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In ancient Roman religion, the ''dii'' (also ''di'') ''Novensiles'' or ''Novensides'' are collective deities of obscure significance found in inscriptions, prayer formulary, and both ancient and early-Christian literary texts. In antiquity, the initial element of the word ''novensiles'' was thought to derive from either "new" (''novus'') or "nine" (''novem''). The form ''novensides'' has been explained as "new settlers," from ''novus'' and ''insidere'', "to settle". The enduringly influential 19th-century scholar
Georg Wissowa Georg Otto August Wissowa (17 June 1859 – 11 May 1931) was a German classical philologist born in Neudorf, near Breslau. Education and career Wissowa studied classical philology under August Reifferscheid at the University of Bresla ...
thought that the ''novensiles'' or ''novensides'' were deities the Romans regarded as imported, that is, not indigenous like the ''
di Indigetes In classical Latin, the epithet ''Indiges'', singular in form, is applied to Sol ''(Sol Indiges)'' and to Jupiter of Lavinium, later identified with Aeneas. One theory holds that it means the "speaker within", and stems from before the recogniti ...
''. Although Wissowa treated the categories of ''indigetes'' and ''novensiles'' as a fundamental way to classify Roman gods, the distinction is hard to maintain; many scholars reject it.
Arnaldo Momigliano Arnaldo Dante Momigliano (5 September 1908 – 1 September 1987) was an Italian historian of classical antiquity, known for his work in historiography, and characterised by Donald Kagan as "the world's leading student of the writing of history i ...
pointed out that no ancient text poses ''novensiles'' and ''indigetes'' as a dichotomy, and that the etymology of ''novensides'' is far from settled. In his treatise on
orthography An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation. Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and ...
, the 4th-century philosopher
Marius Victorinus Gaius Marius Victorinus (also known as Victorinus Afer; fl. 4th century) was a Roman grammarian, rhetorician and Neoplatonic philosopher. Victorinus was African by birth and experienced the height of his career during the reign of Constantius II. H ...
regarded the spellings ''novensiles'' and ''novensides'' as a simple
phonetic Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...
alteration of ''l'' and ''d'', characteristic of the
Sabine language The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines divi ...
. Some ancient sources say the ''novensiles'' are nine in number, leading to both ancient and modern identifications with other divine collectives numbering nine, such as the nine Etruscan deities empowered to wield thunder or with the Muses. The name is thus sometimes spelled ''Novemsiles'' or ''Novemsides''. It may be that only the cults of deities considered indigenous were first established within the sacred boundary of Rome (''
pomerium The ''pomerium'' or ''pomoerium'' was a religious boundary around the city of Rome and cities controlled by Rome. In legal terms, Rome existed only within its ''pomerium''; everything beyond it was simply territory ('' ager'') belonging to Rome. ...
''), with "new" gods on the Aventine Hill or in 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 cove ...
, but it is uncertain whether the terms ''indigetes'' and ''novensiles'' correspond to this topography.
William Warde Fowler William Warde Fowler (16 May 1847 – 15 June 1921) was an English historian and ornithologist, and tutor at Lincoln College, Oxford. He was best known for his works on ancient Roman religion. Among his most influential works wa''The Roman F ...
observed that at any rate a distinction between "indigenous" and "imported" begins to vanish during the
Hannibalic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...
, when immigrant deities are regularly invoked for the protection of the
state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...
.


The invocation of Decius Mus

The ''novensiles'' are invoked in a list of deities in a prayer formula preserved by the Augustan historian
Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...
. The prayer is uttered by Decius Mus (consul 340 BC) during the
Samnite Wars The First, Second, and Third Samnite Wars (343–341 BC, 326–304 BC, and 298–290 BC) were fought between the Roman Republic and the Samnites, who lived on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains south of Rome and north of the Lucanian tribe. ...
as part of his vow (''
devotio In ancient Roman religion, the ''devotio'' was an extreme form of '' votum'' in which a Roman general vowed to sacrifice his own life in battle along with the enemy to chthonic gods in exchange for a victory. The most extended description of th ...
'') to offer himself as a sacrifice to the infernal gods when a battle between the Romans and the Latins has become desperate. Although Livy was writing at a time when
Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
cloaked religious innovation under appeals to old-fashioned piety and
traditionalism Traditionalism is the adherence to traditional beliefs or practices. It may also refer to: Religion * Traditional religion, a religion or belief associated with a particular ethnic group * Traditionalism (19th-century Catholicism), a 19th–c ...
, archaic aspects of the prayer suggest that it represents a traditional formulary as might be preserved in the official pontifical books. The other deities invoked — among them the
Archaic Triad The Archaic Triad is a hypothetical divine triad, consisting of the three allegedly original deities worshipped on the Capitoline Hill in Rome: Jupiter (mythology), Jupiter, Mars (mythology), Mars and Quirinus. This structure was no longer clearly ...
of Jupiter, Mars, and Quirinus, as well as 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 ...
and
Manes In ancient Roman religion, the ''Manes'' (, , ) or ''Di Manes'' are chthonic deities sometimes thought to represent souls of deceased loved ones. They were associated with the ''Lares'', '' Lemures,'' '' Genii'', and ''Di Penates'' as deities ( ...
— belong to the earliest religious traditions of Rome. Livy even explains that he will record the archaic ritual of ''devotio'' at length because "the memory of every human and religious custom has withered from a preference for everything novel and foreign." That the ''novensiles'' would appear in such a list at all, and before the ''indigetes'', is surprising if they are "new." Both the Lares and the Manes are "native" gods often regarded in ancient sources as the deified dead.
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 ...
says that the ''novensiles'' are "old gods" who earned
numinous Numinous () is a term derived from the Latin ''numen'', meaning "arousing spiritual or religious emotion; mysterious or awe-inspiring."Collins English Dictionary -7th ed. - 2005 The term was given its present sense by the German theologian and ph ...
status (''dignitatem numinis'') through their ''
virtus ''Virtus'' () was a specific virtue in Ancient Rome. It carries connotations of valor, manliness, excellence, courage, character, and worth, perceived as masculine strengths (from Latin ''vir'', "man"). It was thus a frequently stated virtue o ...
'', their quality of character. The early
Christian apologist Christian apologetics ( grc, ἀπολογία, "verbal defense, speech in defense") is a branch of Christian theology that defends Christianity. Christian apologetics has taken many forms over the centuries, starting with Paul the Apostle in ...
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 Ven ...
notes other authorities who also regarded them as mortals who became gods. In this light, the ''novensiles'', like the Lares and Manes, may be "concerned with the subterranean world where ancestors were sleeping."


Sabine origin

According to Arnobius, a Piso, most likely the Calpurnius Piso Frugi who was an
annalist Annalists (from Latin ''annus'', year; hence ''annales'', sc. ''libri'', annual records), were a class of writers on Roman history, the period of whose literary activity lasted from the time of the Second Punic War to that of Sulla. They wrote th ...
and
consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...
in 133 BC, said that the ''novensiles'' were nine gods whose cult had been established in Sabine country at Trebia. The location has been identified variously as the river
Trebbia The Trebbia (stressed ''Trèbbia''; la, Trebia) is a river predominantly of Liguria and Emilia Romagna in northern Italy. It is one of the four main right-bank tributaries of the river Po (river), Po, the other three being the Tanaro River, Tanar ...
,
Trevi nel Lazio Trevi nel Lazio is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Frosinone in the Italian region of Lazio in the upper valley of the Aniene river. It is by road northeast of Fiuggi and by road southeast of Subiaco, the nearest large ...
, or one of the places called Trebula in antiquity, two of which —
Trebula Mutusca Trebula Mutusca (also spelled Trebula Mutuesca or simply Mutuscae) was an ancient city of the Sabines. It is located at Monteleone Sabino, a village about 3 km to the east of the Via Salaria. Pliny mentions both Sabine cities named Trebula: ' ...
and
Trebula Suffenas Trebula (Greek: ) or Trebula Suffenas or Trebula Suffenes, was an ancient city of the Sabines, one of two bearing the name Trebula (the other being Trebula Mutusca) – Pliny being the only author who mentions both places: ''Trebulani qui cogn ...
— are in Sabine territory. Gary Forsythe has conjectured that Piso's family came from the middle
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 ...
valley, on the border of
Etruria Etruria () was a region of Central Italy, located in an area that covered part of what are now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and northern and western Umbria. Etruscan Etruria The ancient people of Etruria are identified as Etruscan civiliza ...
and Sabine country, and that he was drawing on personal knowledge. The father of this Piso is probably the L. Calpurnius who dedicated a shrine to
Feronia Feronia may mean: * Feronia (mythology), a goddess of fertility in Roman and Etruscan mythology * ''Feronia'' (plant), a genus of plants * Feronia Inc., a plantations company operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo * Feronia (Sardinia) ...
at ''
Lucus Feroniae Lucus Feroniae was an ancient sanctuary or, literally sacred grove (''"lucus"''), dedicated to the Sabine goddess Feronia, protector of freedmen, ex-slaves. It was located near to the ancient town of Feronia in Etruria on the ancient Via Tib ...
'' near
Capena Capena (until 1933 called Leprignano) is a town and '' comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio region (central Italy). The town has borrowed its modern name from a pre-Roman and Roman settlement that was to its north. Geography Cape ...
.
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 ...
, who was himself Sabine, placed the ''Novensides'' in his much-noted catalogue of Sabine deities. Inscriptions in Sabine country mention the ''novensiles'' or ''novensides'', for instance, ''dieu. nove. sede'' at
Pisaurum Pesaro () is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Marche, capital of the Province of Pesaro e Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the Marche, ...
. A
Marsi The Marsi were an Italic people of ancient Italy, whose chief centre was Marruvium, on the eastern shore of Lake Fucinus (which was drained for agricultural land in the late 19th century). The area in which they lived is now called Marsica. ...
an inscription also names the ''novensiles'' without the ''indigetes''. The 19th-century scholar Edward Greswell sought to connect the nine ''novensiles'' of the Sabines to the
nundinal cycle The nundinae (), sometimes anglicized to nundines,. were the market days of the ancient Roman calendar, forming a kind of weekend including, for a certain period, rest from work for the ruling class (patricians). The nundinal cycle, market w ...
, the eight-day "week" of the
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 ...
that Roman
inclusive counting Counting is the process of determining the number of elements of a finite set of objects, i.e., determining the size of a set. The traditional way of counting consists of continually increasing a (mental or spoken) counter by a unit for every ele ...
reckoned as nine days.


Nine deities

A 4th- or 3rd-century BC inscription from Ardea reading ''neven deivo'' has been taken to refer to the Novensiles as nine deities.
Granius Flaccus Granius Flaccus (active in the 1st century BC) was an antiquarian and scholar of Roman law and religion, probably in the time of Julius Caesar and Augustus. Religious scholar Granius wrote a book ''De indigitamentis'' ("On Forms of Address"), on th ...
and Aelius Stilo, Arnobius says, identify the ''Novensiles'' with the Muses, implying that they are nine in number. In the Roman tradition, the Muses became identified with the Camenae, the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
goddesses of fresh-water sources and prophetic inspiration. The two best-known of the Camenae were
Carmentis In ancient Roman religion and myth, Carmenta was a goddess of childbirth and prophecy, associated with technological innovation as well as the protection of mothers and children and a patron of midwives. She was also said to have invented the ...
(or Carmenta), who had her own
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 ...
and in whose honor the
Carmentalia Carmentalia was the two feast days (11 January and 15 January) of the Roman goddess Carmenta. She had her temple atop the Capitoline Hill The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; it, Campidoglio ; la, Mons Capitolinus ), between the Forum ...
was held, and Egeria, the divine consort of
Numa Pompilius Numa Pompilius (; 753–672 BC; reigned 715–672 BC) was the legendary second king of Rome, succeeding Romulus after a one-year interregnum. He was of Sabine origin, and many of Rome's most important religious and political institutions are a ...
, the second king of Rome considered the founder of
Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...
and religion. Numa had established a bronze shrine at the fountain in their grove, the site of his divine union with Egeria. The fountain of the Camenae was a source of water for the
Vestals 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 ...
. The 5th-century scholar
Martianus Capella Martianus Minneus Felix Capella (fl. c. 410–420) was a jurist, polymath and Latin prose writer of late antiquity, one of the earliest developers of the system of the seven liberal arts that structured early medieval education. He was a nati ...
placed the ''Dii Novensiles'' within his
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 ...
-influenced celestial schema in his work ''On the Marriage of Mercury and Philology'', and took their name as meaning "nine." He locates the ''Novensiles'' in the second region of the heavens, with
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 religio ...
, Mars Quirinus, the "Military Lar,"
Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods *Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Ju ...
, Fons ("Fountain" or "Source"), and the
Lympha The Lympha (plural ''Lymphae'') is an ancient Roman deity of fresh water. She is one of twelve agricultural deities listed by Varro as "leaders" (''duces'') of Roman farmers, because "without water all agriculture is dry and poor." The Lymphae ...
e (fresh-water goddesses).


Council on lightning

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...
mentions nine gods of the Etruscans who had the power of wielding thunderbolts, pointing toward Martianus's Novensiles as gods pertaining to the use of thunder and lightning ''(fulgura)'' as signs. Books on how to read lightning were one of the three main branches of the ''
disciplina Etrusca Etruscan religion comprises a set of stories, beliefs, and religious practices of the Etruscan civilization, heavily influenced by the mythology of ancient Greece, and sharing similarities with concurrent Roman mythology and religion. As the Et ...
'', the body of Etruscan religious and divinatory teachings. Within the Etruscan discipline, Jupiter has the power to wield three types of admonitory lightning ''( manubiae)'' sent from three different celestial regions. The first of these, mild or "perforating" lightning, is a beneficial form meant to persuade or dissuade. The other two types are harmful or "crushing" lightning, for which Jupiter requires the approval of the
Di Consentes The ''Dii Consentes'', also known as ''Di'' or ''Dei Consentes'' (once ''Dii Complices''), is an ancient list of twelve major deities, six gods and six goddesses, in the pantheon of Ancient Rome. Their gilt statues stood in the Roman Forum, an ...
, and completely destructive or "burning" lighting, which requires the approval of the '' di superiores et involuti'' (hidden gods of the "higher" sphere). Several scholars have identified the Novensiles with the council of gods who decide on the use of the third, most destructive type of lightning. Carl Thulin proposed that two theonyms from the
Piacenza Liver The Liver of Piacenza is an 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. It is a life-sized bronze model o ...
— a bronze model of a sheep's liver covered with Etruscan inscriptions pertaining to
haruspicy In the religion of ancient Rome, a haruspex (plural haruspices; also called aruspex) was a person trained to practise a form of divination called haruspicy (''haruspicina''), the inspection of the entrails (''exta''—hence also extispicy ( ...
— ought to be identified with the two councils, ''Cilens(l)'' with the Novensiles and ''Thufltha(s)'' with the ''Consentes
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 ...
''. The Novensiles would thus correspond to the ''di superiores et involuti'' and possibly the ''Favores Opertanei'' ("Secret Gods of Favor") referred to by Martianus Capella. Martianus, however, locates the ''Favores'' in the first region of the sky, with the ''Di Consentes'' and Penates, and the Novensiles in the second; the ''Favores'' are perhaps the ''Fata'', "Fates".Gérard Capdeville, "Les dieux de Martianus Capella," ''Revue de l'histoire des religions'' 213 (1996), pp. 260–262 and 273–274; see also Nancy Thomson de Grummond, ''The Religion of the Etruscans'' (University of Texas Press, 2006), pp. 41–42.


References

{{reflist, colwidth=30em Ancient Roman religion Roman deities