brought with him from Troy, Virg. Æn. ii. 293. 717. iii. 148. iv. 598. Hence Patrii Penates, familiaresque, Cic. pro Dom. 57.

Some have thought the Lares and Penates the same; and they seem sometimes to be confounded, Cic. P. Quinct. 26, 27. Verr. iv. 22. They were, however, different, Liv. i. 29. The Penates were of divine origin; the Lares, of human.* Certain persons were admitted to the worship of the Lares, who were not to that of the Penates. The Penates were worshipped only in the innermost part of the house, the Lares also in the public roads, in the camp, and

on sea.

Lar is often put for a house or dwelling: Apto cum lare fundus, Horat. Od. i. 12. 44. Ovid. Fast. vi. 95. 362. So Penates: thus, Nostris succede Penatibus hospes, Virg. Æn. viii. 123. Plin. Pan. 47. Ovid. Fast. vi. 529.

DII MINORUM GENTIUM, OR INFERIOR DEITIES.

THESE were of various kinds:

1. Di INDIGETES, or heroes, ranked among the gods on account of their virtue and merits; of whom the chief were,

HERCULES, the son of Jupiter, and Alcmena wife of Amphitryon, king of Thebes; famous for his twelve labours, and other exploits : squeezing two serpents to death in his cradle, killing the lion in the Nemeæan wood, the Hydra of the lake Lerna, the boar of Erymanthus, the brazen-footed stag on Mount Mænǎlus, the harpies in the lake of Stymphalus, Diomedes, and his horses, who were fed on human flesh, the wild bull in the island of Crete, cleansing the stables of Augeas, subduing the Amazons and Centaurs, dragging the dog Cerberus from hell, carrying off the oxen of the three-bodied Geryon from Spain, fixing pillars in the fretum Gaditanum, or Straits of Gibraltar, bringing away the golden apples of the Hesperides, and killing the dragon which guarded them, slaying the giant Antæus, and the monstrous thief Cacus, &c. [Ovid. F. i. 543.]

Hercules was called Alcides, from Alcaus, the father of Amphitryon ; and Tirynthius, from Tiryns, the town where he was born; Oetaus, from Mount Oete, where he died. Being consumed by a poisoned robe, sent him by his wife Dejanira in a fit of jealousy, which he could not pull off, he laid himself on a funeral pile, and ordered it to be set on fire.

Hercules is represented of prodigious strength, holding a club in his right hand, and clothed in the skin of the Nemeæan lion.

Men used to swear by Hercules in their asseverations: Hercle, Mehercle, vel -es; so under the title of DIUS FIDIUS, i. e. Deus fidei, the god of faith or honour; thus, per Dium Fidium, Plaut., me Dius fidius, sc. juvet, Sallust. Cat. 35.†

According to Ovid (F. ii. 615.), they were the offspring of Mercury and the nymph Lara. "The word Lar is Etruscan, and signified Lord."- Keightley. + The altar, called Ara Maxima (Ovid. F. i. 581.), erected to Hercules by Evander, was remaining at Rome in the time of Augustus. It stood in the ox market; for Hercules was invoked in all verbal bargains. According to several commentators, those monosyllables me and e had the same force amongst the Latins as the preposition per; so me Dius Fidius and per Dium Fidium, è Cast and ger Castorem,

246

HERCULES

CASTOR AND POLLUX- - PAN, ETC.

Hercules was supposed to preside too over treasures: hence Dives amico Hercule, Horat. Sat. ii. 6. 12. dextro Hercule, by the favour of Hercules, Pers. ii. 11. Hence those who obtained great riches consecrated (pollucebant) the tenth part to Hercules, Plaut. Stich. i. 3. 80. Bacch. iv. 14, 15. Plutarch. in Crasso, init.*

CASTOR and POLLUX, sons of Jupiter and Leda, the wife of Tyndarus king of Sparta, brothers of Helena and Clytemnestra, said to have been produced from two eggs; from one of which came Pollux and Helena, and from the other, Castor and Clytemnestra. But Horace makes Castor and Pollux to spring from the same egg, Sat. ii. 1. 26. He, however, also calls them FRATRES HELENE, Od. i. 3. 2. the gods of mariners, because their constellation was much observed at sea: called Tyndarida, Gemini, &c. Castor was remarkable for riding, and Pollux for boxing, Horat. Od. i. 12. 26.; represented as riding on white horses, with a star over the head of each, and covered with a cap; hence called FRATRES PILEATI, Festus. Catull. 35. There was a temple at Rome dedicated to both jointly, but called the temple only of Castor, Dio. xxxvii. 8. Suet. Cæs. 10. [Built by Tiberius, Ovid. F. i. 707.]

Eneas, called Jupiter Indigest; and Romulus, QUIRINUS, after being ranked among the gods, either from Quiris a spear, or Cures, a city of the Sabines, Ovid. Fast. ii. 475–480.

The Roman emperors also, after their death, were ranked among the gods.

2. There were certain gods called SEMONES‡, (quasi semi-homines, minores diis at majores hominibus,) Liv. viii. 20.; as

PAN, the god of shepherds, the inventor of the flute; said to be the son of Mercury and Penelope, Cic., worshipped chiefly in Arcadia; hence called Arcadius and Manalius, or -ides, and Lyceus, from two mountains there; Tegeaus, from a city, &c.; called by the Romans Inuus; represented with horns and goats' feet.

Pan was supposed to be the author of sudden frights, or causeless alarms; from him called Panici terrores, Dionys. v. 16.

FAUNUS and SYLVANUS, supposed to be the same with Pan. § The wife or daughter of Faunus was Fauna or Fatua, called also Marica and BONA DEA, Macrob. Sat. i. 12.||

signified the same things. This form of speech answered to the particles pà,, which the Greeks made use of in their oaths.

* His wife was Hebe, daughter of Jupiter and Juno, worshipped at Rome under the name of Juventas. The temple of Hercules Custos was in the Circus Flaminius. He was the tutelar divinity of slaves. Human sacrifices were offered to him by the

Carthaginians. - Liv. xx. 57. Plin. N. H. xxxvi. 5.

The Roman consuls, with the pontiffs, offered a yearly sacrifice to him on the

banks of the Numicius." Nieb. i. p. 165.

A Sabine deity, whose temple was on the Quirinal, was worshipped under the names of Sancus, Fidius, and Semo. See Keightley on Ovid. F. vi. 213.

S" A temple was built to Faunus on the island in the Tiber, with the money arising from fines, and dedicated A. U. C. 509."— Keightley on Ovid. F. ii. 193. His worship was introduced by Evander, v. 99.

"Between Saturn and the Trojan settlement, the legend counted only three kings of the aborigines, Picus, Faunus, and Latinus, son after son; who, when removed from the earth, were exalted to the rank of gods, and adored as Indigetes. It is only the later account which makes Latinus fall in the battle with Turnus or Mezentius; acccording to the genuine legend, he disappeared, and was worshipped as Jupiter Latialis."— Nieb. i. p. 66.

There were several rural deities called FAUNI, who were believed to occasion the nightmare (ludibria noctis vel ephialten immittere), Plin. xxv. 4.

VERTUMNUS, who presided over the change of seasons and merchandise; supposed to transform himself into different shapes, Propert. iv. 2. Hence, Vertumnis natus iniquis, an inconstant man, Horat. Sat. ii. 7. 14.

POMONA, the goddess of gardens and fruits; the wife of Vertumnus, Ovid. Met. xiv. 623, &c.

FLORA, the goddess of flowers; called Chloris by the Greeks, Lactant. i. 20. 6. Ovid. Fast. v. 195.

TERMINUS, the god of boundaries *; whose temple was always open at the top, Festus. (Se supra ne quid nisi sidera cernat, Ovid. Fast. ii. 671.) And when before the building of the Capitol all the temples of the other gods were unhallowed (exaugurarentur), it alone could not, Liv. i. 55. v. 54. JOVI IPSI REGI NOLUIT CONCEDERE, Gell. xii. 6., which was reckoned an omen of the perpetuity of the empire, Liv. ibid.†

PALES, a god or goddess who presided over flocks and herds; usually feminine, Pastoria PALES, Flor. i. 20. [Ovid. F. iv. 721. See p. 1.]

HYMEN vel HYMENÆUS, the god of marriage.

LAVERNA, the goddess of thieves, Horat. Ep. i. 16. 60. +

VACUNA, who presided over vacation, or respite from business, Ovid. Fast. vi. 307. [Hor. Ep. i. 10. 49.]

AVERRUNCUS, the god who averted mischiefs (mala averruncabat), Varr. vi. 5.- There were several of these.

FASCINUS, who prevented fascination or enchantment.

Ovid mentions

ROBIGUS, the god, and RUBIGO, or RoBiGo, the goddess, who preserved corn from blight (a rubigine), Gell. v. 13. only the goddess ROBIGO, Fust. iv. 911.§

MEPHITIS, the goddess of bad smells, Serv. in Virg. Æn. vii. 84. CLOACINA, of the cloace, or common sewers.

Under the Semones were comprehended the NYMPHS (nymphæ),

* The Dii Termini, invented by Numa, were, in his time, nothing more than square stones or posts, erected to mark the limits of public and private property. Any person might kill the individual who removed or attempted to remove them; and in order to render the law still more inviolable, Numa instituted a festival in their honour, called the Terminalia. On the ceremonies observed, see Ovid. F. ii. 6. 39. Nieb. i. p. 201.

+ Rather, that its boundaries would not fall back. Livy states the same of Juventas, a token that the youth of the Roman empire would not fade. See Nieb. i. p. 428.

"At Rome she had an altar by the temple of Tellus, near the gate which was called from her the gate of Laverna, Porta Lavernalis. There was also a temple of this goddess near Formiæ. (Cic. Att. vii. 8.) It is not improbable that Laverna and Latona are related, and both names derived from lateo, significatory of darkness or obscurity. It is rather curious that t and v should be commutable, yet there are many instances of it, such as TíλAw and vello, Déλw and volo, KλITùs and clivus. To these may perhaps be added, Latinus and Lavinum, and certainly vallis, and the German thal, and English dale.”— Keightley's Myth. p. 474.

§ A dog was sacrificed, to represent Canicula, the dog-star. (Ovid. F. iv. 941.) "Pro cane sidereo canis hic imponitur aræ ; Et, quare pereat, nil nisi nomen habet.'

248

NYMPHS

RIVER DEITIES

WINDS, ETC.

female deities, who presided over all parts of the earth: over mountains, Oreades; woods, Dryades, Hamadryades, Napaa; rivers and fountains, Naiades vel Naiades; the sea, Nereides, Oceanitides, &c.

Each river was supposed to have a particular deity, who presided over it; as, Tiberinus over the Tiber, Virg. Æn. viii. 31. 77. Eridănus over the Po; taurino vultu, with the countenance of a bull, and horns; as all rivers were represented, (quòd flumina sunt atrocia, ut tauri, Festus; vel propter impetus et mugitus aquarum, Vet. Schol. in Horat. Od. iv. 14. 25. Sic tauriformis volvitur Aufidus,) Virg. G. iv. 371. Ovid. Met. ix. pr. Ælian. ii. 33. Claudian. cons. Prob. 214, &c. The sources of rivers were particularly sacred to some divinity, and cultivated with religious ceremonies, Senec. Ep. 41. Temples were erected; as to Clitumnus, Plin. Ep. viii. 8., to Ilissus, Pausan. i. 19.; small pieces of money were thrown into them, to render the presiding deities propitious; and no person was allowed to swim near the head of the spring, because the touch of a naked body was supposed to pollute the consecrated waters, ibid. & Tacit. Ann. xiv. 22. Thus no boat was allowed to be on the lacus Vadimonis, Plin. Ep. viii. 20., in which were several floating islands, ibid. & Plin. ii. 95. s. 96. Sacrifices were also offered to fountains; as by Horace to that of Bandusia, Od. iii. 13., whence the rivulet Digentia probably flowed, Ep. i. 18. 104.

Under the SEMONES were also included the judges in the infernal regions, MINOS, Æăcus and Rhadamanthus; CHARON, the ferryman of hell, (PORTITOR, Virg. Æn. vi. 298. PORTHMEUS, -eos, Juvenal. iii. 266.) who conducted the souls of the dead in a boat over the rivers Styx and Acheron, and extracted from each his portorium or freight (naulum), which he gave an account of to Pluto; hence called PORTITOR; the dog CERBERUS, a three-headed monster, who guarded the entrance of hell.

The Romans also worshipped the virtues and affections of the mind, and the like; as Piety, Faith, Hope, Concord, Fortune *, Fame, [Mens, Ovid. F. vi. 245. Cic. de N. D. iii. 36. Liv. xxii. 10.] &c., Cic. Nat. D. ii. 23., even vices and diseases, Id. Legg. ii. 11. Nat. D. iii. 25. Juvenal. i. 115.; and under the emperors likewise foreign deities; as Isis, Osisis, Anubis, of the Egyptians, Lucan. viii. 831.; also the winds and the tempests: Eurus, the east wind; Auster or Notus, the south wind; Zephyrus, the west wind; Boreas, the north wind; Africus, the south-west; Corus, the north-east; and ÆOLUS, the god of the winds, who was supposed to reside in the Lipari islands, hence called Insula Eolia: AURÆ, the air-nymphs or sylphs, &c.t

The Romans worshipped certain gods that they might do them good, and others that they might not hurt them; as Averruncus and Robigus. There was both a good Jupiter and a bad; the former was called DIJOVIS (a juvando), or Diespiter, and the latter, VEJOVIS, or VEDIUS, Gell. v. 12. But Ovid makes Vejovis the same with Jupiter parvus, or non magnus, Fast. iii. 445. &c.

- Hor. Od. i. xxxv.

Her temple at Antium was of great celebrity. The Hora, Goddesses of the Seasons, daughters of Jupiter and Themis. (Ovid. F. v. 217.) A temple was built to Tempestas by L. Scipio, who conquered Corsica, A. U. C. 495. — Ib. F. vi. 193.

II. MINISTRI SACRORUM, THE MINISTERS OF SACRED THINGS.*

THE ministers of religion, among the Romans, did not form a distinct order from the other citizens. (See p. 96.) They were usually chosen from the most honourable men in the state.

Some of them were common to all the gods (omnium deorum sacerdotes); others appropriated to a particular deity (uni alicui numini addicti). Of the former kind were,

I. The PONTIFICES (a posse facere, quia illis jus erat sacra faciendi; vel potius a ponte faciendo, nam ab iis sublicius est factus primùm et restitutus sæpe, cùm ideo sacra et uls et cis Tiberim fiant, Varr. L. L. iv. 15. Dionys. ii. 73. iii. 45.) were first instituted by Numa, Liv. iv. 4. Dionys. ii. 73., chosen from among the patricians; four in number ["i.e. half for the Ramnes, half for the Tities," Nieb. 1. p. 258.], till the year of the city 454, when four more were created from the plebeians, Liv. x. 6. Some think, that originally there was only one Pontifex; as no more are mentioned in Livy, i. 20. ii. 2. Sylla increased their number to fifteen, Liv. Ep. 89. They were divided into MAJORES and MINORES, Cic. Harusp. R. 6. Liv. xxii. 57. Some suppose the seven added by Sylla and their successors to have been called minores; and the eight old ones, and such as were chosen in their room, MAJORES. Others think the majores were patricians, and the minores plebeians. Whatever be in this, the cause of the distinction certainly existed before the time of Sylla, Liv. ib. The whole number of the Pontifices was called COLLEGIUM, Cic.

Dom. 12.

The Pontifices judged in all causes relating to sacred things; and, in cases where there was no written law, they prescribed what regulations they thought proper. Such as neglected their mandates, they could fine, according to the magnitude of the offence. Dionysius says, that they were not subject to the power of any one, nor bound to give an account of their conduct even to the senate, or people, ii. 73. But this must be understood with some limitations; for we learn from Cicero, that the tribunes of the commons might oblige them, even against their will, to perform certain parts of their office, Dom. 45., and an appeal might be made from their decree, as from all others, to the people, Ascon. in Cic. Mil. 12. It is certain, however, that their authority was very great, Cic. Dom. i. 51. Harusp.

"That the Etrurians, or Tuscans, first initiated the Romans into the mysteries and ceremonies of religion, is very clear, from the following passage of Livy, who is speaking of Cære, a town in Etruria: - 'Sacrarium populi Romani, diversorium sacerdotum, ac receptaculum sacrorum.' From this circumstance of religious rites being particularly paid by the inhabitants of Cære to the gods, the word cæremonia seems to have been derived."- Encyc. Metrop.

+ "Cicero indeed says, that Numa instituted five pontiffs (de Rep. ii. 14.); but here he reckons the chief pontiff among the major pontiffs, among whom he was not included. Had their number been five, the Ogulnian law would have added just as many plebeians, not four merely; especially as five was the plebeian number. After that law was passed, including the chief pontiff, they made nine, like the augurs; being the same multiple of the number of the original tribes; hence Sylla augmented them to five times three." Nieb. i. p. 258. Note.