Affreschi romani - nettuno anfitrine - pompei

Neptune ( la, Neptūnus ) is the god of freshwater and the sea in

Roman religion Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by the people of Rome as well as those who were brought under its rule. The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, ...

. He is the counterpart of the

Greek god The following is a list of gods, goddesses, and many other divine and semi-divine figures from ancient Greek mythology and ancient Greek religion. Immortals The Greeks created images of their deities for many purposes. A temple would house the ...

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ch ...

.''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'',

The Book People The Book People Ltd was a UK online bookseller founded in 1988. It went into administration in 2019 and was formally dissolved in 2022. History The Book People started business in 1988, initially in the Guildford, Surrey area. It expanded rap ...

, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. In the Greek tradition, he is a brother of

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...

and

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...

; the brothers preside over the realms of

heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...

, the earthly world (including the

underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

), and the seas.

Salacia In ancient Roman mythology, Salacia ( , ) was the female divinity of the sea, worshipped as the goddess of salt water who presided over the depths of the ocean. Neptune was her consort. That Salacia was the consort of Neptune is implied by Va ...

is his wife. Depictions of Neptune in Roman

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

s, especially those in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, were influenced by

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

conventions. He was likely associated with freshwater springs before the sea. Like Poseidon, he was also worshipped by the Romans as a god of horses, as ''Neptunus equestris'' (a

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

of horse-racing).

Worship

The

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

of Neptune is limited by his close identification with the Greek god

, one of many members of the

Greek pantheon A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of d ...

whose theology was later tied to a

Roman deity The Roman deities most widely known today are those the Romans identified with Greek counterparts (see ''interpretatio graeca''), integrating Greek myths, iconography, and sometimes religious practices into Roman culture, including Latin litera ...

. The ''

lectisternium The lectisternium was an ancient Roman propitiatory ceremony, consisting of a meal offered to gods and goddesses. The word derives from ''lectum sternere'', "to spread (or "drape") a couch." The deities were represented by their busts or statues ...

'' of 399 BC indicated that the Greek figures of Poseidon,

Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified wit ...

, and

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive ...

had been introduced and worshipped in Rome as Neptune, Diana, and Hercules. It has been speculated that Neptune has been conflated with a

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo-E ...

freshwater deity; since the Indo-Europeans lived inland and had little direct knowledge of the sea, the Romans may have reused the theology of a previous freshwater god in their worship of Neptune.

Servius Servius is the name of: * Servius (praenomen), the personal name * Maurus Servius Honoratus, a late fourth-century and early fifth-century grammarian * Servius Tullius, the Roman king * Servius Sulpicius Rufus, the 1st century BC Roman jurist See ...

explicitly names Neptune as the god of rivers, springs, and waters; he may parallel the Irish god Nechtan, master of rivers and wells. This is in contrast to Poseidon, who was primarily a god of the sea. Neptune has been associated with a number of other Roman deities. By the first century BC, he had supplanted Portunus as the god of naval victories;

Sextus Pompeius Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius ( 67 – 35 BC), also known in English as Sextus Pompey, was a Roman military leader who, throughout his life, upheld the cause of his father, Pompey the Great, against Julius Caesar and his supporters during the las ...

called himself the "son of Neptune". For a time, Neptune was paired in his dominion of the sea with

, the goddess of

saltwater Saline water (more commonly known as salt water) is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts (mainly sodium chloride). On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) salinity scale, saline water is saltier than brackish water, ...

. Neptune was considered the legendary progenitor god of the

Falisci Falisci ( grc, Φαλίσκοι, ''Phaliskoi'') is the ancient Roman exonym for an Italic tribe who lived in what is now northern Lazio, on the Etruscan side of the Tiber River. They spoke an Italic language, Faliscan, closely akin to Latin. O ...

(who called themselves ''Neptunia proles''), joining

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

Janus In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; la, Ianvs ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janu ...

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...

, and

as the deific father of a Latin tribe.

Neptunalia

Neptunalia The Neptunalia was an obscure archaic two-day festival in honor of Neptune as god of waters, celebrated at Rome in the heat and drought of summer, probably 23 July (Varro, ''De lingua Latina'' vi.19). It was one of the ''dies comitiales'', when com ...

, the Roman festival of Neptune, was held at the height of summer (typically on July 23). The date of the festival and the construction of tree-branch shelters suggest that Neptune was a god of water sources in times of drought and heat. The most ancient

Roman calendar The Roman calendar was the calendar used by the Roman Kingdom and Roman Republic. The term often includes the Julian calendar established by the reforms of the Roman dictator, dictator Julius Caesar and Roman emperor, emperor Augustus in the ...

set the ''

feriae In the liturgy of the Catholic Church, a feria is a day of the week other than Sunday. In more recent official liturgical texts in English, the term ''weekday'' is used instead of ''feria''. If the feast day of a saint falls on such a day, the ...

'' of Neptunus on July 23, between the

Lucaria In ancient Roman religion, the Lucaria was a festival of the grove (Latin '' lucus'') held 19 and 21 July. The original meaning of the ritual was obscure by the time of Varro (mid-1st century BC), who omits it in his list of festivals. The deity ...

festival of the grove and the

Furrinalia In ancient Roman religion, the Furrinalia (or Furinalia) was an annual festival held on 25 July to celebrate the rites ''( sacra)'' of the goddess Furrina. Varro notes that the festival was a public holiday ''( feriae publicae dies)''. Both the fes ...

festival of July 25. All three festivals were connected to water during the period of summer heat (''canicula'') and drought, when freshwater sources were lowest.G. Dumézil ''Fêtes romaines d' été et d' automne. Suivi de Dix questions romaines'' Paris 1975 1. "Les eaux et les bois" p. 25-31. It has been speculated that the three festivals fall in a logical order. The ''Lucaria'' was devoted to clearing overgrown bushes and uprooting and burning excess vegetation. Neptunalia followed, devoted to conservation and the draining of superficial waters. These culminated in the ''Furrinalia'', sacred to

Furrina Furrina, also spelled Furina, was an ancient Roman goddess whose function had become obscure by the 1st century BC. Her cult dated to the earliest period of Roman religious history, since she was one of the fifteen deities who had their own flame ...

(the goddess of springs and wells). Neptunalia was spent under branch huts in a woods between the

Tiber 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 Riv ...

and the

Via Salaria The Via Salaria was an ancient Roman road in Italy. It eventually ran from Rome (from Porta Salaria of the Aurelian Walls) to ''Castrum Truentinum'' (Porto d'Ascoli) on the Adriatic coast, a distance of 242 km. The road also passed throug ...

, with participants drinking spring water and wine to escape the heat. It was a time of merrymaking, when men and women could mix without the usual Roman societal constraints.Sarolta A. Takacs ''Vestal virgins, sibyls and matronae: women in Roman religion'' 2008, University of Texas Press, p. 53 f., citing Horace ''Carmina'' III 28. There is an added context of agricultural fertility in the festival, since Neptune received the sacrifice of a bull.

Temples

Neptune had only one temple in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. It stood near the

Circus Flaminius The Circus Flaminius was a large, circular area in ancient Rome, located in the southern end of the Campus Martius near the Tiber River. It contained a small race-track used for obscure games, and various other buildings and monuments. It was "bui ...

, the Roman racetrack in the southern part of the

Campus Martius The Campus Martius (Latin for the "Field of Mars", Italian ''Campo Marzio'') was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about in extent. In the Middle Ages, it was the most populous area of Rome. The IV rione of Rome, Campo Marzio, which covers ...

, and dates back to at least 206 BC. The temple was restored out by Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus c. 40 BC, an event depicted on a coin struck by the consul. Within the temple was a sculpture of a marine group by

Scopas Scopas ( grc-gre, Σκόπας; born in Paros, fl. 4th century BCE) was an ancient Greek sculptor and architect, most famous for his statue of Meleager, the copper statue of Aphrodite, and the head of goddess Hygieia, daughter of Asclepius. Ea ...

Minor. The Basilica Neptuni was later built on the Campus Martius, and was dedicated by

Agrippa Agrippa may refer to: People Antiquity * Agrippa (mythology), semi-mythological king of Alba Longa * Agrippa (astronomer), Greek astronomer from the late 1st century * Agrippa the Skeptic, Skeptic philosopher at the end of the 1st century * Agri ...

in honor of the naval victory of Actium. This basilica supplanted the older temple, which had replaced an ancient altar.

Sacrifices

Neptune is one of only four Roman gods to whom it was considered appropriate to sacrifice a bull. The other three were

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

, and

, although

has also been depicted with the offering of a red bull and a red-bull calf. If an incorrect offering was presented, either inadvertently or due to necessity, additional

propitiation Propitiation is the act of appeasing or making well-disposed a deity, thus incurring divine favor or avoiding divine retribution. While some use the term interchangeably with expiation, others draw a sharp distinction between the two. The discus ...

was required to avoid divine retribution. This type of offering implied a stricter connection between the deity and the world.

Paredrae

''Paredrae'' are entities who accompany a god, representing the fundamental aspects (or powers) of that god. With Hellenic influence, these ''paredrae'' came to be considered separate deities and consorts of their associated god. Earlier folk belief might have also identified ''paredrae'' as consorts of their god. Salacia and

Venilia Venilia (pronounced , or as Latin ''Venīlia'') is a Roman deity associated with the winds and the sea. According to Virgil and Ovid, she was a nymph, the sister of Amata and the wife of Janus (or Faunus), with whom she had three children: Turnus, ...

have been discussed by ancient and modern scholars. Varro connects Salacia to ''salum'' (sea), and Venilia to ''ventus'' (wind). Festus attributed to Salacia the motion of the sea. Venilia brought waves to the shore, and Salacia caused their retreat out to sea.Varro apud Augustine ''

De Civitate Dei ''On the City of God Against the Pagans'' ( la, De civitate Dei contra paganos), often called ''The City of God'', is a book of Christian philosophy written in Latin by Augustine of Hippo in the early 5th century AD. The book was in response ...

'' VII 22. They were examined by the Christian philosopher St. Augustine, who devoted a chapter of ''

'' to ridiculing inconsistencies in the theological definition of the entities; since Salacia personified the deep sea, Augustine wondered how she could also be the retreating waves (since waves are a surface phenomenon). He wrote elsewhere that Venilia would be the "hope that comes", an aspect (or power) of Jupiter understood as ''

anima mundi The ''anima mundi'' (Greek: , ) or world soul is, according to several systems of thought, an intrinsic connection between all living beings, which relates to the world in much the same way as the soul is connected to the human body. Although ...

''. Servius, in his commentary on the ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan_War#Sack_of_Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to ...

'', wrote about Salacia and Venilia in V 724: "''(

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

) dicitur et Salacia, quae proprie meretricum dea appellata est a veteribus''"; "(Venus) is also called Salacia, who was particularly named goddess of prostitutes by the ancient". Elsewhere, he wrote that Salacia and Venilia are the same entity.William Warde Fowler ''The Religious Experience of the Roman People'' London, 1912, Appendix II. Among modern scholars, Dumézil and his followers Bloch and Schilling centre their interpretation of Neptune on the direct, concrete, limited value and functions of water. Salacia would represent the forceful, violent aspect of gushing and overflowing water and Venilia the tranquil, gentle aspect of still (or slowly-flowing) water. According to Dumézil, Neptune's two ''paredrae'' (Salacia and Venilia) represent the overpowering and tranquil aspects of water, natural and domesticated: Salacia the gushing, overbearing waters, and Venilia the still (or quietly-flowing) waters. Preller, Fowler, Petersmann and Takács attribute to the theology of Neptune broader significance as a god of universal worldly fertility, particularly relevant to agriculture and human reproduction. They interpret Salacia as personifying lust, and Venilia as related to ''venia'': ingratiating attraction, connected with love and the desire for reproduction.

Ludwig Preller Ludwig Preller (15 September 1809 – 21 June 1861) was a German philologist and antiquarian. Biography Born in Hamburg, he studied at University of Leipzig, Leipzig, University of Berlin, Berlin and University of Göttingen, Göttingen, in 18 ...

cited a significant aspect of Venilia; she was recorded in the ''

indigitamenta In ancient Roman religion, the ''indigitamenta'' were lists of deities kept by the College of Pontiffs to assure that the correct divine names were invoked for public prayers. These lists or books probably described the nature of the various dei ...

'' as a deity of longing or desire. According to Preller, this would explain a theonym similar to that of Venus. Other data seem to agree; Salacia would parallel

Thetis Thetis (; grc-gre, Θέτις ), is a figure from Greek mythology with varying mythological roles. She mainly appears as a sea nymph, a goddess of water, or one of the 50 Nereids, daughters of the ancient sea god Nereus. When described as ...

as the mother of Achilles, and Venilia would be the mother of

Turnus Turnus ( grc, Τυρρηνός, Tyrrhênós) was the legendary King of the Rutuli in Roman history, and the chief antagonist of the hero Aeneas in Virgil's ''Aeneid''. According to the ''Aeneid'', Turnus is the son of Daunus and the nymph Veni ...

and Iuturna by Daunus (king of the

Rutulians The Rutuli or Rutulians were an ancient people in Italy. The Rutuli were located in a territory whose capital was the ancient town of Ardea, located about 35 km southeast of Rome. Thought to have been descended from the Umbri and the Pelas ...

). According to another source, Venilia would be the partner of

, with whom she mothered the nymph Canens (loved by

Picus Picus was a figure in Roman mythology, the first king of Latium. He was the son of Saturn, also known as Stercutus. He was the founder of the first Latin tribe and settlement, Laurentum, located a few miles to the Southeast of the site of the lat ...

). These mythical data underline the reproductive function envisaged in the figures of Neptune's ''paredrae'', particularly that of Venilia, in childbirth and motherhood. A legendary king Venulus was remembered at

Tibur Tivoli ( , ; la, Tibur) is a town and in Lazio, central Italy, north-east of Rome, at the falls of the Aniene river where it issues from the Sabine hills. The city offers a wide view over the Roman Campagna. History Gaius Julius Solinu ...

and

Lavinium Lavinium was a port city of Latium, to the south of Rome, midway between the Tiber river at Ostia and Antium. The coastline then, as now, was a long strip of beach. Lavinium was on a hill at the southernmost edge of the ''Silva Laurentina'', a ...

Neptunus equestris

Before Poseidon was known as the god of the sea, he was connected to the horse and may have originally been depicted in equine form. This connection reflects the violent and brutal nature of Poseidon the earth-shaker, the linkage of horses and springs, and the animal's

psychopomp Psychopomps (from the Greek word , , literally meaning the 'guide of souls') are supernatural creatures, spirits, entities, angels, demons or deities in many religions whose responsibility is to escort newly deceased souls from Earth to the afte ...

ous character. Neptune, in contrast, has no such direct connection with horses. The Roman deity

Consus In ancient Roman religion, the god Consus was the protector of grains. He was represented by a grain seed. His altar ''(ara)'' was located at the first ''meta'' of the Circus Maximus. It was either underground, or according to other sources, cove ...

was associated with the horse, and his underground altar was in the valley of the

Circus Maximus The Circus Maximus (Latin for "largest circus"; Italian: ''Circo Massimo'') is an ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue in Rome, Italy. In the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills, it was the first and lar ...

at the foot of the

Palatine A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times.

(the site of horse races). On the summer

Consualia The Consualia or ''Consuales Ludi'' was the name of two ancient Roman festivals in honor of Consus, a tutelary deity of the harvest and stored grain. ''Consuales Ludi'' harvest festivals were held on August 21,Plutarch. "Life if Romulus", in ''P ...

(August 21) it was customary to bring horses and mules, crowned with flowers, in procession and then hold equine races in the Circus.William Warde Fowler ''The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic'' London, 1899, p. The festival also traditionally reenacted the abduction of the Sabine (and Latin) women, reflecting the sexual license characteristic of such festivals. On that day, the

Flamen Quirinalis In ancient Roman religion, the Flamen Quirinalis was the flamen or high priest of the god Quirinus. He was one of the three ''flamines maiores'', third in order of importance after the Flamen Dialis and the Flamen Martialis. Like the other two hi ...

and the

Vestal Virgin In ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins or Vestals ( la, Vestālēs, singular ) were priestesses of Vesta, virgin goddess of Rome's sacred hearth and its flame. The Vestals were unlike any other public priesthood. They were chosen before puberty ...

s made sacrifices on the underground altar of Consus. The proximity of the two

to the

Opiconsivia The Opiconsivia (or Opeconsiva or Opalia) was an ancient Roman religious festival held August 25 in honor of Ops ("Plenty"), also known as Opis, a goddess of agricultural resources and wealth. The festival marked the end of harvest, with a mirro ...

(the latter were four days later, the winter festival on December 19) indicates the relationship between the two deities pertaining to agriculture. According to Dumézil, the horse has a much-different symbolic value in the theologies of Poseidon and Consus. Tertullian (''De Spectaculis'' V 7) wrote that according to Roman tradition, Consus was the god who advised

Romulus Romulus () was the legendary foundation of Rome, founder and King of Rome, first king of Ancient Rome, Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus ...

on the abduction of the Sabines. Perhaps influenced by Poseidon Ίππιος, Consus (whose festival included horse races) was reinterpreted as ''Neptunus equestris''; for his underground altar, he was identified with Poseidon Ένοσίχθων. The etymology of ''Poseidon'', derived from ''Posis'' (lord or husband) and ''De'' (grain or earth) may have contributed to the identification of Consus with Neptune. His arcane cult, which required the unearthing of the altar, indicate the deity's antiquity and

chthonic The word chthonic (), or chthonian, is derived from the Ancient Greek word ''χθών, "khthon"'', meaning earth or soil. It translates more directly from χθόνιος or "in, under, or beneath the earth" which can be differentiated from Γῆ ...

nature. From Augustine (''De Civitate Dei'' IV 8, about the role of Tutilina in assuring the safety of stored grain), Dumézil interprets its name as deriving from ''condere'' (to hide or store) as a verbal noun similar to

Sancus In ancient Roman religion, Sancus (also known as Sangus or Semo Sancus) was a god of trust (), honesty, and oaths. His cult, one of the most ancient amongst the Romans, probably derived from Umbrian influences. Cato and Silius Italicus wrote tha ...

and

: the god of stored grains. A direct identification of Consus with Poseidon is hindered by the fact that Poseidon is nowhere worshipped at underground shrines or altars. Martianus Capella places Neptune and Consus together in region X of Heaven, possibly following an old ''

interpretatio graeca ''Interpretatio graeca'' (Latin, "Greek translation") or "interpretation by means of Greek odels is a discourse used to interpret or attempt to understand the mythology and religion of other cultures; a comparative methodology using ancient Gr ...

'' of Consus or reflecting an Etruscan idea of a chthonic Neptune apparent in the recommendation of the ''De Haruspicum Responso'' for propitiating Neptune for the cracking sounds heard underground in the ''ager latiniensis''. The Etruscans were also fond of horse races.

Etruria

The Etruscan name of Neptune is

Nethuns In Etruscan mythology, Nethuns was Tutelary deity, the god of water well, wells, later expanded to all water, including the sea. The name "Nethuns" is likely cognate with that of the Celtic god Nechtan (mythology), Nechtan and the Persian and Vedic ...

. It had been believed that Neptune derived from

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 ...

, but this view has been disputed. Nethuns was apparently important to the

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of 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, rou ...

. His name is found in two places on the

Liver of Piacenza The Liver of Piacenza is an Etruscan civilization, Etruscan artifact found in a field on September 26, 1877, near Gossolengo, in the province of Piacenza, Italy, now kept in the Municipal Museum of Piacenza, in the Palazzo Farnese (Piacenza), Pal ...

: on the outer rim of section seven, and on the

gallbladder In vertebrates, the gallbladder, also known as the cholecyst, is a small hollow organ where bile is stored and concentrated before it is released into the small intestine. In humans, the pear-shaped gallbladder lies beneath the liver, although ...

of section 28. This last location aligns with Pliny the Elder's belief that the gallbladder was sacred to Neptune. The name ''Nethuns'' occurs eight times in columns VII, IX, and XI of the '' Liber Linteus''. On a mirror from

Tuscania Tuscania is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Viterbo, Lazio Region, Italy. Until the late 19th century the town was known as Toscanella. History Antiquity According to the legend, Tuscania was founded by Aeneas' son, Ascanius, whe ...

(E. S. 1. 76), Nethuns is represented talking to Uśil (the sun) and

Thesan In Etruscan mythology, Etruscan Religion and mythology, Thesan is the Etruscan civilization, Etruscan goddess of the dawn, divination, and childbirth and was associated with the generation of life. Roman mythology, Romans identified her with their ...

(the goddess of dawn). Nethuns is seated on the left, holding a double-ended trident in his right hand and with his left arm raised as if giving instructions. Uśil is standing in the centre, holding Aplu's bow in his right hand. Thesan is on the right, with her right hand on Uśil's shoulder; both are listening intently to Nethuns' words. The identification of Uśil with Aplu (and his association with Nethuns) is emphasised by an anguiped demon holding two dolphins on an

exergue A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to ...

. The scene highlights the identities and association of Nethuns and Aplu (here identified as Uśil) as main deities of the worldly realm and the life cycle. Thesan and Uśil-Aplu, who has been identified with Śuri (Soranus Pater, the underworld sun god) clarify the transience of earthly life. Neptune is a god of fertility, including human fertility. According to Stephen Weinstock, Jupiter is present in each of the first three regions with different aspects related to each region; Neptune should have been in the second region, and Pluto in the third. The reason for Neptune's displacement to region X is unclear. It is consistent with the collocation in the third quadrant of the deities related to the human world.

Etruscan Penates

Arnobius Arnobius (died c. 330) was an early Christian apologist of Berber origin during the reign of Diocletian (284–305). According to Jerome's ''Chronicle,'' Arnobius, before his conversion, was a distinguished Numidian rhetorician at Sicca Vener ...

provides information about the theology of Neptune. Neptune and

were considered Etruscan

Penates In ancient Roman religion, the Di Penates () or Penates ( ) were among the ''dii familiares'', or household deities, invoked most often in domestic rituals. When the family had a meal, they threw a bit into the fire on the hearth for the Penates ...

, and the deities were credited with giving Ilium its walls. In another tradition based on the same source, the Etruscan Penates were

Fortuna Fortuna ( la, Fortūna, equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche) is the goddess of fortune and the personification of luck in Roman religion who, largely thanks to the Late Antique author Boethius, remained popular through the Middle Ages until at ...

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 ...

Genius Iovialis Genius is a characteristic of originality, original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside t ...

and

Pales In ancient Roman religion, Pales was a deity of shepherds, flocks and livestock. Regarded as male by some sources and female by others, ''Pales'' can be either singular or plural in Latin, and refers at least once to a pair of deities. Pales' fes ...

Etymology

The etymology of the Latin ''Neptunus'' is unclear and disputed. The ancient grammarian

Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (; 116–27 BC) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Vergil and Cicero). He is sometimes calle ...

derived the name from ''nuptus'' ("covering", ''opertio''), alluding to ''nuptiae'' ("the marriage of Heaven and Earth"). Among modern scholars,

Paul Kretschmer Paul Kretschmer (2 May 1866 – 9 March 1956) was a German linguist who studied the earliest history and interrelations of the Indo-European languages and showed how they were influenced by non-Indo-European languages, such as Etruscan. Biograph ...

proposed a derivation from the

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch ...

''*neptu-'' ("moist substance"). Raymond Bloch similarly theorised that it might be an adjectival form (''-no'') of ''*nuptu-'' ("he who is moist").

Georges Dumézil Georges Edmond Raoul Dumézil (4 March 189811 October 1986) was a French philologist, linguist, and religious studies scholar who specialized in comparative linguistics and mythology. He was a professor at Istanbul University, École pratique d ...

said that words deriving from the root ''*nep-'' are not attested in Indo-European languages other than

Vedic Sanskrit Vedic Sanskrit was an ancient language of the Indo-Aryan subgroup of the Indo-European language family. It is attested in the Vedas and related literature compiled over the period of the mid- 2nd to mid-1st millennium BCE. It was orally preser ...

and

Avestan Avestan (), or historically Zend, is an umbrella term for two Old Iranian languages: Old Avestan (spoken in the 2nd millennium BCE) and Younger Avestan (spoken in the 1st millennium BCE). They are known only from their conjoined use as the scrip ...

. He proposed an etymology which joins ''Neptunus'' with the Indian and Iranian theonyms

Apam Napat Apam Napat is a deity in the Proto-Indo-Iranian religion, Indo-Iranian Pantheon (gods), pantheon associated with water. His names in the Vedas, ''Apām Napāt'', and in Zoroastrianism, ''Apąm Napāt'', mean "child of the Ap (water), waters" in San ...

and Apam Napá and the Old Irish theonym Nechtan, all meaning "descendant of the waters". Using a

comparative In general linguistics, the comparative is a syntactic construction that serves to express a comparison between two (or more) entities or groups of entities in quality or degree - see also comparison (grammar) for an overview of comparison, as wel ...

approach, the Indo-Iranian, Avestan and Irish figures have common features with the Roman legends about Neptune. Dumézil proposed to derive the nouns from the Indo-European root ''népōts-'' ("descendant, sister's son"). His former student,

Indo-Europeanist Indo-European studies is a field of linguistics and an interdisciplinary field of study dealing with Indo-European languages, both current and extinct. The goal of those engaged in these studies is to amass information about the hypothetical pro ...

Jaan Puhvel, theorises that the name might have meant "child (''neve'', nephew) of the water" as part of an Indo-European fire-in-water myth. A different etymology, grounded in the legendary history of Latium and Etruria, was proposed by the 19th-century scholars

Karl Otfried Müller Karl Otfried Müller ( la, Carolus Mullerus; 28 August 1797 – 1 August 1840) was a German scholar and Philodorian, or admirer of ancient Sparta, who introduced the modern study of Greek mythology. Biography He was born at Brieg (modern Brze ...

and Wilhelm Deeke. The name of the Etruscan deity

or Nethunus (''NÈDVNVZ'') would be an adjectival form of the toponym Nepe(t) or Nepete (present-day

Nepi Nepi (anciently ''Nepet'' or ''Nepete'') is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, central Italy. The town lies southeast of the city of Viterbo and about southwest from Civita Castellana. The town is known for its miner ...

), near

Falerii Falerii (now Fabrica di Roma) was a city in southern Etruria, 50 km (31 mi) northeast of Rome, 34 km (21 mi) from Veii (a major Etruscan city-state near the River Tiber) and about 1.5 km (0.9 mi) west of the ancient Via Flaminia. It was the main c ...

. The district was traditionally connected to the cult of Neptune, and

Messapus Messapus, (Greek: Μέσσαπος, ''Messapos'') a character in Virgil's ''Aeneid'', appears in Books VII to XII of the Latin epic poem. He was a son of Neptune, a famous tamer of horses, and king of Etruria, known for being one "whom no one ca ...

and Halesus (the eponymous hero of Falerii) were believed to be his sons. Messapus led the Falisci (and others) to war in the ''

''. Nepi and Falerii have been known since antiquity for the quality of their meadow springwater. ''Nepet'' might be considered a hydronymic toponym of pre-Indo-European origin from a noun meaning "damp wide valley, plain", a cognate of the

proto-Greek The Proto-Greek language (also known as Proto-Hellenic) is the Indo-European language which was the last common ancestor of all varieties of Greek, including Mycenaean Greek, the subsequent ancient Greek dialects (i.e., Attic, Ionic, Ae ...

''νάπη'' ("wooded vale, chasm").

Fertility deity and divine ancestor

In lectures delivered during the 1990s, German scholar Hubert Petersmann proposed an etymology from the Indo-European root ''*nebh-'' ("damp, wet") with the suffix ''-tu'' (for an abstract verbal noun) and the adjectival suffix ''-no'' (domain of activity). The root ''*nebh-'' gives the Sanskrit ''nābhah'', Hittite ''nepis'', Latin ''nubs'', ''nebula'', German ''Nebel'', and the Slavic ''nebo''. The concept would be close to that expressed in the name of the Greek god ''Όυράνος'' (''

Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars (mythology), Mars), grandfather ...

''), derived from the root ''*h₂wórso-'' ("to water or irrigate") and ''*h₂worsó-'' ("the irrigator"). Petersmann proposes a different interpretation of Neptune's theology. Developing his understanding of the theonym as rooted in the Indo-European ''*nebh'', he writes that the god would be an ancient deity of the cloudy, rainy sky in company with (and in opposition to)

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D� ...

, the god of clear skies. Similar to

Caelus Caelus or Coelus was a primal god of the sky in Roman myth and theology, iconography, and literature (compare ''caelum'', the Latin word for "sky" or "the heaven", hence English "celestial"). The deity's name usually appears in masculine gram ...

, he would be the father of all earthly things through the fertilising power of rain. The ''

hieros gamos ''Hieros gamos'', hieros (ἱερός) meaning "holy" or "sacred" and gamos (γάμος) meaning marriage, or Hierogamy (Greek , "holy marriage"), is a sacred marriage that plays out between a god and a goddess, especially when enacted in a symb ...

'' of Neptune and Earth is reflected in Virgil's ''

'' V 14 (''pater Neptunus''). Neptune's power would be reflected by

, one of his ''paredrae'', who also denotes the overcast sky. His other ''paredra'',

, is associated with the wind as well as the sea. The

theonym A theonym (from Greek ''theos'' (Θεός), "god"'','' attached to ''onoma'' (ὄνομα), "name") is the proper name of a deity. Theonymy, the study of divine proper names, is a branch of onomastics (the study of the etymology, history, and u ...

Venilia may be rooted in ''*venilis'', a postulated adjective deriving from the IE root ''*ven(h)'' ("to love or desire") in the Sanskrit ''vánati, vanóti'' ("he loves"), German ''Wonne'', and the Latin

, ''venia''. Neptune's dual nature is found in

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; 84 - 54 BCE), often referred to simply as Catullus (, ), was a Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes. His s ...

31. 3: "''uterque Neptunus''". According to Petersmann, the ancient Indo-Europeans also venerated a god of wetness as the generator of life; this is indicated by the Hittite theonyms ''nepišaš (D)IŠKURaš'' or ''nepišaš (D)Tarhunnaš'' ("lord of sky wet"), the sovereign of Earth and humanity. Although this function was transferred to Zeus/Jupiter (the sovereigns of weather), the old function survived in literature: the ''Aeneid'' V 13-14 reads, "''Heu, quianam tanti cinxerunt aethera nimbi?/ quidve, pater Neptune, paras?''" ("What, why have so many clouds enringed the sky? What are you preparing, father Neptune?") The indispensability of water and its connexion to reproduction are universally known. Müller and Deeke interpreted Neptune's theology as a divine ancestor of the Latin Faliscans: the father of

and Halesus, their heroic founders.

William Warde Fowler William Warde Fowler (16 May 1847 – 15 June 1921) was an England, English historian and ornithologist, and tutor at Lincoln College, Oxford, Lincoln College, Oxford. He was best known for his works on religion in ancient Rome, ancient Roman ...

considered Salacia the personification of the virile potency which generated a Latin people, parallel with Mars, Saturn, Janus and Jupiter.

Depictions in art

Etruscan representations of Neptune are rare but significant. The oldest may be a fourth-century BC carved

carnelian Carnelian (also spelled cornelian) is a brownish-red mineral commonly used as a semi-precious gemstone. Similar to carnelian is sard, which is generally harder and darker (the difference is not rigidly defined, and the two names are often use ...

scarab from

Vulci Vulci or Volci (Etruscan language, Etruscan: ''Velch'' or ''Velx'', depending on the romanization used) was a rich Etruscan civilization, Etruscan city in what is now northern Lazio, central Italy. As George Dennis (explorer), George Dennis wrot ...

of Nethuns kicking a rock and creating a spring (Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, Cabinet des Medailles. Another Etruscan artifact (''Nethunus'', from the Luynes collection) depicts the god causing a horse to spring from the earth with a blow of his trident. A late-fourth-century bronze mirror in the

Vatican Museums The Vatican Museums ( it, Musei Vaticani; la, Musea Vaticana) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of ...

(Museo Gregoriano Etrusco: C.S.E. Vaticano 1.5a) depicts Neptune with

Amymone In Greek mythology, Amymone (;Ancient Greek: Αμυμωνη means the "blameless" one) was a daughter of Danaus, king of Libya and Europe, a queen. As the "blameless" Danaid, her name identifies her as, perhaps, identical to Hypermnestra ("grea ...

(daughter of

Danaus In Greek mythology, Danaus (, ; grc, Δαναός ''Danaós'') was the king of Libya. His myth is a foundation legend of Argos, one of the foremost Mycenaean cities of the Peloponnesus. In Homer's ''Iliad'', "Danaans" ("tribe of Danaus") and " ...

), whom he saves from assault by a satyr and teaches the art of creating springs. On a bronze mirror from Tuscania dated to 350 BC, also in the Vatican Museums (Museo Gregoriano Etrusco E. S. 1. 76), Nethuns is talking to Usil and Thesan. He holds a double-ended trident, suggesting that he might be able wield lightning bolts.N.T. De Grummond 2006 p. 145.

Gallery

Image:Andrea_Doria_as_Neptun_by_Angelo_Bronzino.jpg, Agnolo

Bronzino Agnolo di Cosimo (; 17 November 150323 November 1572), usually known as Bronzino ( it, Il Bronzino ) or Agnolo Bronzino, was an Italian Mannerist painter from Florence. His sobriquet, ''Bronzino'', may refer to his relatively dark skin or reddis ...

, ''

Portrait of Andrea Doria as Neptune The ''Portrait of Andrea Doria as Neptune'' (Italian: ''Ritratto di Andrea Doria in veste di Nettuno'') is an oil painting on canvas completed by Bronzino for a private collection in either the 1530s or 1540s. It is now in the Pinacoteca di Brer ...

'' (c. 1530s or 1540s), alt=Painting of a 16th-century Genoese ruler as resembling Neptune Image:Neptune in Florence Piazza.jpg,

Bartolomeo Ammannati Bartolomeo Ammannati (18 June 151113 April 1592) was an Italian architect and sculptor, born at Settignano, near Florence. He studied under Baccio Bandinelli and Jacopo Sansovino (assisting on the design of the Library of St. Mark's, the ''Bibli ...

Fountain of Neptune, Florence The ''Fountain of Neptune in Florence, Italy,'' ( it, Fontana del Nettuno) is situated in the Piazza della Signoria (Signoria square), in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. The fountain was commissioned by Cosimo I de' Medici in 1559 to celebrate th ...

, alt=Fountain with a statue of Neptune in a Florence square Image:Malta - Valletta - Triq ir-Repubblika - Misrah San Gorg - Grandmaster's Palace courtyards 12 ies.jpg, Late-16th-century bronze statue in

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, alt=See caption Image:Louvre neptune RF3006.jpg,

Antoine Coysevox Charles Antoine Coysevox ( or ; 29 September 164010 October 1720), was a French sculptor in the Baroque and Louis XIV style, best known for his sculpture decorating the gardens and Palace of Versailles and his portrait busts. Biography Coysevo ...

's ''Neptune'' (1705) in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

Alt, alt=Marble statue of Neptune making a horse spring from the earth Giambattista Tiepolo - Venezia riceve l'omaggio di Nettuno - 1745-50.jpg,

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; March 5, 1696 – March 27, 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an impo ...

, ''Neptune Offering Gifts to

'' (1748–1750), alt=Painting of Neptune offering coins to Venus from a horn Image:Fuente de Neptuno en Madrid.jpg,

Juan Pascual de Mena Juan Pascual de Mena (1707 in Villaseca de la Sagra – 16 April 1784, in Madrid) was a Spanish sculptor in the Neoclassical style. Life and work When he was barely five years old, his family moved to Madrid. He began his studies there and s ...

, Fuente de Neptuno, Madrid (1780–1784), alt=Fountain with statue of Neptune atop a two-horse shell chariot with a water wheel Image:Marine in The Apotheosis of Washington.jpg,

Constantino Brumidi Constantino Brumidi (July 26, 1805 – February 19, 1880) was a Greek-Italian-American historical painter, best known and honored for his fresco work, Apotheosis of Washington, in the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Parentage and early life ...

, detail from ''

The Apotheosis of Washington ''The Apotheosis of Washington'' is the fresco painted by Greek-Italian artist Constantino Brumidi in 1865 and visible through the oculus of the dome in the rotunda of the United States Capitol Building. The fresco is suspended above the ro ...

'' (1865),

U.S. Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the Legislature, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is form ...

dome, alt=Painting of Neptune with an ironclad ship and people laying the transatlantic telegraph cable File:Neptune 3b49168u.jpg, Neptune tobacco label (1860–1870), alt=Tobacco label with a crowned Neptune, two nymphs and his shell chariot File:Neptunbrunnen Stadtpark Nürnberg Juni 2010 11.jpg, Neptune fountain in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

, alt=Bronze fountain in a Nuremberg park File:Monumento Neptuno, Gdansk, Polonia, 2013-05-20, DD 05.jpg, Neptune Monument in

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

, alt=Fountain in a town square File:Neptunbrunnen B-Mitte 06-2017.jpg, Berlin's Neptunbrunnen, alt=Neptune fountain, with a church in the background

Bibliography

* Raymond Bloch 1981. "Quelques remarques sur Poseidon, Neptunus et Nethuns" in ''Comptes-rendus des séances de l' Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Letres'' 2 pp. 341–352. *Nancy Thomson De Grummond 2006. ''Etruscan Mythology, Sacred History and Legend: An Introduction,'' University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology, . * Georges Dumézil 1977. ''La religione romana arcaica. Con un 'appendice sulla religione degli Etruschi'' Edizione e traduzione a cura di Furio Jesi: Milano Rizzoli (Italian translation conducted on an expanded version of the 2nd edition of ''La religion romaine archaïque'' Paris Payot 1974). * William Warde Fowler 1912. ''The Religious experience of the Roman People'' London. * Sarolta A. Takacs 2008. ''Vestal Virgins, Sibyls and Matronae: Women in Roman Religion'', University of Texas Press. * Georg Wissowa 1912. ''Religion und Kultus der Rőmer'' Munich.

References

External links

Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (ca 600 images of Neptune)
* {{Authority control Animal gods Drought gods Earth gods Nature gods Sea and river gods Water gods Dii Consentes Poseidon Roman gods Horse deities