List of Roman agricultural deities

{{Redirect|Rusina|the genus of moth|Rusina (moth)}} {{Ancient Roman religion}}  In ancient Roman religion, '''agricultural deities''' were thought to care for every aspect of growing, harvesting, and storing crops. Preeminent among these are such major deities as Ceres and Saturn, but a large number of the many Roman deities known by name either supported farming or were devoted solely to a specific agricultural function.

From 272 to 264 BC, four temples were dedicated separately to the agricultural deities Consus, Tellus, Pales, and Vortumnus. The establishment of four such temples within a period of eight years indicates a high degree of concern for stabilizing and developing the productivity of Italy following the Pyrrhic War.<ref>William Warde Fowler, ''The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic'' (London, 1908), pp. 340–341.</ref>

==Varro, ''De re rustica''== At the beginning of his treatise on farming, Varro<ref>Varro, ''De re rustica'' 1.1.4–6.</ref> gives a list of twelve deities who are vital to agriculture. These make up a conceptual or theological grouping, and are not known to have received cult collectively. They are: *Jupiter-Tellus *Sol-Luna *Ceres-Liber *Robigus-Flora *Minerva-Venus *Lympha-Bonus Eventus

==Vergil, ''Georgics''== In his ''Georgics'', a collection of poetry on agrarian themes, Vergil gives a list influenced by literary Hellenization and Augustan ideology:<ref>Vergil, ''Georgics'' 1.5–20.</ref> [[File:Tellus - Ara Pacis.jpg|thumb|left|Allegorical scene with Roman deities from the Augustan Altar of Peace]] *Sol-Luna<ref>''Clarissima mundi lumina''</ref> *Liber-Ceres *Fauni-Dryads *Neptune *Aristaeus<ref>''Cultor nemorum''.</ref> *Pan-Minerva *Triptolemus<ref>''Unci puer monstrator aratri''.</ref> *Silvanus The poet proposes that the ''divus'' Julius Caesar be added as a thirteenth.

==''Indigitamenta''== ===Ceres' helper gods=== Twelve specialized gods known only by name are invoked for the "cereal rite" ''(sacrum cereale)'' in honor of Ceres and Tellus.<ref>Ceres' twelveassistant deities are listed by Servius, note to ''Georgics'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text;jsessionid=523229FBA11D272BC5DFB4D8E5EFD351?doc=Serv.+G.+1.21&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2007.01.0092 1.21], as cited in Barbette Stanley Spaeth, ''The Roman Goddess Ceres'' (University of Texas Press, 1996), p. 36. Servius cites the historian Fabius Pictor (late 3rd century BC) as his source.</ref> The twelve are all male, with names formed from the agent suffix ''-tor''. Although their gender indicates that they are not aspects of the two goddesses who were the main recipients of the ''sacrum,'' their names are "mere appellatives" for verbal functions.<ref>Michael Lipka, ''Roman Gods: A Conceptual Approach'' (Brill, 2009), p. 69.</ref> The rite was held just before the Feriae Sementivae. W.H. Roscher lists these deities among the ''indigitamenta'', lists of names kept by the pontiffs for invoking specific divine functions.<ref>Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher, ''Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie'' (Leipzig: Teubner, 1890–94), vol. 2, pt. 1, pp. 187–233.</ref>

* '''Vervactor''', "He who ploughs"<ref name=":1">{{cite book|last1=Price|first1=Simon|last2=Beard|first2=Mary|last3=North|first3=John|title=A history|date=1999|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=9780521316828|page=11}}</ref> * '''Reparator''', "He who prepares the earth" * '''Imporcitor''', "He who ploughs with a wide furrow"<ref name=":1"/> * '''Insitor''', "He who plants seeds" * '''Obarator''', "He who traces the first ploughing" * '''Occator''', "He who harrows" * '''Serritor''', "He who digs" * '''Subruncinator''', "He who weeds" * '''Messor''', "He who reaps" * '''Conuector''' (Convector), "He who carries the grain" * '''Conditor''', "He who stores the grain" * '''Promitor''', "He who distributes the grain"

===Other ''indigitamenta''=== The names of other specialized agricultural gods are preserved in scattered sources.<ref>As listed by Hermann Usener, ''Götternamen'' (Bonn, 1896), pp. 76–77, unless otherwise noted.</ref> * '''Rusina''' is a goddess of the fields (from Latin ''rus, ruris''; cf. English "rural" and "rustic").<ref name=":0">Augustine, ''De Civitate Dei'' 4.8.</ref> * '''Rusor''' is invoked with '''Altor''' by the pontiffs in a sacrifice to the earth deities Tellus and Tellumo. In interpreting the god's function, Varro derives ''Rusor'' from ''rursus'', "again," because of the cyclical nature of agriculture.<ref>Varro as cited by Augustine, ''De Civitate Dei'' 7.23; Roscher, ''Ausführliches Lexikon,'' p. 219.</ref> As a matter of linguistics, the name is likely to derive from either the root ''ru-'', as in Rumina, the breastfeeding goddess (perhaps from ''ruma,'' "teat"),<ref>S.P. Oakley, ''A Commentary on Livy, Books 6–10'' (Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 264.</ref> or ''rus, ruris'' as the male counterpart of Rusina.<ref>Roscher, ''Ausführliches Lexikon,'' p. 219.</ref> ''Altor'' is an agent god from the verb ''alo, alere, altus'', "to grow, nurture, nourish". According to Varro, he received ''res divina'' because "all things which are born are nourished from the earth".<ref>As preserved by Augustine, ''De Civitate Dei'' 7.23: ''quod ex terra, inquit, aluntur omnia quae nata sunt''; Roscher, ''Ausführliches Lexikon'', p. 192.</ref> * '''Sator''' (from the same root as ''Insitor'' above), the "sower" god.<ref>Servius, note to ''Georgics'' 1.21: "a satione Sator," "Sator [is named] from [the act of] sowing."</ref> * '''Seia''', goddess who protects the seed once sown in the earth; also as Fructesea, compounded with ''fructus'', "produce, fruit"<ref>Augustine, ''De Civitate Dei'' 4.21.</ref> * '''Segesta''', goddess who promotes the growth of the seedling. * '''Hostilina''', goddess who makes grain grow evenly.<ref>Name known only from Augustine, ''De civitate Dei'' 4.8, where it is derived from an Old Latin verb ''hostire'' "to make even".</ref> * '''Lactans'''<ref>As named only by Servius, note to ''Georgics'' 1.315, citing Varro: ''sane Varro in libris divinarum dicit deum esse Lactantem, qui se infundit segetibus et eas facit lactescere.''</ref> or '''Lacturnus''',<ref>As named by Augustine, ''De Civitate Dei'' 4.8; Roscher, ''Ausführliches Lexikon'', vol. 2, pt. 1, p. 201, suggests the two names probably refer to the same divine entity.</ref> god who infuses crops with "milk" (sap or juice). * '''Volutina''', goddess who induces "envelopes" (''involumenta'') or leaf sheaths to form.<ref>Named only by Augustine, De civitate Dei, 4. 8.</ref> * '''Nodutus''', god who causes the "knot" (Latin ''nodus''<ref>From ''*nōdo-'' PIE ''*ned-'', "to bind, tie".{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}</ref>) or node to form. * '''Patelana''' (''Patelena, Patella''), goddess who opens up ''(pateo, patere)'' the grain, possibly in reference to the emergence of the flag leaf.<ref name=":0"/> * '''Runcina''' (as in ''Subruncinator'' above), the weeder goddess, or a goddess of mowing.<ref name=":0"/> * '''Messia''', the female equivalent of ''Messor'' the reaper, and associated with Tutelina. * '''Noduterensis''' (compare ''Nodutus'')<ref>Arnobius 4.7; Turcan, ''The Gods of Ancient Rome,'' p. 38.</ref> or '''Terensis''', the god of threshing * '''Tutelina''' (also ''Tutulina'' or ''Tutilina''), a goddess who watches over the stored grain.<ref>Augustine, ''De Civitate Dei'' 4.8; Tertullian, ''De spectaculis'' 8.</ref> * '''Sterquilinus''' (also as ''Sterces, Stercutus, Sterculus, Sterculinus''), who manures the fields.

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roman agricultural deities}} *Agricultural Category:Agriculture-related lists Deities, agricultural