Volturnus

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[[Image:Volturnus.jpg|frame|right|Volturnus.]]
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The Roman god Volturnus was one of the [[Dii Indigetes]], and, like the other ancient Gods of Rome, he was served by a [[Flamen (Nova Roma)|flamen]], the Flamen Volturnalis. His [[Feriae|festival]], the Volturnalia, was a market day celebrated {{Aug 27}}.
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[[Image:Tiberis_Pater.jpg|frame|right|Tiberis Pater.]]
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The Roman god Volturnus, or Tiberis Pater, was the tutelary deity of the Tiber river. He was one of the [[di indigetes]], and, like the other ancient Gods of Rome, he was served by a [[Flamen (Nova Roma)|flamen]], the Flamen Volturnalis. His [[Feriae|festival]], the Volturnalia, was a market day celebrated {{Aug 27}}.
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==Etymology==
 
==Etymology==
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==History==
 
==History==
  
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Little is known about Volturnus, although scholars have attempted to reconstruct his myth and role in the [[Cultus Deorum]].
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Little is known about Volturnus, although scholars have attempted to reconstruct his myth and role in the [[Cultus deorum Romanorum|cultus deorum]].  
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Volturnus was one of 15 Gods served by state-sponsored flamines, in a system conventionally said to have been established by Numa. From that fact, Volturnus was probably an agricultural deity, Although the subject is controversial, the authority of the flamines seems to have been overthrown by a pontifical revolution when the Roman religion was reconstituted along Greek lines. This reform took place at early but unknown date, perhaps about 350 BCE. Thereafter, the original deities declined in importance. By the beginning of the Republic, the flamines seem to have been anachronistic. By the time of Varro (116 BCE - 27 BCE), a scholar who collected the surviving materials, there were only traces left of the old religion. He reported the survival of a Flamen Volturnalis, but found the God to be "obscure"<ref>Varro, ''Lingua Latine'', 7:45</ref>.
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Surviving fragments show that Volturnus was a river God, and, being Roman, the river must have been the Tiber. However, the identification encounters immediate difficulties. The tutelary God of the Tiber was almost certainly named ''Tiberinus'' by the Latins, while the Volturnus is a river in Campania. The prevailing view among scholars is that Volturnus was the cult name of the Tiber's God<ref>Cf. Einar Gjerstad, ''Early Rome''. Lund: C. W. K. Gleerup (1953), 25. This was the view of Theodor Mommsen, ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL)'', 327; but see Georges Dumézil, ''Archaic Roman Religion''. Johns Hopkins Univ. Pr. (1966, 1996), 388-89</ref>.
 
Surviving fragments show that Volturnus was a river God, and, being Roman, the river must have been the Tiber. However, the identification encounters immediate difficulties. The tutelary God of the Tiber was almost certainly named ''Tiberinus'' by the Latins, while the Volturnus is a river in Campania. The prevailing view among scholars is that Volturnus was the cult name of the Tiber's God<ref>Cf. Einar Gjerstad, ''Early Rome''. Lund: C. W. K. Gleerup (1953), 25. This was the view of Theodor Mommsen, ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL)'', 327; but see Georges Dumézil, ''Archaic Roman Religion''. Johns Hopkins Univ. Pr. (1966, 1996), 388-89</ref>.
  
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The river God of the Tiber apparently acquired his name from an Etruscan analog. The city of Capua in Campania was anciently called Volturnum. It is situated on the Volturno (anc. Voluturnus) river, which apparently had a Samnite river God of the same name. Rome extended its borders to the Volturno during the Latin War (340-338 BCE), and decisively defeated the Samnites on the other side of the Volturno during the Third Samnite War (298-290 BCE). The Samnites were allowed to retain their independence, becoming allies of Rome. Probably, Volturnus' cult was brought to Rome at this time<ref>Andreas Alfödi, ''Early Rome and the Latins''. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press (1971), 206</ref>. Then, at some unknown date, the cults of the river Gods Tiberinus and Volturnus were conflated. Such removals of Gods to Rome were commonplace, the most famous being when [[Camillus]] evoked Uni from [[Veii]], and installed her at Rome as [[Iuno|Iuno Regina]].  
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The city of Capua in Campania was anciently called Volturnum. It is situated on the Volturno (anc. Voluturnus) river, which apparently had a Samnite river God of the same name. Rome extended its borders to the Volturno during the Latin War (340-338 BCE), and decisively defeated the Samnites on the other side of the Volturno during the Third Samnite War (298-290 BCE). The Samnites were allowed to retain their independence, becoming allies of Rome. Probably, Volturnus' cult was brought to Rome at this time<ref>Andreas Alfödi, ''Early Rome and the Latins''. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press (1971), 206</ref>. Then, at some unknown date, the cults of the river Gods Tiberinus and Volturnus were conflated. Such removals of Gods to Rome were commonplace, the most famous being when [[Camillus]] evoked Uni from [[Veii]], and installed her at Rome as [[Iuno|Iuno Regina]].  
  
 
A minority view among scholars is that Volturnus was a generic God of rivers<ref>Cf. Shailer Mathews and Gerald Birney Smith, ''A Dictionary of Religion and Ethics'' sub ''Roman Religion''. Macmillan (1921), 384</ref>, and gave his name both to the Tiber and the Volturno.
 
A minority view among scholars is that Volturnus was a generic God of rivers<ref>Cf. Shailer Mathews and Gerald Birney Smith, ''A Dictionary of Religion and Ethics'' sub ''Roman Religion''. Macmillan (1921), 384</ref>, and gave his name both to the Tiber and the Volturno.
  
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==Correspondences to Other Gods==
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==Mythology==
  
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===Janus===
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No myths concerning Volturnus have survived. Some scholars argue he has always had the character of a ''numen'', and therefore never acquired personal characteristics.
  
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Some scholars equate [[Tiberinus]] with [[Janus]], the Roman calendrical god, but by the time of the late Republic Tiberinus was conventionally regarded as father of Janus' wife [[Juturna]].
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==Correspondences to Other Gods==
  
 
===Portunus===
 
===Portunus===
  
 
Mommsen identified Volturnus with [[Portunus]], as well as with Tiberinus, on the basis of a late calendar where the Portinalia is also called the Tiberinalia.<ref>''CIL'' citing Fast. Philocal.'', 327</ref>. Further, the sacrifices on that day were held "in porto Tiberindo."<ref>Varro, ''Lingua Latine'' 6.19</ref>
 
Mommsen identified Volturnus with [[Portunus]], as well as with Tiberinus, on the basis of a late calendar where the Portinalia is also called the Tiberinalia.<ref>''CIL'' citing Fast. Philocal.'', 327</ref>. Further, the sacrifices on that day were held "in porto Tiberindo."<ref>Varro, ''Lingua Latine'' 6.19</ref>
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===Turnus===
 
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By the time of the Late Republic, Tiberinus might have been identified with the Latin hero [[Turnus]], King of the Rutuli. In the Trojan legend, Vergil identified Iuturna, daughter of Tiberinus and wife of Janus, as the sister of Turnus<ref>Vergil, ''Aeneid'' 12; Amanda Claridge, ''Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide''. New York: Oxford University Press (1998), 95</ref>. Aeneas, on his journey to Rome, defeated Turnus.
 
  
 
===Vertumnus===
 
===Vertumnus===
  
 
[[Vertumnus]] was the Etruscan Bacchus, God of wine and fruits. His consort [[Voltumna]], whom the Romans equated with [[Pomona]], was the patron of the Etruscan League. Dennis notes that Vertumnus was called Vortumnus by Varro<ref>Varro, ''Lingua Latine'' 5.8; 6:3</ref> and speculates that he was identical with the Volturnus mentioned by Festus<ref>Festus, ''ap. Paul. Diac.'' v. Volturnalia</ref> and Varro<ref>Varro, ''Lingua Latine'' 8.45</ref> – “though neither recognise the relation in this case."<ref>George Dennis, ''The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria'' (London: John Murray, 1848).</ref>.  
 
[[Vertumnus]] was the Etruscan Bacchus, God of wine and fruits. His consort [[Voltumna]], whom the Romans equated with [[Pomona]], was the patron of the Etruscan League. Dennis notes that Vertumnus was called Vortumnus by Varro<ref>Varro, ''Lingua Latine'' 5.8; 6:3</ref> and speculates that he was identical with the Volturnus mentioned by Festus<ref>Festus, ''ap. Paul. Diac.'' v. Volturnalia</ref> and Varro<ref>Varro, ''Lingua Latine'' 8.45</ref> – “though neither recognise the relation in this case."<ref>George Dennis, ''The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria'' (London: John Murray, 1848).</ref>.  
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Velthurna, the equivalent of Voltumna or Volturna was an Etruscan family-name attested by sepulchral inscriptions at Perugia and Sovana<ref>George Dennis. ''The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria'' (London: John Murray, 1848).</ref>. It has been suggested that Volturnus was originally the tutelary deity of the Etruscan Velthur family.<ref>Hendrik Wagenvoort, ''Pietas: Studies in Roman Religion'' (Boston: Brill, 1980), 237, citing Altheim</ref>.
 
  
 
===Vulturnus===
 
===Vulturnus===
  
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Lucretius associated Volturnus with the Tempestates: "And other Winds do follow: the high roar / Of great Volturnus, and the Southwind strong / With thunder-bolts."<ref>Lucretius, ''De Rerum Natura'' 5.742</ref>
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Lucretius associated Volturnus with the [[Tempestates]]: "And other Winds do follow: the high roar / Of great Volturnus, and the Southwind strong / With thunder-bolts."<ref>Lucretius, ''De Rerum Natura'' 5.742</ref>
  
 
From this passage, it appears the Romans might have equated Volturnus with [[Vulturnus]], one of the [[Venti]]. Vulturnus' Greek analog was Eurus (Εύρος), the God of the east wind, and a son of Eos, possibly by Astræus. In Italy, the Vulturno, now called the Scirocco, blows from the southeast. The Vulturno takes its name from Monte Vulture (anc. Vultur).  
 
From this passage, it appears the Romans might have equated Volturnus with [[Vulturnus]], one of the [[Venti]]. Vulturnus' Greek analog was Eurus (Εύρος), the God of the east wind, and a son of Eos, possibly by Astræus. In Italy, the Vulturno, now called the Scirocco, blows from the southeast. The Vulturno takes its name from Monte Vulture (anc. Vultur).  
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However, most contemporary scholars separate Volturnus the river from Vulturnus the east wind and point to the timing of the Volturnalia at harvest time as evidence that it would have been offered in thanks for the irrigation water drawn from rivers rather than as a supplication to avert drought.
 
However, most contemporary scholars separate Volturnus the river from Vulturnus the east wind and point to the timing of the Volturnalia at harvest time as evidence that it would have been offered in thanks for the irrigation water drawn from rivers rather than as a supplication to avert drought.
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==Mythology==
 
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According to ancient authorities, the Tiber River was originally called ''Albula''. It it said to have been renamed ''Tiberis'', but details vary.
 
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Vergil says the river was re-named for Thybris, an ancient king. He has [[Evander]] recount the history of the area to [[Aeneas]], saying:
 
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    There were Kings, for instance Thybris with his vast
 
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    Body from whom in after times we Italians
 
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    Have named the river Tiber, and it lost
 
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    Its true and ancient name of Albula.<ref>Vergil, ''Aeneid'' 1.8</ref>
 
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It was renamed for a youth who drowned there.
 
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Another version says that the river was renamed for the ninth legendary king of Alba Longa, [[Tiberinus Silvius]], a descendant of [[Aeneas]].
 
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Tiberinus aided Aeneas on his journey advising him to settle in Latium<ref>Vergil, ''Aeneid'' 10.198 ff.</ref>.
 
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Under Greek influence, the Romans included Tiberinus as one of the Oceanids, the 3,000 children of [[Oceanus]] and [[Tethys]]. Each of these children was the patron of a particular river, spring or lake.
 
  
 
==Consorts and Children==
 
==Consorts and Children==
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"The Tiburtine Sibyl, by name Albunea, is worshiped at Tibur as a goddess, near the banks of the Anio, in which stream her image is said to have been found, holding a book in her hand. Her oracular responses the Senate transferred into the capitol."<ref>Lactantius, ''Divine Institutes'' 1.6, citing Varro.</ref>
 
"The Tiburtine Sibyl, by name Albunea, is worshiped at Tibur as a goddess, near the banks of the Anio, in which stream her image is said to have been found, holding a book in her hand. Her oracular responses the Senate transferred into the capitol."<ref>Lactantius, ''Divine Institutes'' 1.6, citing Varro.</ref>
  
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===Manto===
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===Velthurna===
  
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Tiberinus was the husband of [[Manto]]. Her legend is Greek rather than Roman. She was a daughter of Tiresias, the blind prophet, who in turn was the son of the shepherd Everes and the nymph Chariclo. Tiresias died after drinking water from a spring, and apparently became an oracular hero, for he was visited in the underworld by Odysseus. Manto is said to have been brought to Delphi as a war prize during the War of the Epigonoi. Apollo sent her to Colophon to found an oracle devoted to him. Instead, she went to Italy, where she married Tiberinus.<ref>Vergil, ''Aeneid'' 10.199</ref>
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Velthurna, the equivalent of Voltumna or Volturna was an Etruscan family-name attested by sepulchral inscriptions at Perugia and Sovana<ref>George Dennis. ''The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria'' (London: John Murray, 1848).</ref>. It has been suggested that Volturnus was originally the tutelary deity of the Etruscan Velthur family.<ref>Hendrik Wagenvoort, ''Pietas: Studies in Roman Religion'' (Boston: Brill, 1980), 237, citing Altheim</ref>.
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===Rhea Silvia===
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[[Rhea Silvia]] was a [[Vestal Virgin]], seduced by [[Mars]]. When she gave birth to the twins [[Romulus]] and [[Remus]], the twins were exposed and she was sentenced to death by her uncle. Tiberinus found the twins, gave them to the she-wolf [[Lupa]] to suckle, then rescued and married their mother.
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===Ocnus===
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[[Ocnus]] is said to have been son of Tiberinus and [[Manto]]. Ocnus is said to have founded Mantova, which he named for his mother. Alternatively, Mantova was named after another Manto, who was a daughter of Heracles, or after Mantus, the Etruscan God of the Underworld.
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However, other authorities make Ocnus a son or brother of [[Auletes]] and the founder of Bologna (anc. Felsina).<ref>Vergil, ''Aeneid'' 10.198</ref>
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===Iuturna===
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Tiberinus was the father (or lover) of [[Iuturna]], the [[Camenae|Camena]] who was wife (or daughter) of [[Janus]], the calendar god. [[Iuppiter]] turned her into a nymph and gave her a spring near Lavinium on the Numicus river. Iuturna was later associated with a pool near the temple of Vesta in the Forum Romanum.
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===Fontus===
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Through Iuturna, Tiberinus was a grandfather of [[Fontus]]. Fontus (or Fons), was the god/dess of springs. The [[Fontinalia]], in her honor, was held {{Oct 13}} when springs in Rome begin to flow again after the summer heat.
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==Cult==
 
==Cult==
  
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Tiberinus was able, when propitiated, to heal the diseases that his waters were supposed to bring.<ref>Walter Addison Jayne, ''Healing Gods of Ancient Civilizations''. (Kessinger Publishing Company, 1925, 2003), 440-41</ref>.
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Volturnus was one of 15 Gods served by state-sponsored flamines, in a system conventionally said to have been established by Numa. From that fact, Volturnus was probably an agricultural deity, Although the subject is controversial, the authority of the flamines seems to have been overthrown by a pontifical revolution when the Roman religion was reconstituted along Greek lines. This reform took place at early but unknown date, perhaps about 350 BCE. Thereafter, the original deities declined in importance. By the beginning of the Republic, the flamines seem to have been anachronistic. By the time of Varro (116 BCE - 27 BCE), a scholar who collected the surviving materials, there were only traces left of the old religion. He reported the survival of a Flamen Volturnalis, but found the God to be "obscure"<ref>Varro, ''Lingua Latine'', 7:45</ref>.
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A common feature of Mediterranean river gods is the belief that crossing a river angers its tutelary spirit. We see this belief indirectly in connection with the Romans. One of the omens of Caesar's impending assassination: "Soon after this, news reached Caesar that the herd of horses which he dedicated to the spirit of the River Rubicon, after his crossing, who were allowed to roam freely in the valley, were showing disdain for the pasture, and crying copious amount of tears."
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==Festivals==
 
==Festivals==
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===Argeia===
 
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There are hints that human sacrifice might have once honored Tiberinus. Each May 15th, 24 rush puppets tied hand and foot, called ''Argei'' were taken in a procession of magistrates, pontifices and Vestals to the Sublician Bridge, where the Vestals cast the puppets into the Tiber. The puppets were believed by the common people of the time to be substitutes for old men, who had once been the victims. <ref>William Warde Fowler, ''The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic'' (Macmillan Co., 1898), 57, 112-113; Rodolfo Amedeo Lanciani, ''New Tales of Old Rome'' (Rome: Houghton Mifflin & Co., 1901), 16.</ref>
 
  
 
===Volturnalia===
 
===Volturnalia===
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The [[Feriae|festival]] of Volturnus, called the Volturnalia was celebrated on {{Aug 27}} and belonged to the Numan calendar<ref>Einar Gjerstad, ''Early Rome''. Lund: C. W. K. Gleerup (1953), 246</ref>. Details of the Volturnalia have not survived, but we have fragments addressed to Volturnus. We know that the Volturnalia was celebrated with feasting, wine-drinking and games. In the opinion of the Pontifex Maximus of Nova Roma, “At the very least a "standard" ritual of sacrifice, Roman feast, and standard Roman games would be a passable reconstruction of the day, pending the discovery of further specific information."<ref>Marcus Cassius Iulianus. Message at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ReligioRomana/message/3255, message dated November 26, 2002, from Marcus Cassius Julianus, visited January 1, 2004.</ref>
 
The [[Feriae|festival]] of Volturnus, called the Volturnalia was celebrated on {{Aug 27}} and belonged to the Numan calendar<ref>Einar Gjerstad, ''Early Rome''. Lund: C. W. K. Gleerup (1953), 246</ref>. Details of the Volturnalia have not survived, but we have fragments addressed to Volturnus. We know that the Volturnalia was celebrated with feasting, wine-drinking and games. In the opinion of the Pontifex Maximus of Nova Roma, “At the very least a "standard" ritual of sacrifice, Roman feast, and standard Roman games would be a passable reconstruction of the day, pending the discovery of further specific information."<ref>Marcus Cassius Iulianus. Message at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ReligioRomana/message/3255, message dated November 26, 2002, from Marcus Cassius Julianus, visited January 1, 2004.</ref>
  
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Some scholars say Volturnus' daughter Iuturna was honored the same day. However, she also had her own festival, the [[Iuturnalia]], {{Jan 11}}.  
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Some scholars say Iuturna was honored the same day. However, she also had her own festival, the [[Iuturnalia]], {{Jan 11}}.  
  
 
==Epigraphy==
 
==Epigraphy==
  
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"Inde aliae tempestates ventique secuntur, altitonans Volturnus et Auster fulmine pollens."<ref>Lucretius, ''De Rerum Natura'' 5.742</ref>  
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"Inde aliae tempestates ventique secuntur, altitonans Volturnus et Auster fulmine pollens." ("And other Winds do follow: the high roar / Of great Volturnus, and the Southwind strong / With thunder-bolts.") <ref>Lucretius, ''De Rerum Natura'' 5.742</ref>  
  
 
In a statement lauding [[Domitian|Domitian’s]] technological achievement channeling the Volturno river, Volturnus is made to say ''amnis esse coepi'', I have begun to be a river; meaning that he has become his true self.
 
In a statement lauding [[Domitian|Domitian’s]] technological achievement channeling the Volturno river, Volturnus is made to say ''amnis esse coepi'', I have begun to be a river; meaning that he has become his true self.
  
 
==Iconography==
 
==Iconography==
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The most famous representation of Father Tiber is a 17th century statue on the Capitoline.
 
  
 
At Corneta, in the Grotta delle Iscrizioni, is a representation of a man having a fish offered to him. Gerhard identifies this as Vertumnus<ref>George Dennis. ''The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria'' (London: John Murray, 1848), citing ''Gottheiten der Etrusker'', 31</ref>, but it could have been Volturnus.
 
At Corneta, in the Grotta delle Iscrizioni, is a representation of a man having a fish offered to him. Gerhard identifies this as Vertumnus<ref>George Dennis. ''The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria'' (London: John Murray, 1848), citing ''Gottheiten der Etrusker'', 31</ref>, but it could have been Volturnus.
  
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A bust of Volturnus, dating from the 2nd century BCE, survives at the Arch of S. Eligio in Capua.
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A bust, identified as Volturnus and dating from the 2nd century BCE, survives at the Arch of S. Eligio in Capua.
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
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===Primary Sources===
 
===Primary Sources===
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''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL)''.
  
 
Festus, ''ap. Paul. Diac.'' v. Volturnalia.
 
Festus, ''ap. Paul. Diac.'' v. Volturnalia.
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===Secondary Sources===
 
===Secondary Sources===
  
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''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL)''.
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Georges Dumézil, ''Archaic Roman Religion''. Johns Hopkins Univ. Pr. (1966, 1996).
  
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Joel Le Gall, ''Recherches sur le culte du Tibre'' (Paris 1953).
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Joel Le Gall, ''Recherches sur le culte du Tibre'' (Paris 1953), pp. 40-56, "Les prétendus dieux du Tibre".
  
 
==External Links==
 
==External Links==
  
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This article incorporates the text of an article of the same name, originally published at [http://www.ambrosii.com/ Gens Ambrosia].  
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This article incorporates the text of an article of the same name, originally published in 2004 at Gens Ambrosia, http://www.ambrosii.com.  
  
 
[[Category:Roman Gods]]
 
[[Category:Roman Gods]]

Revision as of 17:45, 13 May 2010

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The Roman god Volturnus was one of the Dii Indigetes, and, like the other ancient Gods of Rome, he was served by a flamen, the Flamen Volturnalis. His festival, the Volturnalia, was a market day celebrated a.d. VI Kal. Sept. ‡.

Contents

Etymology

The etymology of Volturnus is uncertain. It is thought to derive from volvere, "to roll along or wind around".

History

Little is known about Volturnus, although scholars have attempted to reconstruct his myth and role in the cultus deorum.

Surviving fragments show that Volturnus was a river God, and, being Roman, the river must have been the Tiber. However, the identification encounters immediate difficulties. The tutelary God of the Tiber was almost certainly named Tiberinus by the Latins, while the Volturnus is a river in Campania. The prevailing view among scholars is that Volturnus was the cult name of the Tiber's God[1].

The city of Capua in Campania was anciently called Volturnum. It is situated on the Volturno (anc. Voluturnus) river, which apparently had a Samnite river God of the same name. Rome extended its borders to the Volturno during the Latin War (340-338 BCE), and decisively defeated the Samnites on the other side of the Volturno during the Third Samnite War (298-290 BCE). The Samnites were allowed to retain their independence, becoming allies of Rome. Probably, Volturnus' cult was brought to Rome at this time[2]. Then, at some unknown date, the cults of the river Gods Tiberinus and Volturnus were conflated. Such removals of Gods to Rome were commonplace, the most famous being when Camillus evoked Uni from Veii, and installed her at Rome as Iuno Regina.

A minority view among scholars is that Volturnus was a generic God of rivers[3], and gave his name both to the Tiber and the Volturno.

Mythology

No myths concerning Volturnus have survived. Some scholars argue he has always had the character of a numen, and therefore never acquired personal characteristics.

Correspondences to Other Gods

Portunus

Mommsen identified Volturnus with Portunus, as well as with Tiberinus, on the basis of a late calendar where the Portinalia is also called the Tiberinalia.[4]. Further, the sacrifices on that day were held "in porto Tiberindo."[5]

Vertumnus

Vertumnus was the Etruscan Bacchus, God of wine and fruits. His consort Voltumna, whom the Romans equated with Pomona, was the patron of the Etruscan League. Dennis notes that Vertumnus was called Vortumnus by Varro[6] and speculates that he was identical with the Volturnus mentioned by Festus[7] and Varro[8] – “though neither recognise the relation in this case."[9].

Vulturnus

Lucretius associated Volturnus with the Tempestates: "And other Winds do follow: the high roar / Of great Volturnus, and the Southwind strong / With thunder-bolts."[10]

From this passage, it appears the Romans might have equated Volturnus with Vulturnus, one of the Venti. Vulturnus' Greek analog was Eurus (Εύρος), the God of the east wind, and a son of Eos, possibly by Astræus. In Italy, the Vulturno, now called the Scirocco, blows from the southeast. The Vulturno takes its name from Monte Vulture (anc. Vultur).

Those who equate Volturnus with Vulturnus believe that the Volturnalia was a festival to avert the drought caused by these drying winds.

However, most contemporary scholars separate Volturnus the river from Vulturnus the east wind and point to the timing of the Volturnalia at harvest time as evidence that it would have been offered in thanks for the irrigation water drawn from rivers rather than as a supplication to avert drought.

Consorts and Children

Albunea

Albunea was probably the original cult partner, and perhaps the wife, of Albula, the ancient name of the Tiber river. Albunea was a nymph who resided near Tivoli (anc. Tibur) at a sulfuric spring on the Aniene (anc. Anio) river, where she had a small temple above the falls. She was the Tiburtine sibyl, the tenth in a series of famous sibyls. From Etruscan times, it was the seat of the Tiburtine Sibyl. Originally a colony of Alba Longa, Tivoli was conquered by the Sabines, and later defeated and absorbed by the Romans in 338 BCE.

"The Tiburtine Sibyl, by name Albunea, is worshiped at Tibur as a goddess, near the banks of the Anio, in which stream her image is said to have been found, holding a book in her hand. Her oracular responses the Senate transferred into the capitol."[11]

Velthurna

Velthurna, the equivalent of Voltumna or Volturna was an Etruscan family-name attested by sepulchral inscriptions at Perugia and Sovana[12]. It has been suggested that Volturnus was originally the tutelary deity of the Etruscan Velthur family.[13].

Cult

Volturnus was one of 15 Gods served by state-sponsored flamines, in a system conventionally said to have been established by Numa. From that fact, Volturnus was probably an agricultural deity, Although the subject is controversial, the authority of the flamines seems to have been overthrown by a pontifical revolution when the Roman religion was reconstituted along Greek lines. This reform took place at early but unknown date, perhaps about 350 BCE. Thereafter, the original deities declined in importance. By the beginning of the Republic, the flamines seem to have been anachronistic. By the time of Varro (116 BCE - 27 BCE), a scholar who collected the surviving materials, there were only traces left of the old religion. He reported the survival of a Flamen Volturnalis, but found the God to be "obscure"[14].

Festivals

Volturnalia

The festival of Volturnus, called the Volturnalia was celebrated on a.d. VI Kal. Sept. ‡ and belonged to the Numan calendar[15]. Details of the Volturnalia have not survived, but we have fragments addressed to Volturnus. We know that the Volturnalia was celebrated with feasting, wine-drinking and games. In the opinion of the Pontifex Maximus of Nova Roma, “At the very least a "standard" ritual of sacrifice, Roman feast, and standard Roman games would be a passable reconstruction of the day, pending the discovery of further specific information."[16]

Some scholars say Iuturna was honored the same day. However, she also had her own festival, the Iuturnalia, a.d. III Id. Ian. ‡.

Epigraphy

"Inde aliae tempestates ventique secuntur, altitonans Volturnus et Auster fulmine pollens." ("And other Winds do follow: the high roar / Of great Volturnus, and the Southwind strong / With thunder-bolts.") [17]

In a statement lauding Domitian’s technological achievement channeling the Volturno river, Volturnus is made to say amnis esse coepi, I have begun to be a river; meaning that he has become his true self.

Iconography

At Corneta, in the Grotta delle Iscrizioni, is a representation of a man having a fish offered to him. Gerhard identifies this as Vertumnus[18], but it could have been Volturnus.

A bust, identified as Volturnus and dating from the 2nd century BCE, survives at the Arch of S. Eligio in Capua.

References

  1. ↑ Cf. Einar Gjerstad, Early Rome. Lund: C. W. K. Gleerup (1953), 25. This was the view of Theodor Mommsen, Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL), 327; but see Georges Dumézil, Archaic Roman Religion. Johns Hopkins Univ. Pr. (1966, 1996), 388-89
  2. ↑ Andreas Alfödi, Early Rome and the Latins. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press (1971), 206
  3. ↑ Cf. Shailer Mathews and Gerald Birney Smith, A Dictionary of Religion and Ethics sub Roman Religion. Macmillan (1921), 384
  4. ↑ CIL citing Fast. Philocal., 327
  5. ↑ Varro, Lingua Latine 6.19
  6. ↑ Varro, Lingua Latine 5.8; 6:3
  7. ↑ Festus, ap. Paul. Diac. v. Volturnalia
  8. ↑ Varro, Lingua Latine 8.45
  9. ↑ George Dennis, The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria (London: John Murray, 1848).
  10. ↑ Lucretius, De Rerum Natura 5.742
  11. ↑ Lactantius, Divine Institutes 1.6, citing Varro.
  12. ↑ George Dennis. The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria (London: John Murray, 1848).
  13. ↑ Hendrik Wagenvoort, Pietas: Studies in Roman Religion (Boston: Brill, 1980), 237, citing Altheim
  14. ↑ Varro, Lingua Latine, 7:45
  15. ↑ Einar Gjerstad, Early Rome. Lund: C. W. K. Gleerup (1953), 246
  16. ↑ Marcus Cassius Iulianus. Message at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ReligioRomana/message/3255, message dated November 26, 2002, from Marcus Cassius Julianus, visited January 1, 2004.
  17. ↑ Lucretius, De Rerum Natura 5.742
  18. ↑ George Dennis. The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria (London: John Murray, 1848), citing Gottheiten der Etrusker, 31


Further Reading

Primary Sources

Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL).

Festus, ap. Paul. Diac. v. Volturnalia.

Lactantius, Divine Institutes.

Lucretius, De Rerum Natura.

Prop. 6.2.

Varro, Lingua Latine.

Vergil, Aeneid.

Secondary Sources

Georges Dumézil, Archaic Roman Religion. Johns Hopkins Univ. Pr. (1966, 1996).

Joel Le Gall, Recherches sur le culte du Tibre (Paris 1953), pp. 40-56, "Les prétendus dieux du Tibre".

External Links

This article incorporates the text of an article of the same name, originally published in 2004 at Gens Ambrosia, http://www.ambrosii.com.

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