{{Short description|Roman goddess}}'''Lua''' ({{langx|la|Lūa}}) was a minor goddess in Roman religion, associated with the god Saturn and the burning of enemy weapons.<ref name="daly">{{Cite book |last1=Daly |first1=Kathleen N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c7cNB-JaZA8C&dq=Lua+Mater&pg=PA88 |title=Greek and Roman Mythology, A to Z |last2=Rengel |first2=Marian |publisher=Infobase Publishing |year=2009 |isbn=978-1438128009 |page=88 |accessdate=2014-07-05}}</ref><ref>[https://latinlexicon.org/definition.php?p1=2033430&p2=l Lua, Latin Dictionary]</ref><ref>Forisek, Péter. "[https://akjournals.com/view/journals/068/43/1-2/article-p107.xml An Extraordinary Military Sacrifice in Florus? A Note on Florus, Epitome II. 24]." ''Acta Antiqua'' 43.1-2 (2003): 107-112.</ref> Little is known about her; there are no surviving images depicting her, nor any archaeological evidence of temples, rituals, or cults.
== Name == The exact origins of Lua's name are not known. It may be connected to the Greek verb ''luō'' meaning "to release" or "to atone;" the Latin verb ''luere'': "to suffer," or "to make amends for;" or the Latin ''lues'', meaning "plague."<ref name=":0">Holland, Lora L. "Lua." ''The Encyclopedia of Ancient History'' (2013).</ref><ref>Rose, Herbert J. "[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/classical-review/article/abs/lua-mater-fire-rust-and-war-in-early-roman-cult/43CF98EEF26F31736480AEA8AE67E066 Lua Mater: Fire, Rust, and War in Early Roman Cult]." ''The Classical Review'' 36.1-2 (1922): 15-18.</ref>
== Functions == The Roman historian Livy mentioned Lua twice in his ''Ab Urbe Condita''. After the Volscians were defeated by the Romans in battle, they fled the area, leaving behind their dead and a large amount of weapons. The Roman consul had his troops gather the Volscians' weapons, and he offered them to ''Lua Mater'' ("Mother Lua").<ref>Livy, ''The History of Rome'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0026%3Abook%3D8%3Achapter%3D1 8.1]</ref> Later in the text, Livy wrote that, after an enemy's weapons were collected, they had to be burned as an offering to Mars, Minerva, and ''Lua Mater''.<ref>Livy, ''Ab Urbe Condita'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0144%3Abook%3D45%3Achapter%3D33 45.33]
"Then the commander offered up prayers to Mars and Minerva and Lua Mater and the other deities to whom the spoils taken from the enemy must be solemnly dedicated."</ref> The use of the epithet ''Mater'' for female deities was common, and does not necessarily mean that Lua was conceived of as a mother goddess.<ref>Wilson, Harry Langford. "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/288382 A New Italic Divinity]." ''The American Journal of Philology'' 28.4 (1907): 450-455.</ref>
The goddess was also called ''Lua Saturni'' ("Lua of Saturn"). Both Varro and Gellius directly associated her with Saturn, with Gellius comparing their relationship to those of Salacia and Neptune and Maia and Vulcan.<ref>Gellius, ''Attic Nights'' XIII, [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL195/1927/volume.xml 480-481]</ref><ref>Varro, ''On the Latin Language VII''I, [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL334/1938/volume.xml 399-400]</ref> In this context, ''Lua Saturni'' embodied a characteristic or function of Saturn,<ref>Demicheli, Dino. "[https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/42310 Altar of the goddess Salacia from Trogir]." ''Opvscvla archaeologica'' 31.1 (2007): 69-80.</ref> but scholars are not in agreement over what this function was. It has been hypothesized that she may have embodied Saturn's ability to cause reproductive sterility,<ref name=":0" /> his destructive capabilities,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Briquel |first=D. |author-link=Dominique Briquel |year=1981 |title=Jupiter, Saturn et le Capitol. Essai de comparaison indoeuropéenne |journal=Revue de l' histoire des religions |volume=198 |issue=2 |pages=131–162 |doi=10.3406/rhr.1981.4889}}</ref> or his association with seed germination. Using the potentially related Greek verb ''luō'' ("to release"), Dutch classicist H.S. Versnel proposes that ''Lua Saturni'' "freed" the grain supply that Saturn had stowed under the earth, opening it for human use.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Versnel, Hendrik Simon. ''Inconsistencies in Greek and Roman Religion: Transition and Reversal in Myth and Ritual. Tome II''. Vol. 2. Brill, 1990.</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
Category:Roman goddesses Category:War goddesses