Contents

Vejovis

VejovisorVejove (Latin: VēiovisorVēdiovis; rare VēiveorVēdius) was a Roman godofEtruscan origins (Etruscan: 𐌔𐌉𐌕𐌄𐌅, romanized: Vetis, or 𐌔𐌉𐌅𐌉𐌄𐌅, Veivis).

Representation and worship[edit]

O: Diademed bust of Vejovis hurling thunderbolt	R: Minerva with javelin and shield riding quadriga C·LICINIUS·L·F / MACER
Silver denarius struck in Rome 84 BC ref.: Licinia 16; sear5 #274; Cr354/1; Syd 732

Vejovis was portrayed as a young man, holding a bunch of arrows (or lightning bolts), or a pilum, in his hand, and accompanied by a goat. Romans believed that Vejovis was one of the first gods to be born. He was a god of healing, and became associated with the Greek Asclepius.^[1] He was mostly worshipped in Rome and BovillaeinLatium. On the Capitoline Hill and on the Tiber Island, temples were erected in his honour.^[2]

Though he was associated with volcanic eruptions, his original role and function is obscured to us.^[3] He is occasionally identified with Apollo and young Jupiter.^[4][5]

Aulus Gellius, in the Noctes Atticae, written around 177 CE,^[6] speculated that Vejovis was an ill-omened counterpart of Jupiter; compare Summanus. Aulus Gellius observes that the particle ve- that prefixes the name of the god also appears in Latin words such as vesanus, "insane," and thus interprets the name Vejovis as the anti-Jove.

Temple[edit]

He had a temple between the two peaks of the Capitoline HillinRome, where his statue carried a bundle of arrows and stood next to a statue of a she-goat.

Sacrifices[edit]

In spring, multiple goats were sacrificed to him to avert plagues. Gellius informs us that Vejovis received the sacrifice of a female goat, sacrificed ritu humano;^[7] this obscure phrase could either mean "after the manner of a human sacrifice" or "in the manner of a burial."^[8] These offerings were less about the animal sacrificed and more about the soul sacrificed.

Festivals[edit]

Vejovis had three festivals in the Roman Calendar: on 1 January, 7 March, and 21 May.^[9]

References[edit]