# Carmenta

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{{Short description|Roman goddess of childbirth and prophecy}}
{{for|the lepidopteran genus|Carmenta (moth)}}
{{Infobox deity
| type         = Roman
| name         = Carmenta
| deity_of     =Goddess of childbirth and prophecy, protector of mothers and children, patron of midwives, inventor of the alphabet
| member_of    = the [Camenae](/source/Camenae)
| image        = Nycostrata - Les vies des femmes célèbres d'Antoine Dufour.jpg
| alt          = <!-- for alternate text of the title image per [WP:ALT](/source/WP%3AALT) -->
| caption      = Nicostrata-Carmenta inventing the [Latin alphabet](/source/Latin_alphabet) (Antoine Dufour, 1504)
| other_names  = Nicostrate
| cult_center  =a shrine near the [Porta Carmentalis](/source/Porta_Carmentalis)
| consort      =  
| parents      = 
| siblings     = 
| offspring    = [Evander of Pallantium](/source/Evander_of_Pallantium)
| predecessor  =
| successor    =
| mount        = 
| gender       =female
| Greek_equivalent            =  
| festivals    = [Carmentalia](/source/Carmentalia)
}}
{{more footnotes|date=March 2013}}
thumb|200px|'''Carmenta''' as Nicostrate/Nicostrata
In [ancient Roman religion](/source/Religion_in_ancient_Rome) and [myth](/source/Roman_mythology), '''Carmenta''' (Greek) or '''Carmentis''' (Latin)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Samuel Ball Platner, Thomas Ashby, A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, CARMENTIS |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0054:entry=carmentis&highlight=carmenta |access-date=2025-05-01 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> was a goddess of childbirth and [prophecy](/source/prophecy), associated with technological innovation, specifically, the invention or adaptation of the [Latin alphabet](/source/Latin_alphabet)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Archive |first=History |title=Language {{!}} Latin Alphabet |url=https://romanhistory.org/language/latin-alphabet |access-date=2025-06-12 |website=History Archive |language=en}}</ref> as well as the protection of mothers and children and a patron of [midwives](/source/midwife).

==Background==
thumb|Porta Carmentalis (at location 12)

The name Carmenta is generally derived from the Latin carmen, meaning a spell, oracle, or song, a term that is also the root of the English word “charm.” Her original name was '''Nicostrate''' ({{Langx|el|Νικοστράτη}}, "victory-army"), but it was changed later to honor her renown for giving oracles (Latin singular: ''carmen''). She was the mother of [Evander of Pallene](/source/Evander_of_Pallene) (fathered by [Hermes](/source/Hermes))<ref>{{Cite book |last=[Livy](/source/Livy) |title=[Ab Urbe Condita](/source/History_of_Rome_(Livy)) |volume=i |pages=7}}</ref> and, along with other Greek followers, they founded the town of [Pallantium](/source/Pallantium) which later was one of the sites of the start of Rome. [Gaius Julius Hyginus](/source/Gaius_Julius_Hyginus) (''Fab. 277'') mentions the legend that it was she who altered fifteen letters of the [Greek alphabet](/source/Greek_alphabet) to become the Latin alphabet which her son Evander introduced into [Latium](/source/Latium).
Carmenta was one of the [Camenae](/source/Camenae) and the [Cimmerian Sibyl](/source/Cimmerian_Sibyl). The leader of her cult was called the ''flamen carmentalis''.

It was forbidden to wear [leather](/source/leather) or other forms of dead skin in her temple, which was next to the [Porta Carmentalis](/source/Porta_Carmentalis), and close to the [Theater of Marcellus](/source/Theatre_of_Marcellus) in [Rome](/source/Rome%2C_Italy).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brandt |first=J. Rasmus |url=https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=1z6HgqVSQ-wC&oi=fnd&pg=PA289&dq=carmenta+temple&ots=j7B4-c2yTU&sig=r5GAn9zdBY_un5QxwtBvInsQhtM#v=onepage&q=carmenta%20temple&f=false |title=Greek and Roman Festivals: Content, Meaning, and Practice |last2=Iddeng |first2=Jon W. |date=2012-08-30 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-969609-3 |language=en}}</ref> Her festival, called the [Carmentalia](/source/Carmentalia), was celebrated primarily by women on January 11 and January 15. She is remembered in ''[De Mulieribus Claris](/source/De_Mulieribus_Claris)'', a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the [Florentine](/source/Florence) author [Giovanni Boccaccio](/source/Giovanni_Boccaccio), composed in 1361{{endash}}62. It is notable as the first collection devoted exclusively to biographies of women in Western literature.<ref name="Brown_xi">{{cite book |last=Boccaccio |first=Giovanni |author-link=Giovanni Boccaccio |year=2003 |translator=Virginia Brown |title=Famous Women |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, MA |series=I Tatti Renaissance Library |volume=1 |isbn=0-674-01130-9| page=xi}}</ref>

==See also==
*[Theodontius](/source/Theodontius)

==References==
{{Reflist}}
===Primary sources===
*Ovid, ''Fasti i.461-542''
*Servius, ''In Aeneida viii.51''
*Solinus, ''Collectanea rerum memorabilium i.10, 13''

===Secondary sources===
*The Dictionary of Classical Mythology by Pierre Grimal, page 89 "Carmenta"
*The Book of the City of Ladies, by Christine de Pizan, section I.33.2
*The Lincoln Beacon, Lincoln, Kansas, United States of America "Carmenta" 16 September 1880.

==External links==
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20000824023137/http://www.paralumun.com/mythroman.htm Roman Mythology]}}
*[http://www.unrv.com/culture/minor-roman-god-list.php List of Minor Roman Gods]
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090627061227/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0598.html Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, page 589 (v. 1)]}}

{{Roman religion}}

Category:Childhood goddesses
Category:Creators of writing systems
Category:Oracular goddesses
Category:Roman goddesses

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Carmenta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmenta) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmenta?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.