Rumina

For other uses, see Rumina (disambiguation).

In ancient Roman religion, Rumina, Rumilia or Rumia, ^[1] also known as Diva Rumina, was a goddess who protected breastfeeding mothers, and possibly nursing infants. Her domain extended to protecting animal mothers, not just human ones. As one of the indigitamenta , Rumina lacked the elaborate mythology and personality of later Roman deities, and was instead a more abstract, numinous entity.

Rumina's temple was near the Ficus Ruminalis , the fig tree at the foot of the Palatine Hill where Romulus and Remus were raised by a she-wolf. Milk, rather than the typical wine, was offered as a sacrifice at this temple. In AD 58, the tree started to die, which was interpreted as a bad omen.

References

1. Rumina ^[usurped] in William Smith, A dictionary of greek and roman antiquities III, London, Murray, 1895.

• Hammond, N.G.L. & Scullard, H.H. (Eds.) (1970). The Oxford Classical Dictionary (p. 940). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN   0-19-869117-3.