The Romans had a multitude of minor gods of place and purpose with overlapping duties and functions. For us, it is difficult to resolve which one should be worshipped in any particular situation. For example, the goddess Concordia(Harmony) shared her duties with the goddesses Pax(Peace), Salus(Safety), Securitas(Security) and Fortuna(Fortune). Their images were generic; none had origin stories or back stories. To us, they are a blur of inchoate divinities with poorly delineated functions and overlapping duties.
A Roman, on the other hand, picked one, offered sacrifice to her and entreated that one to appease the others as well as granting his or her wish.
A Roman, on the other hand, picked one, offered sacrifice to her and entreated that one to appease the others as well as granting his or her wish.
For public worship for the Roman State, the College of Pontiffs kept a book called the Indigitamenta that laid out the names of all the gods and goddesses, their functions and the invocations that should be used to worship them.
An interesting minor goddesses is Panda. The background of the goddess Panda is so vague that the sources are unclear whether she is a goddess or Panda is merely an epithet of Juno or perhaps an aspect of Ceres. There are no surviving images of her.
Described as a dea paganorum, ‘goddess of the rustics.’, Panda had a temple near the Roman walls. Her temple was an asylum that was always open. Needy supplicants who came there were supplied with food from the resources of the temple.
Although, from the late Republic, Romans were given a measure of free bread, free bread was limited to Roman citizens. Otherwise, there was no social welfare at all. Non-citizens, women and slaves were utterly dependent on their own efforts to survive.
The goodness of Panda must have been appreciated.
The minor gods that lasted longest in the face of growing christianity were those of the countryside, gods like Faunus the god of cattle fertility or Tellus, the goddess of earth and its cultivation.
An interesting minor goddesses is Panda. The background of the goddess Panda is so vague that the sources are unclear whether she is a goddess or Panda is merely an epithet of Juno or perhaps an aspect of Ceres. There are no surviving images of her.
Described as a dea paganorum, ‘goddess of the rustics.’, Panda had a temple near the Roman walls. Her temple was an asylum that was always open. Needy supplicants who came there were supplied with food from the resources of the temple.
Although, from the late Republic, Romans were given a measure of free bread, free bread was limited to Roman citizens. Otherwise, there was no social welfare at all. Non-citizens, women and slaves were utterly dependent on their own efforts to survive.
The goodness of Panda must have been appreciated.
The minor gods that lasted longest in the face of growing christianity were those of the countryside, gods like Faunus the god of cattle fertility or Tellus, the goddess of earth and its cultivation.
For insight into Roman life and politics in the late Republic, one cannot do better than read ‘The Masters of Rome’ series by Colleen McCullough or the ‘Cicero’ trilogy by Robert Harris. Both are available in the Benalla library.
John Barry
John Barry
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