Neptune (mythology)

to water, irrigate and *h2 wors-, the irrigator.[12][13] This

etymology would be more in accord with Varros.

Neptune (Latin: Neptnus [nptuns]) was the god

of freshwater and the sea[1] in Roman religion. He is
the counterpart of the Greek god Poseidon.[2] In the
Greek-inuenced tradition, Neptune was the brother of
Jupiter and Pluto; the brothers presided over the realms of
Heaven, the earthly world, and the Underworld.[3] Salacia
was his consort.

A dierent etymology grounded in the legendary history of Latium and Etruria was proposed by Preller and
Mller-Deeke: Etruscan Nethunus, Nethuns would be an
adjectival form of toponym Nepe(t), Nepete (presently
Nepi), town of the ager Faliscus near Falerii. The district was traditionally connected to the cult of the god:
Messapus and Halesus, the eponymous hero of Falerii,
were believed to be his own sons. Messapus led the
Falisci and others to war in the Aeneid.[14] Nepi and
Falerii have been famed since antiquity for the excellent quality of the water of their springs, scattered in
meadows. Nepet is considered a hydronymic toponym of
preIndoeuropean origin widespread in Europe and from
an appellative meaning damp wide valley plain, cognate
with preGreek wooded valley.[15]

Depictions of Neptune in Roman mosaics, especially

those of North Africa, are inuenced by Hellenistic
conventions.[4] Neptune was likely associated with fresh
water springs before the sea.[5] Like Poseidon, Neptune
was worshipped by the Romans also as a god of horses,
under the name Neptunus Equester, a patron of horseracing.[6]

Etymology

2 Worship and theology

The etymology of Neptunus is unclear and disputed. The

ancient grammarian Varro derived the name from nuptus
i.e. covering (opertio), with a more or less explicit allusion
to the nuptiae, marriage of Heaven and Earth.[7]

Among modern scholars P. Kretschmer proposed a

derivation from IE *neptu-, moist substance.[8] Similarly
R. Bloch supposed it might be an adjectival form in no from *nuptu-, meaning he who is moist.[9] Dumzil
though remarked words deriving root *nep- are not attested in IE languages other than Vedic and Avestan. He
proposed an etymology that brings together Neptunus
with Vedic and Avestan theonyms Apam Napat, Apam
Nap and Old Irish theonym Nechtan, all meaning descendant of the waters. By using the comparative approach the Indo-Iranian, Avestan and Irish gures would
show common features with the Roman historicised legends about Neptune. Dumzil thence proposed to derive the nouns from IE root *nepot-, descendant, sisters Mosaic of Neptune (Regional Archeological Museum Antonio
Salinas, Palermo)
son.[10][11]
More recently, in his lectures delivered on various occasions in the late years of the last century, German scholar
H. Petersmann proposed an etymology from IE rootstem
*nebh- related to clouds and fogs, plus sux -tu denoting
an abstract verbal noun, and adjectival sux -no which
refers to the domain of activity of a person or his prerogatives. IE root *nebh-, having the original meaning
of damp, wet, has given Sanskrit nbhah, Hittite nepis,
Latin nubs, nebula, German nebel, Slavic nebo etc. The
concept would be close to that expressed in the name of
Greek god , derived from IE root *h2 wrso-,

The theology of Neptune may only be reconstructed

to some degree as since very early times he was identied with Greek god Poseidon: his presence in the
lectisternium of 399 BC is a testimony to the fact.[16]
Such an identication may well be grounded in the strict
relationship between the Latin and Greek theologies of
the two deities.[17] It has been argued that Indo-European
people, having no direct knowledge of the sea as they
originated from inland areas, reused the theology of a deity originally either chthonic or wielding power over inland freshwaters as the god of the sea.[18] This feature
1

2 WORSHIP AND THEOLOGY

has been preserved particularly well in the case of Neptune who was denitely a god of springs, lakes and rivers
before becoming also a god of the sea, as is testied by
the numerous ndings of inscriptions mentioning him in
the proximity of such locations. Servius the grammarian
also explicitly states Neptune is in charge of all the rivers,
springs and waters. He also is the lord of horses because
he worked with Minerva to make the chariot.[19]

had to be captured by drilling, i.e. required the work of

man, thereby corresponding to the Lucaria of 21, which
equally entailed human action upon the soil.

2.1

In Rome Neptune had only one temple. It stood near

the Circus Flaminius, the Roman racetrack, in the southern part of the Campus Martius. It already existed in
206 BC.[29] It appears on a coin struck by Gn. Domitius Ahenobarbus around 40 BC doubtless because of
a restoration carried out by this personage. It contained a famous sculpture of a marine group by Scopas
Minor.[30][31] The Basilica Neptuni, was built on the
Campus Martius and dedicated by Agrippa in honour of
the naval victory of Actium.[32] This building substituted
the older temple, which in its turn substituted a more ancient altar.[33]

The Furrinalia are explained by Dumzil on the grounds

of the hydraulic works prescribed by Palladius on this
day, i.e. the drilling of wells to detect and capture underground water: the visible and the hidden waters are thus
dealt with on separate, albeit next, occasions: the NepHe may nd a parallel in Irish god Nechtan, master of the tunalia and Furrinalia. This complementarity between
well from which all the rivers of the world ow out and Neptunalia and Furrinalia corresponds to that between
ow back to.
the rst and second Lucaria, forming in fact two comPoseidon on the other hand underwent the process of be- plementary couplets.
coming the main god of the sea at a much earlier time, as In recorded times the Neptunalia were spent in outings
under branch huts (umbrae, casae frondeae), in a wood
is shown in the Iliad.[20]
In the earlier times it was the god Portunes or For- between the Tiber and the Via Salaria, drinking springtunus who was thanked for naval victories, but Nep- water and wine to escape the heat. It looks the Neptunatune supplanted him in this role by at least the rst cen- lia were a time of general, free and unrestrained merrywithout the
tury BC when Sextus Pompeius called himself son of making, during which men and women mixed
[27]
usual
Roman
traditional
social
constraints.
This charNeptune.[21] For a time he was paired with Salacia, the
acter
of
the
festival
as
well
as
the
fact
that
Neptune
was
goddess of the salt water.[22]
oered the sacrice of a bull would point to an agriculNeptune was also considered the legendary progenitor tural fertility context.[28]
god of a Latin stock, the Faliscans, who called themselves
Neptunia proles. In this respect he was the equivalent of
Mars, Janus, Saturn and even Jupiter among Latin tribes.
Salacia would represent the virile force of Neptune.[23]
2.2 Temples

The Neptunalia

Main article: Neptunalia

The Neptunalia was the festival of Neptune on July 23, at
the height of summer. The date and the construction of
tree-branch shelters[24] suggest a primitive role for Neptune as god of water sources in the summers drought and
heat.[25]
The most ancient Roman calendar set the feriae of Neptunus on July 23, two days after the Lucaria of July 19
and 21 and two days before the Furrinalia of July 25.
Georg Wissowa had already remarked that festivals
falling in a range of three days are complementary.
Dumzil elaborated that these festivals in some way were
all related to the importance of water during the period
of summer heat (canicula) and drought, when river and
spring waters are at their lowest.
Founding his analysis on the works of Palladius and
Columella Dumzil argues that while the Lucaria were
devoted to the dressing of woods, clearing the undergrown bushes by cutting on the 19, then by uprooting
and burning on the 21,[26] the Neptunalia were devoted to
works of conservation and draining of supercial waters,
thus corresponding to the Lucaria of 19, that required
only work above the ground.
Then the Furrinalia of July 25, sacred to Furrina goddess
of springs and wells, were devoted to those waters which

Chichester Inscription which reads (in English): To Neptune and

Minerva, for the welfare of the Divine House, by the authority of
Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus, Great King in Britain, the college
of articers and those therein erected this temple from their own
resources [...]ens, son of Pudentinus, donated the site.

2.6

2.3

Fertility deity and divine ancestor

Sacrices

Neptune is one of the only three Roman gods to whom

it was appropriate to sacrice bulls, the other two being
Apollo and Mars.[34] The wrong oering would require a
piaculum, if due to inadvertency or necessity. The type
of the oering implies a stricter connection between the
deity and the worldly realm.[35]

2.4

Lake Albanus

During the war with Veii in 393 BC the level of Lake Albano (Albanus Lacus) rose to an unusual height even in
the absence of rain. This prodigy was believed to be relevant on the siege of Veii because a haruspex from Veii recited some lines of a prophecy that illustrated the relationship between the level of its waters and either the safety
or the fall of the town to the Romans. It foretold that
as long as the waters of the lake remain high Veii would
be impregnable to the Romans. If the waters of the lake
were scattered in an inland direction on the other hand
Veii would fall; but if they were to overow through the
usual streams or channels toward the sea this fact would
be unfavourable to the Romans as well.[36] Dumzil ascribed this story to the Roman custom of projecting religious legendary heritage onto history, considering it as a
festival myth, aimed at giving relevance to an exceptional
event which would have happened during the Neptunalia.
This legend would show the scope of the powers hidden
in waters and the religious importance of their control by
man: Veientans too knowing the fact had been digging
channels for a long time as recent archaeological nds
conrm. There is a temporal coincidence between the
conjuration of the prodigy and the works of derivation
recommended by Palladius and Columella at the time of
the canicula, when the waters are at their lowest.[37]

2.5

Paredrae

3
ancient and modern. Varro connects the rst to salum,
sea, and the second to ventus, wind.[43] Festus writes of
Salacia that she is the deity that generates the motion of
the sea.[44] While Venilia would cause the waves to come
to the shore Salacia would cause their retreating towards
the high sea.[45] The issue has been discussed in many
passages by Christian doctor Aurelius Augustinus. He
devotes one full chapter of his De Civitate Dei to mocking the inconsistencies inherent in the theological denition of the two entitites: since Salacia would denote the
nether part of the sea, he wonders how could it be possible that she be also the retreating waves, as waves are a
phenomenon of the surface of the sea.[46] Elsewhere he
writes that Venilia would be the hope that comes, one
of the aspects or powers of the all encompassing Jupiter
understood as anima mundi.[47]
Servius in his commentary to the Aeneid also writes about
Salacia and Venilia in various passages, e.g. V 724:
"(Venus) dicitur et Salacia, quae proprie meretricum dea
appellata est a veteribus": "(Venus) is also called Salacia,
who precisely was named goddess of mercenary women
by the ancient. Elsewhere he writes that Salacia and Venilia are indeed the same entity.[48]
Among modern scholars Dumzil with his followers
Bloch and Schilling centre their interpretation of Neptune
on the more direct, concrete, limited value and functions
of water. Accordingly Salacia would represent the forceful and violent aspect of gushing and overowing water,
Venilia the tranquil, gentle aspect of still or slowly owing
water.
Preller, Fowler, Petersmann and Takcs attribute to the
theology of Neptune broader signicance as a god of universal worldly fertility, particularly relevant to agriculture
and human reproduction. Thence they interpret Salacia
as personifying lust and Venilia as related to venia, the attitude of ingraciating, attraction, connected with love and
desire for reproduction. L. Preller remarked a signicant
aspect of Venilia mentioning that she was recorded in the
indigitamenta also as a deity of longing, desire. He thinks
this fact would allow to explain the theonym in the same
way as that of Venus.[49] Other data seem to point in the
same direction: Salacia would be the parallel of Thetis as
the mother of Achilles, while Venilia would be the mother
of Turnus and Iuturna, whom she mothered with Daunus
king of the Rutulians. According to another source Venilia would be the partner of Janus, with whom she mothered the nymph Canens loved by Picus.[50] These mythical data underline the reproductive function envisaged
in the gures of Neptunes paredrae, particularly that of
Venilia in childbirth and motherhood. A legendary king
Venulus was remembered at Tibur and Lavinium.[51]

Paredrae are entities who pair or accompany a god. They

represent the fundamental aspects or the powers of the
god with whom they are associated. In Roman religion
they are often female. In later times under Hellenising
inuence they came to be considered as separate deities
and consorts of the god.[38] However this misconception
might have been widespread in earlier folk belief.[39] In
the view of Dumzil,[40] Neptunes two paredrae Salacia
and Venilia represent the overpowering and the tranquil
aspects of water, both natural and domesticated: Salacia
would impersonate the gushing, overbearing waters and
Venilia the still or quietly owing waters.[41] Dumzils
interpretation has though been varied as he also stated
that the jolt implied by Salacia 's name, the attitude to 2.6 Fertility deity and divine ancestor
be salax lustful, must underline a feature characteristic
of the god.[42]
German scholar H. Petersmann has proposed a rather difSalacia and Venilia have been discussed by scholars both ferent interpretation of the theology of Neptune.[52] De-

2 WORSHIP AND THEOLOGY

nimbi?/ quidve, pater Neptune, paras?": Whow, why so
many clouds surrounded the sky? What are you preparing, father Neptune?".[55] The indispensability of water
for its fertilizing quality and its strict connexion to reproduction is universal knowledge.[56] Takcs too points to
the implicit sexual and fertility signicance of both Salacia and Venilia on the grounds of the context of the cults
of Neptune, of Varros interpretation of Salacia as eager for sexual intercourse and of the connexion of Venilia
with a nymph or Venus.

Triumph of Neptune, Roman mosaic with the Seasons in each

corner and agricultural scenes and ora (La Chebba, Tunisia,
late 2nd century, Bardo National Museum)

Mller-Deeke and Deeke had already interpreted the theology of Neptune as that of a divine ancestor of a Latin
stock, namely the Faliscans, as the father of their founder
heroes Messapus and Halesus. Sharing this same approach Fowler considered Salacia the personication of
the virile potency that generated a Latin people, parallel
with Mars, Saturn, Janus and even Jupiter among other
Latins.[57]

2.7 Neptunus equestris

veloping his understanding of the theonym as rooted in IE
*nebh, he argues that the god would be an ancient deity
of the cloudy and rainy sky in company with and in opposition to Zeus/Jupiter, god of the clear bright sky. Similar to Caelus, he would be the father of all living beings
on Earth through the fertilising power of rainwater. This
hieros gamos of Neptune and Earth would be reected
in literature, e.g. in Vergil Aen. V 14 pater Neptunus.
The virile potency of Neptune would be represented by
Salacia (derived from salax, salio in its original sense of
salacious, lustful, desiring sexual intercourse, covering).
Salacia would then represent the gods desire for intercourse with Earth, his virile generating potency manifesting itself in rainfall. While Salacia would denote the overcast sky, the other character of the god would be reected
by his other paredra Venilia, representing the clear sky
dotted with clouds of good weather. The theonym Venilia would be rooted in a not attested adjective *venilis,
from IE root *ven(h) meaning to love, desire, realised in
Sanskrit vnati, vanti, he loves, Old Island. vinr friend,
German Wonne, Latin Venus, venia. Reminiscences of
this double aspect of Neptune would be found in Catullus
31. 3: "uterque Neptunus".[53]
In Petersmanns conjecture, besides Zeus/Jupiter, (rooted
in IE *dei(h) to shine, who originally represented the
bright daylight of ne weather sky), the ancient IndoEuropeans venerated a god of heavenly damp or wet
as the generator of life. This fact would be testied by Hittite theonyms nepia (D)IKURa or nepia
(D)Tarhunna the lord of sky wet, that was revered as
the sovereign of Earth and men.[54] Even though over
time this function was transferred to Zeus/Jupiter who
became also the sovereign of weather, reminiscences of
the old function survived in literature: e.g. in Vergil Aen.
V 13-14 reading: "Heu, quianam tanti cinxerunt aethera

Poseidon was connected to the horse since the earliest

times, well before any connection of him with the sea was
attested, and may even have originally been conceived under equine form. Such a feature is a reection of his own
chtonic, violent, brutal nature as earth-quaker, as well as
of the link of the horse with springs, i.e. underground
water, and the psychopompous character inherent in this
animal.[58]
There is no such direct connexion in Rome. Neptune does
not show any direct equine character or linkage.
On the other hand Roman god Consus was associated
with horses: his underground altar was located in the valley of the Circus Maximus at the foot of the Palatine,
the place of horse races. On the day of his summer festival (August 21), the Consualia aestiva, it was customary to bring horses and mules in procession crowned with
owers and then hold equine races in the Circus. It appears these games had a rustic and archaic character: they
marked the end of the yearly agricultural cycle, when harvest was completed.[59] According to tradition this occasion was chosen to enact the abduction of the Sabine (and
Latin) women. The episode might bear a reection of the
traditional sexual licence of such occasions.[60] On that
day the amen Quirinalis and the vestal virgins sacriced
on the underground altar of Consus. The fact the two festivals of Consus were followed after an equal interval of
four days by the two festivals of Ops (Opeconsivia on August 25 and Opalia on December 19) testies to the strict
relationship between the two deities as both pertaining to
agricultural plenty, or in Dumezilian terminology to the
third function. In Dumzils view this fact shows the radically dierent symbolic value of the horse in the theology
of Poseidon and of Consus. Tertullian (De Spectaculis V
7) states that according to Roman tradititon Consus was
the god who had advised Romulus on the abduction of the

3.1

Neptune and the Etruscan Penates

Sabines because of his quality of god of hidden counsels

and quotes an inscription that was on the southern meta
of the circus corroborating his assertion: Conso consilio
Marte duello Lares + covillo potentes: Consus is powerful
in counsel, Mars in war, the Lares in meeting. A. Von
Blumenthal and G. Radke have proposed to read consivio
instead of consilio, though this correction is not generally accepted: the inscription is not extant and it was visible only on the days of the sacrices to Consus, so some
scholars argue it may have been misread.[61]
Perhaps under the inuence of Poseidon Consus, whose festival entailed horse races, was reinterpreted
as Neptunus equestris and for his underground altar also
identied with Poseidon . Moreover the etymology of Poseidon, understood as from Posis lord, husband and De grain or Earth, may have contributed to the
identication of Consus with Neptune.[62] The archaic
and arcane character of his cult, which required the unearthing of the altar, are signs of the great antiquity of
this deity and of his chtonic character. He was certainly
a deity of agrarian plenty and of fertility. On the basis of
Augustine (De Civitate Dei IV 8 about the role of Tutilina
in assuring the safety of stored grain) Dumzil interprets
its name as derived from verb condere to hide, store, as a
verbal noun in -u parallel to Sancus and Janus, meaning
god of stored grains.[63]
Martianus Capella places Neptune and Consus together
in region X of Heaven: it might be that he followed an
already old interpretatio graeca of Consus or he might be
reecting an Etruscan idea of a chthonic Neptune which
is apparent in the recommendation of the De Haruspicum
Responso[64] stating the need of expiations to Neptune for
the prodigy of the cracking sounds heard underground in
the ager latiniensis. Etruscans were particularly fond of
horse races.[65]

Neptune in Etruria

5
tions, Uil is standing at the centre of the picture, holding in his right hand Aplu's bow, and Thesan is on the
right, with her right hand on Uils shoulder: both gods
look intent in listening Nethunss words. The identication of Uil with Aplu (and his association with Nethuns)
is further underlined by the anguiped demon holding two
dolphins of the exergue below. The scene highlights
the identities and association of Nethuns and Aplu (here
identied as Uil) as main deities of the worldly realm and
the life cycle. Thesan and Uil-Aplu, who has been identied with uri (Soranus Pater, the underwold Sun god)
make clear the transient character of worldly life.[69] The
association of Nethuns and Uil-Aplu is consistent with
one version of the theory of the Etruscan Penates (see
section below).
In Martianus Capella's depiction of Heaven Neptune is
located in region X along with the Lar Omnium Cunctalis (of everybody), Neverita and Consus. The presence
of the Lar Omnium Cunctalis might be connected with
the theology of Neptune as a god of fertility, human included, while Neverita is a theonym derived from an archaic form of Nereus and Nereid, before the fall of the
digamma.[70] For the relationship of Neptune with Consus see the above paragraph. Martianuss placing of Neptune is fraught with questions: according to the order of
the main three gods he should be located in region II,
(Jupiter is indeed in region I and Pluto in region III).
However in region II are to be found two deities related to
Neptune, namely Fons and Lymphae. Stephen Weinstock
supposes that while Jupiter is present in each of the rst
three regions, in each one under dierent aspects related
to the character of the region itself, Neptune should have
been originally located in the second, as is testied by the
presence of Fons and Lymphae, and Pluto in the third.
The reason of the displacement of Neptune to region X
remains unclear, but might point to a second appearance
of the triads in the third quarter, which is paralleled by
the location of Neth in case 7 of the Liver.[71] It is however consistent with the collocation in the third quadrant
of the deities directly related to the human world.[72]

Nethuns is the Etruscan name of the god. In the past it has Bloch remarks the possible chtonic character and stricter
been believed that the Roman theonym derived from Etr- link of Nethuns with Poseidon to which would hint a seuscan but more recently this view has been rejected.[66]
ries of circumstances, particularly the fact that he was
Nethuns was certainly an important god for the Etruscans. among the four gods (Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Tellus
His name is to be found on two cases of the Piacenza in order) the haruspices indicated as needing placation for
Liver, namely case 7 on the outer rim and case 28 on the prodigy related in Cicero's De haruspicum responso
the gall-bladder, (plus once in case 22 along with Tinia). 20, i.e. a cracking sound perceived as coming from the
This last location tallies with Pliny the Elders testimony underground in the ager latiniensis.
that the gall-bladder is sacred to Neptune.[67] Theonym
Nethuns recurs eight times on columns VIII, IX and XI
3.1 Neptune and the Etruscan Penates
of the Liber Linteus (ere, erchva Nethunsl), requiring
oerings of wine.[68]
Among ancient sources Arnobius provides important inOn a mirror from Tuscania (E. S. 1. 76) Nethuns is rep- formation about the theology of Neptune: he writes that
resented while talking to Uil (the Sun) and Thesan (the according to Nigidius Figulus Neptune was considered
goddess of Dawn). Nethuns is on the left hand side, sit- one of the Etruscan Penates, together with Apollo, the
ting, holding a double ended trident in his right hand and two deities being credited with bestowing Ilium with its
with his left arm raised in the attitude of giving instruc- immortal walls. In another place of his work, book

VI, Nigidius wrote that, according to the Etrusca Disciplina, his were one among the four genera, types of
Penates: of Iupiter, of Neptune, of the underworld and
of mortal men. According to another tradition related
by a Caesius,[73] also based on the same source, the Etruscan Penates would be Fortuna, Ceres, Genius Iovialis and Pales, this last one being the male Etruscan
god (ministrum Iovis et vilicum, domestic and peasant of
Jupiter).[74]

Depiction in art

REFERENCES

Juan Pascual de Mena, Fuente de Neptuno, Madrid

(17801784)
Constantino Brumidi, detail of The Apotheosis of
Washington (1865),
U.S. Capitol dome
Neptune, tobacco product art (18601870)
King Neptune (2005), Virginia Beach, Virginia
Fountain of Neptune (1902) in Nuremberg, Bavaria,
Germany
Monument to Neptune in Gdask, Poland

The French Department of Subaquatic Archaeological

Research divers (headed by Michel L'Hour) discovered
a lifesize marble statue of Neptune, in the Rhne River at
Arles; it is dated to the early fourth century.[75] The statue
is one of a hundred artifacts that the team excavated between September and October 2007.[75][76]
Etruscan representations of the god are rare but signicative. The oldest is perhaps the carved carnelian scarab
from Vulci of the 4th century BC: Nethuns kicks a rock
and creates a spring. (Paris: Bibliothque Nationale,
Cabinet des Medailles).
Another Etruscan gem (from the collection of Luynes, inscribed Nethunus) depicts the god making a horse spring
out of the earth with a blow of his trident.[77]
A bronze mirror of the late 4th century in the Vatican Museums (Museo Gregoriano Etrusco: C.S.E. Vaticano 1.5a) depicts the god with Amymone, daughter of
Danaus, whom he prevents being assaulted by a satyr and
to whom he will teach the art of creating springs.
A bronze mirror from Tuscania dated to 350 BC also in
the Vatican Museums (Museo Gregoriano Etrusco E. S.
1. 76). Nethuns is talking to Usil and Thesan. In the
lower exergue is an anguiped demon who holds a dolphin
in each hand (identication with Aplu-Apollo is clear also
because Uil holds a bow). Nethuns holds a double-ended
trident, suggesting he might be one of the gods who can
wield lightningbolts.[78]

4.1

Gallery

Agnolo Bronzino, Portrait of Andrea Doria as Neptune (15401550)

Bartolomeo Ammannati, Fountain of Neptune
(15631565), Florence
Antoine Coysevox,
Neptune (1705),
Louvre, Paris
Giovan Battista Tiepolo, Neptune Oering Gifts to
Venice (17481750)

5 Bibliography
Raymond Bloch Quelques remarques sur Poseidon, Neptunus et Nethuns in Comptes-rendus des
sances de l' Acadmie des Inscriptions et BellesLetres 2 1981 pp. 341352.
Sarolta A. Takacs Vestal Virgins, Sibyls and Matronae: Women in Roman Religion 2008, University
of Texas Press.
Georg Wissowa Religion und Kultus der Rmer Munich 1912.
Georges Dumzil La religione romana arcaica. Con
un 'appendice sulla religione degli Etruschi Edizione
e traduzione a cura di Furio Jesi: Milano Rizzoli
1977 (Italian translation conducted on an expanded
version of the 2nd edition of La religion romaine archaque Paris Payot 1974).

6 References
[1] J. Toutain, Les cultes paens de l'Empire romain, vol. I
(1905:378) securely identied Italic Neptune as a saltwater sources as well as the sea.
[2] Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia, The Book People,
Haydock, 1995, p. 215.
[3] About the relationship of the lord of our earthly world with
water(s) Bloch, p. 342-346, gives the following explanations: 1. Poseidon is originally conceived as a chtonic
god, lord and husband of the Earth (for the etymology, epithtes , he who possesses the Earth,
he who makes the Earth quake) with an equine form. He
mates with Demeter under this form in the Arcadian myth
from Thelpusa, they beget the racing horse Areion and the
unnamed daughter of those mysteries (story in Pausanias
VIII 25, 3). 2. Poseidon hippios (horse) is the god of
Earth and as springs come from beneath the earth, this is
also a metaphora (or better a gure) of the origin of life on

Earth; the horse is universally considered as having a psychopompous character and Poseidon is known as tamer of
horses (damaios) and father of Pegasus who with its hoof
can open up a spring. 3. Poseidon is the god worshipped
in the main temple of the Isle of Atlantis in the myth narrated by Plato in the dialogues Timaeus and Critias; there
was also a hippodrome nearby. 4. The island was swallowed up by an earthquake caused by Poseidon himself.
This factor would connect the power over earth and that
over waters. The Greek had a memory of the explosion
of the Island of Santorini and of the seaquake it provoked
as well as other consequences aecting climate.
[4] Alain Cadotte, Neptune Africain, Phoenix 56.3/4 (Autumn/Winter 2002:330-347) detected syncretic traces of
a Libyan/Punic agrarian god of fresh water sources, with
the epithet Frugifer, fruit-bearer"; Cadotte enumerated
(p.332) some north African Roman mosaics of the fully
characteristic Triumph of Neptune, whether riding in his
chariot or mounted directly on albino dolphins.
[5] Dumzil, La religion romaine archaque (Paris,
1966:381).
[6] Compare Epona.
[7] Varro Lingua Latina V 72: Neptunus, quod mare terras
obnubuit ut nubes caelum, ab nuptu, id est opertione, ut
antiqui, a quo nuptiae, nuptus dictus.: N., because the
sea covered the lands as the clouds the sky, from nuptus
i.e. covering, as the ancients (used to say), whence nuptiae
marriage, was named nuptus".
[8] P. Kretschmer Einleitung in der Geschichte der Griechischen Sprache Gttingen, 1896, p. 33.
[9] R. Bloch Quelques remarques sur Poseidon, Neptunus
et Nethuns in Revue de l' Histoire des Religions 1981, p.
347.
[10] Y. Bonnefoy, W. Doniger Roman and Indoeuropean Myhtologies Chicago, 1992, s.v. Neptune, citing G. Dumezil
Myht et Epope vol. III p. 41 and Alfred ErnoutAtoine Meillet Dictionnaire tymologique de la langue latine Paris, 1985 4th, s.v. Neptunus.
[11] G. Dumzil Ftes romaines d' t et d' automne, suivi par
dix questions romaines Paris 1975, p.25.
[12] H. Petersmann below, Gttingen 2002.
[13] M. Peters Untersuchungen zur Vertratung der indogermanischen Laryngeale in Griechisch in sterreicher
Akademie der Wissenschaften, philsophische historische
Klasse Bd. 372, 1980 p.180.
[14] Vergil Aeneis VII 691: L. Preller Rmische Mythologie II
Berlin, 1858; Mller-Deeke Etrusker II 54 n. 1 b; Deeke
Falisker p. 103, as quoted by William Warde Fowler The
Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic London,
1899, p. 185 and n. 3.
[15] Giuseppe Simonetta Le straticazioni linguistiche
nell'Agro Falisco.
[16] Livy v. 13.6; Dionysius of Halicarnassus 12.9; Showerman, Grant. The Great Mother of the Gods. Madison,
WI: University of Wisconsin, 1901:223

[17] Raymond Bloch 1981 p.341-344.

[18] G. Wissowa Religion un Kultus der Rmer Munich, 1912;
A. von Domaszewski Abhandlungen zur rmische Religion
Leipzig und Berlin, 1909; R. Bloch above
[19] Bloch above p.346; Servius Ad Georgicas IV 24
[20] R. Bloch above
[21] Fox, Robin Lane. The Classical World. Basic Books,
2006. p. 412 ISBN 0-465-02496-3
[22] van Aken, Dr. A.R.A., ed. Elseviers Mythologische Encyclopedie (Elsevier, Amsterdam: 1961)
[23] W. W. Fowler above p. 186 n. 3 citing Servius Ad Aen. V
724; later Doctor Fowler disowned this interpretation of
Salacia.
[24] CIL, vol. 1,pt 2:323; Varro, De lingua Latina vi.19.
[25] C'est--dire au plus fort de l't, au moment de la grande
scheresse, et qu'on y construisaient des huttes de feuillage en guise d'abris contre le soleil (Cadotte 2002:342,
noting Sextus Pompeius Festus, De verborum signicatu
[ed. Lindsay 1913] 519.1)
[26] G. Dumzil Ftes romaines d' t et d' automne. Suivi de
Dix questions romaines Paris 1975 1. Les eaux et les bois
p. 25-31.
[27] Sarolta A. Takacs Vestal virgins, sibyls and matronae:
women in Roman religion 2008, University of Texas Press,
p. 53 f., citing Horace Carmina III 28.
[28] Sarolta A. Takacs above; citing Macrobius Saturnalia III
10, 4.
[29] Cassius Dio 17 fragment 57. 60 as cited by L. Richardson jr. A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome
1992 p. 267.
[30] On the issue of this group by Scopas cf. F. Coarelli L'ora
di Domizio Enobarbo e la cultura artistica in Roma nel II
sec. a. C. in Dialoghi di Arrcheologia II 3 1968 p. 302368.
[31] Wukitsch, Thomas K., Neptunalia Festival
[32] Ball Platner, Samuel; Ashby, Thomas (1929), A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, Basilica Neptuni,
London: Oxford University Press
[33] Dumzil 1977 p. 340 who cites Livy Ab Urbe Condita
Libri XXVIII 11, 4. Bloch p. 347 n. 19.
[34] Macrobius Saturnalia III 10,4
[35] G. Dumezil Quaestiunculae indo-italicae: 11. Iovi tauro
verre ariete immolari non licet Revue d' Etudes Latins 39
1961 p. 241-250.
[36] Livy V 15-16. Cicero De Divinatione I 44 .
[37] G. Dumezil Mythe et epopee III Histoires romaines Paris
1973 p. 21 as cited by Bloch p. 346.
[38] William Warde Fowler The Religious experience of the Roman People London, 1912, p. 346f.

[39] Aulus Gellius Noctes Atticae XIII 24, 1-18.

[40] Dumzil here accepts and reproposes the interpretations
of Wissowa and von Domaszewski.
[41] Dumezil above p.31
[42] G. Dumzil La religione romana arcaica Milano 1977 p.
340.
[43] Varro Lingua Latina V 72.
[44] Festus p. L s.v.
[45] Varro apud Augustine De Civitate Dei VII 22.
[46] Augustine De Civitate Dei VII 22.
[47] Augustine above II 11.
[48] William Warde Fowler The Religious Experience of the
Roman People London, 1912, Appendix II.
[49] Ludwig Preller Rmische Mythologie Berlin, 1858 part II,
p.121-2; Servius Ad Aeneidem VIII 9.
[50] Ovid Metamorphoses XIV 334.
[51] L. Preller above citing Servius; C. J. Mackie Turnus and
his ancestors in The Classical Quarterly (New Series)
1991, 41, pp. 261-265.
[52] Hubert Petersmann Lingua et Religio: ausgewhlte kleine
Schriften zur antiken Religionsgeschichte auf sprachwissenschaftlicher Grundlage herausgegeben von Bernd
Heen. Hypomnemata: Supplement-Reihe 1. Gttingen:
Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 2002. Pp. 304. ISBN 3525-25231-5.
[53] Catullus 31. 3: Paene insularum, Sirmio, insularumque/
ocelle, quascumque in liquentibus stagnis/ marique vasto
fert uterque Neptunus/...": the quoted words belong to a
passage in which the poet seems to be hinting to the double
nature of Neptune as god both of the freshwaters and of
the sea.
[54] Eric Neun Die Anitta-Text Wiesbaden, 1974, p. 118.
[55] H. Petersmann Neptuns rsprugliche Rolle im rmischen
Pantheon. Ein etymologisch-religiongeschichtlicher Erklrungsversuch in Lingua et religio. Augewhlte kleine
Beitrge zur antike religiogeschichtlicher und sprachwissenschaftlicher Grundlage Gttingen, 2002, pp. 226-235.
[56] cf. Festus s. v. aqua: a qua iuvamur, whence we get
life, p 2 L.; s. v. aqua et igni : "...quam accipiuntur nuptae, videlicet quia hae duae res...vitam continent, p.2-3 L;
s.v. facem: facem in nuptiis in honore Cereris praeferebant, aqua aspergebatur nova nupta...ut ignem et aquam
cum viro communicaret, p.87 L.

REFERENCES

[61] S. Duani, . Petkovi The Flamen Quirinalis at the

Consualia and the Horseman of the Lacus Curtius in Aevum 2002 1. p. 63.
[62] Sarolta A. Takacs Vestal Virgins, Sybils and Matrons University of Texas Press 2008 p. 55-56, also citing Scullard
on the inuence of horse races in the identication. Bloch
citing Chantraine DELG s.v. Poseidon.
[63] Cf. the related deities of the Circus Semonia, Seia, Segetia, Tutilina: Tertullian De Spectaculis VIII 3.
[64] Cicero De Haruspicum Responso 20. Neptunus is mentioned third after Jupiter and Saturn and before Tellus.
[65] R. Bloch above ; G. Capdeville Les dieux de Martianus
Capella in Revue de l'Histoire des Religions 213-3, 1996,
p. 282 n. 112
[66] Bloch p. 348. Bonfante, Giuliano; Bonfante, Larissa
(2002). The Etruscan Language: an Introduction. Manchester: University of Manchester Press. ISBN 0-71905540-7. p. 202, De Grummond, Nancy Thomson (2006).
Etruscan Mythology, Sacred History and Legend: An Introduction. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology. ISBN 1-931707-86-3. p. 59.
[67] R. Bloch above; Pliny Nat. Hist. XI 195
[68] N. Thomas De Grummond Etruscam Myth, Sacred History
and Legend Univ. of Pennsylvania Press 2006 p. 145
[69] Erika Simon Gods in Harmony: The Etruscan Pantheon
in N. Thomas De Grummond (editor) Etruscan Religion
2006 p. 48; G. Colonna Altari e sacelli: l'area sud di
Pyrgi dop otto anni di ricerche Rendiconti della Ponticia
Accademia di Archeologia 64 p. 63-115; Sacred Architecture and the Religion of the Etruscans in N. Thomas
DeGrummond above p.139
[70] Ludwig Preller Rmische Mythologie Berlin, 1858, II p. 1
[71] G. Dumezil La religion romaine archaique Paris, 1974
2nd, Appendix; It. tr. p. 584; citing Stephen Weinstock
Martianus Capella and the Cosmic System of the Etruscans in Journal of Roman Studies 36, 1946, p. 104 .;
G. Capdeville Les dieux de Martianus Capella in Revue
de l'Histoire des Religions 213-3, 1996, p. 280-281
[72] Cf. M. Pallottino Deorum sedes in Saggi di antichit. II.
Documenti per la storia della civilt etrusca Roma 1979 p.
779-790. For a summary exposition of the content of this
work the reader is referred to article Juno, section Etrurian
Uni note n. 201.
[73] It is dicult to ascertain his identity.
[74] Arnobius Adversus Nationes III 40, 1-2.

[57] William Warde Fowler The roman Festivals of the Period

of the Republic London, 1899, p. 126

[75] Divers nd Caesar bust that may date to 46 B.C., Associated Press, 2008-05-14

[58] Raymond Bloch above p. 343

[76] Henry Samuel, Julius Caesar bust found in Rhone River,

The Telegraph

[59] William Warde Fowler The Roman Festivals of the Period

of the Republic London, 1899, p.
[60] William Warde Fowler above, citing James G. Frazer.

[77] Jacques Heurgon in R. Bloch above p. 352.

[78] N. Thomas De Grummond above p. 145.

External links
Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (ca 600
images of Neptune)
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Neptune (god)".
Encyclopdia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge
University Press.

10

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