Volturnus

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{{LanguageBar |Volturnus}}
 
{{LanguageBar |Volturnus}}
  
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The Roman god Volturnus, or Tiberis Pater, was the tutelary deity of the Tiber river. He was one of the [[di indigetes]], and, like the other ancient Gods of Rome, he was served by a [[flamen]], the Flamen Volturnalis. His festival, the Volturnalia, was a market day celebrated {{Aug 27}}.[[Image:Tiberis_Pater.jpg|Tiberis Pater]]
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The Roman god Volturnus was one of the [[Dii Indigetes]], and, like the other ancient Gods of Rome, he was served by a [[Flamen (Nova Roma)|flamen]], the Flamen Volturnalis. His [[Feriae|festival]], the Volturnalia, was a market day celebrated {{Aug 27}}.
  
 
==Etymology==
 
==Etymology==
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==History==
 
==History==
  
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Little is known about Volturnus, although scholars have attempted to reconstruct his myth and role in the Cultus Deorum.  
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Little is known about Volturnus, although scholars have attempted to reconstruct his myth and role in the [[Cultus deorum Romanorum|cultus deorum]]. Volturnus is known to have been an agricultural God, and surviving fragments show he was specifically a river God. Like other ancient Gods, his cult was overshadowed and obscured by a religious reformation, probably in the 4th century BCE. By the time of Varro (116 BCE - 27 BCE), a scholar who collected the surviving materials, there were only traces left of Rome's earliest religion. He reported the survival of a Flamen Volturnalis, but found the God to be "obscure".<ref>Varro, ''Lingua Latine'', 7:45</ref>
  
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Volturnus was one of 15 Gods served by state-sponsored flamines, in a system conventionally said to have been established by Numa. From that fact, Volturnus was probably an agricultural deity, Although the subject is controversial, the authority of the flamines seems to have been overthrown by a pontifical revolution when the Roman religion was reconstituted along Greek lines. This reform took place at early but unknown date, perhaps about 350 BCE. Thereafter, the original deities declined in importance. By the beginning of the Republic, the flamines seem to have been anachronistic. By the time of Varro (116 BCE - 27 BCE), a scholar who collected the surviving materials, there were only traces left of the old religion. He reported the survival of a Flamen Volturnalis, but found the God to be "obscure"<ref>Varro, ''Lingua Latine'', 7:45</ref>.
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The name Volturnus suggests a connection with the port of Volturnum (now Capua). Volturnum was a settlement of the Oscans, and later of the Etruscans. The city is situated on the Volturno (anc. Voluturnus) river, which apparently had a Samnite river God of the same name. Rome extended its borders to the Volturno during the Latin War (340-338 BCE), and decisively defeated the Samnites on the other side of the Volturno during the Third Samnite War (298-290 BCE). The Samnites were allowed to retain their independence, becoming allies of Rome. The Romans built a fort at Volturum for provisioning the army, and in 194 BCE established a colony there.  
  
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Surviving fragments show that Volturnus was a river God, and, being Roman, the river must have been the Tiber. However, the identification encounters immediate difficulties. The tutelary God of the Tiber was almost certainly named ''Tiberinus'' by the Latins, while the Volturnus is a river in Campania. The prevailing view among scholars is that Volturnus was the cult name of the Tiber's God<ref>Cf. Einar Gjerstad, ''Early Rome''. Lund: C. W. K. Gleerup (1953), 25. This was the view of Theodor Mommsen, ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL)'', 327; but see Georges Dumézil, ''Archaic Roman Religion''. Johns Hopkins Univ. Pr. (1966, 1996), 388-89</ref>.
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Probably, Volturnus' cult was brought to Rome in the 2nd century BCE<ref>Andreas Alfödi, ''Early Rome and the Latins''. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press (1971), 206</ref>. Such removals of conquered Gods to Rome were commonplace. Then, at some unknown date, the cults of the river Gods Tiberinus and Volturnus were conflated.
  
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The river God of the Tiber apparently acquired his name from an Etruscan analog. The city of Capua in Campania was anciently called Volturnum. It is situated on the Volturno (anc. Voluturnus) river, which apparently had a Samnite river God of the same name. Rome extended its borders to the Volturno during the Latin War (340-338 BCE), and decisively defeated the Samnites on the other side of the Volturno during the Third Samnite War (298-290 BCE). The Samnites were allowed to retain their independence, becoming allies of Rome. Probably, Volturnus' cult was brought to Rome at this time<ref>Andreas Alfödi, ''Early Rome and the Latins''. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press (1971), 206</ref>. Then, at some unknown date, the cults of the river Gods Tiberinus and Volturnus were conflated. Such removals of Gods to Rome were commonplace, the most famous being when [[Camillus]] evoked Uni from [[Veii]], and installed her at Rome as [[Iuno|Iuno Regina]].
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==Mythology==
  
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A minority view among scholars is that Volturnus was a generic God of rivers<ref>Cf. Shailer Mathews and Gerald Birney Smith, ''A Dictionary of Religion and Ethics'' sub ''Roman Religion''. Macmillan (1921), 384</ref>, and gave his name both to the Tiber and the Volturno.
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No myths concerning Volturnus have survived. Some scholars argue he has always had the character of a ''numen'', and therefore never acquired personal characteristics.
  
 
==Correspondences to Other Gods==
 
==Correspondences to Other Gods==
  
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===Janus===
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===Tiberinus===
  
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Some scholars equate Volturnus with [[Janus]], the Roman calendrical god, but by the time of the late Republic Volturnus was conventionally regarded as father of Janus' wife [[Juturna]].
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Classical scholar Theodor Mommsen (1817-1903) believed Volturnus was the cult name for the tutelary deity of the Tiber river.<ref>Theodor Mommsen, ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL)'', 327.</ref> His reasoning is straightforward: surviving fragments show Volturnus was a river God, and, being Roman, that river must have been the Tiber. Mommsen's view influenced generations of scholars<ref>Cf. Einar Gjerstad, ''Early Rome''. Lund: C. W. K. Gleerup (1953), 25.</ref>, and is still presented as a fact in popular materials.  
  
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===Portunus===
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However, the identification encounters immediate difficulties. The God of the Tiber river was almost certainly named [['Tiberinus]]' by the Latins, while the Volturno is a river in Campania. Following an influential article by Joel Le Gall in 1953,<ref>Joel Le Gall, ''Recherches sur le culte du Tibre'' (Paris 1953), pp. 40-56, "Les prétendus dieux du Tibre". See also Georges Dumézil, ''Archaic Roman Religion''. Johns Hopkins Univ. Pr. (1966, 1996), 388-89.</ref>  the identification of Volturnus with Tiberinus was largely abandoned by the scholarly community.
  
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Mommsen identified Volturnus with Portunus, as well as with Tiberinus, on the basis of a late calendar where the Portinalia is also called the Tiberinalia.<ref>''CIL'' citing Fast. Philocal.'', 327</ref>. Further, the sacrifices on that day were held "in porto Tiberindo."<ref>Varro, ''Lingua Latine'' 6.19</ref>
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A minority view among scholars is that Volturnus was a generic God of rivers<ref>Cf. Shailer Mathews and Gerald Birney Smith, ''A Dictionary of Religion and Ethics'' sub ''Roman Religion''. Macmillan (1921), 384.</ref>, and gave his name both to the Tiber and the Volturno.
  
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===Turnus===
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===Portunus===
  
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By the time of the Late Republic, Volturnus might have been identified with the Latin hero [[Turnus]], King of the Rutuli. In the Trojan legend, Vergil identified Iuturna, daughter of Volturnus and wife of Janus, as the sister of Turnus<ref>Vergil, ''Aeneid'' 12; Amanda Claridge, ''Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide''. New York: Oxford University Press (1998), 95</ref>. Aeneas, on his journey to Rome, defeated Turnus.  
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Mommsen also identified Volturnus with [[Portunus]], on the basis of a late calendar where the Portinalia is also called the Tiberinalia.<ref>''CIL'' citing Fast. Philocal.'', 327</ref>. Further, the sacrifices on that day were held "in porto Tiberindo."<ref>Varro, ''Lingua Latine'' 6.19</ref> Portunus was a God of harbors.
  
 
===Vertumnus===
 
===Vertumnus===
  
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[[Vertumnus]] was the Etruscan Bacchus, God of wine and fruits. His consort [[Voltumna]], whom the Romans equated with [[Pomona]], was the patron of the Etruscan League. Dennis notes that Vertumnus was called Vortumnus by Varro<ref>Varro, ''Lingua Latine'' 5.8; 6:3</ref> and speculates that he was identical with the Volturnus mentioned by Festus<ref>Festus, ''ap. Paul. Diac.'' v. Volturnalia</ref> and Varro<ref>Varro, ''Lingua Latine'' 8.45</ref> – “though neither recognise the relation in this case."<ref>George Dennis, ''The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria''. London: John Murray, 1848.</ref>.  
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[[Vertumnus]] was the Etruscan Bacchus, God of wine and fruits. His consort [[Voltumna]], whom the Romans equated with [[Pomona]], was the patron of the Etruscan League. Dennis notes that Vertumnus was called Vortumnus by Varro<ref>Varro, ''Lingua Latine'' 5.8; 6:3</ref> and speculates that he was identical with the Volturnus mentioned by Festus<ref>Festus, ''ap. Paul. Diac.'' v. Volturnalia</ref> and Varro<ref>Varro, ''Lingua Latine'' 8.45</ref> – “though neither recognise the relation in this case."<ref>George Dennis, ''The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria'' (London: John Murray, 1848).</ref>. The correspondence has not gained acceptance.
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Velthurna, the equivalent of Voltumna or Volturna was an Etruscan family-name attested by sepulchral inscriptions at Perugia and Sovana<ref>George Dennis. ''The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria''. London: John Murray, 1848.</ref>. It has been suggested that Volturnus was originally the tutelary deity of the Etruscan Velthur family.<ref>Hendrik Wagenvoort, ''Pietas: Studies in Roman Religion'' Boston: Brill (1980), 237, citing Altheim</ref>.
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===Vulturnus===
 
===Vulturnus===
  
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Lucretius associated Volturnus with the Tempestates: "And other Winds do follow: the high roar Of great Volturnus, and the Southwind strong With thunder-bolts."<ref>Lucretius, ''De Rerum Natura'' 5.742</ref>
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Lucretius associated Volturnus with the [[Tempestates]]: "And other Winds do follow: the high roar / Of great Volturnus, and the Southwind strong / With thunder-bolts."<ref>Lucretius, ''De Rerum Natura'' 5.742</ref>
  
 
From this passage, it appears the Romans might have equated Volturnus with [[Vulturnus]], one of the [[Venti]]. Vulturnus' Greek analog was Eurus (Εύρος), the God of the east wind, and a son of Eos, possibly by Astræus. In Italy, the Vulturno, now called the Scirocco, blows from the southeast. The Vulturno takes its name from Monte Vulture (anc. Vultur).  
 
From this passage, it appears the Romans might have equated Volturnus with [[Vulturnus]], one of the [[Venti]]. Vulturnus' Greek analog was Eurus (Εύρος), the God of the east wind, and a son of Eos, possibly by Astræus. In Italy, the Vulturno, now called the Scirocco, blows from the southeast. The Vulturno takes its name from Monte Vulture (anc. Vultur).  
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Those who equate Volturnus with Vulturnus believe that the Volturnalia was a festival to avert the drought caused by these drying winds.  
 
Those who equate Volturnus with Vulturnus believe that the Volturnalia was a festival to avert the drought caused by these drying winds.  
  
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However, most contemporary scholars separate Volturnus the river from Vulturnus the east wind and point to the timing of the Volturnalia at harvest time as evidence that it would have been offered in thanks for the irrigation water drawn from rivers rather than as a supplication to avert drought.
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However, most contemporary scholars separate Volturnus the river from Vulturnus the east wind, and point to the timing of the Volturnalia at harvest time as evidence that it would have been offered in thanks for the irrigation water drawn from rivers rather than as a supplication to avert drought.
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==Mythology==
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According to ancient authorities, the Tiber was originally called ''Albula''. It it said to have been renamed ''Tiberis'', but details vary.
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Vergil says the river was re-named for Thybris, an ancient king. He has [[Evander]] recount the history of the area to [[Aeneas]], saying:
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    There were Kings, for instance Thybris with his vast
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    Body from whom in after times we Italians
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    Have named the river Tiber, and it lost
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    Its true and ancient name of Albula.<ref>Vergil, ''Aeneid'' 1.8</ref>
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It was renamed for a youth who drowned there.
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Another version says that the river was renamed for the ninth legendary king of Alba Longa, Tiberinus Silvius, a descendant of Aeneas.
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Tiberinus aided Aeneas on his journey advising him to settle in Latium<ref>Vergil, ''Aeneid'' 10.198 ff.</ref>.
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Under Greek influence, the Romans included Volturnus as one of the Oceanids, the 3,000 children of [[Oceanus]] and [[Tethys]]. Each of these children was the patron of a particular river, spring or lake.
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==Consorts and Children==
 
==Consorts and Children==
  
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===Albunea===
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No consorts or children of Volturnus are known.
  
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[[Albunea]] was probably the original cult partner, and perhaps the wife, of Albula, the ancient name of the Tiber river. Albunea was a nymph who resided near Tivoli (anc. Tibur) at a sulfuric spring on the Aniene (anc. Anio) river, where she had a small temple above the falls. She was the Tiburtine sibyl, the tenth in a series of famous [[sibyl|sibyls]]. From Etruscan times, it was the seat of the Tiburtine Sibyl. Originally a colony of [[Alba Longa]], Tivoli was conquered by the Sabines, and later defeated and absorbed by the Romans in 338 BCE.
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===Gens Velthurna===
  
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"The Tiburtine Sibyl, by name Albunea, is worshiped at Tibur as a goddess, near the banks of the Anio, in which stream her image is said to have been found, holding a book in her hand. Her oracular responses the Senate transferred into the capitol."<ref>Lactantius, ''Divine Institutes'' 1.6, citing Varro.</ref>
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Velthurna, the equivalent of Voltumna or Volturna was an Etruscan family-name attested by sepulchral inscriptions at Perugia and Sovana<ref>George Dennis. ''The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria'' (London: John Murray, 1848).</ref>. It has been suggested that Volturnus was originally the tutelary deity of the Etruscan Velthur family.<ref>Hendrik Wagenvoort, ''Pietas: Studies in Roman Religion'' (Boston: Brill, 1980), 237, citing Altheim</ref>.
  
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===Manto===
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==Cult==
  
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Tiberinus was the husband of [[Manto]]. Her legend is Greek rather than Roman. She was a daughter of Tiresias, the blind prophet, who in turn was the son of the shepherd Everes and the nymph Chariclo. Tiresias died after drinking water from a spring, and apparently became an oracular hero, for he was visited in the underworld by Odysseus. Manto is said to have been brought to Delphi as a war prize during the War of the Epigonoi. Apollo sent her to Colophon to found an oracle devoted to him. Instead, she went to Italy, where she married Tiberinus.<ref>Vergil, ''Aeneid'' 10.199</ref>
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Volturnus was one of 15 Gods served by state-sponsored ''flamines'', in a system conventionally said to have been established by [[Numa tradition|Numa Pompilius]]. From that fact, Volturnus was probably an agricultural deity, Although the subject is controversial, the authority of the ''flamines'' seems to have been overthrown by a pontifical revolution when the Roman religion was reconstituted along Greek lines. This reform took place at early but unknown date, perhaps about 350 BCE.
  
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===Rhea Silvia===
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Thereafter, the original deities declined in importance. By the beginning of the Republic, the ''flamines'' seem to have been anachronistic.
  
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[[Rhea Silvia]] was a [[Vestal Virgin]], seduced by [[Mars]]. When she gave birth to the twins [[Romulus]] and [[Remus]], the twins were exposed and she was sentenced to death by her uncle. Tiberinus found the twins, gave them to the she-wolf [[Lupa]] to suckle, then rescued and married their mother.
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Like other ''flamines minores'', the Flamen Volturnalis could be either patrician or plebeian.
  
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===Ocnus===
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==Festivals==
  
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[[Ocnus]] is said to have been son of Tiberinus and [[Manto]]. Ocnus is said to have founded Mantova, which he named for his mother. Alternatively, Mantova was named after another Manto, who was a daughter of Heracles, or after Mantus, the Etruscan God of the Underworld.
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===Volturnalia===
  
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However, other authorities make Ocnus a son or brother of [[Auletes]] and the founder of Bologna (anc. Felsina).<ref>Vergil, ''Aeneid'' 10.198</ref>  
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The [[Feriae|festival]] of Volturnus, called the Volturnalia was celebrated on {{Aug 27}} and belonged to the Numan calendar<ref>Einar Gjerstad, ''Early Rome''. Lund: C. W. K. Gleerup (1953), 246</ref>. Details of the Volturnalia have not survived, but we have fragments addressed to Volturnus. We know that the Volturnalia was celebrated with feasting, wine-drinking and games. In the opinion of the Pontifex Maximus of Nova Roma, “At the very least a "standard" ritual of sacrifice, Roman feast, and standard Roman games would be a passable reconstruction of the day, pending the discovery of further specific information."<ref>Marcus Cassius Iulianus. Message at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ReligioRomana/message/3255, message dated November 26, 2002, from Marcus Cassius Julianus, visited January 1, 2004.</ref>
  
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===Iuturna===
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Some scholars say Iuturna was honored the same day. However, she also had her own festival, the [[Iuturnalia]], {{Jan 11}}.
  
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Volturnus was the father (or lover) of [[Iuturna]], the [[Camenae|Camena]] who was wife (or daughter) of [[Janus]], the calendar god. [[Iuppiter]] turned her into a nymph and gave her a spring near Lavinium on the Numicus river. Iuturna was later associated with a pool near the temple of Vesta in the Forum Romanum.
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===Modern Volturnalia Events in Nova Roma===
  
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===Fontus===
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*'''[[Volturnalia 2766 a.u.c. (Nova Roma)|Volturnalia 2766]]'''
  
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Through Iuturna, Volturnus was a grandfather of [[Fontus]]. Fontus (or Fons), was the god/dess of springs. The [[Fontinalia]], in her honor, was held {{Oct 13}} when springs in Rome begin to flow again after the summer heat.
 
  
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==Cult==
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==Epigraphy==
  
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Tiberinus was able, when propitiated, to heal the diseases that his waters were supposed to bring.<ref>Walter Addison Jayne, ''Healing Gods of Ancient Civilizations''. Kessinger Publishing Company (1925, 2003), 440-41</ref>.
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    Inde aliae tempestates
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    ventique secuntur,  
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    altitonans Volturnus
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    et Auster fulmine pollens.
  
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There are hints that human sacrifice might have once honored Volturnus. A common feature of Mediterranean river gods is the belief that the rivers resent being crossed. We see this belief indirectly in connection with the Romans. One of the omens of Caesar's impending assassination: "Soon after this, news reached Caesar that the herd of horses which he dedicated to the spirit of the River Rubicon, after his crossing, who were allowed to roam freely in the valley, were showing disdain for the pasture, and crying copious amount of tears."
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    And other Winds do follow: the high roar
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    Of great Volturnus, and the  
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    Southwind strong
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    With thunder-bolts.<ref>Lucretius, ''De Rerum Natura'' 5.742</ref>
  
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==Festivals==
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In a statement lauding [[Domitian|Domitian’s]] technological achievement channeling the Volturno river (95 CE), Volturnus is made to say ''amnis esse coepi'', I have begun to be a river; meaning that he has become his true self.
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===Volturnalia===
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The festival of Volturnus, called the Volturnalia was celebrated on {{Aug 27}} and belonged to the Numan calendar<ref>Einar Gjerstad, ''Early Rome''. Lund: C. W. K. Gleerup (1953), 246</ref>. Details of the Volturnalia have not survived, but we have fragments addressed to Volturnus. We know that the Volturnalia was celebrated with feasting, wine-drinking and games. In the opinion of the Pontifex Maximus of Nova Roma, “At the very least a "standard" ritual of sacrifice, Roman feast, and standard Roman games would be a passable reconstruction of the day, pending the discovery of further specific information."<ref>Marcus Cassius Iulianus. Message at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ReligioRomana/message/3255, message dated November 26, 2002, from Marcus Cassius Julianus, visited January 1, 2004.</ref>
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Some scholars say Volturnus' daughter Iuturna was honored the same day. However, she also had her own festival, the [[Iuturnalia]], {{Jan 11}}.
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==Epigraphy==
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"Inde aliae tempestates ventique secuntur, altitonans Volturnus et Auster fulmine pollens."<ref>Lucretius, ''De Rerum Natura'' 5.742</ref>
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In a statement lauding [[Domitian|Domitian’s]] technological achievement channeling the Volturno river, Volturnus is made to say ''amnis esse coepi'', I have begun to be a river; meaning that he has become his true self.
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==Iconography==
 
==Iconography==
  
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The most famous representation of Father Tiber is a 17th century statue on the Capitoline.
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A bust, identified as Volturnus and dating from the 2nd century BCE, survives at the Arch of S. Eligio in Capua.
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At Corneta, in the Grotta delle Iscrizioni, is a representation of a man having a fish offered to him. Gerhard identifies this as Vertumnus<ref>George Dennis. ''The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria''. London: John Murray, 1848, citing ''Gottheiten der Etrusker'', 31</ref>, but it could have been Volturnus.
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A bust of Volturnus, dating from the 2nd century BCE, survives at the Arch of S. Eligio in Capua.
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A representation of a man having a fish offered to him survives at Corneta, in the Grotta delle Iscrizioni. Gerhard identifies this as Vertumnus<ref>George Dennis. ''The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria'' (London: John Murray, 1848), citing ''Gottheiten der Etrusker'', 31</ref>. Other scholars believe it represents Volturnus. More probably, it represents Volcanus. Small live fish were thrown into a fire as a sacrificial offering at the Volcanalia.
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
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===Primary Sources===
 
===Primary Sources===
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''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL)''.
  
 
Festus, ''ap. Paul. Diac.'' v. Volturnalia.
 
Festus, ''ap. Paul. Diac.'' v. Volturnalia.
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===Secondary Sources===
 
===Secondary Sources===
  
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''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL)''.
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Georges Dumézil, ''Archaic Roman Religion''. Johns Hopkins Univ. Pr. (1966, 1996).
  
 
Joel Le Gall, ''Recherches sur le culte du Tibre'' (Paris 1953).
 
Joel Le Gall, ''Recherches sur le culte du Tibre'' (Paris 1953).
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==External Links==
 
==External Links==
  
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This article incorporates the text of an article of the same name, originally published at [http://www.ambrosii.com/ Gens Ambrosia].
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This article incorporates the text of an article of the same name, originally published in 2004 at Gens Ambrosia, http://www.ambrosii.com.  
  
 
[[Category:Roman Gods]]
 
[[Category:Roman Gods]]

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The Roman god Volturnus was one of the Dii Indigetes, and, like the other ancient Gods of Rome, he was served by a flamen, the Flamen Volturnalis. His festival, the Volturnalia, was a market day celebrated a.d. VI Kal. Sept. ‡.

Contents

Etymology

The etymology of Volturnus is uncertain. It is thought to derive from volvere, "to roll along or wind around".

History

Little is known about Volturnus, although scholars have attempted to reconstruct his myth and role in the cultus deorum. Volturnus is known to have been an agricultural God, and surviving fragments show he was specifically a river God. Like other ancient Gods, his cult was overshadowed and obscured by a religious reformation, probably in the 4th century BCE. By the time of Varro (116 BCE - 27 BCE), a scholar who collected the surviving materials, there were only traces left of Rome's earliest religion. He reported the survival of a Flamen Volturnalis, but found the God to be "obscure".[1]


The name Volturnus suggests a connection with the port of Volturnum (now Capua). Volturnum was a settlement of the Oscans, and later of the Etruscans. The city is situated on the Volturno (anc. Voluturnus) river, which apparently had a Samnite river God of the same name. Rome extended its borders to the Volturno during the Latin War (340-338 BCE), and decisively defeated the Samnites on the other side of the Volturno during the Third Samnite War (298-290 BCE). The Samnites were allowed to retain their independence, becoming allies of Rome. The Romans built a fort at Volturum for provisioning the army, and in 194 BCE established a colony there.

Probably, Volturnus' cult was brought to Rome in the 2nd century BCE[2] . Such removals of conquered Gods to Rome were commonplace. Then, at some unknown date, the cults of the river Gods Tiberinus and Volturnus were conflated.

Mythology

No myths concerning Volturnus have survived. Some scholars argue he has always had the character of a numen, and therefore never acquired personal characteristics.

Correspondences to Other Gods

Tiberinus

Classical scholar Theodor Mommsen (1817-1903) believed Volturnus was the cult name for the tutelary deity of the Tiber river.[3] 

His reasoning is straightforward: surviving fragments show Volturnus was a river God, and, being Roman, that river must have been the Tiber. Mommsen's view influenced generations of scholars[4]

, and is still presented as a fact in popular materials.

However, the identification encounters immediate difficulties. The God of the Tiber river was almost certainly named 'Tiberinus' by the Latins, while the Volturno is a river in Campania. Following an influential article by Joel Le Gall in 1953,[5] 

 the identification of Volturnus with Tiberinus was largely abandoned by the scholarly community.

A minority view among scholars is that Volturnus was a generic God of rivers[6] , and gave his name both to the Tiber and the Volturno.

Portunus

Mommsen also identified Volturnus with Portunus, on the basis of a late calendar where the Portinalia is also called the Tiberinalia.[7] . Further, the sacrifices on that day were held "in porto Tiberindo."[8] 

Portunus was a God of harbors.

Vertumnus

Vertumnus was the Etruscan Bacchus, God of wine and fruits. His consort Voltumna, whom the Romans equated with Pomona, was the patron of the Etruscan League. Dennis notes that Vertumnus was called Vortumnus by Varro[9] 

and speculates that he was identical with the Volturnus mentioned by Festus[10]


and Varro[11]


– “though neither recognise the relation in this case."[12]

. The correspondence has not gained acceptance.

Vulturnus

Lucretius associated Volturnus with the Tempestates: "And other Winds do follow: the high roar / Of great Volturnus, and the Southwind strong / With thunder-bolts."[13]


From this passage, it appears the Romans might have equated Volturnus with Vulturnus, one of the Venti. Vulturnus' Greek analog was Eurus (Εύρος), the God of the east wind, and a son of Eos, possibly by Astræus. In Italy, the Vulturno, now called the Scirocco, blows from the southeast. The Vulturno takes its name from Monte Vulture (anc. Vultur).

Those who equate Volturnus with Vulturnus believe that the Volturnalia was a festival to avert the drought caused by these drying winds.

However, most contemporary scholars separate Volturnus the river from Vulturnus the east wind, and point to the timing of the Volturnalia at harvest time as evidence that it would have been offered in thanks for the irrigation water drawn from rivers rather than as a supplication to avert drought.

Consorts and Children

No consorts or children of Volturnus are known.

Gens Velthurna

Velthurna, the equivalent of Voltumna or Volturna was an Etruscan family-name attested by sepulchral inscriptions at Perugia and Sovana[14] . It has been suggested that Volturnus was originally the tutelary deity of the Etruscan Velthur family.[15] .

Cult

Volturnus was one of 15 Gods served by state-sponsored flamines, in a system conventionally said to have been established by Numa Pompilius. From that fact, Volturnus was probably an agricultural deity, Although the subject is controversial, the authority of the flamines seems to have been overthrown by a pontifical revolution when the Roman religion was reconstituted along Greek lines. This reform took place at early but unknown date, perhaps about 350 BCE.

Thereafter, the original deities declined in importance. By the beginning of the Republic, the flamines seem to have been anachronistic.

Like other flamines minores, the Flamen Volturnalis could be either patrician or plebeian.

Festivals

Volturnalia

The festival of Volturnus, called the Volturnalia was celebrated on a.d. VI Kal. Sept. ‡ and belonged to the Numan calendar[16] . Details of the Volturnalia have not survived, but we have fragments addressed to Volturnus. We know that the Volturnalia was celebrated with feasting, wine-drinking and games. In the opinion of the Pontifex Maximus of Nova Roma, “At the very least a "standard" ritual of sacrifice, Roman feast, and standard Roman games would be a passable reconstruction of the day, pending the discovery of further specific information."[17]


Some scholars say Iuturna was honored the same day. However, she also had her own festival, the Iuturnalia, a.d. III Id. Ian. ‡.

Modern Volturnalia Events in Nova Roma


Epigraphy

   Inde aliae tempestates
   ventique secuntur, 
   altitonans Volturnus 
   et Auster fulmine pollens.

   And other Winds do follow: the high roar
   Of great Volturnus, and the 
   Southwind strong
   With thunder-bolts.[18]


In a statement lauding Domitian’s technological achievement channeling the Volturno river (95 CE), Volturnus is made to say amnis esse coepi, I have begun to be a river; meaning that he has become his true self.

Iconography

A bust, identified as Volturnus and dating from the 2nd century BCE, survives at the Arch of S. Eligio in Capua.

A representation of a man having a fish offered to him survives at Corneta, in the Grotta delle Iscrizioni. Gerhard identifies this as Vertumnus[19] . Other scholars believe it represents Volturnus. More probably, it represents Volcanus. Small live fish were thrown into a fire as a sacrificial offering at the Volcanalia.

References

  1. ↑ Varro, Lingua Latine, 7:45
  2. ↑ Andreas Alfödi, Early Rome and the Latins. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press (1971), 206
  3. ↑ Theodor Mommsen, Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL), 327.
  4. ↑ Cf. Einar Gjerstad, Early Rome. Lund: C. W. K. Gleerup (1953), 25.
  5. ↑ Joel Le Gall, Recherches sur le culte du Tibre (Paris 1953), pp. 40-56, "Les prétendus dieux du Tibre". See also Georges Dumézil, Archaic Roman Religion. Johns Hopkins Univ. Pr. (1966, 1996), 388-89.
  6. ↑ Cf. Shailer Mathews and Gerald Birney Smith, A Dictionary of Religion and Ethics sub Roman Religion. Macmillan (1921), 384.
  7. ↑ CIL citing Fast. Philocal., 327
  8. ↑ Varro, Lingua Latine 6.19
  9. ↑ Varro, Lingua Latine 5.8; 6:3
  10. ↑ Festus, ap. Paul. Diac. v. Volturnalia
  11. ↑ Varro, Lingua Latine 8.45
  12. ↑ George Dennis, The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria (London: John Murray, 1848).
  13. ↑ Lucretius, De Rerum Natura 5.742
  14. ↑ George Dennis. The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria (London: John Murray, 1848).
  15. ↑ Hendrik Wagenvoort, Pietas: Studies in Roman Religion (Boston: Brill, 1980), 237, citing Altheim
  16. ↑ Einar Gjerstad, Early Rome. Lund: C. W. K. Gleerup (1953), 246
  17. ↑ Marcus Cassius Iulianus. Message at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ReligioRomana/message/3255, message dated November 26, 2002, from Marcus Cassius Julianus, visited January 1, 2004.
  18. ↑ Lucretius, De Rerum Natura 5.742
  19. ↑ George Dennis. The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria (London: John Murray, 1848), citing Gottheiten der Etrusker, 31


Further Reading

Primary Sources

Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL).

Festus, ap. Paul. Diac. v. Volturnalia.

Lactantius, Divine Institutes.

Lucretius, De Rerum Natura.

Prop. 6.2.

Varro, Lingua Latine.

Vergil, Aeneid.

Secondary Sources

Georges Dumézil, Archaic Roman Religion. Johns Hopkins Univ. Pr. (1966, 1996).

Joel Le Gall, Recherches sur le culte du Tibre (Paris 1953).

External Links

This article incorporates the text of an article of the same name, originally published in 2004 at Gens Ambrosia, http://www.ambrosii.com.

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