Vegoia (Etruscan: Vecu) is a sibyl, prophet, or nymph within the Etruscan religious framework who is identified as the author of parts of their large and complex set of sacred books, detailing the religiously correct methods of founding cities and shrines, draining fields, formulating laws and ordinances, measuring space and dividing time; she initiated the Etruscan people to the arts, as originating the rules and rituals of land marking, and as presiding over the observance, respect, and preservation of boundaries. Vegoia also is known as Vecu, Vecui, and Vecuvia, [1] as well as Vegoe; her name is also given as Begoe or Bigois.
The Etruscan religious system remains mostly obscure. There being few bilingual documents comparable to the Rosetta Stone that could facilitate translation, the Etruscan language is poorly understood. Therefore, the existing ancient Etruscan documents of the eighth, seventh, and sixth centuries BCE that would reveal their religious concepts, do not yield much. Moreover, during the later period of the fifth through the first centuries BCE, Etruscan civilization heavily absorbed elements of Greek civilization and eventually, it was diluted in the Greco-Roman cultural mix with their powerful Roman neighbors. Lastly, while the Etruscans formalized their religious concepts and practices in a series of "sacred books", most no longer exist and they are known only through commentaries or quotes by Roman authors of the late first century, [lower-alpha 1] and hence, may be biased.
Two mythological figures have been set by the Etruscans as presiding over the writing of their sacred books: Vegoia, the subject of this article, and Tages, a monstrous childlike figure gifted with the knowledge and prescience of an ancient sage. Those books are known from Latin authors under a classification pertaining to their content according to their mythological author (whether delivered through speeches or lectures, such as Tages, or inspiration). [3] [lower-alpha 2]
The figure of Vegoia is almost entirely blurred in the mists of the past. She is known mostly from the traditions of the Etruscan city of Chiusi (Latin: Clusium; Etruscan: Clevsin; Umbrian: Camars) (now in the province of Siena). The revelations of the prophetess Vegoia are designated as the Libri Vegoici that included the Libri Fulgurales and part of the Libri Rituales, especially the Libri Fatales.
She is barely designated as a "nymph" and as the author of the Libri Fulgurales, [5] that give the keys to interpreting the meaning of lightning strokes sent by the deities using a cartography of the sky that, as a sort of property division and use assignment, is attributed to Vegoia. [6] : 25 Her assignment of sectors of the horizon to various deities is paralleled in the microcosm that is interpreted using the liver of a sacrificed animal. The sacred divisions also seem to have a correspondence in the measurement and division of land that, since the very dawn of Etruscan history, obeyed religious rules. [6] : 13 Her dictates taught the correct methods of measuring space. [lower-alpha 3]
Vegoia also was depicted as lording over the observation of these rules, to be upheld under threat of dire woe or malediction. [6] : 13 Thus, she was established as the power presiding over land property and land property rights, laws, and contracts (as distinct from commercial contract laws).
She also is indicated as having established the laws relative to hydraulic works, [6] : 4 thus having a special relationship to "tamed" water.
This imposing system of "revealing" and "sacred texts" left a significant imprint on the neighboring Italic peoples. There is ample evidence of the Etruscan culture having heavily permeated the less-advanced communities of their Latin and Sabine neighbours. For example, the Etruscan alphabet that was derived from the Greek one, is solidly established as having inspired the Latin alphabet. The principles and structural rules of the Etruscan decimal numeral system, likewise, are recognized as the origin of the Roman numerals that are a simplified version of the Etruscan system. Similarly derived are the symbols of supreme power (see Etruscan civilization), the structure of the Roman calendar, [lower-alpha 4] and the Etruscan Craeci is the source for the word "Greeks" (who self-identified as Hellenes), etc. [8]
While the Roman religion has precious little written basis, they nonetheless had a very abstruse set of texts known as the Sibylline Books that were under the exclusive control of special religious figures, the duumviri (then decemviri). The books were resorted to solely in times of ultimate crisis. The devolution of these "sacred books" to the Romans through a rocambolesque scene, was attributed to an Etruscan, Tarquinius Superbus, the last of the legendary kings of Rome. Hence, their relationship to Vegoia.
Likewise, one may suspect that the legend of Egeria is related to Vegoia. Egeria is the name of the nymph who inspired the second legendary king of Rome, Numa Pompilius (in Latin, "numen" designates "the expressed will of a deity"), [2] : 47 who succeeded its founder, Romulus, when she dictated to him the rules that established the original framework of laws and rituals of Rome that also are associated with "sacred books".
Numa is reputed to have written down the teachings of Egeria in "sacred books" that he caused to be buried with him. According to Plutarch, when a chance accident brought them back to light some 500 years later, the books were deemed by the Roman Senate to be inappropriate for disclosure to the people and they ordered that the books be destroyed. [9] What made these sacred books 'inappropriate' was certainly of a "political" nature, but precisely what that was, had not been handed down by Valerius Antias, the source that Plutarch was using. However, sacred books were the source used to interpret the abstruse omens of deities (episode of the omen from Faunus [2] : 377 ). Sacred books also were associated with beneficial water, which also would have been linked to Vegoia.
The Etruscan civilization was an ancient civilization created by the Etruscans, a people who inhabited Etruria in ancient Italy, with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, roughly what is now Tuscany, western Umbria, and northern Lazio, as well as what are now the Po Valley, Emilia-Romagna, south-eastern Lombardy, southern Veneto, and western Campania.
Jupiter, also known as Jove, is the god of the sky and thunder, and king of the gods in ancient Roman religion and mythology. Jupiter was the chief deity of Roman state religion throughout the Republican and Imperial eras, until Christianity became the dominant religion of the Empire. In Roman mythology, he negotiates with Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, to establish principles of Roman religion such as offering, or sacrifice.
Numa Pompilius was the legendary second king of Rome, succeeding Romulus after a one-year interregnum. He was of Sabine origin, and many of Rome's most important religious and political institutions are attributed to him, such as the Roman calendar, Vestal Virgins, the cult of Mars, the cult of Jupiter, the cult of Romulus, and the office of pontifex maximus.
In ancient Roman religion, the diiNovensiles or Novensides are collective deities of obscure significance found in inscriptions, prayer formulary, and both ancient and early-Christian literary texts.
Etruscan religion comprises a set of stories, beliefs, and religious practices of the Etruscan civilization, heavily influenced by the mythology of ancient Greece, and sharing similarities with concurrent Roman mythology and religion. As the Etruscan civilization was gradually assimilated into the Roman Republic from the 4th century BC, the Etruscan religion and mythology were partially incorporated into ancient Roman culture, following the Roman tendency to absorb some of the local gods and customs of conquered lands. The first attestations of an Etruscan religion can be traced back to the Villanovan culture.
Aita, also spelled Eita, is an epithet of the Etruscan chthonic fire god Śuri as god of the underworld, roughly equivalent to the Greek god Hades.
Tages was claimed as a founding prophet of Etruscan religion who is known from reports by Latin authors of the late Roman Republic and Roman Empire. He revealed a cosmic view of divinity and correct methods of ascertaining divine will concerning events of public interest. Such divination was undertaken in Roman society by priestly officials called haruspices.
In Etruscan mythology, Voltumna or Veltha was the chthonic deity, who became the supreme god of the Etruscan pantheon, the deus Etruriae princeps, according to Varro. Voltumna's cult was centered in Volsini, a city of the Etruscan civilization of central Italy. Voltumna is shown with contrasting characteristics, such as a maleficent monster, a chthonic vegetation god of uncertain sex, or a mighty war god.
Neptune is the god of freshwater and the sea in the Roman religion. He is the counterpart of the Greek god Poseidon. In the Greek-inspired tradition, he is a brother of Jupiter and Pluto, with whom he presides over the realms of heaven, the earthly world, and the seas. Salacia is his wife.
A flamen was a priest of the ancient Roman religion who was assigned to one of fifteen deities with official cults during the Roman Republic. The most important of these were the three flamines maiores, who served the important Roman gods Jupiter, Mars, and Quirinus. The remaining twelve were the flamines minores. Two of the minores served deities whose names are now unknown; among the others are deities about whom little is known other than the name. During the Imperial era, the cult of a deified emperor also had a flamen.
In Roman religion, Terminus was the god who protected boundary markers; his name was the Latin word for such a marker. Sacrifices were performed to sanctify each boundary stone, and landowners celebrated a festival called the "Terminalia" in Terminus' honor each year on February 23. The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill was thought to have been built over a shrine to Terminus, and he was occasionally identified as an aspect of Jupiter under the name "Jupiter Terminalis".
Juno was an ancient Roman goddess, the protector and special counsellor of the state. She was equated to Hera, queen of the gods in Greek mythology and a goddess of love and marriage. A daughter of Saturn and Ops, she was the sister and wife of Jupiter and the mother of Mars, Vulcan, Bellona, Lucina and Juventas. Like Hera, her sacred animal was the peacock. Her Etruscan counterpart was Uni, and she was said to also watch over the women of Rome. As the patron goddess of Rome and the Roman Empire, Juno was called Regina ("Queen") and was a member of the Capitoline Triad, centered on the Capitoline Hill in Rome, and also including Jupiter, and Minerva, goddess of wisdom.
Egeria was a nymph attributed a legendary role in the early history of Rome as a divine consort and counselor of Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, to whom she imparted laws and rituals pertaining to ancient Roman religion. Her name is used as an eponym for a female advisor or counselor.
The vocabulary of ancient Roman religion was highly specialized. Its study affords important information about the religion, traditions and beliefs of the ancient Romans. This legacy is conspicuous in European cultural history in its influence on later juridical and religious vocabulary in Europe, particularly of the Christian Church. This glossary provides explanations of concepts as they were expressed in Latin pertaining to religious practices and beliefs, with links to articles on major topics such as priesthoods, forms of divination, and rituals.
Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans, and is a form of Roman folklore. "Roman mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these representations, and to the subject matter as represented in the literature and art of other cultures in any period. Roman mythology draws from the mythology of the Italic peoples and shares mythemes with Proto-Indo-European mythology.
Satre or Satres was an Etruscan god who appears on the Liver of Piacenza, a bronze model used for haruspicy. He occupies the dark and negative northwest region, and seems to be a "frightening and dangerous god who hurls his lightning from his abode deep in the earth." It is possible that Satre is also referred to with the word "satrs" in the Liber Linteus, the Etruscan text preserved in Ptolemaic Egypt as mummy wrappings.
In ancient Roman religion, the October Horse was an animal sacrifice to Mars carried out on October 15, coinciding with the end of the agricultural and military campaigning season. The rite took place during one of three horse-racing festivals held in honor of Mars, the others being the two Equirria on February 27 and March 14.
Śuri, Latinized as Soranus, was an ancient Etruscan infernal, volcanic and solar fire god, also venerated by other Italic peoples – among them Capenates, Faliscans, Latins and Sabines – and later adopted into ancient Roman religion.
Tarquitius Priscus was a Roman writer of Etruscan heritage, known for works on the etrusca disciplina, the body of knowledge pertaining to Etruscan religion and cosmology.
libri ... Begoes nymphae, quae artem scripserat fulguritarum apud Tuscos.