Libitina, also Libentina or Lubentina, is an ancient Roman goddess of funerals and burial. Her name was used as a

metonymy Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something associated with that thing or concept. For example, the word " suit" may refer to a person from groups commonly wearing business attire, such as sales ...

for death, and undertakers were known as ''libitinarii''. Libitina was associated with

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

, and the name appears in some authors as an

epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...

of Venus. The grove ''( lucus)'' of Libitina was located on the

Esquiline Hill The Esquiline Hill (; ; ) is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. Its southernmost cusp is the ''Oppius'' ( Oppian Hill). Etymology The origin of the name ''Esquiline'' is still under much debate. One view is that the hill was named after the ...

, as were several religious sites indicating that the area had "unhealthy and ill-omened" associations. A public cemetery was located outside the Esquiline Gate, in the Campus Esquilinus. A temple of Venus in the grove of Libitina celebrated its founding anniversary August 19, the day of the

Vinalia Rustica The Vinalia were Roman festivals of the wine harvest, wine vintage and gardens, held in honour of Jupiter and Venus. The ''Vinalia prima'' ("first Vinalia"), also known as the ''Vinalia urbana'' ("Urban Vinalia") was held on 23 April to bless an ...

. When a person died, the treasury of the temple collected a coin as a "death tax" supposed to have been established by

Servius Tullius Servius Tullius was the legendary sixth king of Rome, and the second of its Etruscan dynasty. He reigned from 578 to 535 BC. Roman and Greek sources describe his servile origins and later marriage to a daughter of Lucius Tarquinius Pri ...

. During a plague in 65 AD, 30,000 deaths were recorded at the temple.

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 i ...

notes two occasions when the death toll exceeded Libitina's capacity. A panel ''(

collegium A (: ) or college was any association in ancient Rome that Corporation, acted as a Legal person, legal entity. Such associations could be civil or religious. The word literally means "society", from ("colleague"). They functioned as social cl ...

)'' of funeral directors ''(dissignatores)'' was based in the grove of Libitina. Libitina is sometimes regarded as Etruscan in origin. The name is perhaps derived from Etruscan ''lupu-'', "to die."

Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BCE) 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 Virgil and Cicero). He is sometimes call ...

, however, offers a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

etymology from ''lubere,'' "to be pleasing," related to ''

libido In psychology, libido (; ) is psychic drive or energy, usually conceived of as sexual in nature, but sometimes conceived of as including other forms of desire. The term ''libido'' was originally developed by Sigmund Freud, the pioneering origin ...

'', that attempts to explain the goddess's connection to Venus. ''Venus Lubentina'' or ''Libitina'' may result from an identification with the Etruscan Alpanu (also as Alpan or Alpnu) who had characteristics of both a love goddess and an underworld deity. The Etruscan formula ''alpan turce'' is equivalent to ''libens dedit,'' "gave freely or willingly," in Latin.Harmon, "Religion in the Latin Elegists," p. 1924, citing Robert Schilling, ''La religion romaine de Vénus depuis les origines jusqu'au temps d'Auguste,'' Bibliothèque des Écoles d'Athènes et de Rome 178 (Paris, 1954).

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* {{Authority control Death goddesses Roman goddesses