Acca Larentia or Acca Larentina was a mythical woman, later goddess of fertility, in

Roman mythology 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 representa ...

whose festival, the

Larentalia The Roman festival of Larentalia was held on 23 December but was ordered to be observed twice a year by Augustus; by some supposed to be in honour of the Lares, a kind of domestic ''genii'', or divinities, worshipped in houses, and esteemed the gua ...

, was celebrated on December 23.

Myths

Foster mother

In one mythological tradition (that of

Licinius Macer Gaius Licinius Macer (died 66BC) was a Roman annalist and politician. Life A member of the ancient plebeian clan Licinia, he was tribune in 73BC. Sallust mentions him agitating for the people's rights. He became praetor in 68BC, but in 66BC Cic ...

, et al.), she was the wife of the shepherd

Faustulus In Roman mythology, Faustulus was the shepherd who found the infant Romulus (the future founder of the city of Rome) and his twin brother Remus along the banks of the Tiber River as they were being suckled by the she-wolf, Lupa. According to lege ...

. And after Romulus and Remus were thrown into the

Tiber river The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the Ri ...

, Faustulus brought them back to his home, where Acca Larentia would raise the children. She had twelve sons, and on the death of one of them Romulus took his place. and with the remaining eleven founded the college of the Arval brothers (

Fratres Arvales In ancient Roman religion, the Arval Brethren ( la, Fratres Arvales, "Brothers of the Fields") or Arval Brothers were a body of priests who offered annual sacrifices to the Lares and gods to guarantee good harvests. Inscriptions provide eviden ...

). She is therefore identified with the

Dea Dia Dea Dia (Latin: "Goddess of Daylight", or "Bright Goddess") was a goddess of fertility and growth in ancient Roman religion. She was sometimes identified with Ceres, and sometimes with her Greek equivalent Demeter. She was worshiped during ...

of that collegium. The

flamen A (plural ''flamens'' or ''flamines'') was a priest of the ancient Roman religion who was assigned to one of eighteen deities with official cults during the Roman Republic. The most important of these were the three (or "major priests"), who ser ...

Quirinalis acted in the role of Romulus (deified as

Quirinus In Roman mythology and religion, Quirinus ( , ) is an early god of the Roman state. In Augustan Rome, ''Quirinus'' was also an epithet of Janus, as ''Janus Quirinus''. Name Attestations The name of god Quirinus is recorded across Roman sou ...

) to perform funerary rites for his foster mother.

Benefactor of Rome

Another tradition holds that Larentia was a beautiful girl of notorious reputation, roughly the same age as Romulus and Remus, during the reign of Ancus Marcius in the 7th century BCE. She was awarded to

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the ...

as a prize in a game of dice by the guardian of his temple, and locked in it with his other prize, a feast. When the god no longer had need of her, he advised her to marry the first man she met as she stepped out that morning, who turned out to be a wealthy Etruscan named Carutius (or Tarrutius, according to

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

). Larentia later inherited all his property and bequeathed it to the Roman people. Ancus, in gratitude for this, allowed her to be buried in the

Velabrum The Velabrum () is the low valley in the city of Rome that connects the Forum with the Forum Boarium, and the Capitoline Hill with the western slope of the Palatine Hill. The name Velabrum may translate to "place of mud." It was believed that befor ...

, and instituted an annual festival, the

, at which sacrifices were offered to the

Lares Lares ( , ; archaic , singular ''Lar'') were guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an amalgam of these. Lare ...

explicitly states that this Larentia was a different person from the Larentia who was married to Faustulus, although other writers, such as

, relate their stories as belonging to the same individual.

Prostitute

Yet another tradition holds that Larentia was neither the wife of Faustulus nor the consort of Hercules, but a courtesan called ''lupa'' by the shepherds. Lupa literally means " she-wolf", although the word colloquially meant " prostitute". The legend also states that she left the fortune she amassed through sex work to the Roman people.

Connection to Lares

Whatever may be thought of the contradictory accounts of Acca Larentia, it seems clear that she was of

Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy *Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization **Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities ** Etrusca ...

origin, thus possibly connected with the worship of the

. It is entirely possible her name may be derived from Lares. This relation is also apparent in the number of her sons, which corresponds to that of the twelve country Lares. Wiseman explores the connections among Acca Larentia, Lara, and

Larunda Larunda (also Larunde, Laranda, Lara) was a naiad nymph, daughter of the river Almo in Ovid's '' Fasti''.Ovid, '' Fasti 2''V. 599 Mythology The only known mythography attached to Lara is little, late and poetic, coming to us from Ovid's ''Fas ...

in several of his books. Acca Larentia has also been associated with another Roman Goddess named

Functions

Ceres Ceres most commonly refers to: * Ceres (dwarf planet), the largest asteroid * Ceres (mythology), the Roman goddess of agriculture Ceres may also refer to: Places Brazil * Ceres, Goiás, Brazil * Ceres Microregion, in north-central Goiás ...

Tellus Tellus is a Latin word meaning "Earth" and may refer to: * An alternative name for the planet Earth * Tellus of Athens, a citizen of ancient Athens who was thought to be the happiest of men * Tellus Mater or Terra Mater, the ancient Roman earth mo ...

Flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

, and others, Acca Larentia symbolized the fertility of the earth, in particular the city lands and their crops. Acca Larentia is also identified with Larentina, Mana Genita, and Muta.

In modern literature

Acca is a character in David Drake's story "To Bring the Light", a reconstruction of Rome's beginnings around 751 BCE. She is depicted as a sympathetic village woman in the small shepherd community on Palatine Hill from which Rome would begin.

References

External links

* {{authority control 8th century BC in the Roman Kingdom Characters in Roman mythology Roman goddesses Agricultural goddesses Ancient Roman courtesans