Angerona

Angerona

The Romans held as a state secret the true name of the protective Goddess of Rome:

"Verrius Flaccus cites authors whom he deems worthy of credit, to show that on the occasion of a siege, it was the usage, the first thing of all, for the Roman priests to summon forth the tutelary divinity of that particular town, and to promise him the same rites, or even a more extended worship, at Rome; and at the present day even, this ritual still forms part of the discipline of our pontiffs. Hence it is, no doubt, that the name of the tutelary deity of Rome has been so strictly kept concealed, lest any of our enemies should act in a similar manner." 1

Some examples of this practice are known to us. The first was when Camillus evoked Vei from Her Etruscan city in 396 BCE to install Her at Rome as Juno Regina of the Aventine. 2 A second example is taken from the dedication of a temple for Vortumnus in 264 BCE and a third comes from when Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus performed an evocatio by which he drew Tanis from Carthage in 146 BCE to install Her as Juno Caelistis at Rome. 3 An inscription for Isaurus Vetus, dating to 75 BCE, indicates another evocatio was performed at the siege of that city. 4

"Last and greater than all, Rome herself, whose other name the hallowed mysteries of the sacred rites forbid us to mention without being guilty of the greatest impiety. After it had been long kept buried in secresy with the strictest fidelity and in respectful and salutary silence, Valerius Soranus dared to divulge it, but soon did he pay the penalty of his rashness.

It will not perhaps be altogether foreign to the purpose, if I here make mention of one peculiar institution of our forefathers which bears especial reference to the inculcation of silence on religious matters. The goddess Angerona, to whom sacrifice is offered on the twelfth day before the calends of January [21st December], is represented in her statue as having her mouth bound with a sealed fillet. Pliny, Historia Naturalis 3.9.65-67