Inferi Dii
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The ''di inferi'' or ''dii inferi'' (Latin, "the gods below") were a shadowy collective of ancient Roman deities associated with death and the underworld. The
epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...
''inferi'' is also given to the mysterious Manes, a collective of ancestral spirits. The most likely origin of the word ''Manes'' is from ''manus'' or ''manis'' (more often in Latin as its antonym ''immanis''), meaning "good" or "kindly," which was a euphemistic way to speak of the ''inferi'' so as to avert their potential to harm or cause fear.


Sacrifices

Varro (1st century BC) distinguishes among the ''di superi'' ("gods above"), whose sites for offerings are called ''altaria''; the ''di terrestres'' ("terrestrial gods"), whose altars are ''
arae In Greek mythology, the Arae (; Ancient Greek: Αραι) were female spirits of curses, particularly of the curses placed by the dead upon those guilty of their death; they were associated with the underworld. Also they can curse men such that th ...
''; and ''di inferi'', to whom offerings are made by means of ''foci'', "hearths," on the ground or in a pit. In general,
animal sacrifice Animal sacrifice is the ritual killing and offering of one or more animals, usually as part of a religious ritual or to appease or maintain favour with a deity. Animal sacrifices were common throughout Europe and the Ancient Near East until the spr ...
to gods of the upper world usually resulted in communal meals, with the cooked victim apportioned to divine and human recipients. Infernal gods, by contrast, received burnt offerings ( holocausts), in which the sacrificial victims were burnt to ash, because the living were prohibited from sharing a meal with the dead. This prohibition is reflected also in funeral rites, where the deceased's passage into the realm of the dead is marked with a holocaust to his Manes at his tomb, while his family returns home to share a sacrificial meal at which his exclusion from the feast was ritually pronounced. Thereafter, he was considered part of the collective Manes, sharing in the sacrifices made to them. Thus, victims for public sacrifices were most often domesticated animals that were a normal part of the Roman diet, while offerings of victims the Romans considered inedible, such as horses and puppies, mark a chthonic aspect of the deity propitiated, whether or not the divinity belonged to the underworld entirely. Secret ritual practices characterized as "magic" were often holocausts directed at underworld gods, and puppies were a not uncommon offering, especially to Hecate. ''Di inferi'' were often invoked in binding spells ''(
defixiones A curse tablet ( la, tabella defixionis, defixio; el, κατάδεσμος, katadesmos) is a small tablet with a curse written on it from the Greco-Roman world. Its name originated from the Greek and Latin words for "pierce" and "bind". The tabl ...
)'', which offer personal enemies to them. The infernal gods were also the recipients on the rare occasions when human sacrifice was carried out in Rome. The ritual of '' devotio'', when a general pledged his own life as an offering along with the enemy, was directed at the gods of the underworld under the name ''Di Manes''.


Festivals and topography

Religious sites and rituals for the ''di inferi'' were properly outside the '' pomerium'', Rome's sacred boundary, as were tombs. Horse racing along with the propitiation of underworld gods was characteristic of "old and obscure" Roman festivals such as the
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 ...
, the October Horse, the
Taurian Games The Taurian Games (Latin ''Ludi Taurii'' or ''Ludi Taurei'', rarely Taurilia) were games ''(ludi)'' held in ancient Rome in honor of the ''di inferi'', the gods of the underworld. They were not part of a regularly scheduled religious festival on th ...
, and sites in the Campus Martius such as the
Tarentum Tarentum may refer to: * Taranto, Apulia, Italy, on the site of the ancient Roman city of Tarentum (formerly the Greek colony of Taras) **See also History of Taranto * Tarentum (Campus Martius), also Terentum, an area in or on the edge of the Camp ...
and the
Trigarium The Trigarium was an equestrian training ground in the northwest corner of the Campus Martius ("Field of Mars") in ancient Rome. Its name was taken from the ''triga'', a three-horse chariot. The Trigarium was an open space located south of the b ...
. The Taurian Games were celebrated specifically to propitiate the ''di inferi''. The rarely raced three-horse chariot ''( triga'', from which the ''trigarium'', as a generic term for "field for equestrian exercise", took its name) was sacred to the ''di inferi''. According to
Isidore of Seville Isidore of Seville ( la, Isidorus Hispalensis; c. 560 – 4 April 636) was a Spanish scholar, theologian, and archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century historian Montalembert, as "the last scholar of ...
, the three horses represented the three stages of a human life: childhood, youth, and old age.


''Arbores infelices''

In the
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 **Etruscan ...
tradition of tree divination, the ''di inferi'' were the tutelaries of certain trees and shrubs, on one list the
buckthorn ''Rhamnus'' is a genus of about 110 accepted species of shrubs or small trees, commonly known as buckthorns, in the family Rhamnaceae. Its species range from tall (rarely to ) and are native mainly in east Asia and North America, but found thr ...
, red cornel, fern, black fig, "those that bear a black berry and black fruit," holly, woodland pear,
butcher's broom ''Ruscus aculeatus'', known as butcher's-broom, is a low evergreen dioecious Eurasian shrub, with flat shoots known as cladodes that give the appearance of stiff, spine-tipped leaves. Small greenish flowers appear in spring, and are borne singly ...
, briar, and brambles." The wood of these trees, called '' arbores infelices'' ("inauspicious trees"), had apotropaic powers and was used for burning objects regarded as ill omens.


Christian reception

The
early Christian Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish d ...
poet Prudentius regarded the ''di inferi'' as integral to the ancestral religion of Rome, and criticized the gladiatorial games held for them as representative of the underworld gods' inhumane and horrifying nature. To Prudentius, the other Roman gods were merely false, easily explained as euhemerized mortals, but an act of devotion to the ''di inferi'' constituted
devil worship Theistic Satanism, otherwise referred to as religious Satanism, spiritual Satanism, or traditional Satanism, is an umbrella term for religious groups that consider Satan, the Devil, or Lucifer to objectively exist as a deity, supernatural en ...
, because Christians assimilated the ''di inferi'' to their beliefs pertaining to
Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
and the figure variously known as the Devil,
Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...
, or Lucifer.Prudentius, ''Contra Symmachum'' I.379–399, II.1086–1132, and V.354; Friedrich Solmsen, "The Powers of Darkness in Prudentius' ''Contra Symmachum'': A Study of His Poetic Imagination," ''Vigiliae Christianae'' 19.4 (1965), pp. 238, 240–248.


List of underworld or chthonic deities

The following list includes deities who were thought to dwell in the underworld, or whose functions mark them as primarily or significantly
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 ...
or concerned with death. They typically receive nocturnal sacrifices, or dark-colored animals as offerings. Other deities may have had a secondary or disputed chthonic aspect. Rituals pertaining to Mars, particularly in a form influenced by Etruscan tradition, suggest a role in the cycle of birth and death.
Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...
moves between the realms of upper- and underworld as a psychopomp. The agricultural god Consus had an altar that was underground, like that of Dis and Proserpina. Deities concerned with birth are often cultivated like death deities, with nocturnal offerings that suggest a theological view of birth and death as a cycle. The deities listed below are not to be regarded as collectively forming the ''di inferi'', whose individual identities are obscure. *
Dis Dis, DIS or variants may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Dis'' (album), by Jan Garbarek, 1976 * ''Dís'', a soundtrack album by Jóhann Jóhannsson, 2004 * "Dis", a song by The Gazette from the 2003 album ''Hankou Seimeibun'' * "dis ...
or ''Dis pater'' ("Father Dis"), the Roman equivalent of Greek
Plouton In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Pluto ( gr, Πλούτων, ') was the ruler of the Greek underworld. The earlier name for the god was Hades, which became more common as the name of the underworld itself. Pluto represents a more posi ...
, who presided over the afterlife as a divine couple with Proserpina * Februus, Etruscan god of purification and death, absorbed into the Roman pantheon * Hecate or Trivia ("three paths"), an aspect of the triple goddess, along with Luna and Proserpina, adapted in Rome * Lemures, the malevolent dead *
Libitina Libitina, also Libentina or Lubentina, is an ancient Roman goddess of funerals and burial. Her name was used as a metonymy for death, and undertakers were known as ''libitinarii''. Libitina was associated with Venus, and the name appears in some a ...
, one of the '' indigitamenta'' associated with death and the underworld * Manes, spirits of the dead *
Mana Genita In ancient Roman religion, Mana Genita or Geneta Mana is an obscure goddess mentioned only by Pliny, Plutarch, and Horace. Both Pliny and Plutarch tell that her rites were carried out by the sacrifice of a puppy or a bitch. Plutarch alone has left ...
, an obscure underworld goddess who was concerned with
infant mortality Infant mortality is the death of young children under the age of 1. This death toll is measured by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the probability of deaths of children under one year of age per 1000 live births. The under-five morta ...
* Mater Larum ("Mother of the Lares"), a goddess of obscure identity and underworld associations variously identified as Larunda or Dea Tacita ("Silent Goddess") or Muta "(Mute Goddess)" *
Mors Mors may refer to: *Mors (mythology), the personification of death in Roman mythology *Mors, Latin for death *Mors (automobile), a French car manufacturer from 1895 to 1925 :* American Mors, Mors vehicles produced under licence in America by the S ...
,
personification Personification occurs when a thing or abstraction is represented as a person, in literature or art, as a type of anthropomorphic metaphor. The type of personification discussed here excludes passing literary effects such as "Shadows hold their b ...
of death *
Nenia Dea Nenia Dea (Engl.: Goddess Nenia; rarely ''Naenia'') was an ancient funeral deity of Rome, who had a sanctuary outside of the Porta Viminalis. The cult of the Nenia is doubtlessly a very old one, but according to Georg Wissowa the location of Neni ...
, goddess of the funeral lament * Orcus, an archaic underworld deity whose name was also used for the underworld itself; compare
Hades Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...
* Parca Maurtia or Morta, one of the three fates who determines mortality * Proserpina, daughter of
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 st ...
and queen of the underworld with her husband Dis; also
Erecura Erecura or Aerecura (also found as ''Herecura'' or ''Eracura'') was a goddess worshipped in ancient times, often thought to be Celtic in origin, mostly represented with the attributes of Proserpina and associated with the Roman underworld god Di ...
*
Scotus The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. Federal tribunals in the United States, federal court cases, and over Stat ...
, god of darkness. Greek
Erebos In Greek mythology, Erebus (; grc, Ἔρεβος, Érebos, "deep darkness, shadow".), or Erebos, is the personification of darkness and one of the Greek primordial deities, primordial deities. Hesiod's ''Theogony'' identifies him as one of the ...
; deep, shadow and one of the primordial deities. *
Summanus Summanus ( lat, Summānus) was the god of nocturnal thunder in ancient Roman religion, as counterposed to Jupiter, the god of diurnal (daylight) thunder. His precise nature was unclear even to Ovid. Pliny thought that he was of Etruscan origin, ...
, god of nocturnal thunder who was later identified with Pluto *
Vediovis Vejovis or Vejove ( lat, Vēiovis, italic=yes or ''Vēdiovis''; rare ''Vēive'' or ''Vēdius'') was a Roman god of Etruscan origins. Representation and worship Vejovis was portrayed as a young man, holding a bunch of arrows, pilum, (or lightn ...
, an obscure archaic god, perhaps a chthonic
Jove Jupiter ( la, Iūpiter or , from Proto-Italic "day, sky" + "father", thus " sky father" Greek: Δίας or Ζεύς), also known as Jove (gen. ''Iovis'' ), is the god of the sky and thunder, and king of the gods in ancient Roman religion a ...


References

{{Reflist Ancient Roman religion Underworld deities Roman deities