{{Short description|Roman god eventually identified with healing}} {{Redirect|Vedius|others with this name}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
'''Vejovis''' or '''Vejove''' ({{langx|la|Vēiovis}} or {{lang|la|Vēdiovis}}; rare {{lang|la|Vēive}} or {{lang|la|Vēdius}}) was a Roman god of Etruscan origins ({{langx|ett|rtl=yes|𐌔𐌉𐌕𐌄𐌅|'''Vetis'''}}, or {{langx|ett|label=none|rtl=yes|𐌔𐌉𐌅𐌉𐌄𐌅|'''Veivis'''}}).
==Representation and worship== {{Coin image box 1 double | header = | image =Image:Republican_denarius_-_C._Licinius_L.f._Macer.jpg | caption_left = '''O:''' Diademed bust of Vejovis hurling thunderbolt | caption_right = '''R:''' Minerva with javelin and shield riding quadriga C·LICINIUS·L·F / MACER | width = 350 | footer = Silver denarius struck in Rome 84 BC ref.: Licinia 16; sear5 #274; Cr354/1; Syd 732 | position = right | margin = 4 }}Vejovis was portrayed as a young man, holding a bunch of arrows (or lightning bolts), or a pilum, in his hand, and accompanied by a goat. Romans believed that Vejovis was one of the first gods to be born. He was a god of healing, and became associated with the Greek Asclepius.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=a5c1AAAAIAAJ&q=vediovis Roman Medicine By John Scarborough]</ref> He was mostly worshipped in Rome and Bovillae in Latium. On the Capitoline Hill and on the Tiber Island, temples were erected in his honour.<ref>The New Encyclopædia Britannica: in 30 volumes By Encyclopædia Britannica, Chicago University of, Encyclopædia Britannica Staff, Encyclopædia Britannica(ed.) [https://books.google.com/books?id=1BMrAAAAMAAJ&q=vediovis]</ref>
Though he was associated with volcanic eruptions, his original role and function is obscured to us.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=1u4LAAAAIAAJ&q=vediovis Classical Quarterly By Classical Association (Great Britain)]</ref> He is occasionally identified with Apollo and young Jupiter.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=-zlwiI7A734C&dq=vediovis&pg=PA106 The Cambridge History of Classical Literature By E. J. Kenney]</ref><ref>[http://www.novaroma.org/calendar/januarius.html#Vediovis Nova Roma: Calendar of Holidays and Festivals]</ref>
Aulus Gellius, in the ''Noctes Atticae'', written around 177 CE,<ref>Leofranc Holford-Strevens, "Towards a Chronology of Aulus Gellius", Latomus, 36 (1977), pp. 93–109</ref> speculated that Vejovis was an ill-omened counterpart of Jupiter; compare Summanus. Aulus Gellius observes that the particle ''ve-'' that prefixes the name of the god also appears in Latin words such as ''vesanus'', "insane," and thus interprets the name Vejovis as the anti-Jove.
===Temple=== He had a temple between the two peaks of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, where his statue carried a bundle of arrows and stood next to a statue of a she-goat.
===Sacrifices=== In spring, multiple goats were sacrificed to him to avert plagues. Gellius informs us that Vejovis received the sacrifice of a female goat, sacrificed ''ritu humano'' <ref>Aulus Gellius, ''Noctes Atticae'', [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/gellius/gellius5.shtml#12]</ref> (lit. "by human rite"); this obscure phrase could possibly mean "after the manner of a human sacrifice" or "in the manner of a burial."<ref>Adkins and Adkins, ''Dictionary of Roman Religion'' (Facts On File, 1996) {{ISBN|0-8160-3005-7}}</ref> These offerings were less about the animal sacrificed and more about the soul sacrificed.
==Festivals== Vejovis had three festivals in the Roman Calendar: on 1 January, 7 March, and 21 May.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=CPG_4CpoWfUC&dq=vediovis&pg=PA207 The Nature of the Gods By Marcus Tullius Cicero]</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Roman religion}}{{Ancient Roman medicine}}{{Authority control}}
Category:Roman gods Category:Etruscan gods Category:Sabine gods Category:Vengeance gods Category:Underworld gods Category:Health gods Category:Asclepius Category:Plague gods Category:Jovian deities Category:Epithets of Śuri