List of Roman deities

This is a list of deities of ancient Rome, including those who are known to have received cult within the city of Rome, the ager Romanus, or the provinces of the Empire under a Latin or Latinized name.

Roman lists

The Romans themselves provide lists of deities in theologically based groupings. These include:

Triads

• Archaic Triad: Jupiter, Mars, Quirinus.
• Capitoline Triad: Jupiter, Juno, Minerva
• Plebeian or Aventine Triad: Ceres, Liber, Libera, dating to 493 BC.

Groupings of twelve

Lectisternium

In describing the lectisternium of the Twelve Great Gods in 217 BC, the Augustan historian Livy places the deities in gender-balanced pairs:

• Jupiter-Juno
• Neptune-Minerva
• Mars-Venus
• Apollo-Diana
• Vulcan-Vesta
• Mercury-Ceres

Divine male-female complements such as these, as well as the anthropomorphic influence of Greek mythology, contributed to a tendency in Latin literature to represent the gods as "married" couples or (as in the case of Venus and Mars) lovers.

Dii Consentes

Di Consentes on an altar

Varro uses the name Dii Consentes for the 12 deities, six male-female pairs, whose gilded images stood in the forum. Although individual names are not listed, they are assumed to be the deities of the lectisternium. A fragment from Ennius, within whose lifetime the lectisternium occurred, lists the same 12 deities by name, though in a different order from that of Livy: Juno, Vesta, Minerva, Ceres, Diana, Venus, Mars, Mercurius, Jove, Neptunus, Vulcanus, Apollo.

The Dii Consentes are sometimes seen as the Roman equivalent of the Greek Olympians. The meaning of Consentes is subject to interpretation, but is usually taken to mean that they form a council or consensus of deities.

Agricultural deities

Varro, De re rustica

At the beginning of his treatise on farming, Varro gives a list of twelve deities who are vital to agriculture. These make up a conceptual or theological grouping, and are not known to have received cult collectively. They are:

• Juppiter-Tellus
• Sol-Luna
• Ceres-Liber
• Robigus-Flora
• Minerva-Venus
• Lympha-Bonus Eventus

Vergil, Georgics

Allegorical scene with Roman deities from the Augustan Altar of Peace

In his Georgics, a collection of poetry on agrarian themes, Vergil gives a list influenced by literary Hellenization and Augustan ideology:

• Sol-Luna
• Liber-Ceres
• Fauni-Dryads
• Neptune
• Aristaeus
• Pan-Minerva
• Triptolemus
• Silvanus

The poet proposes that the divus Julius Caesar be added as a thirteenth.

Di selecti

Varro gives a list of twenty principal gods of Roman religion:

• Janus
• Jupiter
• Saturn
• Genius
• Mercury
• Apollo
• Mars
• Vulcan
• Neptune
• Sol
• Orcus
• Father Liber
• Tellus
• Ceres
• Juno
• Luna
• Diana
• Minerva
• Venus
• Vesta

Sabine gods

Livia, wife of Augustus, dressed as the goddess Ops

Varro, who was himself of Sabine origin, gives a list of Sabine gods who were adopted by the Romans:

• Feronia
• Minerva
• Novensides
• Pales
• Salus
• Fortuna
• Fons
• Fides
• Ops
• Flora
• Vediovis
• Saturn
• Sol
• Luna
• Vulcan
• Summanus
• Larunda
• Terminus
• Quirinus
• Vortumnus
• Lares
• Diana
• Lucina

Elsewhere, Varro claims Sol Indiges, who had a sacred grove at Lavinium, as Sabine but at the same time equates him with Apollo. Of those listed, he writes, "several names have their roots in both languages, as trees that grow on a property line creep into both fields. Saturn, for instance, can be said to have another origin here, and so too Diana." Varro makes various claims for Sabine origins throughout his works, some more plausible than others, and his list should not be taken at face value. But the importance of the Sabines in the early cultural formation of Rome is evidenced, for instance, by the bride abduction of the Sabine women by Romulus's men, and in the Sabine ethnicity of Numa Pompilius, second king of Rome, to whom are attributed many of Rome's religious and legal institutions. Varro, however, says that the altars to most of these gods were established at Rome by King Tatius as the result of a vow (votum).

Alphabetical list

A

A "lizard-slayer" Apollo on a mosaic from Roman Africa

• Abeona - a goddess who protected children the first time they left their parents' home, safeguarding their first steps alone
• Abundantia - goddess of good fortune, abundance, and prosperity
• Acca Larentia - goddess of cornfields. A mythological figure who started out as mortal but was later deified.
• Acis - river god near the Etna, son of Faunus and the nymph Symaethis
• Adeona - goddess who protected children as they returned home
• Aeolus - god of storms and winds (Greek)
• Aerecura - goddess of Celtic origin, associated with the underworld
• Aequitas - goddess of fair trade and honest merchants
• Aesculapius - god of health and medicine
• Aeternitas - goddess and personification of eternity
• Aius Locutius - divine voice that warned the Romans of the imminent Gallic invasion
• Alemonia or Alemona - goddess responsible for nourishing the unborn child
• Angerona - goddess who relieved people from pain and sorrow
• Angita - early goddess of healing, magic and witchcraft. May be the same as Angitia
• Angitia - goddess associated with snakes, later goddess and derived from Angita
• Anna Perenna - early goddess of the "circle of the year", her festival was celebrated March 15
• Antevorta - goddess of the future and one of the Camenae; also called Porrima
• Apollo - god of poetry, music, and oracles, and one of the Dii Consentes
• Arimanius - an underworld god derived from the Greek Areimanios.
• Aurora - goddess of the dawn
• Averna - goddess of the underworld. May be equivalent to Proserpina
• Averruncus - god of childbirth. Averts calamity, whilst bringing good fortune

B

A Bacchus from Roman Spain, 2nd century

• Bacchus - god of wine, sensual pleasures, and truth, originally a cult title for the Greek Dionysus and identified with the Roman Liber
• Bellona or Duellona - war goddess
• [[BIG BAD JOHNSONS] (god) of Fantasy Football Domination - God and master of absolute domination over all Losers in The Wifebeaters Fantasy Football League
• Bona Dea - goddess of fertility, healing, virginity, and women. Also known as Fauna
• Bonus Eventus - personification of a good event
• Bromius - an epithet, Greek in origin, of Bacchus, god of wine
• Bubona - goddess of cattle

C

• Caca - originally an ancient hearth goddess, later demoted to a minor figure in mythology and replaced by Vesta.
• Cacus - originally an ancient god of fire, later demoted to a giant.
• Caelus - god of the sky
• Camenae - four goddesses with various attributes including fresh water, prophecy, and childbirth. There were four of them: Carmenta, Egeria, Antevorta, and Postvorta.
• Candelifera - goddess of childbirth, particularly of bringing the newborn into the light
• Cardea - goddess of health, thresholds and after being assigned by Janus, door hinges and handles.
• Carmenta - goddess of childbirth and prophecy, and assigned a flamen minor. The leader of the Camenae.
• Carmentes - two goddesses of childbirth: Antevorta and Postvorta or Porrima, future and past.
• Carna - goddess who presided over the heart and other organs
• Ceres - goddess of the harvest and mother of Proserpina, one of the Dii Consentes, was assigned a flamen minor
• Cinxia - goddess of marriage; name occurs as an epithet of Juno
• Clementia - goddess of forgiveness and mercy
• Clitunno - god of the Clitunno River
• Cloacina - goddess who presided over the system of sewers in Rome; identified with Venus
• Collatina - goddess of hills
• Concordia - goddess of agreement, understanding, and marital harmony
• Consus - chthonic god protecting grain storage
• Convector - god who oversaw the bringing in of the crops from the field
• Cuba - goddess of infants who was invoked by mothers to help their babies sleep
• Cunina - the protectress of infants in cradles
• Cupid - Roman god of love. The son of Venus. Greek name is Eros
• Cura - goddess of care and concern who created humans from clay
• Cybele - a goddess of caverns and mountains, walls and fortresses, nature, wild animals

D

Diana Nemorensis on a denarius

• Dea Dia - goddess of growth
• Dea Tacita (The Silent Goddess) - goddess of the dead; later equated with the earth goddess Larenta
• Decima - minor goddess and one of the Parcae (Roman equivalent of the Moirae). The measurer of the thread of life, her Greek equivalent was Lachesis
• Dei Lucrii - early gods of wealth, profit, commerce and trade
• Devera or Deverra - goddess who ruled over the brooms used to purify temples in preparation for various worship services, sacrifices and celebrations; she protected midwives and women in labor
• Diana - goddess of the hunt, the moon, virginity, and childbirth, twin sister of Apollo and one of the Dii Consentes
• Diana Nemorensis - Local version of Diana
• Dius Fidius - god of oaths, associated with Jupiter
• Disciplina - personification of discipline
• Discordia - goddess of discord. Greek equivalent is Eris
• Dis Pater or Dispater - god of wealth and the underworld
• Domiduca - goddess of protecting children on the way back to their parents' home
• Domiducus - god who brought brides to their husbands' houses.
• Domitius or Domidius - god who kept wives in their husbands' homes

E

The Gallo-Roman horse goddess Epona

• Edusa - goddess of nourishment who guarded over children as they learned to eat solid foods
• Edesia - goddess of food who presided over banquets
• Egeria - water nymph/goddess, later considered one the Camenae
• Empanda or Panda - goddess of generosity and charity
• Epona - protector of horses, donkeys, mules
• Eventus Bonus - god of success in agriculture and commerce.

F

• Fabulinus - god of children, the god responsible for teaching children to speak
• Falacer - obscure god. He was assigned a flamen minor.
• Fama - goddess of fame and rumor.
• Fascinus - phallic god who protected from evil supernatural influences
• Fauna - goddess of vegetation. Also a title of other vegetative goddesses such as Bona Dea, Ops, and Terra.
• Faunus - god of flocks.
• Faustitas - goddess who protected herd and livestock
• Febris - goddess who protected people against fevers and malaria
• Fecunditas - goddess of fertility.
• Felicitas - goddess of good luck and success.
• Ferentina - patron goddess of the city Ferentinum, Latium, protector of the Latin commonwealth.
• Feronia - rural goddess of woods and fountains.
• Fessonia - goddess who relieved weariness
• Fides - goddess of loyalty
• Flora - goddess of flowers, was assigned a flamen minor
• Fornax - goddess of hearths and ovens
• Fontus - god of wells and springs
• Forculus - god of doors
• Fortuna - goddess of luck
• Fraus - goddess of treachery. Her Greek equivalent was Apate
• Fulgora - personification of lightning.
• Furrina - goddess whose functions are mostly unknown; may be associated with water. One source claims she was a goddess of robbers and thieves. She was assigned a flamen minor. Name could also be Furina.

G

• Glycon - snake god. His cult originated in Macedonia.
• Gratiae - Roman term for the Charites or Graces

H

Roman statue of the infant Hercules strangling a snake

• Hercules - god of strength, whose worship was derived from the Greek hero Heracles
• Hermaphroditus - an androgynous god (Greek)
• Hermus - a river god with a sanctuary at Sardis
• Hespera - goddess of dusk
• Hilaritas - goddess of rejoicing and good humor
• Honos - god of military honours, chivalry and as once source claims, military justice
• Hora - Quirinus' wife
• Hostilina - goddess who presided over the ears of crops becoming even

I

• Imporcitor - god responsible for the harrowing of the fields. Minor attendant of Ceres
• Indiges - the deified Aeneas
• Insitor - god responsible for the sowing of crops
• Intercidona - minor goddess of childbirth; invoked to keep evil spirits away from the child; symbolised by a cleaver
• Inuus - god of fertility and sexual intercourse, protector of livestock
• Invidia - goddess of envy or jealousy
• Iris - goddess of the rainbow (Greek)

J

A janiform sculpture, perhaps of Janus

• Janus - double-faced or two-headed god of beginnings and endings and of doors
• Jugatinus - god of mountain ranges
• Juno - Queen of the Gods and goddess of matrimony, and one of the Dii Consentes
• Jupiter - King of the Gods and the storm, air, and sky god, father of Venus, and one of the Dii Consentes; was assigned a flamen maior
• Justitia - goddess of justice
• Juturna- goddess of fountains, wells, and springs
• Juventas - goddess of youth

L

• Lactanus or Lactans - god that made the crops prosper or "yield milk"
• Larentina - an underworld goddess
• Lares - household gods
• Laverna - patroness of thieves, con men and charlatans
• Levana - goddess of the rite through which fathers accepted newborn babies as their own
• Letum - personification of death
• Liber - a god of male fertility, viniculture and freedom, assimilated to Roman Bacchus and Greek Dionysus
• Libera - Liber's female equivalent, assimilated to Roman Proserpina and Greek Persephone.
• Liberalitas - goddess or personification of generosity
• Libertas - goddess or personification of freedom
• Libitina - goddess of death, corpses and funerals
• Lima - goddess of thresholds
• Limentinus - god of lintels
• Lua - goddess to whom soldiers sacrificed captured weapons, probably a consort of Saturn
• Lucina - goddess of childbirth. The name occurs as a surname of Juno.
• Luna - goddess of the moon
• Lupercus - god of shepherds; a name for the Greek god Pan.
• Lympha, often plural lymphae, a water deity assimilated to the Greek nymphs

M

Capitoline Triad of Juno, Jupiter, and Minerva

• Mana Genita - goddess who presided over burials, mother or leader of the manes
• Manes - the souls of the dead; came to be seen as household deities
• Mania - goddess of the dead and ruler of the underworld, wife of Mantus. Not to be confused with the Greek figure of the same name.
• Mantus - god of the dead and ruler of the underworld, husband of Mania.
• Mars - god of war and father of Romulus, the founder of Rome, lover of Venus, and one of the Dii Consentes, was assigned a flamen maior
• Mater Matuta - goddess of dawn and childbirth; also seen as patroness of mariners
• Meditrina - goddess of healing, introduced to account for the festival of Meditrinalia
• Mefitis or Mephitis - goddess and personification of poisonous gases and volcanic vapours.
• Mellona or Mellonia - goddess of bees and beekeeping
• Mercury - messenger of the gods and bearer of souls to the underworld, and one of the Dii Consentes
• Messia - a harvest goddess
• Messor - minor agricultural god concerned with the growth and harvesting of crops; attendant of Ceres.
• Minerva - goddess of wisdom, war and the arts, and one of the Dii Consentes
• Mithras - god worshipped in the Roman empire; popular with soldiers
• Molae - daughters of Mars, probably goddesses of grinding of the grain.
• Moneta - minor goddess of memory, equivalent to the Greek Mnemosyne. Also used as an epithet of Juno.
• Mors - personification of death and equivalent of the Greek Thanatos.
• Morta - minor goddess of death and one of the Parcae (Roman equivalent of the Moirae). The cutter of the thread of life, her Greek equivalent was Atropos.
• Murcia or Murtia - a little-known goddess who was associated with the myrtle, and in other sources was called a goddess of sloth and laziness (both interpretations arising from false etymologies of her name). Later equated with Venus in the form of Venus Murcia.
• Muta - goddess of silence
• Mutunus Tutunus - god of fertility

N

Neptune on a 3rd-century mosaic

• Naenia - goddess of funerary lament
• Nascio - personification of the act of birth
• Necessitas - goddess of destiny, the Roman equivalent of Ananke
• Nemesis - goddess of revenge (Greek)
• Nemestrinus - god of woods and forests
• Neptune - god of the sea, earthquakes, and horses, and one of the Dii Consentes. Greek Equivalent is Poseidon.
• Nerio - ancient war goddess and the personification of valor
• Neverita - wife of Neptune; their quarrels caused sea storms.
• Nixi, also di nixi, dii nixi, or Nixae - goddesses of childbirth, called upon to protect women in labour
• Nodutus - god who made knots in stalks of wheat
• Nona - minor goddess, one of the Parcae (Roman equivalent of the Moirae). The spinner of the thread of life, her Greek equivalent was Clotho.
• Nox - goddess of night, derived from the Greek Nyx.

O

• Obarator - minor god of agriculture. Responsible for overseeing the top-dressing of crops.
• Occator - minor agricultural god responsible for the growth and harvesting of the crops; attendant of Ceres.
• Orchadis - minor god responsible for the olive groves; attendant of Ceres.
• Ops or Opis - goddess of fertility
• Orbona - goddess of children, especially orphans. She granted new children to those who had become childless
• Orcus - a god of the underworld and punisher of broken oaths

P

Aeneas and the Penates, from a 4th-century manuscript

• Palatua - obscure goddess who guarded the Palatine Hill. She was assigned a flamen minor.
• Pales - deity of shepherds, flocks and livestock
• Parcae - personifications of destiny (Nona, Decima, and Morta)
• Partula or Parca - goddess of childbirth; determined the length of pregnancy.
• Patelana - goddess of opening husks of grain
• Paventia - goddess who comforted frightened children
• Pax - goddess of peace; equivalent of Greek Eirene.
• Pellonia - goddess who warded people off their enemies
• Penates or Di Penates - household gods
• Picumnus - minor god of fertility, agriculture, matrimony, infants and children
• Picus — Italic woodpecker god with oracular powers
• Pietas - goddess of duty; personification of the Roman virtue pietas.
• Pilumnus - minor guardian god, concerned with the protection of infants at birth
• Pluto - Pluto a name given to him by the Romans from Greek myths, he is the King of the Dead, and of the underworld.
• Poena - goddess of punishment
• Pomona - goddess of fruit trees, gardens and orchards; assigned a flamen minor
• Porus - god and personification of plenty
• Porrima - goddess of the future. Also called Antevorta. One of the Carmentes and the Camenae
• Portunes - god of keys, doors, and livestock, he was assigned a flamen minor.
• Postverta or Prorsa Postverta - goddess of childbirth and the past, one of the two Carmentes (other being Porrima)
• Potina - goddess of children's drinks
• Priapus - localised god of the shade; worship derived from the Greek Priapus
• Promitor - minor agricultural god, responsible for the growth and harvesting of crops; attendant of Ceres.
• Proserpina - Queen of the Dead and a grain-goddess, the Roman equivalent of the Greek Persephone
• Providentia - goddess of forethought
• Pudicitia - goddess and personification of chastity, one of the Roman virtues. Her Greek equivalent was Aidôs.
• Puta - goddess of pruning vines and bushes

Q

• Quirinus, Sabine god identified with Mars; Romulus, the founder of Rome, was deified as Quirinus after his death. Quirinus was a war god and a god of the Roman people and state, and was assigned a flamen maior.
• Quiritis - goddess of motherhood. Originally Sabine or pre-Roman, she was later equated with Juno.

R

• Redarator - minor god of agriculture, associated with the second ploughing
• Robigo or Robigus, a god or goddess who personified grain disease and protected crops
• Roma - personification of the Roman state
• Rumina - goddess who protected breastfeeding mothers
• Runcina - minor goddess of agriculture, associated with reaping and weeding.
• Rusina - protector of the fields or farmland (also known as Rurina)
• Rusor - a minor agricultural god and attendant of Ceres

S

Sol Invictus, or Christ depicted in his guise

• Salacia - goddess of seawater, wife of Neptune
• Salus - goddess of the public welfare of the Roman people; came to be equated with the Greek Hygieia
• Sancus - god of loyalty, honesty, and oaths
• Sarritor or Saritor - minor god of agriculture, god of hoeing and weeding
• Saturn - a titan, god of harvest and agriculture, the father of Jupiter, Neptune, Juno, and Pluto
• Secia - a harvest goddess
• Securita or Securitas - goddess of security, especially the security of the Roman empire
• Segetia - an agricultural goddess
• Semonia - goddess of sowing
• Sentia - goddess who oversaw children's mental development
• Setia - an agricultural goddess
• Silvanus - minor god of woodlands and forests
• Sol Invictus - sun god
• Somnus - god of sleep; equates with the Greek Hypnos.
• Soranus - a god later subsumed by Apollo in the form Apollo Soranus.
• Sors - god of luck
• Spes - goddess of hope
• Spiniensis - minor agricultural god; prayed to when removing thorny bushes
• Stata Mater - goddess who protected against fires. Sometimes equated with Vesta
• Statanus - god also known as Statulinus or Statilinus. Presided over the child's first attempt to stand up. Along with his wife Statina protected the children as they left home for the first time and returned.
• Statina - goddess who, along with her husband Statanus, protected the childred as they left home for the first time and returned.
• Sterquilinus ("manure") - god of fertilisation. Also known as Stercutus, Sterculius, Straculius, Struculius.
• Strenua or Strenia - goddess of strength and endurance
• Suadela - goddess of persuasion, her Greek equivalent was Peitho
• Subigus - god of the wedding night
• Summanus - god of nocturnal thunder

T

• Tellumo - male counterpart of Tellus
• Tempestas - goddess of storms
• Terra Mater or Tellus - goddess of the earth and land
• Terminus - the rustic god of boundaries
• Tiberinus - river god; deity of the Tiber river.
• Tibertus - god of the river Anio, a tributary of the Tiber
• Tranquillitas - goddess of peace and tranquility
• Trivia - goddess of crossroads and magic, equated with Hecate
• Tutelina - a harvest goddess

U

• Ubertas - minor agricultural goddess, who personified fruitfulness of soil and plants, and abundance in general.
• Unxia - minor goddess of marriage, concerned with anointing the bridegroom's door. The name occurs as a surname of Juno.
• Uranus - god of the sky before Jupiter (Greek)

V

Venus, Mars, and Cupid on a wall painting from Pompeii

• Vacuna - ancient goddess who protected the farmers' sheep and was later identified with Nike - Goddess of Victory and worshipped as a war goddess.
• Vagitanus - minor god of children, guardian of the infant's first cry at birth
• Vallonia - goddess of valleys
• Vediovus or Veiovis - obscure god, a sort of anti-Jupiter, as the meaning of his name suggests. May be a god of the underworld
• Venilia or Venelia - sea goddess, wife of Neptune or Faunus
• Venti - the winds, equivalent to the Greek Anemoi. North wind: Aquilo(n) or Septentrio; South wind: Auster; East wind: Vulturnus; West wind: Favonius; North west wind: Caurus or Corus.
• Venus - goddess of love and beauty, mother of the hero Aeneas, and one of the Dii Consentes
• Veritas - goddess and personification of the Roman virtue of veritas or truth.
• Verminus - god of cattle worms
• Vertumnus, Vortumnus or Vertimnus - god of the seasons, and of gardens and fruit trees
• Vervactor - minor agricultural god, deity of the first ploughing
• Vesta - goddess of the hearth and the Roman state, and one of the Dii Consentes
• Vica Pota - goddess of victory and competitions
• Victoria - goddess of victory
• Viduus - god who separated soul and body after death
• Virbius - a forest god, the reborn Hippolytus
• Viriplaca - goddess of marital strife
• Virtus - god or goddess of military strength, personification of the Roman virtue of virtus
• Volturnus - god of water, was assigned a flamen minor. Not to be confused with Vulturnus.
• Volumna - goddess of nurseries
• Voluptas - goddess of pleasure
• Volutina - goddess of the envelopes of the follicles of crops
• Vulcan - god of the forge, fire, and blacksmiths, husband to Venus, and one of the Dii Consentes, was assigned a flamen minor

External links

• A list of some major Roman gods
• A list of some minor Roman gods
• Roman Gods and Associates (with Etrusceans)
• Roman Mythology Names Index