was wed to the daughter of the primary seasonal and agrarian Goddess ( Proserpina, daughter of Ceres),

a circumstance which causes blights the Earth with winter when He is attended by Her, and blesses the earth with spring when She once more visits Her Mother.

Proserpina Daughter of Ceres, Consort of Pluto, and identical in all important respects to the Hellenic Persephone.

Quirinus A God of war, said to be the apotheosized Spirit of Romulus, founder of the City.

Saturn A southern Italian Deity who became identified with the Hellenic Kronos. It was said of him that south Italy was the place to which he

resorted after his deposition by Zeus.

Silvanus (he of the forest) A God associated with parkland, copses, wooded glens, and the forest itself. His spirit was present anywhere there was

waste ground or uncultivated land. He was an ominous figure, one who held the potential for terror and death, since to the Roman mind the forest primeval was a realm of chaos and fear, distinct from managed, settled territory.

Summanus A (literally) shadowy counterpart, or perhaps Aspect, to Jupiter. A Sky-Lord and Ruler of the nocturnal heavens, inasmuch as Jupiter was

associated with diurnal hours.

Terminus Deity of Sacred Space, and the boundaries thereof. His Spirit was said to reside in cairns, landmarks, and boundary markers. He is another example, like Janus, of the Roman preoccupation with space, distance, edges, and the transition from one state to another.

Tiberinus Tutelary God of the Tiber River.

Venus (blooming nature ?) Goddess of beauty and sexual love, and in many important respects similar to the Hellenic Aphrodite. In the Roman view, She was the daughter of Jupiter and Dione, and like so many Roman Divinities, she had considerable authority and influence in agrarian concerns, in her case gardens and flowering plants.

Vertumnus The Consort of Pomona, He is the Patron of gardeners and cultivated ground; He also has a general authority over orderly change, as

in the progress of the seasons. Based on an earlier Etruscan Deity.

Vesper The evening star. Perhaps a son of Aurora.

Vesta A household Guardian of primary importance, She is the Goddess of fire as a controlled thing, and of the hearth. Her Temple in Rome was considered one of the chief props of the State, its continuity guaranteeing the health

of the republic. It contained an eternal flame, and was administered by a company of priestesses sworn to virginity. No male could enter the

sanctuary, not even the Pontifex Maximus.

Vulcan Originally an Etruscan God, Vulcan came to be recognized as a primary patron of Smiths, mechanics, and craftsmen. As such, he was often combined with the Hellenic Hephaestus and, like him (and so many other Aryan Smithy Gods), was lame. Also like Hephaestus, He was not highly honoured, owing to the very deeply felt Classic Mediterranean contempt for manual craft and

labor.