Latin U1: Roman and Italian Deities

Iovis (Jove)

Domain: sky, lightning, thunder, law, order

Roles: king of the gods, equivalent to Jupiter/Zeus

Symbols: lightning, thunder, oak tree

Iana (Jana)

Domain: moon, past & future

Symbols: moon

• connected to Diana (Roman goddess) & Janus

Ianus (Janus)

Domain: beginnings, ends, gates, transitions, time, duality

Symbols: 2 faces (one facing past & other facing future), Gates of Janus

• associated w/ start & end of conflict, & changing seasons

Carmenta

Domain: marriage, childbirth

Roles: matron of midwives, guardian of women, "inventor" of Latin alphabet

Februus

Domain: purification, underworld

• influenced Lupercalia festival, februa (purifying goat skin), February, & Febris (goddess of fever)

Nox (Nyx)

Domain: night, the void, beginning of things

Roles: one of the earliest OG forces of the universe, mother of sleep

Fortuna

Domain: fortune, luck, fate, happenstance

Roles: bringer of good or bad luck

Symbols: gubernaculum (ship rudder), rota fortunae (wheel of fortune), cornucopia (horn of abundance)

Bellona

Domain: war, destruction, conquest

Roles: bringer of violence & bloodshed

Symbols: torch, whip, four-horse chariot

Terra Mater

Domain: Earth

Symbols: fruit, flowers, cornucopia

• associated w/ Etruscian cel & Greek Gaia

Vesta

Domain: hearth, home, family

Roles: guardian of the hearth & state

Symbols: eternal fire, hearth

Quirinus

Domain: war, conquest

Roles: Sabine god, deified version of Romulus

Pomona

Domain: gardens, orchards, fruit trees

Roles: wood & forest nymph, abundance of nature, wife of Vertumnus

Symbols: pruning knife for cultivating fruits

Vertumnus

Domains: gardens, orchards, seasons, change

Roles: cultivating & maintaining fruits & crops, husband of Pomona

Symbols: gardening tools

Umbria

Domain: underworld, darkness

Roles: secrets, things kept away from the public, shadows

Faunus

Domain: forest, plants, fields

Symbols: horns on his head

• associated w/ one of the oldest Roman deities & old king of Latin ppl in Italy