A Compendium of the Ancient Gods

Volume IV

The Roman Inheritance

Rome and Italy. c. 1200 BCE to 500 CE

The gods Rome had before Greece arrived: household spirits, boundary stones, deified virtues, and the mystery cults of the empire.

The Indigenous Italic Gods

30 works, 3 awaiting their plates. Sources for this bay

Awaiting its plate
Janus ja-nus God of Beginnings, Doorways, and the Two-Faced Gaze
Saturn, plate
Saturn sa-turn Italic God of Sowing — King of the Golden Age
Quirinus, plate
Quirinus kwee-ree-nus Deified Romulus — Third God of the Archaic Roman Triad
Faunus, plate
Faunus fau-nus Italian Woodland God — Prophet of the Wild
Silvanus, plate
Silvanus sil-va-nus God of Forests, Fields, and Boundaries
Terminus, plate
Terminus ter-mi-nus God of the Boundary-Stone
Pomona, plate
Pomona po-mo-na Goddess of Orchard Fruit
Vertumnus, plate
Vertumnus ver-tum-nus God of Changing Seasons and Transformations
Flora, plate
Flora flo-ra Goddess of Flowering Plants
Awaiting its plate
Pales pa-les Shepherd's Deity — Patron of Flocks
Liber and Libera, plate
Liber and Libera li-ber and li-be-ra Italic Wine-and-Vine Deities — Companions of Ceres
Bellona, plate
Bellona bel-lo-na Goddess of War — sister and companion of Mars
Consus, plate
Consus con-sus God of the Stored Harvest — whose altar was kept underground
Mater Matuta, plate
Mater Matuta ma-ter ma-tu-ta The Mother of the Morning — patroness of childbirth and dawn
Ops, plate
Ops ops The Goddess of Plenty — wife of Saturn and mother of the Olympians
Tellus, plate
Tellus tel-lus Earth-Mother of Italy — Tellus Mater, also called Terra Mater
Summanus, plate
Summanus sum-ma-nus God of the Nocturnal Thunderbolt — older companion of Jupiter
Anna Perenna, plate
Anna Perenna an-na pe-ren-na The Goddess of the Year — whose festival opened the new year by the Tiber
Robigus, plate
Robigus ro-bi-gus The God of Mildew, propitiated to spare the standing grain
Awaiting its plate
Lua Saturni lua sa-tur-ni Lua of Saturn — to whom the captured arms of enemies were burnt
Carmenta, plate
Carmenta car-men-ta Goddess of Childbirth and Prophetic Song — mother of Evander
Egeria, plate
Egeria e-ge-ria The Water-Nymph and Counselor of King Numa Pompilius
The Spirits of the Doorway, plate
The Spirits of the Doorway the spi-rits of the door-way Cardea, Forculus, and Limentinus — the divinities of the threshold
Cloacina, plate
Cloacina cloa-ci-na The Purifier — patroness of the Cloaca Maxima, the great drain of Rome
Portunus, plate
Portunus por-tu-nus God of Harbors and Doors — keeper of keys
The Camenae, plate
The Camenae the ca-me-nae The Italic Muses — water-nymphs of the spring at the Porta Capena
Angerona, plate
Angerona an-ge-ro-na Goddess of Silence — kept the secret name of Rome
Dis Pater, plate
Dis Pater dis pa-ter The Rich Father — Roman lord of the underworld
Orcus, plate
Orcus or-cus The Old Italic God of the Dead — taker of those who break their oaths
Proserpina, plate
Proserpina pro-ser-pi-na Roman queen of the underworld — daughter of Ceres, wife of Dis Pater

The Household and Ancestral Spirits

8 works. Sources for this bay

Lares, plate
Lares la-res Household and Crossroads Spirits
Penates, plate
Penates pe-na-tes Spirits of the Pantry — Guardians of Provisions
Genius, plate
Genius ge-nius Personal Divine Companion
Manes, plate
Manes ma-nes Ancestral Spirits — the Honored Dead
Lemures, plate
Lemures le-mu-res Restless Dead — the Unappeased Spirits
Bona Dea, plate
Bona Dea bo-na dea The Good Goddess — Women's Mystery
Mania, plate
Mania ma-nia The Mother of the Manes — old goddess of the spirits of the dead
The Indigitamenta, plate
The Indigitamenta the in-di-gi-ta-men-ta The Lists of the Named Specialist Powers

The Deified Virtues and the Imperial Mystery Cults

18 works, 1 awaiting its plate. Sources for this bay

Concordia, plate
Concordia con-cor-dia The Goddess of Civic Harmony
Fides, plate
Fides fi-des The Goddess of Sworn Faith
Pietas, plate
Pietas pie-tas The Goddess of Right Devotion
Sol Invictus, plate
Sol Invictus sol in-vic-tus The Unconquered Sun — Imperial Solar Cult
Mithras (Roman), plate
Mithras (Roman) mith-ras (roman) The Bull-Slaying Mystery — Cult of the Soldiers
Serapis, plate
Serapis se-ra-pis Hellenistic Egyptian-Greek God — see also Apis (Volume II)
Hermes Trismegistus, plate
Hermes Trismegistus her-mes tris-me-gis-tus Thrice-Great Hermes — see also Thoth (Volume II)
Fortuna, plate
Fortuna for-tu-na Goddess of Chance — bringer of fortune both good and ill
Roma, plate
Roma ro-ma The Personified City — divine guardian of Rome herself
Victoria, plate
Victoria vic-to-ria Goddess of Victory — the winged power who crowned the conqueror
Honos, plate
Honos ho-nos The Personified Honor — Roman virtue made divine
Libertas, plate
Libertas li-ber-tas Goddess of Liberty — Roman political freedom personified
Pax, plate
Pax pax Goddess of Peace — particularly the Augustan Pax Romana
Salus, plate
Salus sa-lus Goddess of Health and the Public Welfare
Spes, plate
Spes spes Goddess of Hope — particularly hope for political and personal success
Virtus, plate
Virtus vir-tus Goddess of Manly Excellence — paired with Honos
Genius Augusti, plate
Genius Augusti ge-nius au-gus-ti The Numen of the Emperor — divine spirit of the ruling Augustus
Awaiting its plate
Dius Fidius dius fi-dius God of the Sworn Oath — also called Semo Sancus

The Founders

2 works. Sources for this bay

Aeneas, plate
Aeneas eh-nee-as The Pious Trojan — Founder of the Roman Lineage
Romulus, plate
Romulus ro-mu-lus Founder of Rome — Deified as Quirinus

Floor plan

The rooms follow one another in the order their peoples first appear in the written record.

  1. The Cradle of Citiesc. 3400 BCE to 395 CE. 115 works
  2. The Gift of the Nilec. 4000 BCE to 395 CE. 73 works
  3. The Olympian Orderc. 1600 BCE to 750 CE. 152 works
  4. The Persian Worldc. 2000 BCE to 1010 CE. 30 works
  5. The Levantine Borderlandsc. 1200 BCE to 500 CE. 20 works
  6. The Edges of Empirec. 2000 BCE to 1500 CE. 33 works
  7. The Etruscan Worldc. 900 BCE to 750 CE. 22 works
  8. The Roman Inheritancec. 1200 BCE to 500 CE. 58 works
  9. The Northern Inheritancec. 2000 BCE to 1600 CE. 131 works