Vervactor

Last updated
Vervactor
Minor god of Fields
God of ploughing

In Roman mythology, Vervactor was the deity of ploughing fallow land. [1] [2] He was one of the 12 helper gods of Ceres. [3] His name was invoked during the Cerealia, along with the other 11 helper gods of Ceres. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ceres (mythology)</span> Roman goddess of agriculture

In ancient Roman religion, Ceres was a goddess of agriculture, grain crops, fertility and motherly relationships. She was originally the central deity in Rome's so-called plebeian or Aventine Triad, then was paired with her daughter Proserpina in what Romans described as "the Greek rites of Ceres". Her seven-day April festival of Cerealia included the popular Ludi Ceriales. She was also honoured in the May lustration (lustratio) of the fields at the Ambarvalia festival: at harvest-time: and during Roman marriages and funeral rites. She is usually depicted as a mature woman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liber</span> Roman God

In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Liber, also known as Liber Pater, was a god of viticulture and wine, male fertility and freedom. He was a patron deity of Rome's plebeians and was part of their Aventine Triad. His festival of Liberalia became associated with free speech and the rights attached to coming of age. His cult and functions were increasingly associated with Romanised forms of the Greek Dionysus/Bacchus, whose mythology he came to share.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luna (goddess)</span> Roman goddess of the Moon

In Sabine and ancient Roman religion and myth, Luna is the divine embodiment of the Moon. She is often presented as the female complement of the Sun, Sol, conceived of as a god. Luna is also sometimes represented as an aspect of the Roman triple goddess, along with Diana and either Proserpina or Hecate. Luna is not always a distinct goddess, but sometimes rather an epithet that specializes a goddess, since both Diana and Juno are identified as moon goddesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dea Dia</span> Roman goddess of fertility

Dea Dia was a goddess of fertility and growth in ancient Roman religion. She was sometimes identified with Ceres, and sometimes with her Greek equivalent Demeter.

In Roman mythology Imporcitor was the deity of ploughing land with a wide furrow. He was one of the twelve helper gods of Ceres. He is also labeled as the maker of pigs. His name was invoked during the Cerealia, along with the other eleven helper gods of Ceres.

In Roman mythology, Reparator was the deity of the preparing fallow land for crops. He was one of the twelve helper gods of Ceres. His name was invoked during the Cerealia, along with the other eleven helper gods of Ceres.

In Roman mythology, Saritor was the god of hoeing and weeding. His name was invoked during the Cerealia, along with the other 11 helper gods of Ceres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">College of Pontiffs</span> High priests of ancient Rome

The College of Pontiffs was a body of the ancient Roman state whose members were the highest-ranking priests of the state religion. The college consisted of the pontifex maximus and the other pontifices, the rex sacrorum, the fifteen flamens, and the Vestals. The College of Pontiffs was one of the four major priestly colleges; originally their responsibility was limited to supervising both public and private sacrifices, but as time passed their responsibilities increased. The other colleges were the augures, the quindecimviri sacris faciundis , and the epulones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twelve Olympians</span> Major deities of the Greek pantheon

In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the twelve Olympians are the major deities of the Greek pantheon, commonly considered to be Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, Aphrodite, Athena, Artemis, Apollo, Ares, Hephaestus, Hermes, and either Hestia or Dionysus. They were called Olympians because, according to tradition, they resided on Mount Olympus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terra (mythology)</span> The personification of the Earth in ancient Roman religion and mythology

In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Tellus Mater or Terra Mater is the personification of the Earth. Although Tellus and Terra are hardly distinguishable during the Imperial era, Tellus was the name of the original earth goddess in the religious practices of the Republic or earlier. The scholar Varro (1st century BC) lists Tellus as one of the di selecti, the twenty principal gods of Rome, and one of the twelve agricultural deities. She is regularly associated with Ceres in rituals pertaining to the earth and agricultural fertility.

<i>Interpretatio graeca</i> Methodology for cultural comparison

Interpretatio graeca, or "interpretation by means of Greek [models]", refers to the tendency of the ancient Greeks to identify foreign deities with their own gods. It is a discourse used to interpret or attempt to understand the mythology and religion of other cultures; a comparative methodology using ancient Greek religious concepts and practices, deities, and myths, equivalencies, and shared characteristics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mars (mythology)</span> Roman god of war, guardian of agriculture

In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Mars is the god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He is the son of Jupiter and Juno, and was pre-eminent among the Roman army's military gods. Most of his festivals were held in March, the month named for him, and in October, the months which traditionally began and ended the season for both military campaigning and farming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greek mythology</span> Myths of ancient Greece

Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories concern the ancient Greek religion's view of the origin and nature of the world; the lives and activities of deities, heroes, and mythological creatures; and the origins and significance of the ancient Greeks' cult and ritual practices. Modern scholars study the myths to shed light on the religious and political institutions of ancient Greece, and to better understand the nature of myth-making itself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glossary of ancient Roman religion</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aventine Triad</span>

The Aventine Triad is a modern term for the joint cult of the Roman deities Ceres, Liber and Libera. The cult was established c. 493 BC within a sacred district (templum) on or near the Aventine Hill, traditionally associated with the Roman plebs. Later accounts describe the temple building and rites as "Greek" in style. Some modern historians describe the Aventine Triad as a plebeian parallel and self-conscious antithesis to the Archaic Triad of Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus and the later Capitoline Triad of Jupiter, Minerva and Juno. The Aventine Triad, temple and associated ludi served as a focus of plebeian identity, sometimes in opposition to Rome's original ruling elite, the patricians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman mythology</span> Traditional stories pertaining to ancient Romes legendary origins and religious system

Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. One of a wide variety of genres 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 ultimately from Proto-Indo-European mythology.

Insitor was, in Ancient Roman religion, a minor agricultural deity involved with the sowing of crops. His name was invoked during the Cerealia, along with the other 11 helper gods of Ceres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hercules in ancient Rome</span>

In ancient Roman religion and myth, Hercules was venerated as a divinized hero and incorporated into the legends of Rome's founding. The Romans adapted Greek myths and the iconography of Heracles into their own literature and art, but the hero developed distinctly Roman characteristics. Some Greek sources as early as the 6th and 5th century BC gave Heracles Roman connections during his famous labors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deity</span> Supernatural being

A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over the universe, nature or human life. The Oxford Dictionary of English defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greater than those of ordinary humans, but who interacts with humans, positively or negatively, in ways that carry humans to new levels of consciousness, beyond the grounded preoccupations of ordinary life".

References

  1. Price, Mary Beard; North, John; Price, Simon (1999). Religions of Rome: A history. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 11. ISBN   9780521316828.
  2. Dumézil, Georges; Krapp, Philip (1996). Archaic Roman religion (Johns Hopkins ed., [Rev. ed.]. ed.). Baltimore [u.a.]: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press. p. 35. ISBN   9780801854804.
  3. Spaeth, Barbette Stanley (2010). The Roman Goddess Ceres. University of Texas Press. p. 36. ISBN   9780292785779.
  4. "A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), AGRICULTU´RA". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 4 February 2017.