Roman/Etruscan Gods and Goddesses

The Romans commonly equated the Gods and Goddesses of foreign lands with their own Gods and Goddesses. It became an easy to use naming convention.


Abeona
Goddess who protects children.

Abundantia
Goddess of success, good fortune, abundance and prosperity.

Aequitas
Goddess of fair trade and honest merchants.

Angita
Goddess of healing, magic and witchcraft.

Apollo
God of medicine, healing and plague.

Bacchus
God of fun.

Bellona
Goddess of war.

Candelifera
Goddess of childbirth.

Ceres
Goddess of the harvest. Also has many helpers.

Clementia
Goddess of forgiveness and mercy.

Deverra
Goddess who protects midwives and women in labor.

Empanda
Goddess of generosity and charity.

Facunditas
God of fertility and the harvest.

Faustitas
God of protecting livestock.

Febris
Goddess who protected people against fevers and malaria.

Felicitas
Goddess of good luck and success.

Fides
Goddess of trust.

Fontus
God of wells and springs.

Fornax
Goddess of bread and baking,

Fraus
Goddess of treachery.

Honos
God of chivalry, honor and military justice.

Ceres
Goddess of growing plants (particularly cereals) and of motherly love.

Inuus
God protector of livestock.

Janus
God of one condition to another.

Juno
Goddess of women and marriage.

Jupiter
God in charge of laws and social order.

Juturna
Goddess of fountains, wells and springs.

Lactanus
God who makes crops prosper.

Laverna
Goddess of the underworld.

Levana
Goddess of newborn babies.

Liberalitas
Goddess of generosity.

Libertas
Goddess of liberty.

Libitina
Goddess of death, corpses and funerals.

Lima
Goddess of thresholds.

Lua
Goddess to whom soldiers sacrifice captured weapons.

Lucina
Goddess of childbirth. She safeguarded the lives of women in labor.

Lupercus
God of shepherds.

Maia
Goddess of growth and springtime.

Mars
God of fertility and vegetation.

Menrva
Goddess of wisdom, art, schools and commerce.

Mercury
God of trade, profit and commerce.

Nascio
Goddesses of birth, and a protector of infants.

Nemestrinus
God of the forests and woods.

Neptune
God of the sea. Also had many helpers.

Nerio
Goddess of war and valor.

Parca
Goddess of childbirth.

Patalena
Goddess of flowers.

Paventia
Goddess who comforts frightened children.

Picumnus
God of fertility, agriculture, matrimony, infants and children.

Pietas
Goddess of duty to one's state, gods and family.

Pilumnus
God who ensures children grow properly and stay healthy.

Pluto
God of the physical underworld.

Pomona
Goddess of fruit trees, gardens and orchards.

Quiritis
Goddess of motherhood.

Rurina
Goddess of the fields and farmland.

Saturn
God of agriculture and harvest.

Securitas
Goddess of security.

Sors
God of luck.

Spes
Goddess of hope.

Strenia
Goddess of strength and endurance.

Tempestes
Goddess of storms.

Terra
Mother Earth.

Venus
Goddess of love and vitality.

Veritas
Goddess of truth.

Vesta
Goddess of the hearth, home, and family.

Vica Pota
Goddess of victory.

Vulcan
God of metalwork. Also has many helpers.

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Angerona (Etruscan)
An Etruscan divinity, She remained into Roman times as Goddess of the winter solstice. She has connections to Death, and to Silence, and seems to represent the passage of the yearly cycle into a time which symbolizes completion, the seed of renewal, and the duty to accept a dversity in silence. Her image is invariably that of a female, mouth sealed and a finger placed upon it. She has been conflated to a degree with Ceres.

Angitia (Italian)
An obscure Goddess associated with witchcraft, herbalism, healing, and eloquence. In later times, She was often conflated with the Hellenic sorceress Circe.

Arkate and Alpanu (Etruscan)
Two very obscure north Italian divinities whose tale has been almost entirely eroded away. Arkate, who appears as an old man in a heavy cloak, opposes Alpanu in some manner.

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.

Caca
Goddess of Latrines and waste disposal.

Cardea
Goddess of thresholds and door-hinges, and thus a Patroness of changes-of-state, an element of great importance in the Latin psyche. She also has Huntress connections, and is associated in some manner with Diana. Not at all surprisingly, She is close associated with Janus as well.

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

Catha (Etruscan)
An early north Italian divinity associated with the sun. His cult became absorbed by that of Apollo.

Charun (Etruscan)
A north Italian God of death. He wields a warhammer, or maul, and often accompanies Mars. His cult was conflated with that of Hades-Pluto for the most part. Despite the similarity in names, it not certain that Charon is a version of this divinity, or a separate conception.

Cloaca
Goddess of sewage systems and drains.

Consus
Patron of horses, stables, grainaries, and storage facilities, especially underground structures. As such, He also has connections to Patronage over secret plans and conspiracies.

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

Cupra (Etruscan)
A fertility Goddess, one of an ancient triad alongside Minerva and Tina.

Diana (Lala: Etruscan)
Goddess of the moon and Patroness of groves, forests, and the natural world. She is a huntress and protectress of animals. A perpetual maiden, she is usually conflated with the Hellenic Artemis. Even so, She is also regarded as having authority over childbirth and midwivery. Finally, She seems to have connections to plebians, commoners, fugitives, outlaws, and slaves as a kind of natural protectress. The theme here seems to be that anything helpless, downtrodden, misunderstood, in a condition of mystery, or circumstances contrary to the normal flow finds in Her an advocate. She is the daughter of Jupiter by Latona. She is considered a triple-Goddess; for divinities often regarded as Aspects, see Hekate, Lucina, and Phoebe.

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.

Februus (Etruscan)
God of ritual purification. He is very likely an early source for Febris, a later Roman Goddess associated with fevers and malaria. The month of February was the season of purificatory rites and the renewal of vows, and was named for the festival honoring the later Roman divinity.

Feronia (Etruscan)
Fertility Goddess associated with fire. There is some evidence to connect Her with Flora as well.

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

Fons
Any of a class of spirits controlling freshwater sources.

Fufluns (Etruscan)
God of natural growth in plants, animals, and humans. His cult was conflated with that of Bacchus to a large degree.

Fulgora
Goddess of Lightning.

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.

Haruspices (Etruscan)
An early Etrurian divinity of prophecy and the taking of omens. In later times, the names was preserved as Haruspex, a priest or diviner tasked with the interpretation of mantic signs, especially the reading of entrails in sacrificial victims.

Jana (Etruscan)
Consort of Janus, and Goddess of secrets, mysteries, and hidden things.

Janus (Etruscan)
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. His consort is Jana.

Juno
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.

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 tempermental and spontaneous than Jupiter.

Juterna
Goddess of hot springs, mineral baths, brooks and ponds. As such, She has healer aspects.

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

Kulmu (Etruscan)
Protector of tombs; He is always shown bearing shears and a torch.

The Lares (Etruscan)
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.

Latona
Goddess of Light, and a close Roman equivalent to the Greek Leto. She is the mother of Diana by Jupiter.

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.

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 cadeucus (a serpent entwinned 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 (Etruscan)
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 chthonic 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. In His origins, however, He seems to have been an independent Sabine divinity.

Salacia
Goddess of salt pans, salt-licks, salt water sources in general. She has some healer aspects.

Saturn (South Italian)
Originally an agricultural divinity, a special patron to labourers among grape vineyards, and associated with agrarian prosperity in general. He became identified with the Hellenic Kronos. as ruler of the universe in pre-Olympic times, supplanted by His son Jupiter. In Italian mythology, His spouse was Ops.

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. Also known as Volturnus.

Tina (Etruscan)
Chief God of the early Etruscan pantheon, and forming with Cupra and Minerva a sovereign triad. He wielded a lightning-bolt, and became synchretized with Jupiter in later times. There is some evidence to suggest a close connection as a source to Summanus.

Turan (Etruscan)
Goddess of love, often associated with Zirna.

Turms (Etruscan)
The early north Italian version of Mercurius.

Tushna (Etruscan)
An early north Italian version of Apollo.

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.

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 guarenteeing the health of the res publica. 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.

Voltumna (Etruscan)
Goddess associated with fertility and motherhood.

Vulcan (Etruscan)
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.

Zirna (Etruscan)
Goddess of the moon, and close companion to Turan.


Agrarian Deities

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.

Horta (Etruscan)
A Goddess associated with agriculture generally.

Imporcitor
The God presiding over the plowing of the fields; especially, the drawing of the furrow.

Insitor
The God presiding over the sowing of seed.

Lactanus
The God of crop vitality and growth.

Mellonia
Presiding Goddess of bee-keeping.

Messor
The God of the reaping and harvesting process.

Neptunus
The earliest version of Neptune, this Aspect is the presiding God of Irrigation and canals.

Nodotus
A Divinity of grain crops, specifically assigned to guard the health of the stalks. Not unsurprisingly, He also has patronage over straw and similar products.

Obarator
The God ruling over fertilization and seed production.

Ops (South Italian)
A Goddess of the harvest, She controls the growth of plants from seed to maturity. She was said to be the spouse of Saturn.

Pales
A Goddess of pastoral concerns, She is Guardian and Nurturer of the flocks and herds.

Pomona
Goddess of orchards and fruit-bearing trees.

Promitor
God of fruition and the coming-to-readiness for harvest of the crops.

Puta
The Goddess of pruning, trimming, and silviculture generally.

Redarator
God of the ploughing-under, the return of the fields to fallow after harvest.

Sarritor
A God governing the gathering of the harvest; specifically, the Patron of the carts hauling the harvest to the mills.

Spiniensis
A God of briar patches and thorn bushes; He is the Patron of the uprooting of same. He is thus an Aspect of an important process to the Roman mind, that of reducing the Wild to the Orderly.

Stercullus
The God of fertilization and the manuring of the crops.

Ubertas
Patron of agrarian wealth and plenty.

Tellus
An ancient Grain Goddess, often called Terra Mater (Earth-Mother), and responsible for crop growth and fertility. She has authority over the Dead, as well, and in that Aspect Her name was used to curse enemies; opponent armies were deemed Her legitimate sacrifice.

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.


Birth and Childhood Deities

Abeona and Adeona
Two Goddesses very closely linked; Abeona guides a child while leaving a room or condition, and Adeona performs the same office for children entering or beginning.

Alemona
The Goddess who protects the health and safety of the unborn.

Candelifera and Carmentia
Two closely associated Goddesses, Candelifera guides an unborn infant to Lucina and the experience of the childs first sight, while Carmentia is an oracular Goddess who pronounces a newborn's destiny based on what, in fact is the first thing they lay eyes upon.

Cunina
Goddess of the cradle, and Protectress of the nursery.

Decima and Nona
Two closely linked Goddesses who are guardians of the nine months of gestation.

Deverra and Intercidona
Two guardians of newborns, whose specific task is defence against malignant influence, especially magickal or spiritual.

Edusa
Goddess of nourishment, especially for infants.

Fabulinus
A God who governs the first words uttered by a toddler.

Lucina
An Aspect of Diana, Lucina is both a Spirit of midwivery as the Source of the first light seen by a newborn, and also Goddess of Moonlight and hence bringer of visions and phantasms..

Partula
Goddess of parturition

Pilumnus
Guardian God of an infant at the moment of birth.

Potina
Goddess of nourishment, specifically healthy liquids and drinks, in infants.

Rumina
Goddess of breast-feeding.

Vagitanus
The Guardian God ruling an infant's first sound after birth.

Volumna
A general guardian and tutelary of infancy and the nursery.


Conceptual Deities

Abundantia
Goddess of plenty and wealth.

Aequitas
Goddess of honesty and fairness in contracts and negotiations.

Clementia
Goddess of mildness and mercy.

Disciplina
Goddess of martial order and soldierly conduct.

Discordia
Goddess of confusion and unreasoning panic. Often conflated with the Hellenic Eris.

Faustitas
Goddess of benificence and fertility.

Fecunditas
Goddess of growth and fertility

Felicitas
Goddess of prosperity, especially agricultural.

Fides
God of trust, faith, and loyalty.

Fortuna
Goddess of luck and chance, often combined with the Hellenic Tyche. Not unsurprisingly, She is often imaged embracing Pluto. Note also the Celtic Nehalennia and the Anglo-Saxon Elen.

Fraus
Goddess of treachery and betrayals.

Honus
God of military honor, especially as exemplified by awards and recognition.

Justicia
Goddess of balanced agreement and justice. Sometimes equated with the Hellenic Dike.

Liberalitas
Goddess of generosity and social virtue.

Libertas
Goddess of freedom. She is always seen wearing a freedman's cap, as does the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, a figure which would be instantly recognizable to a Roman, and unremarkable save for sheer size.

Moneta
Goddess of wealth and fortune. An Aspect of Juno, as her temple was the site of the mint.

Pietas
Goddess of filial devotion and duty.

Providentia
Goddess of forethought.

Securita
Goddess of safety and stability.

Spes
Goddess of hope.

Tacita
Goddess of silence.

Victoria
Goddess of victory, especially in a martial sense. Sometimes equated with the Hellenic Nike..

Virtus
Goddess of Virtue and integrity.

Voluptas
Goddess of satisfaction, pleasure, and delight.


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