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Which Greek deity was the equivalent of Juno?

Juno was strongly associated with the Greek goddess Hera, who like Juno was the queen of the gods and was also seen as a protector of women and family.

What were the symbols of Juno?

Juno was frequently symbolized by the peacock, whose tail she adorned with the hundred eyes of her loyal watchman, Argus.

What was Juno known for?

Juno was widely worshipped across the Roman empire and was the patron goddess of Rome. She bore far more roles and titles than most other deities.

The Roman goddess of marriage, home, and family, Juno was a champion of women and protector of the Roman state. She was married to Jupiter, king of all the gods, and served as a part of the divine ruling triumvirate known as the Capitoline Triad. Juno was adapted from the Greek goddess Hera, and her essential characteristics and mythology were nearly identical to her Greek predecessor.

Juno was among the first Roman gods and goddesses, and like her counterpart deities was thought to oversee both the private affairs of her worshipers and the affairs of the Roman state. According to the time and place of her worship, she embodied several distinct personae. She was "Mother", "Midwife", "Queen", and "Light Bringer." She was also considered a moon goddess, likely for her association with the waxing and waning of the celestial body, which in turn symbolized the cycles of growth and decay that defined all of existence.

The fluidity of her identity made her one of the most broadly worshiped Roman deities, as is evidenced by the huge number of temples built in her honor and festivals held in her name. Though she remained a beloved figure for centuries, Juno's importance began to wane with the advent of the Roman Empire in the first century BCE.

As queen of the Roman deities, Juno was often depicted wearing some sort of crown. In this marble sculpture, she wears a diadem.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston / Public Domain

The name "Juno" is thought to have emerged from a host of words meaning youth, youthfulness, and rejuvenation. The name was widely believed to have been derived from the Latin iuvenis, meaning "youth." The root of iuvenis was often seen in Latin words such as iunex, meaning "heifer," or a cow that has not had a calf. It was also apparent in the verb iuvare, meaning "to give aid" or "to succor," as well as iuvenescere, meaning "to rejuvenate," or literally, "to make young again." Both verbs related to Juno's personae as a mother and rejuvenator, the latter of which was seen in her stewardship over lunar and menstrual cycles.

In the ancient world and among the Romans, Juno was seen as a counterpart to the Etruscan goddess, Uni, who was the chief god of the Etruscan people. The Etruscans were a pre-Roman Italian people who built a sophisticated kingdom, the culture of greatly influenced the Romans. The Etruscan-Roman connection, as well as the striking similarity between the goddess' names, suggested another origin for Juno as a goddess and a name.

Juno Sospita, or "Juno the Savior," depicted on the obverse (left) of a denarius, c. 105 BCE.
Art Institute of Chicago / Public Domain

Juno was known by a number of epithets, each of which showcased a distinct persona of the goddess. For her role in succoring the needy, she was called Juno Sospita, or "Juno the Savior". She was also called Juno Moneta, or "Juno the Warner," for bringing news of danger and preparing the threatened. She was named Juno Regina or "Queen Juno," for her role as a head of state and member of the Capitoline Triad (with Jupiter and Minerva), but was also called Juno Opigena, or "Juno the Midwife," for overseeing childbirth. Finally, she was known as Juno Lucina, or "Juno Who Brings Light," for bringing light, life, and enlightenment to those who worshipped her.

As matron goddess of the Roman pantheon, Juno oversaw all matters related to the health and growth of the Roman state and the people who comprised it. She was particularly associated with the cycles and processes related to women. She blessed marriages, oversaw sexual reproduction, and ensured the safe arrival of children. Her control over the female menstrual cycle-a manifestation of her rejuvenating spirit-was mirrored in the heavens via her control over the waxing and waning of the moon. Thus, rather than actually embodying or actually being the moon, Juno served as the source of cyclical transformations.

Juno was a daughter of Saturn, the god of the sky who ruled before Jupiter, and Ops (or Opis), the goddess of the earth and growth. Her brothers were Jupiter, Neptune, god of the sea, and Pluto, god of the underworld and wealth. Her sisters were Ceres, an agricultural goddess who oversaw the growth of cereals (the word "cereal," in fact, comes from Ceres), and Vesta, the protector goddess of the hearth and home, and a defender of purity, virginity, and maidens.

Juno fawns over her husband Jupiter in this engraving from the 17th century.
Rijksmuseum / Public Domain

Juno married her brother Jupiter, the king of gods, with whom she ruled the cosmos and, more humbly, the Roman state. They had several children together, including Mars, god of war and patron of Roman arms and armies, Bellona, a goddess of war, and Vulcan, god of fire, metalworking, and the forge. Another of their children was Juventus, a goddess who shared Juno's association with youth and rejuvenation and oversaw the transition from childhood to adulthood.

Rather than creating a tradition of mythological narratives themselves, the Romans often borrowed and appropriated the mythology of the Greeks, substituting Roman figures for the previously used Greek deities. In the Romanized version of this mythology, Juno took the part of Hera, the queen mother of the Greek deities. As a result, the mythologies of the two goddesses are largely identical.

Juno and Other Deities (c. 1700). Juno assumes command of the scene from atop her golden
chariot. The nearby peacocks may symbolize her beauty or royal status.
Yale University Art Gallery / Public Domain

The story of Juno's creation, for example, was very similar to Hera's. In the beginning of time, the cosmos was ruled by a god or Titan known as Caelus. In time, Caelus's son Saturn overthrew him and took control of the universe for himself. Saturn united with Ops, the goddess of elemental earth, and sired children with her.

While the children were still growing in Ops' womb, Saturn learned of a prophecy that predicted his downfall at the hands of one of his offspring. Not knowing who was to take the role of usurper, Saturn ate his first five children, one of whom was Juno. Ops saved the last child, Jupiter, and substituted a rock in his place. When Saturn ate the rock, he came down with a case of indigestion that ultimately caused him to vomit up his children; Juno, Pluto, Neptune, Ceres, and Vesta were soon free. After combining their strength with that of their younger brother Jupiter, the divine siblings took over the world and divided responsibilities amongst themselves.

Eventually, Juno married her brother Jupiter. Though they had children together, their marriage was not a happy one. A notorious womanizer, Jupiter had many affairs. One Roman myth even explained that fog was created as a result of Jupiter trying to conceal his affairs from Juno's watchful gaze. A jealous goddess, Juno was constantly trying to find and punish those with whom her husband had cheated.

In an episode borrowed from Greek mythology, Juno doggedly pursued Io, one of Jupiter's many lovers. Io was a priestess of Jupiter with whom the god had fallen in love. After initially spurning his advances, Io succumbed to the charms of the god and the two had sex. When Juno found out, she promised vengeance, so Jupiter, disguised his lover from his jealous wife by transforming Io into a heifer (which, probably not coincidentally, was a symbol of Juno).

Juno Commanding Argus to Keep Watch on Io by Nicolaes Pietersz Berchem, 1655-1683.
Rijksmuseum / Public Domain

After discovering the ruse, Juno sent Argus, a monster with one hundred eyes, to keep watch over Io. Jupiter responded by sending Mercury to stop Argus; he did so by lulling the monster to sleep and then murdering him. As in the Greek tale, Juno put Argus's one hundred eyes in the tail of the peacock so that she would always remember her loyal creature.

Though Io escaped from Argus, Juno persisted in her pursuit. She transformed herself into a monstrous gadfly and mercilessly bit the heifer. The cow journeyed far and wide to elude Juno-in certain versions, she even found Prometheus chained to a rock. Eventually, her struggles were rewarded when Jupiter transformed her back into her human form. Following these adventures, Io lived happily and had many children.

According to Virgil's Aeneid, Juno also played a role in the founding of Rome. The Aeneid focused on the trials of Aeneas, a hero who fought on the losing side during the Trojan War. As the city was being sacked by the Achaeans, Aeneas and his father escaped the city and set out on a journey that would take them across the Mediterranean and back again. According to prophecy, Aeneas was fated to found an Italian city that would serve as the capital of the greatest empire in history-an empire that would also conquer the powerful city-state of Carthage in North Africa.

In this medieval French work recounting a scene from Virgil's Aeneid, Juno summons a Fury to enact her revenge.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Public Domain

Acting in her role as patron of Carthage, Juno tried to thwart the prophecy and prevent Aeneas from ever reaching Italy. After luring Aeneas to Carthage, Juno arranged for him to meet and fall in love with Dido, the city-state's enchanting queen. Though the two did indeed fall in love, Aeneas tore himself away and sailed for Italy to fulfill his destiny. Despairing at the loss of her lover, Dido committed suicide. Juno, meanwhile, remained focused on her prey. She roiled the seas and tried to sink Aeneas' vessel, but Neptune intervened and saw the hero safely to Rome.

The Romans honored Juno with many festivals spread across the calendar year. During the Matronalia, the festival held on the first of March (the first day of the lunar year), Juno was celebrated as the archetypal "Mother" that symbolically gave birth to the new year. Her association with the turning of the years, measured through the progression of lunar cycles, likely explained her connection to the moon.

The Romans also observed Juno during Caprotinae, a festival held on the nones of Quintilus (later renamed "July" after Julius Caesar). This festival featured slave girls ritualistically beating themselves and the sacrificing of lamb and cattle, among other festivities. She was honored with a festival called the Juno Capitolina on the ides of September, as well as the Juno Moneta on the calends of June. The Juno Regina was held on the calends of October, and, on the calends of February-the last month of the lunar calendar-Juno served as the central figure of the Juno Sospita. It was at this final major festival that Juno closed the annual cycle, ensuring a smooth transition into the next.

Temple of Juno Caelestis ("Juno the Heavenly"), near ancient Carthage in Dugga, Tunisia. The Romans conquered Carthage in 146 BCE following a series of conflicts known as
the Punic Wars.
Dennis jarvis / CC BY-SA 2.0

In recent times, Juno lent her name to a space probe launched in 2011 to investigate the planet Jupiter. Built by Lockheed Martin and operated by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Juno is currently orbiting the massive planet, examining its magnetic and gravitational fields as well as its composition.

Juno's name was also used in the popular 2007 film Juno, starring Ellen Page and Michael Cera. Though the movie did not invoke the Roman goddess directly, the story centered on the travails of a pregnant teenager and involved themes of youth, motherhood, and child-rearing-all traditional domains of Juno.

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Which Greek deity was the equivalent of Juno? Juno was strongly associated with the Greek goddess Hera, who like Juno was the queen of the gods and was also seen as a protector of women and family. What were the symbols of Juno?

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Apollo was the Roman god who inspired prophecy, poetry, music, and medicine. Incorporated directly from the Greeks after a plague devastated Rome, he was both the bringer of and guardian against pestilence.

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Who was Jupiter's equivalent among the Greek gods?

Jupiter, the king of the Roman religious pantheon, was closely linked to and adapted from the leader of the Greek Olympians, Zeus.

Why was Jupiter especially important to the Romans?

Jupiter was particularly associated with the founding of Rome, as well as the military might and protection of its people.

Which planet is named for Jupiter?

The fifth planet in our solar system, which is also the largest planet, is called Jupiter, part of a Western tradition of naming planets for Roman gods.

The supreme deity of the Roman pantheon, mighty Jupiter was a god of sky and thunder whose symbols were the oak tree and eagle. He ruled as the dominant member of a triumvirate called the Capitoline Triad, which included his consort Juno and daughter Minerva. Jupiter bore many similarities to Zeus, the king of the Greek deities from whom he was adapted.

Unlike Zeus, however, Jupiter was explicitly linked to a specific political entity-Rome. From the great temple erected in his honor on the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Jupiter presided over the state and its ever-expanding empire. As a result, the Romans emphasized the worship of Jupiter above all other gods. Jupiter's blessings were thought to secure their victories and maintain hegemony over their rivals. Worship of Jupiter was formalized by the Roman state over the course of its existence.

What is known of Jupiter's mythos came not through the narratives in which he plays a role, but from the ways in which his worship was observed by the Romans. Like other figures in Roman mythology, Jupiter was believed to be a critical actor in Roman history. Accordingly, his nature and attributes transformed in order to keep up with broader historical changes in the Roman state. By the end of the first century BCE, Jupiter's centrality to the state was eclipsed by cults devoted to the worship of deified emperors.

In Latin, the name "Jupiter" was usually rendered as Iūpiter or Iuppiter (the character "j" was not a part of ancient Latin alphabet, and was added in the Middle Ages). The name stemmed from two roots. One was the Proto Indo-European word dyeu- (the same root for the name "Zeus"!), meaning "shining thing," "sky," or "day" (as in the Latin for day dies); the other was pater, a word shared by Greek and Latin that means "father." In keeping with these naming conventions, Jupiter was sometimes called Diespiter or Dispiter. Additionally, Zeus was called Zeu Pater in Greek, and Sanskrit speakers used the term Dyaus pitar (father of heavens) to refer to the sky god. This all points an archetypal "sky father" deep in the history of Indo-European-speaking people, whose identity was localized by the cultures that splintered off over time.

Jupiter was known by a number of epithets. For bringing victory, he was Iuppiter Elicius, or "Jupiter who brings forth," and for summoning lightning, he was Iuppiter Fulgur, or "lightning Jupiter." For bringing light and enlightenment to all things, he was Iuppiter Lucetius, or "Jupiter of the light," as well as Iuppiter Caelestis, or "Jupiter of the heavens." Above all, he was Iuppiter Optimus Maximus: "Jupiter, the best and greatest."

As the god of the sky, Jupiter commanded lightning, thunder, and storms. Like Zeus, he wielded lightning bolts as weapons. Befitting his role as king of the gods, Jupiter was commonly depicted sitting on a throne and holding a royal scepter and staff.

Rather than taking an active part in battles, however, Jupiter was imagined to oversee and control them. More than any other deity, Jupiter held the fate of the Roman state in the balance. To appease him, Romans offered sacrifice and took sacred oaths in his honor. The faithfulness with which they made sacrificial offerings and kept their oaths informed Jupiter's bearing. The Romans came to believe that the success of their Mediterranean empire could be attributed to their unique devotion to Jupiter.

By way of the eagle, Jupiter also guided the taking of the auspices, the practice of divination whereby augurs tried to decipher omens and predict the future by observing the flight of birds (words such as "auspicious" and "inauspicious" come from this practice). Because the eagle was Jupiter's sacred animal, the Romans believed that the bird's behavior communicated his will. Omens divined through the behavior of eagles were considered to be the most revealing.

Jupiter was the son of Saturn-the god of the sky who preceded Jupiter-and Ops (or Opis), goddess of the earth and growth. His brothers were Neptune, god of the sea, and Pluto, god of the underworld and wealth (metals, the basis of Roman coinage and wealth, were found underground). His sisters included Ceres, a fertility goddess who controlled the growth of grains, Vesta, goddess of hearth and home, and Juno, a maternal goddess associated with marriage, family, domestic tranquility, and the moon.

Jupiter was married to his sister Juno, who served as the Roman counterpart to Hera. Among their children were Mars, the god of war that played a substantial role in the founding of Rome, and Bellona, a goddess of war. Additional children included Vulcan, the god of fire, metalworking, and the forge, and Juventus, a youthful goddess who oversaw the transition from childhood to adulthood and was associated with invigoration and rejuvenation.

Antoine-Francois Callet, Ceres Begging for Jupiter's Thunderbolt after the Kidnapping of Her Daughter Proserpine (1777). In this scene, Ceres asks Jupiter to free Prosperina from the clutches of Pluto, who has stolen away with her to the Underworld.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston / Public Domain

Though the Roman mythic corpus lacked the stories of marital strife that so often defined Zeus and Hera's relationship, it was clear that Jupiter was unfaithful to Juno. Anecdotal tales told of Jupiter's many infidelities and the children that resulted from them. With Maia, the goddess of earth and fertility (who may have lent her name to the Roman month Maius, or May), Jupiter had Mercury, the messenger god of commerce, merchants, sailing, and travel. With Dione, he sired Venus, goddess of love and sexual desire (although other stories had her emerging from sea foam, like the Greek Aphrodite). With his sister Ceres, Jupiter had Proserpine, an important cultic figure associated with cycles of decay and rebirth, just as Persephone was for the Greeks. Finally, with Metis, whom he raped, Jupiter had Minerva.

By and large, Roman mythology lacked a rich narrative tradition. As such, little exists in the way of epic stories explaining the order of the universe and the origins of humankind. This is also true of Jupiter, whose mythos was built not around stories that featured him as a main character, but around the ways that Romans observed their chief deity and explained his place in their storied history.

Jupiter's origins were largely identical to the tales of Zeus' creation. Before Jupiter, Saturn reigned supreme as the god of the sky and the universe. Of course, it had not always been that way. Before Saturn, his father Caelus (meaning "heavens") ruled, but Saturn overthrew his father and took control of the heavens for himself. After Saturn married Ops and impregnated her, he learned of a prophecy foretelling his downfall at the hands of one of his children. To prevent the usurper from seeing life, he swallowed the first five children that sprang from Ops' womb. When the last child finally emerged, Ops hid him away and gave Saturn a rock dressed in swaddling instead. An unsuspecting Saturn devoured the rock whole.

What followed was the worst case of indigestion in the history of mythology. Unable to digest the rock, Saturn regurgitated it, along with the five children he had swallowed-Ceres, Juno, Neptune, Pluto, and Vesta. Jupiter, meanwhile, had been plotting his father's imminent demise. With the help of his brothers and sisters, he defeated Saturn and took control of the cosmos.

Jupiter would later find himself in the same position as his father, Saturn. After raping and impregnating Metis, Jupiter was seized with the fear that his own unborn son might overthrow him. To avoid such a fate, Jupiter swallowed Metis along with her unborn child. Much to Jupiter's surprise, the child did not die, but continued to grow until it burst from his forehead and into the world. That child was Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, forethought, and strategic warfare; she eventually became a part of the ruling Capitoline Triad.

#Jupiter, Numa, and the Founding of Rome

According to the mythologized history of the founding of Rome, Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, introduced Jupiter to the Romans and established the parameters of his worship. In the early days of Rome, Jupiter ruled as part of the Archaic Triad, which also included Mars and Quirinus, a deified version of the city's founder: Romulus.

As the histories of Livy and Plutarch had it, Numa was facing hardship and coerced two minor deities, Picus and Faunas, into summoning Jupiter to the Aventine Hill. There, Numa consulted with the mighty god, who issued his demands regarding the offering of sacrifices, known as hostiae.

In exchange for securing the worship of the Roman people, Jupiter taught Numa how to avoid lightning bolts, as per Numa's demands. Jupiter's lightning lesson likely served as a metaphor symbolizing his broader offer of protection and support for the Roman people. Jupiter, in fact, sealed the pact with Numa and the Romans by sending down from the heavens a perfectly round shield, called the ancile, a symbol of protection if ever there were one. In turn, Numa had eleven nearly identical copies of the ancile made. These twelve shields-known collectively as the ancilia -became a sacred symbol of the city and an enduring reminder of the compact between Jupiter and Rome.

#Jupiter and the Roman State Religion

In time, Jupiter worship became a part of the well-established rituals organized and overseen by the state. The Romans built a grand temple to Jupiter Optimus Maximus n the Capitoline Hill; once complete, it was the greatest of all Roman temples. According to Roman mythology, it was the legendary fifth king of Rome, Tarquinius Priscus, who began construction of the temple, and the last Roman king, Tarquinius Superbus, who finished it in 509 BC. While the temple was destroyed well before the modern era, in its time the temple towered over the Capitoline. A statue of Jupiter driving a four-horse chariot could be found at the apex of the temple. A statue of Jupiter, painted red during celebrations, and a stone altar called Iuppiter Lapis ("the Jupiter Stone"), where oath-takers took their sacred vows, both lay inside the temple.

The temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus served as a sacrificial site where Romans would offer slaughtered animals (known as hostiae) to the mighty god. The hostiae for Jupiter were the ox, the lamb (offered annually on the Ides of March), and the wether or castrated goat, which was offered on the Ides of January. To oversee these offerings, the Romans created the ecclesiastical position Flamen Dialis, the high priest of Jupiter. The Flamen Dialis also served as a ranking member of the college of Flamines, a body of fifteen priests who presided over the affairs of the state religion. So reverent was the office of Flamen Dialis that only those of aristocratic birth, the patricians, could occupy it (plebeians, or those of low birth, were forbidden).

The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus was also the final destination of the celebratory military processions known as triumphs. Leading such processions was a triumphator, or victorious general. The procession itself would consist of the triumphator's army, prisoners, and spoils, which would wind through the streets of Rome before ending up at the great temple. There, the procession offered sacrifices and left a portion of their spoils for Jupiter.

Throughout these festivities, the triumphator would bear the trappings of Jupiter himself. He would ride in a four-horse chariot, wear a purple toga, paint his face red, and even carry the scepter of Jupiter. As Maurus Servius Honoratus wrote in his Commentary on the Eclogues of Virgil, "The triumphing generals wear the insignia of Jupiter, the sceptre and toga ' palmata,' also known as being "in the coat of Jupiter," while gazing with the red color of earth smeared on his face." The triumphator was thought to literally embody the god as he rode toward Jupiter's temple.

The Triumph of Aemilius Paulus (1789) by French painter Carle Vernet. The tableau depicts a procession celebrating the victory of the Roman general over Macedon in 168 BCE. The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus is featured prominently in the background (left of center).
The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Public Domain

The Cult of Jupiter thrived in Rome from its founding, popularly dated to the eighth century BC, to at least the first century BC. The cult waned with the fall of the Republic and the rise of the Empire. During this time, the state redirected popular religious enthusiasm from the old gods to the deified Roman emperors. By the time the first emperors embraced Christianity in the fourth century CE, the mythology of Jupiter and the Roman pantheon had totally fallen out of favor.

In modern times, Jupiter was best known for lending his name to the fifth planet from the sun, the largest in our solar system. Readers may have also unwittingly channeled Jupiter by uttering the folksy exclamation "By Jove!" Another version of Jupiter's name, Jove was seen as a more acceptable exclamation for pious Christians, who feared using the name of their own god in vain.

In most pop culture outlets, however, Zeus has been preferred to Jupiter, in keeping with the broader cultural preference for Greek deities over Roman ones.

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Who was Jupiter's equivalent among the Greek gods? Jupiter, the king of the Roman religious pantheon, was closely linked to and adapted from the leader of the Greek Olympians, Zeus. Why was Jupiter especially important to the Romans? Jupiter was particularly associated with the founding of Rome, as well as the military might and protection of its people.

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Were Venus and Aphrodite the same goddess?

Many of Venus's characteristics were inspired and shared by the Greek goddess Aphrodite, but Venus was uniquely related to the ruling families of Rome.

What were the symbols of Venus?

Venus was frequently symbolized by the rose, which represented fertility and sexual passion, as well as a crown of myrtle and seashells.

Which planet is named for Venus?

The goddess Venus shared her name with the second planet inthe solar syste m, which is also the brightest of all the planets seen from Earth.

Venus was the Roman goddess of love, maternal care, sexual reproduction, and erotic desire. The loveliest of all deities, Venus desired-and was desired by-mortals and gods alike. Like the Greek Apollo, Venus had a fluid sexuality and embraced male and female lovers alike. She was also the guardian of lovers and prostitutes, and a major figure in Roman religion. Venus was adapted from the Greek goddess Aphrodite, with whom she shared a mythological tradition.

The Venus de Milo, sculpted by Alexandros of Antioch c. 130 BCE. Generally regarded as a masterpiece of the classical era, the Venus de Milo depicts the goddess in an easy, natural pose while still displaying her seductive charm. Lost for centuries, the statue was discovered amidst the ruins of ancient Milos by a Greek peasant. While this statue actually depicts the Roman goddess, the term "venus" is used to describe any nude female figure from the era.
Louvre Museum, Paris, France / null

Venus was formally incorporated and adopted into the Roman pantheon in the third century BCE. During the Punic Wars of the second and third centuries BCE, Venus was thought to lend her assistance to the Romans and ensure their victories over the Carthaginians. Her importance as a figure of worship peaked shortly thereafter, though she continued to be venerated until the rise of Christianity in the fourth century CE. Revered for bringing victory to the Romans, Venus was also celebrated as the mother of Aeneas, the ancestor of Romulus, the founder of Rome. In later years, Julius Caesar publicly linked his family's heritage to the goddess' maternal line, making Venus the progenitor of the first imperial dynasty.

The name "Venus" came directly from the classical Latin noun venus, meaning "love." This noun was often used to indicate particularly sexual love or desire. It was also directly related to the verb form venerari, meaning "to love or to revere," also the root of the English word "venerate."

Some have speculated that "Venus" was related to the Latin word venenum, a noun meaning "poison," "potion," "charm," or perhaps even "aphrodisiac," a reference to her alleged control over amorous intoxication.

Venus Felix appears on the reverse of this bronze sestertius, minted sometime between 222 and 235 CE. In this depiction, Venus holds a scepter in one hand and Cupid in the other.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston / Public Domain

Venus was identified by a number of epithets, each indicating a distinct persona of the goddess. She was known as Venus Caelestis, or "Venus of the Heavens," and Venus Erycina, or "Venus of Eryx," her Carthaginian incarnation. She was called Venus Felix, the "Lucky Venus," for her role in turning the tides of battle, as she did during the Second Punic War. She was also Venus Genetrix, or "Venus the Creator," a title promoted by none other than Julius Caesar, based on the goddess' role in the creation of the Roman state. In a more light-hearted vein, she was Venus Murcia, "Venus of the Myrtle," and for being a loving protector of Rome, she was both Venus Obsequens, "Venus who Dotes," and Venus Victrix, or "Venus who Brings Victory."

As the goddess of love and sex, Venus possessed the ability to make mortals and gods fall madly in love. Venus' chief weapons were her charm and erotic appeal, and in her mythological tradition, many fell victim to them.

Venus in a sea shell, from a preserved fresco in ancient Pompeii.
rusm/iStock.com / null

Depictions of Venus were often found in domestic settings. In many of her appearances, she was accompanied by symbols such as the rose-a symbol of fertility, sexual passion, and female genitalia. Additionally, she was often featured with a crown of myrtle (an evergreen brush with white flowers). This crown quickly became one of her chief symbols. Sea shells were another common motif; these shells served both as a reference to Venus' birth at sea and as yet another of Venus' many erotic symbols.

Due to the unusual circumstances of her birth, Venus did not have parents in the traditional sense. Technically, Venus' father was Uranus, the father of Saturn and grandfather of Jupiter. Her mother was the sea, which embodied the passive female principle in Roman thought.

In her maturity, Venus married Vulcan, the god of the kiln and master of metallurgy. Their marriage, fraught as it was with mistrust and infidelity, did not produce children. Venus' frequent lover was Mars, the fiery and furious god of war, passion and anger. Venus' children with Mars included Timor, the godly embodiment of fear, and the twins Concordia and Metus, goddess of harmony and god of terror, respectively. Venus and Mars also had a group of children known as the Cupids-winged creatures that symbolized love in all its forms.

An ancient Roman ornamental tile depicting Venus and her lover, Mars.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Public Domain

With Mercury, Venus had Hermaphroditos, an androgynous child with both male and female sex organs. With Anchises, Venus had a child of great import to Rome: the warrior hero Aeneas. According to Virgil, Aeneas established a royal lineage that included the gens (clan) of the Julii, the ancestors of Julius Caesar (it should be noted that Caesar's adopted son Augustus was Virgil's chief patron).

Venus was created under rather unusual circumstances. Her father, Uranus, was the original ruler of the cosmos, and created the world with Terra, the "earth". When Uranus' son Saturn overthrew his father (a deed later repeated by Saturn's own son), the usurper cut off his father's genitals and cast them into the sea. There, the severed penis and testicles mixed with swirling sea foam and produced Venus. In art, this scene often took the form of Venus emerging from a clam or other mollusk.

The Birth of Venus (1485) by Sandro Botticelli. This tableau may be the best known representation of Venus emerging from the sea, an oft-depicted scene in ancient and neoclassical art.
Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy. / Public Domain

Though she was married to the blacksmith god Vulcan, Venus had a voracious sexual appetite that could not be satisfied by a single man. One famous tale showcased Venus' infidelity as well as her unhappy marriage. Venus and Mars were sleeping together on a regular basis. During one of their many trysts, the messenger god Mercury discovered their affair. Always eager for cause mischief, Mercury informed Vulcan of the affair. Upon receiving this news, Vulcan immediately set to work in his workshop. Soon, he had crafted a net of material so fine that it was nearly undetectable; he draped this net over his marriage bed and waited. When Venus and Mars next sought to use the bed, they became ensnared by the net. Vulcan then assembled the gods to mock the naked lovers that had fallen into his trap.

In Ovid's Metamorphoses, Venus carried on an affair with Adonis, a mortal male known for his unrivaled beauty. As the poet explained, Venus was nicked with the arrow of Cupid, one of her sons, while she bent to kiss the child. The wound went deep into her heart and caused her to fall in love with the mortal Adonis. The two were quite happy together:

She holds him, and is his companion, and though she is used to always idling in the shade, and, by cultivating it, enhancing her beauty, she roams mountain ridges, and forests, and thorny cliff-sides, her clothing caught up to the knee, like Diana.

Venus and Adonis by the Italian painter Titian. In a scene taking inspiration from Ovid's Metamorphoses, Venus attempts to prevent Adonis from going on an ill-fated hunt.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Public Domain

With Adonis, Venus embraced a more rustic lifestyle, though she remained wary. She warned Adonis to avoid dangerous wild animals, claiming that "neither youth nor beauty, nor the charms that affect Venus, affect lions or bristling boars or the eyes and minds of other wild creatures." But Adonis heeded not these wise words. He was out hunting boar when one of the tusked beasts suddenly gored him in the groin, killing him. When Venus saw what happened, she was overcome with grief:

When, from the heights, she saw the lifeless body, lying in its own blood, she leapt down, tearing her clothes, and tearing at her hair, as well, and beat at her breasts with fierce hands, complaining to the fates.

Scooping up Adonis' blood and mixing it with nectar, Venus crafted a red flower in her lover's memory. Like Adonis, the flower was beautiful but short lived, as it lost its lovely petals within days of budding. The flower was known as the windflower, or anemone.

In the mythic tradition of Virgil's Aeneid, Venus was cast as the lover of Anchises, a member of the royal family of Troy. According to this tradition, Venus disguised herself as a comely virgin and seduced Anchises, only revealing her true identity after she had become pregnant. She soon gave birth to Aeneas, who grew to be a mighty Trojan hero. Following the fall of Troy, Aeneas ventured into the Mediterranean to fulfill a prophecy that he would one day found a great Italian empire.

In the Aeneid, Venus served as a prime mover of events as well as a ceaseless advocate for her embattled child. Venus came to Aeneas' aid after discovering that Juno had sent a massive storm to prevent his fleet from reaching Italy. Venus appealed to Jupiter, who interceded to quell the storm, before guiding her son safely to Carthage. Disguised as an old woman, she then guided Aeneas and his followers to the enchanting Queen Dido. As they made their way to the queen, Venus shielded her son's party from unfriendly eyes:

But Venus shrouded them, as they went, with dusky air, and enveloped them, goddess as she was, in a thick mantle of cloud, that none might see or touch them, none delay or seek the cause of their coming.

Venus at the Forge of Vulcan (1704) by Italian artist Francesco Solimena. In a sequence from Virgil's Aeneid, Venus requests a shield and armor for her son Aeneas.
The Paul J. Getty Museum, Los Angeles / Public Domain

Later, when Aeneas sailed from Carthage to Italy, Venus pleaded with Neptune to allow him safe passage across the Mediterranean. Neptune agreed on the grounds that the luckless captain, Palinurus, be sacrificed. Upon Aeneas' arrival in Rome, Venus supplied him with weapons and armor that had been crafted by Vulcan. These weapons would be used in the coming war against the Latins. On Aeneas' shield, Vulcan depicted the future triumphs of the Romans, such as Augustus' victory over his foes at the battle of Actium in 31 BCE (as a contemporary and survivor of the bloody civil war that ended at Actium, Virgil had every reason to appease Augustus and present his triumph as a seminal moment in Roman history). Finally, in the penultimate moments of the Aeneid, Venus intervened and healed Aeneas after he had been struck by an arrow.

Venus was brought formally into the Roman state religion in the early third century BCE, when the consul Quintus Fabius Gurgus dedicated a temple to Venus Obsequens, or "Venus the Doter." During the Second Punic War in the late third century BCE, Romans appealed to Venus-who, at that time, was recognized as a patron of Carthage-for assistance. They asked her to switch sides, and even sacked Eryx, a Carthaginian stronghold that held one of her temples, in an effort to curry favor. The Romans seized a holy relic from the temple and took it back to Rome, where it was held in the Temple of Venus Obsequens. The intercession of Venus was thought to turn the tide of the war in favor of the Romans.

In the first century BCE, Julius Caesar claimed to be an actual descendant of Venus via the clan she established through Aeneas; this claim was later substantiated by the poet Virgil, who presented Venus as the founder of the Julius family. Caesar had political motives, as did his rival Pompey, who also claimed to be favored by Venus. Caesar later established a temple in honor of Venus Genetrix, or "Venus the Creator."

Ruins of the Temple of Venus Genetrix completed in 46BCE. Claiming descent from Venus and her son Aeneas, Julius Caesar commissioned the construction of the temple to commemorate his victories over Pompey. Forum of Caesar, Rome, Italy.
Carole Raddato / CC BY-SA 2.0

The Romans held three festivals in honor of Venus each year. Held on April 1, Veneralia was dedicated to Venus Verticordia, or "Venus who Changes Hearts." Vinalia Urbana, held on April 23, was a wine festival shared with Jupiter at which prostitutes assembled before the Temple of Venus, offering myrtle and mint and receiving blessings in return. Held on August 19, the Vinalia Rustica was yet another wine festival and celebration of fertility at which pious worshipers of Venus offered a female lamb for sacrifice.

Venus has remained relevant in modern pop culture, and is culture as a symbol of love and eroticism. Thanks to her associations with beauty and sexuality, Venus has been appropriated by several notable cosmetics brands. One such company, Gillette, created a line of women's shaving products bearing the goddess' name. Another company, Venus Skin Care, also used the goddess' name as a marketing tactic.

Venus' name has been used in a number of movie titles as well. A French film, Venus (1984), centered on the adventures of two American businessmen as they journeyed in search of a model for their cosmetics line (called, of course, "Venus"). Three other films have used the title Venus. One of these more recent films focused on the life of a transgendered woman who opens up about her sexual identity.

Venus has also appeared in songs, including Miles' Davis 1957 release, "Venus de Milo," and the 1969 hit by Shocking Blue "Venus". The latter song famously featured the lyrics: "Well, I'm your Venus/I'm your fire/At your desire." Lady Gaga's 2013 song "Venus" directly invoked the goddess and her ability to inspire irrepressible sexuality: "I can't help the way I'm feeling/Goddess of love, please take me to your leader/I can't help, I keep on dancing/Goddess of Love! Goddess of love."

Finally, Venus also lent her name to the second planet from the sun. Befitting its namesake, Venus is the brightest planet in the solar system.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Were Venus and Aphrodite the same goddess? Many of Venus's characteristics were inspired and shared by the Greek goddess Aphrodite, but Venus was uniquely related to the ruling families of Rome. What were the symbols of Venus? Venus was frequently symbolized by the rose, which represented fertility and sexual passion, as well as a crown of myrtle and seashells.

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Who was Ceres's daughter?

Ceres's only child was Proserpina, a fellow goddess of agriculture and fertility who was strongly associated with Persephone from Greek mythology.

What were the symbols of Ceres?

Ceres was frequently depicted holding a sheaf of wheat, as well as a staff symbolizing her authority, or a torch or sickle.

Is there a planet named for Ceres?

The goddess Ceres does share her name with a dwarf planet located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

The Roman goddess of fertility and agriculture, Ceres was the patron of farmers and protector of the plebeians. Adapted from the Greek deity Demeter, Ceres was worshiped as the mother of Proserpina, whose abduction by Pluto was a central episode in Greek and Roman mythologies. In the early days of Rome, Ceres was the chief member of the "plebeian" Aventine Triad, a cult of three deities worshiped by the common folk. The Triad's humble facilities on the Aventine Hill stood in marked contrast to the palatial grandeur that marked the nearby Capitoline Hill.

Ceres was the patron and protector of farmers, pastoralists, and plebeians; she was also the overseer of the elected officials known as the tribunes. Ceres offered her personal guidance to the "Tribune of the Plebeians," a powerful magistrate that held the power to veto the decisions of the consul. The Tribune also enjoyed sacrosanctity, a status imparted by Roman sacred law making it illegal and heretical to harm its bearer. She was, then, the ultimate deity of the common people of Rome, whose bounty was thought to nourish even the humblest of Romans. The common folk lavished praise upon the golden goddess, and celebrated her at a number of festivals throughout the year. These festivals generally took place during the sowing and harvest seasons.

The name "Ceres" has been traced back to the Proto Indo-European root ḱerh-, meaning "to nourish, satiate, or feed." The nearest Latin analogue, crescere, had a similar meaning: "to grow, to arise, or to come to be."

Ceres' name has come to form the English word "cereal" and the French " céréale," both used to describe varieties of grass that yield edible grain, as well as the edible grains themselves.1

In addition to her given name, Ceres was known as Ceres Augusta, meaning "Ceres the Great" or "Ceres the Awesome." The poet Virgil referred to her as Ceres Legifera, or "Ceres the Law-Bearing," a reference to her role as a bringer of peace. There are some indications that Ceres was associated with the cult of the so-called Magna Mater, or "Great Mother;" this title may have been yet another name for the Roman goddess.

Ceres held power over all agriculture and ensured the bounty of the annual harvests. Generally thought to be a young woman, Ceres was usually presented as an adult of child-bearing age. She often carried a staff as a symbol of her authority, but would sometimes carry a torch as well. The latter item served both as an allusion to her search for her daughter Proserpina and as a symbol of enlightenment. She was also commonly depicted holding grains of wheat (or some other cereal crop) and pulling a plow.

Ceres was the daughter of Saturn, the god of the cosmos who ruled before the coming of Jupiter, and Ops, a personification of the earth. Her brothers included Jupiter, as well as Neptune and Pluto, gods of the sea and underworld, respectively. Her sisters were Vesta, goddess of hearth and home, and Juno, the maternal queen of the Roman gods.

This 19th century etching of Ceres and Proserpina surrounds the goddesses with symbols of agriculture. Wearing a crown of corn upon her head, Ceres carries a cornucopia in one hand and a sickle in the other.
Rijksmuseum / Public Domain

While Ceres was not known as a particularly amorous goddess, she did have at least one affair; this dalliance produced her only child, a daughter named Proserpina (or Prosperine). The Roman counterpart to Persephone, Proserpina was known for her beauty and purity. Proserpina's father was Ceres' brother Jupiter, who was notorious for his many infidelities.

#Family Tree

Parents

Siblings

Consorts

Children

#Origins

Ceres' origins harkened back to the dawn of time, when the first gods and Titans were struggling to impose order upon a chaotic world. In the beginning of time, the cosmos was ruled by a god (or Titan) known as Caelus. Eventually, Caelus's son Saturn overthrew him and took control of the universe for himself.

In time, Saturn mated with Ops, goddess of the elemental earth, and sired six children. As the children grew within Ops' womb, Saturn learned of a prophecy predicting that one of his children would overthrow him as he had overthrown Caelus. Unsure of the usurper's identity, Saturn ate his first five children (Ceres included) as soon as they emerged from the womb. In an effort to preserve her progeny, Ops tricked Saturn into eating a rock wrapped in swaddling clothes in place of her final child, Jupiter. Unable to digest the rock, Saturn vomited the entire contents of his stomach back into the world. Ceres, along with her siblings Pluto, Neptune, Juno, and Vesta, were now free. Together with their brother Jupiter, the sibling deities brought order to the universe.

#Ceres and Abduction of Proserpina

The mythology of Ceres centered on the abduction of her daughter, Proserpina, by the powerful chthonic deity, Pluto. It was one of the most famous mythological tales in the ancient world, one told by the Greeks, whose Eleusinian mystery cult focused on the story, and cherished by the Romans as well. In his first century works, the Metamorphoses and the Fasti, the great poet Ovid retold the story in the Roman style; it is from these works that the following summary is taken.

As lord of the underworld, Pluto spent his days in solitude and grew lonely. Venus, the goddess of love and sexuality, took pity on Pluto (referred to here by his traditional name, Dis) and sent her son Cupid to visit him. Cupid fired his arrows at Pluto, allowing him to feel love and lust that he had so long been denied. On his next trip to the surface world, he spied Proserpina, who was cavorting with a group of nymphs on the island of Sicily. Immediately, Pluto seized the young beauty and whisked her away in his chariot bound for the underworld.

Ceres Begging for Jupiter's Thunderbolt after the Kidnapping of Her Daughter Proserpine (1777), by Antoine-François Callet. Carrying her symbolic torch, Ceres appeals to Jupiter and Juno for aid in rescuing Proserpina from the underworld.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston / Public Domain

Devastated by the loss of her daughter, and not knowing what really happened, Ceres set off in search of the missing girl. Though she traveled far and wide, and carried a torch to help her see clearly, her search was fruitless. At long last, Ceres made her way to Siciliy, where she found Prosperina's belt made from delicate tears of nymphs. In her sorrowful anger, she put a curse on Sicily that blighted the city's crops and left its lands barren:

The goddess tore her dishevelled hair, and beat her breast again and again with her hands, as if she at last comprehended the rape. She did not know yet where Prosperine was, but condemned all the lands, and called them thankless and unworthy of her gift of corn.2

Watching from on high, the other gods and goddesses realized that Ceres' grief must be remedied. Seizing the moment, Jupiter sent Mercury to deliver a message to Pluto: the lord of the underworld was to release Proserpina immediately and return her safely to her mother. Though Pluto consented to Jupiter's demands, he stated that he would only return Proserpina if she had not consumed the food of the underworld. As Proserpina had eaten seven pomegranate seeds from the fruit in Pluto's subterranean garden, Pluto therefore refused to release the girl.

After much debate, a compromise was reached whereby Proserpina would divide her time between her mother and her abductor. The precise amount of time spent with each was presented differently in different traditions, but the time of the year Proserpina spent with Pluto corresponded to winter, when Ceres was too angry and distraught to allow growing things to flourish. Spring marked the return of Proserpina (and life itself) to the world.

Now Jupiter, intervening, between his brother and grieving sister, divides the turning year, equally. And now the goddess, Proserpina, shared divinity of the two kingdoms, spends so many months with her mother, so many months with her husband. The aspect of her face and mind alters in a moment. Now the goddess's looks are glad that even Dis could see were sad, a moment ago. Just as the sun, hidden, before, by clouds of rain, wins through and leaves the clouds.3

#Ceres and the Roman State Religion

Ceres was a central figure of worship amongst the Romans until the widespread adoption of Christianity occurred in the fourth century CE. Overseeing the religious observation of Ceres was a priest known as the Flamen Cerialis. In the Roman state religion, Ceres was known to command a retinue of lesser gods representing the various aspects of agriculture and fertility.

In this Wedgewood plaque, Romans offer sacrifices to Ceres.
Art Institute of Chicago / Public Domain

The Romans devoted several festivals to the goddess of agriculture. One such festival was known as Feriae Sementivae. Beginning on February 2nd, the festival marked the beginning of the sowing season and featured ritual sacrifices to Ceres. The Romans would first give a propitiatory offering of grain before sacrificing a pregnant sow to the goddess. The Romans offered these sacrifices were in the hopes that Ceres would bless their crops and bring them fortune during the sowing season.

The Roman's main celebration of Ceres was the Cerealia, a raucous affair held each April when the crops were budding with new life. The Cerealia featured circus games and races in the Circus Maximus, the great Roman race track that ended beneath the Temple of Ceres on the Aventine Hill. The Cerealia was chiefly a plebeian affair, organized by plebeian magistrates and characterized by indulgence. The event ended with the releasing of foxes into the Circus Maximus; each fox had a torch attached to its tail.

Though Ceres is seldom represented in traditional popular culture, she has nevertheless appeared regularly as a symbol of agricultural fertility. A statue of Ceres sits atop the Chicago Board of Trade Building, which hosts several agricultural offices. Similar statues rest atop the Capitol State Capitol building in Jefferson City and the Vermont State House in Montpelier. In these latter cases, Ceres is depicted wearing robes and clutching a bundle of grain.

Elsewhere, Ceres lent her name to a celestial body. The dwarf planet Ceres was discovered in 1801 by Father Guiseppe Piazza and is located within the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Ceres also gave her name to the element cerium. This element was discovered in 1803 by the Swedish chemists Jöns Jakob Berzelius and Wilhelm Hisinger, as well as the German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth. Strangely, these simultaneous discoveries of cerium occurred independently of each other.

Ceres also forms the basis of the word "cereal," which is used for grain crops and the breakfast foods made from them.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Who was Ceres's daughter? Ceres's only child was Proserpina, a fellow goddess of agriculture and fertility who was strongly associated with Persephone from Greek mythology. What were the symbols of Ceres? Ceres was frequently depicted holding a sheaf of wheat, as well as a staff symbolizing her authority, or a torch or sickle.

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Did Diana have a Greek counterpart?

While Diana was worshiped by pre-Roman peoples, eventually her religion became heavily influenced by and associated with the Greek goddess Artemis.

What were the symbols of Diana?

Diana was frequently symbolized in art with depictions of her bow and arrows, as well as deer, dogs, and a crescent moon.

How long was Diana worshipped?

Worship of Diana persisted beyond the worship many of other Roman gods in the face of Christianization, in some places lasting into the Middle Ages.

Diana was the Roman goddess of the hunt, unspoiled nature and the animals that inhabited it. Shunning the company of mortals and gods, Diana preferred the solitude of the forests and kept the company of nymphs and woodland creatures. A master of the bow, Diana was the greatest of all hunters. A maiden for all her days, she preserved her virginity despite the advances of potential lovers and suitors. Diana was also associated with the underworld and liminal zones-the boundaries separating the living from the dead and the wild from the civilized. Though she was a Roman goddess, much of Diana's mythology and personality originated elsewhere. Diana was heavily based on Artemis, the Greek goddess of hunting and nature.

Originally worshipped by the pre-Roman people of Italy, Diana eventually took on a more Hellenized form. She was incorporated into the Roman pantheon sometime during the sixth century BCE. In Roman religion, Diana was known as Diana Triformis, or a goddess of three aspects: the hunt, the moon, and the underworld. She was also a member of a divine triumvirate alongside Egeris, the water nymph, and Virbius, the woodland god. Adored by males and females alike, Diana was seen as a patron of hunters and protector of virgins.

The name "Diana" (known in Old Latina Jana, and in Late Latin as Diana) was rooted in the Proto Indo-European dyeu-, meaning "to shine" or "to give off light." Derivatives of the same root included the Greek word theos, the Latin word deus, the Persian word daiva, and the Sanskrit word deva, which all translated as "god." Other derivatives were the Latin word dies, meaning "day," and diurnal, meaning "daylight." Diana's elementary association with divinity and daylight suggested her long history as an Italian goddess, dating back to at least the first millennium BCE, if not farther.

Diana was known by a number of epithets over the centuries. For her tripartite personality, she was known as both Diana Triformis and Diana Trivia. She was also called Diana Caelus, or "Heavenly Diana," a common epithet amongst the members of the Roman pantheon. Finally, she was Diana Nemorensis, or "Diana of the Wood." This particular incarnation of the deity represented the Italic version of Diana, the figure Hellenized by the Romans and influenced by Artemis.

Wielding a bow and golden arrows, Diana roamed the wilderness seeking adventure and hunting game. She usually wore a chiton, a short tunic typically worn by males, because it allowed her to range freely throughout the woods. Diana also wore a cloak, boots, and a belt with a jeweled clasp. In some traditions, she was said to wear purple raiment.

Thought she often preferred solitude, Diana would occasionally seek the companionship of forest and water nymphs, such as her partner Egeris.

Diana was the daughter of Jupiter, who was king of the gods, and Leto (or Latona, in the Roman sources), an ancient Titan. Her twin brother was Apollo, a deity associated with wisdom, rationality, and the order of law. Diana had a huge number of half brothers and sisters; these included Mars, the god of war, Vulcan, the god of the forge, and Juventus, a god of youth and adolescence.

Diana's mythic corpus was borrowed largely from stories of Artemis told by the Greeks. Unlike other Roman deities, who largely disappeared after the rise of Christianity, Diana persisted in the folk culture of medieval and early modern Europe.

Diana was conceived from the coupling of Jupiter and Leto. The pair had fallen in love and married, but as often happened with Jupiter, he soon fell out of love and found another. His new wife was his sister, Juno, the goddess of family, marriage, and children. Juno was a jealous partner who harbored grudges against her husband's lovers and their children. When she discovered Leto's pregnancy, she resolved to prevent the birth as best she could, even going so far as to summon a monstrous sea creature called Python to hunt her down.

Leto was forced to flee from island to island, seeking refuge and a community that would protect her. Apollo advised his mother from within the womb, telling her to seek the small and mysterious island of Delos. Shortly after settling on the island, Leto found herself in the throes of labor. Realized that Leto was about to deliver her babies, Juno inflicted one final cruelty: she imprisoned Lucina, the goddess of childbirth and midwifery, forcing Leto to give birth alone.

For days, Leto suffered the agonies of childbirth. Some nymphs heard her suffering, and came to her assistance, allowing her to finally give birth to the children. Leto delivered Diana first. As soon as she emerged from the womb, the precocious Diana took on the role of midwife and assisted Leto in delivering her brother. Apollo came into the world wrapped in white and clutching a bronze sword. The twins were natural archers, and fiercely protective of their mother. Together, Apollo and Diana hunted the terrible creature known as Python that had so pursued their mother. Eventually, they managed to lure the creature to Delphi-and its doom. They peppered the beast with arrows until it was no more. Ultimately, the twins were bound for different paths-Apollo for the bustle of civic life, and Diana for the solitude of the forest.

One of the most popular (and complete) myths involving Diana was told by the Roman poet Ovid in his first century masterwork the Metamorphoses. The story centered on the fate of young Actaeon, a talented hunter who led a pack of hounds into the woods in pursuit of stags. The hunt had gone well and the day had been hot, so Actaeon brought the hounds to a cool spring in a clearing of the dense wood. Unaware of the intruders in her midst, Diana bathed in the cool spring waters:

Down in a vale with pine and cypress clad,
Refresh'd with gentle winds, and brown with shade,
The chaste Diana's private haunt, there stood
Full in the centre of the darksome wood
A spacious grotto, all around o'er-grown
With hoary moss, and arch'd with pumice-stone.

When Actaeon stumbled onto the scene, he happened to spy Diana's nude form in the waters. Angry, surprised, and embarrassed all at once, Diana reached for her bow before thinking better of it and splashing Actaeon with water from the pool:

Surpriz'd, at first she would have snatch'd her bow,
But sees the circling waters round her flow;
These in the hollow of her hand she took,
And dash'd 'em in his face, while thus she spoke:
'Tell, if thou can'st, the wond'rous sight disclos'd,
A Goddess naked to thy view expos'd.'

The splash was no innocent or flirtatious gesture. On the contrary, the water was enchanted to transform Actaeon into a stag. The metamorphosis happened in a flash. Though Actaeon lost his human functions and sprouted hair and horns, he still retained his identity. Tragically, Actaeon's hounds caught his new scent and attacked him. Actaeon fled as quickly as he could, but the hounds were too quick for him; it was not long before they brought their master down.

He bounded off with fear, and swiftly ran
O'er craggy mountains, and the flow'ry plain;
Through brakes and thickets forc'd his way, and flew
Through many a ring, where once he did pursue.
In vain he oft endeavour'd to proclaim
His new misfortune, and to tell his name
........................................................................
all the pack came up, and ev'ry hound
Tore the sad huntsman grov'ling on the ground,
Who now appear'd but one continu'd wound.
With dropping tears his bitter fate he moans,
And fills the mountain with his dying groans.

In Roman religion, Diana was worshiped as a triple goddess: goddess of the hunt, goddess of the moon, and goddess of the underworld. She was heavily associated with liminal zones, or crossroads, and was thought to reside in the sacred grove next to Lake Nemi, located a few miles outside of Rome. The site was a center of worship where the pious offered devotions to Diana Nemorensis, or "Diana of the woods of Nemi." Diana worship was also observed at her massive temple on the Aventine Hill, which was allegedly built in the sixth century BC by the legendary King Tullus Hostilius. The temple stood near the pomerium of Rome. Note that the pomeria were sacred (and liminal) boundaries, where the city ( urbs) of Rome ended and the territory ( ager) of Rome began.

Diana was celebrated during the festival of Nemoralia, another reference to her sacred grove in Nemi. The festival was originally held in Nemi, but soon spread to other parts of Roman territories as the empire grew. The festival spanned three days and nights, and featured torch-bearing worshipers offering devotions to Diana in the form of tokens, which were left in sacred wild places-in bodies and water, groves, and woods.

Unlike many other deities in the Roman pantheon, Diana was adapted by Christians and incorporated syncretistically into the folk beliefs of peasant communities. The Italian historian Carlo Ginzburg described these worshippers as belonging to the "Society of Diana," and suggested that they were labelled as witches in early modern Europe.

Diana worship continues to this day in both modern Wicca and Dianic Wicca. In these female-centric traditions, she is regarded as a nature goddess and revered as a source of wisdom, fertility, and regeneration.

The goddess has survived, too, in the form of the Artemis or Diana archetype-a young girl, often withdrawn from life, who bravely transgresses moral and physical boundaries. Drawing from a pool of inner resiliency, the girl fights fiercely for what is right. Katniss Everdeen, the heroine of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games novels, is one recent example of this archetype in action.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Did Diana have a Greek counterpart? While Diana was worshiped by pre-Roman peoples, eventually her religion became heavily influenced by and associated with the Greek goddess Artemis. What were the symbols of Diana? Diana was frequently symbolized in art with depictions of her bow and arrows, as well as deer, dogs, and a crescent moon.

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Who was Vulcan in Greek mythology?

Vulcan, like many deities included in the Roman pantheon, was strongly influenced by his Greek equivalent, the god Hephaestus.

What were the symbols of Vulcan?

Vulcan was even more strongly associated with fire than his Greek counterpart, and was symbolized by a flame, a smith's hammer, and an axe.

How is the god Vulcan connected to vulcanization?

Vulcanization is the process of hardening rubber, named after the Roman god of the forge due to the heat involved in the process.

The master of metallurgy and handicraft, Vulcan was the Roman god of fire and forge, as well as the patron of artisans and smiths. Known as the ugliest of the gods, Vulcan suffered from lameness in one leg due to an injury he sustained as a child. The patron of craftsmen was exceedingly crafty himself and used his guile to marry Venus, the goddess of love and sexual desire. As with many Roman deities, Vulcan was a near identical copy of his Greek equivalent: Hephaestus.

A storied member of the Roman pantheon, Vulcan was originally adapted from an Etruscan deity known as Sethlans. This version of Vulcan was later Hellenized and given most of the trappings of Hephaestus; Vulcan's mythological tradition was largely similar to that of his Greek counterpart.

The name "Vulcan," or Vulcanus in the Old Latin, was borrowed directly from the Latin noun vulcanus meaning "fire" and "volcano." This etymology was likely a reflection of Vulcan's association with the fires of the forge, but could also reference his mythic upbringing beneath Mt. Etna, an active volcano on the island of Sicily.

From metallurgy and smithing to arms and jewelry making, Vulcan was a master of the forge. He was believed to have created the strongest and most sophisticated items of ancient lore, including Jupiter's lightning bolts and Mercury 's winged helm.

Vulcan's deformed leg made him something of a pariah amongst the gods. It was this imperfection that compelled Vulcan to seek perfection in his craft.

The Classicist Robert Graves suggested that Vulcan's deformity related to an ancient practice among North African and Mediterranean peoples, whereby slaves would be trained as smiths and then maimed in order to prevent their escape.1 According to this interpretation, Vulcan was deformed because-in the popular imagination-blacksmiths were deformed.

Vulcan was the son of Juno and Jupiter, the ruling couple of the Roman pantheon. His full brothers and sisters included Bellona, Mars, and Juventus. Through Jupiter, Vulcan had many half-siblings as well. Among their number were the messenger god Mercury, Proserpina, Ceres' child famously abducted by Pluto, and Minerva, goddess of wisdom and defender of the Roman state.

Vulcan married Venus, the goddess of sex, lust, and love, who provided a beautiful contrast to Vulcan's notorious unattractiveness. Theirs was a loveless and sexless marriage that produced no children.

In the Aeneid the Roman poet Virgil claimed that Vulcan was the father of Caeculus, the founder of Praeneste (modern Palestrina) in Italy. No mother was mentioned.

#Family Tree

#Origins

When Juno first looked upon her son Vulcan, she found him to be so ugly that she hurled him from the top of Mt. Etna. The fall injured Vulcan severely, leaving him with the lame leg that would soon become his trademark. In other tellings, Vulcan's lameness was itself the reason for Juno throwing him from the mountain. His rejection at Juno's hand left Vulcan with a grudge he would carry the rest of his life.

Raised by nymphs, Vulcan came of age in a cavern beneath the volcanic Mt. Etna on Sicily. As he grew older, he gained the knowledge and skills that would ultimately mold him into a master blacksmith. The caverns provided everything Vulcan needed to learn his trade. He would harvest burning embers from the volcano's molten core, then heat them in a bellows of his own design. Afterwards, he would heat ores that he had mined from his subterranean surroundings. Vulcan soon discovered that the heated ores yielded excellent crafting materials, such as iron, copper, gold, and silver. Once cooled, these metals could be fashioned into arms, armor, jewelry, and more.

This 15th century Italian engraving depicts a focused Vulcan forging Cupid's wings.
Rijksmuseum / Public Domain

Working in his subterranean workshop, Vulcan mastered the art of the forge. Word spread of the master craftsman, and his services eventually became desired by the gods. Vulcan crafted Jupiter's scepter, aegis, and even his famous lightning bolts. Among other innovations, he also fashioned Mercury's winged helm and an army of automatons. He also aided in the birth of his half-sister Minerva, whom Vulcan delivered from Jupiter's forehead using an axe and tongs.

#Vulcan, the God with a Mother Complex

In many ways, Vulcan's rejection at Juno's hand was the defining moment in his life. After carrying a grudge against her all his life, Vulcan finally decided to claim his revenge. One day, Vulcan crafted a special chair with a hidden mechanism designed to ensnare the person sitting in it. He made it especially for Juno, who sat in the chair and was immediately trapped in place. Vulcan refused to release his mother until he was promised Venus's hand in marriage.

Eventually, Jupiter intervened. He alone had the power to compel the other gods and goddesses to action, and he ordered Venus to accept Vulcan's request. He then sent Dionysus, the god of wine and ecstasy, to fetch Vulcan. After getting Vulcan drunk, Dionysus carried him home to the gods. Once sober, Vulcan released Juno from the chair and accepted the lovely Venus as his wife.

#Vulcan and Venus

The marriage of Vulcan and Venus was not a happy one. Repulsed by her husband's leg and upset by the circumstances of their union, Venus often sought intimacy with others. One of her most notorious relationships was with Mars, a god admired for his primal powers who also happened to be Vulcan's brother. When Mercury chanced to see the lovers having intercourse in Vulcan's bed, he immediately told the blacksmith what he had witnessed. Enraged, Vulcan beat the red hot metals of his forge so viciously that sparks flew from the top of Mt. Etna.

Apollo in the Forge of Vulca n (1630) by Diego Velasquez. In this scene, Apollo (far left) informs Vulcan (second from left) that Venus has been cheating on him. Vulcan's assistants react with shock and surprise.
Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain / Public Domain

Vulcan preferred mind over might, however, and bided his time preparing a trap for the lovers, much as he had done for Juno. He crafted a net from material undetectable to the naked eye, then built snares that fit seamlessly inside it. The Roman poet Ovid described the scene in exquisite detail:

Poor Vulcan soon desir'd to hear no more,
He drop'd his hammer, and he shook all o'er:
Then courage takes, and full of vengeful ire
He heaves the bellows, and blows fierce the fire:
From liquid brass, tho' sure, yet subtile snares
He forms, and next a wond'rous net prepares,
Drawn with such curious art, so nicely sly,
Unseen the mashes cheat the searching eye.
Not half so thin their webs the spiders weave,
Which the most wary, buzzing prey deceive.
These chains, obedient to the touch, he spread
In secret foldings o'er the conscious bed.2

When Venus and Mars next sought the pleasure of the bed, they found themselves quite stuck. As Vulcan burst in laughing, he called for the others gods and goddesses to come and witness the scene:

The conscious bed again was quickly prest
By the fond pair, in lawless raptures blest.
Mars wonder'd at his Cytherea's charms,
More fast than ever lock'd within her arms.
While Vulcan th' iv'ry doors unbarr'd with care,
Then call'd the Gods to view the sportive pair:
The Gods throng'd in, and saw in open day,
Where Mars, and beauty's queen, all naked, lay.3

#Vulcan and the Roman State Religion

The first recorded instance of Vulcan worship can be traced back to the eighth century BCE, when a shrine was built for him by the Romans. In the third century BCE, the Romans would build a temple for Vulcan on the Campus Martius. The temple did not last long, however, as it was struck by lightning and subsequently destroyed.

The chief festival held in Vulcan's honor was the Vulcanalia. Held each year on August 23, the Vulcanalia centered on the god's association with fire. Celebrants lit candles and started bonfires into which they would throw living fish and small animals. These sacrifices were thought to propitiate the god and ward off wildfires during the arid season.

In Star Trek, the name Vulcan was given to a race of extraterrestrial humanoids (of whom Spock was the best known). Like the god Vulcan, the Vulcans believed in mind over matter. The aliens would often mute their emotional reactions, and always used logic as their guiding principle.

A statue of Vulcan stands tall in Birmingham, Alabama, celebrating the city's metallurgical history. Completed in 1904, it is the largest cast iron statue in the world.
Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress / Public Domain

Vulcan's influence has also survived in the word "volcano." The term is used to describe vents in the earth's crust that allow lava and hot gases to escape.

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Who was Vulcan in Greek mythology? Vulcan, like many deities included in the Roman pantheon, was strongly influenced by his Greek equivalent, the god Hephaestus. What were the symbols of Vulcan? Vulcan was even more strongly associated with fire than his Greek counterpart, and was symbolized by a flame, a smith's hammer, and an axe.

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Who was the counterpart of Mars in Greek mythology?

Although he existed as a foundational deity in Rome, much of the mythos of Mars was based on the Greek god of war Ares.

What were the symbols of Mars?

The best known symbol of Mars was the spear and the shield, which in their combined form have frequently been used to represent the male gender as a whole.

What planet was named after Mars?

Ancient Romans named the fourth planet from the sun Mars due to its reddish color, which to them was reminiscent of both blood and the god's passionate nature.

Furious Mars was the Roman god of rage, passion, destruction, and war. As a foundational deity, Mars had a mythology that was intimately intertwined with the Roman city-state. Mars ruled early Rome as a part of the Archaic Triad, a masculine ruling triumvirate that also included Jupiter and Quirinus (the deified Romulus). The early Romans revered Mars as a great raging god, whose fury inspired the savagery of warfare and produced the stunning accomplishments of the Roman arms. As Rome transitioned from city-state to empire and overtly embraced Greek cultural values, Mars lost his preeminent position in the Roman pantheon to Minerva, the goddess of tactical and strategic warfare.

Mars' importance to the Roman people was embedded in the mythic history of Rome and the origins of the Roman state. According to Roman mythology, Mars raped the innocent Rhea Silvia and sired Romulus and Remus, twins who would go on to establish the fabled city.

Mars was largely based on the Greek god Ares, the Greek god of war, and shared much of his mythology. The two deities differed in at least one respect, however-while Ares was a source of destructive conflicts that tore apart communities, Mars was a wellspring of productive conflicts that brought lasting peace.

Though the meaning of the name "Mars" remains somewhat elusive, the name itself was clearly adapted from the names of a pair of Italian deities. One was a proto-Italic deity called Mavors, a deity of which little is known. The other, more immediate influence was the Etruscan deity Meris, a god who was often depicted as an infant and may have been an Etruscan counterpart to the Greek Heracles (or Roman Hercules).

Mars was known by many epithets, each representing one of his many personas. As Mars Gradivus, or "Marching Mars," the deity was revered for his a presence on the battlefield. Generals and soldiers alike swore oaths to Mars Gradivus, promising to fight furiously in his name. As Mars Quirinus, or "Mars of the Quirites", he was celebrated as a bringer of peace through war and a defender of the common man. He was also Mars Pater and Mars Pater Victor, or "Mars the Father" and "Mars the Father the Victorious," titles that denoted his high standing in Roman religion and among the Roman people.

Romans also called him Mars Ultor, meaning "Mars the Avenger". This title grew in popularity after the Octavian's victories over Caesar's assassins at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BCE. This was but one way in which the gods were used for political ends. Finally, Mars was Mars Augustus, meaning something like "Mars who is Awesome." This qualifier was later used by the Roman emperors to describe their own awesome omnipotence.

Mars controlled war and the passions that fueled it. He was represented both as a fully mature male with a beard and curly hair, and as a youth with smooth cheeks. He was shown often in the nude, perhaps a sign of the raw, unadorned forces he was thought to inspire. When clothed, he wore a military cloak, plumed helm, and cuirass. This last item was often adorned with the gorgoneion, a medusa head that was thought to ward off evil. His weapon was the spear, which would be wrapped in a laurel to symbolize peace. This symbolism spoke to Mars's status as the god who brought peace through war.

This fresco from Pompeii features a youthful Mars rendered in the nude (save for his plumed helm).
Flory / iStock / null

Mars was the son of Jupiter and Juno, the king and queen of the Roman deities. Mars' full siblings included Bellona, a goddess of war, Vulcan, god of metalworking and the forge, and Juventus, a goddess of youth. Mars had many half-siblings as well thanks to his father's indiscretions. These half-siblings included Mercury, messenger god of commerce and communication, Proserpina, Ceres' child famously abducted by Pluto, and Minerva, goddess of wisdom and defender of the Roman state.

A figure of primal masculinity, Mars was desired by many. His consorts included Bellona and Nerio, both goddesses of war associated with important cults in early Rome. He famously carried on a long and illegitimate affair with Venus, the goddess of love and sexual desire. In a separate tradition, Mars married Anna Perenna, the goddess of time and the changing of years. They proved to be a fiery couple. Mars' passion could also be violent, as when he raped the Vestal Virgin, Rhea Silvia, a figure of incredible importance in the founding of Rome.

Mars' children through these affairs were many. With the lovely Venus, Mars produced children associated with a range of emotional and psychological states. He had Timor and Metus, gods of fear and abject terror. He also had Concordia, the twin sister of Timor, who embodied the characteristics of harmony, peace, and fellowship. Mars also had a group of children known as the Cupids, winged creatures who symbolized and controlled various aspects of love and erotic desire.

Mars was also the father of Romulus and Remus, who were conceived through his rape of Rhea Silvia. His fathership of the twin founders of Rome made Mars the progenitor of the Roman people.

Although Mars was generally considered to be the son of both Jupiter and Juno, another version of his mythology cast him as the offspring of Juno alone. According to the story (told by Ovid in the Fasti), Juno resented the fact that Jupiter had given birth to Minerva without the need of a mother. Minerva had been conceived by Jupiter and the Titan Metis, but when Jupiter swallowed the pregnant Metis, a fully grown Minerva burst forth from his forehead. Seeking vengeance against Jupiter, Juno traveled to the realm of Flora, a goddess of flowers, spring, and fertility. There, Juno laid bare her grievances and implored the goddess for help:

'My grief,' quoth she, 'is not to be assuaged with words. If Jupiter has become a father without the use of a wife, and unites both titles in his single person, why should I despair of becoming a mother without a husband, and of bringing forth without contact with a man, always supposing that I am chaste? I will try all the drugs in the wide world, and I will explore the seas and the depths of Tartarus.'

Flora acquiesced, giving Juno a special flower that made female creatures pregnant without the need of a male. Juno tested it on a barren heifer, which immediately birthed a calf. Convinced of its power, she then used the flower on herself and conceived Mars.

A recurring topic in the mythology of Mars was the affair he carried on with Venus. Though Vulcan and Venus had an unhappy marriage, Vulcan still took any affair Venus might have as a great offense. When Mercury saw Venus making love with Mars in Vulcan's marriage bed, he quickly informed the cuckolded god. Though Vulcan was enraged, he did not act immediately. He waited patiently, and plotted his revenge. In his workshop, Vulcan crafted a net of material so fine that it could not be seen with the naked eye. He then laid the trap by placing the net over his bed. When Mars and Venus next made love, they became ensnared in the net and could not move. Vulcan then assembled the gods to witness the scene, and together they mocked the naked lovers.

Another well-known (and similar) story also featured Mars in an ill-fated love affair. The story (coming again from Ovid's Fasti) began with Mars falling in love with Minerva, the goddess of both wisdom and the Roman state, who steadfastly maintained her virginity. Not one to be put off by a virgin's wishes, Mars pursued the goddess anyway-to no avail. Minerva rebuked his advances, sending Mars to seek the help of Anna Perenna, a goddess of time. While Anna Perenna outwardly agreed to help Mars win the affections of Minerva, she secretly plotted to make the comely god of war her own. Putting her plan into motion, Anna disguised herself as Minerva and offered her hand in marriage to Mars, who eagerly accepted. After the marriage had been formalized, Anna revealed herself to Mars, who was very displeased. Not only had he lost Minerva, but he had also been duped into an unwanted marriage.

According to mytho-historical accounts of the founding of Rome, Mars was the father of the twins Romulus and Remus. While this story had countless variations, its core always remained the same. After Aeneas and his band of refugees arrived on Italian shores, he established a community that eventually came to be known as the kingdom of Alba Longa. One of the kings of Alba Longa was Numitor, a wise and just monarch. His reign was cut short, however, when he was overthrown by his wicked brother Amulius. Hoping to sever the royal line of Numitor, Amulius forced his brother's daughter, the lovely and virtuous Rhea Silvia, to become a Vestal Virgin; this position carried with it a vow of abstinence.

Whether through outright lust or the desire to perpetuate the lineage of Numitor, Mars visited Rhea Silvia when she was sleeping and raped her. Sound asleep, Rhea Silvia dreamed that she planted seeds that grew into two trees. With time, these trees grew large enough to cover the entire world. When she awoke, Rhea Silvia discovered that she was pregnant with twins, who would come to be known as Remus and Romulus. Fearing that the twins might challenge his claim to Alba Longa, Amulius ordered that they be executed immediately. When the executioner set about the task, he took pity on the twins and sent them down the Tiber River in a basket. The twins eventually came to rest at a spot that would become Rome and were nursed back to health by a she-wolf.

Mars was a fixture of Roman religion and a key figure in the Roman pantheon. In the early days of the Roman state, Mars was regarded as a kind of second in command to Jupiter and occupied a formal spot in the Archaic Triad (of Mars, Jupiter, and Quirinus), which was thought to oversee Roman prosperity. In time, Mars' position in the ruling triumvirate was supplanted by Minerva, who embodied a much different aspect of war. Where Mars inspired manly courage and bloodlust in battle, Minerva inspired the tactical and strategic thought necessary to conquer powerful Mediterranean powers such as Carthage, Macedonia, and Epirus. All of these powers fell to Rome in the early centuries BCE.

The Temple of Mars Ultor ("Mars the Avenger") in Rome's Forum of Augustus. Commissioned by Octavian and completed in 42 BC, the Temple of Mars Ultor celebrated the god's role in the Battle of Philippi, which saw Octavian crush Julius Caesar's assassins.
Navin75 / CC BY-SA 2.0

Mars was accorded the respect owed to a deity of his high office. Festivals were held to honor him in March and October, which marked, respectively, the beginning and end of the campaigning season. He was honored especially in March (a month named for him) with a host of festivals, including Mars' dies natales ('birthday') on March 1, the Equirria of March 14, the Mamuralia of March 15, the Agonium Martiale of March 17, and the Tubilustrium of March 23. In this last festival, departing armies were ritualistically cleansed for their upcoming battles. Mars was feted at all military occasions and victory celebrations. Spoils of war were also presented to him during celebratory military processions that wound their way through the streets of Rome.

The Romans would typically offer rams and bulls to Mars as sacrifices, or hostiae. On special occasions, Mars was honored with suovetaurilia -a triple offering of sacrificial pig, ram, and bull. He was also known to receive horse sacrifices, and was the only Roman deity to be so honored.

Mars has survived in the popular lexicon thanks to the various cultural elements that bear his name. The Romans bestowed his name upon the fourth planet from the sun-Mars. The great red planet aptly symbolized the god's fiery passion. Mars was also the source of the name March, which in Latin was known as Martius. For many centuries, March was the first month of the Roman lunar year. This ended, however, with the calendrical reforms of the second century BCE, when it became the third month of the year (a position which it still holds).

While Mars' Greek counterpart Ares has been prominently featured in popular media, Mars has largely remained unrepresented.

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Who was the counterpart of Mars in Greek mythology? Although he existed as a foundational deity in Rome, much of the mythos of Mars was based on the Greek god of war Ares. What were the symbols of Mars?

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Which Greek god was associated with Mercury?

Mercury was closely identified with the Greek god Hermes, who like Mercury was a son of the king of the gods and acted as a divine messenger.

Which planet was named after Mercury?

Mercury shared his name with the smallest and closest planet to the sun, a place with long days, short years, and extreme temperatures compared to Earth.

What were the symbols of Mercury?

Mercury was most commonly associated with the caduceus, a wand with winged serpents wrapped around it, as well as his winged helm.

A wily trickster, Mercury was the Roman god of commerce, communication, and travel. The patron of thieves, messengers, and merchants, he was also responsible for conveying souls to the underworld. As the chief messenger of the gods, Mercury controlled the flow of information, and often used this position to his advantage.

Like Hermes, the Greek god on whom he was based, Mercury challenged moral (and physical) boundaries. He was often nude, and was the only god in the Roman pantheon who could freely cross into the underworld. He possessed a winged helm that allowed him to fly and carried the potent caduceus, a wand with serpents wrapped around it; this latter symbol was frequently confused with the Rod of Asclepius.

Though Mercury did not join the Roman pantheon until the third century BCE, he nevertheless became a major figure in Roman religion. Because of his likeness to deities of other Mediterranean and European groups, Mercury was easily assimilated into cultures that were conquered by the Romans.

Mercury (1611) by Hendrick Goltzius. Accompanied by his famous winged helm and caduceus, Mercury is depicted here as a young, nearly nude male. The painting is maintained by the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands Art Collection, and is displayed at both the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague and the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem, The Netherlands.
Europeana Collections / Public Domain

The name "Mercury" (or Mercurius) probably emerged from the Latin merx, a noun meaning "merchandise." In its verb form, the word mercari meant "to trade." A deeper root in the Proto Indo-European language may have been merk- or merg-, meaning "boundary" or "border," respectively. Mercury, then, was "the merchant" or "the keeper of boundaries."

As the chief messenger of the gods, Mercury controlled the movement of all things-goods, ideas, words, and people. Mercury was usually depicted in a nude, beardless youth, though he occasionally wore a short tunic and a cloak fastened around his neck. He wore winged shoes and flew with the help of a winged helm that Vulcan, the god of forge and fire, had fashioned for him. This winged helm soon became synonymous with the messenger god. Mercury also carried the caduceus, a staff wound with serpents that was gifted to him by Apollo. Mercury was swift and clever, and his knowledge of major events often bordered on foresight.

The god of merchants and commerce, Mercury adorned coinage such as this silver denarius, minted in Rome c. 82 BCE.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston / Public Domain

Mercury was the child of Jupiter, king of gods, and Maia, a nymph and one of the daughters of Atlas, who were known as the Pleiades. Though Mercury was the only child of that union, he had many half-siblings by way of Jupiter. Among them were Vulcan, the god of forge and fire, Minerva, the goddess of wisdom and forethought, and Proserpina, the daughter of Ceres who was abducted by Pluto and taken to the underworld. Proserpina would later be recovered, thanks in part to Mercury's efforts.

Mercury's best known consort was Larunda, a naiad nymph whose tongue was cut off by Jupiter. According to Ovid's Fasti, Mercury and Larunda had two children-nameless deities known only as the Lares. Like their father, the Lares served as guardians of the crossroads.

As the Roman version of Hermes, Mercury was known for his other lovers too. Mercury's affair with the beautiful Venus produced an androgynous child known as Hermaphroditos. Later in life, Hermaphroditos would merge his body with that of his female lover, thus becoming a single entity with both male and female genitalia. In Greek mythology, Mercury took male lovers as well, including the hero Perseus.

#Family Tree

Parents

Siblings

Consorts

Children

Due to his late entry into the Roman pantheon, Mercury lacked a proper origin myth. He emerged in the mythological tradition as a freewheeling personality who produced as many problems as he solved.

#Mercury, a Trickster and a Thief

Mercury's mischief was on full display in a tale from Ovid's Metamorphoses. In this cruelly humorous story, an old peasant named Battus caught the trickster god in a compromising situation. One day, Mercury stole a herd of cattle and hid them in a nearby forest. Battus, meanwhile, watched the scene unfold from across the field. Seeing that Battus knew his secret, Mercury made him swear never to speak of the incident and to claim ignorance if anyone asked. Battus agreed.

Mercury and Battus by 17th century painter Francisque Millet. The scene depicts a disguised Mercury turning the old shepherd Battus into stone after he witnesses the young god stealing a herd of cattle.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Public Domain

Though Mercury took his leave, his trickery had just begun. To test the old man, he transformed himself into the figure of a country swain. He went to Battus and inquired about the herd, promising a healthy young bullock and heifer in exchange for retrieving the cattle:

The God withdrew, but strait return'd again,
In speech and habit like a country swain;
And cries out, 'Neighbour, hast thou seen a stray
Of bullocks and of heifers pass this way?
In the recov'ry of my cattle join,
A bullock and a heifer shall be thine.'1

Tempted by this prize, Battus neglected his earlier vow and eagerly told the disguised Mercury what had transpired. A smiling Mercury revealed himself to Battus and transformed the old man into stone.

The peasant quick replies, 'You'll find 'em there In yon dark vale'; and in the vale they were. The double bribe had his false heart beguil'd: The God, successful in the tryal, smil'd; 'And dost thou thus betray my self to me? Me to my self dost thou betray?' says he: Then to a Touch stone turns the faithless spy; And in his name records his infamy.2

A similar story featured Mercury stealing cattle from Apollo. When Apollo learned of the theft, he approached Jupiter and asked him to settle the feud. Jupiter called Mercury and Apollo together and order Mercury to return the stolen cattle. In the midst of these proceedings, Apollo noticed that Mercury was carrying a funny-looking, stringed musical instrument. This was the first lyre, an instrument Mercury had crafted from a turtle shell and tendons. Apollo took a liking to the instrument and allowed Mercury to keep the herd in exchange for the lyre, a deal which Mercury accepted. Apollo would eventually master the lyre and become one of the world's greatest musicians.

#Mercury, the Occasionally Helpful Deity

For all his wiles, Mercury could be genuinely helpful, too, and came to Jupiter's assistance on more than one occasion. In one popular story, Jupiter fell in love and sired a child with Io, a young mortal priestess of his cult. Jupiter's wife Juno found out about the affair, however, and decided to kill Io for her transgressions. Jupiter disguised Io as a cow in an attempt to shield her from his wife's wrath, but the respite was short lived. Juno discovered the trick and sent Argus, a monster with a hundred eyes, to watch over Io's herd. Running out of options, Jupiter asked Mercury for help in dispatching Argus. Mercury obliged, playing music on his pipes and telling boring stories to lull Argus to sleep. Once the monster was unconscious, Mercury murdered him and whisked Io to safety.

Landscape with Mercury and Argus by an unknown Flemish artist c. 1570. In this scene-one of the best known in Greek and Roman mythology-Mercury plays the pipes in order to lull Argus to sleep. Jupiter's lover Io appears as well, and can be seen in the foreground disguised as a white heifer.
The J. Paul Getty Museum / Public Domain

Mercury also lent his assistance to Jupiter and Ceres in the search for Proserpina. The daughter of Ceres, Proserpina was abducted by Pluto, the god of the underworld, who had fallen in love her. Heartbroken, Ceres searched far and wide for her missing daughter. Using his ability to cross freely into the underworld, Mercury eventually found Proserpina with Pluto. He reported the news to Jupiter, and the king of the gods ordered Proserpina's safe return.

When the gods found out that Proserpina had eaten pomegranate seeds in the underworld, Jupiter and Pluto agreed that she would have to split her time between the realms of the living and the dead. Naturally, Mercury was called upon to escort Proserpina to and from the underworld; the messenger god faithfully carried out this duty whenever it was required of him.

#Mercury and the Roman State Religion

Mercury was a significant figure in Roman religion whose persona evolved over time. While Mercury's earliest temple was established in the fifth century BCE, the characteristics of this early incarnation were unclear. This version of Mercury was likely a Romanization of the Etruscan god known as Sethlans. With the rise of Hellenic culture in Rome in the third century BCE, Mercury emerged more clearly as a Romanized version of Hermes.

In this 3rd century Roman mosaic, the month of May, or Maius, is represented with an image of a Roman worshipping Mercury. The scene was likely chosen due to Maius being the month in which Mercuralia was celebrated.
Ad Meskens / CC BY-SA 3.0

Mercury's festival, Mercuralia, was celebrated each year on May 15th. During this festival, merchants and seamen extracted water from Mercury's sacred well at the Porta Capena and sprinkled it onto both themselves and their cargo for luck.

Compared to other gods and goddesses, Mercury has maintained an incredibly lively presence in popular culture. The speedy god is best remembered for the planet named after him. Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, and also the one with the quickest orbit around the sun. Mercury also lent his name to NASA's first manned space program; the object of this program was to put a man into orbit around the planet.

The chemical element "Mercury" also bore the name of the messenger god. Also known as quicksilver due to its liquid state at room temperature, mercury could easily transition into other compounds. It was often used in mining to extract gold and silver from various ores.

Mercury's name resonated in other areas as well. From 1938 to 2011, the Ford Motor Company devoted an entire division to its Mercury line. The brand's first logo was a profile image of Mercury wearing his winged helm. Mercury Records, a famed record label, also used Mercury's helm as a logo.

The DC comic book character known as the Flash also referenced Mercury. The Flash moved with incredible speed, and was dressed in a red costume. Notably, the Flash's costume featured a pair of small wings on the sides of his forehead.

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Mercury was the wily trickster of the Roman pantheon, patron deity of commerce and travel as well as messengers and thieves. Always pushing boundaries, he was as quick to fool the other gods as he was to offer them assistance.

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Minerva was the wisest of the Roman pantheon, the patron deity of philosophy, craftsmanship, art, and strategy. A quintessentially Roman goddess, she was part of the widely worshiped Capitoline Triad, along with Jupiter and Juno.

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The Roman god Saturn has a long history and a festival all of his own.

The Romans generally borrowed their gods from the ancient Greeks, and almost every Roman god had a Greek counterpart. Saturn's original counterpart in Greece was Cronus.

Cronus was a Titan. In Greek mythology, the Titans were the children of the earth mother Gaia and the sky father Uranus. There were six of them, and Cronus was the youngest. Cronus wanted to rule the universe, so he overthrew his father Uranus, and, so his children wouldn't overthrow him, Cronus ate them. However, his son Zeus escaped and became the chief Greek god.

Cronus means "time" in Greek, so he's connected with the seasons and harvest time. Cronus became ruler of a Golden Age in Greece and god of agriculture and the harvest. So you see his Roman counterpart Saturn was off to a good start.

Saturn was worshiped by the Romans as far back as the 6th century BCE. The Romans liked anything Greek and thought the Greeks were cultured and well-educated. They often had Greek tutors for their children. So they adopted the Greek gods at a very early stage. Saturn remained a god of agriculture to the Romans and was often pictured holding a scythe.

Like the Greeks, the Romans also believed that Saturn once ruled a Golden Age. The legend was that Saturn fled from his angry father and came to Latium, where Rome would later be built. There he taught the people how to farm and cultivate grapes. He also encouraged them to settle their differences by discussions and not by violence. This fits in with the Romans' ideas of the Greeks as being more civilized.

Saturn was a complex god with differing sides. For a while he ruled Latium with the Roman god Janus. Janus was a figure who looked two ways, representing the past and the future. So Saturn, as god of agriculture and the seasons, was also concerned with the past and the future. Saturn had two aspects, represented by his two wives. His one wife Ops was a goddess of wealth and abundance. But his other wife Lua was a goddess of war and destruction. And, although Saturn tried to civilize the people of Latium, as Cronus he did violence to his father Uranus.

The Romans built a temple to Saturn that was located near the Capitoline Hill in Rome. The Capitoline Hill was formerly called Saturnius Mons, or Saturn's Mountain. The temple was first begun in the 6th century BCE, and it was consecrated in 497 BCE. Even today eight of its tall, imposing columns are still standing near the Roman Forum. The Romans were devoted to Saturn and his temple, and it was restored periodically throughout the centuries. Roman senator Lucius Munatius Plancus fixed it in 42 BCE, and, after it caught on fire, it was repaired during the 4th century CE. Never ones to waste space, the Romans also used the temple as their treasury building.

The Romans believed that if they prayed and made sacrifices to their gods, the gods would do favors for them. Saturn was a popular god and received many sacrifices of animals, wine, cheese and bread in his temple. Unlike the other Roman gods, sacrifices to Saturn were made by the Greek rite; that meant that the people conducting the ritual had their head uncovered. Usually the Romans worshiped their gods with their heads covered. Saturn's statue was draped with a white veil during the ritual. The Greek writer Plutarch said this was because Saturn was the father of truth.

All year long, the Romans looked forward to Saturn's festival, called Saturnalia. It was originally celebrated on December 17, but later it was expanded to seven days. Saturnalia was a harvest celebration and also recalled the time when Saturn ruled the Golden Age. During Saturnalia, there were banquets, drinking, games and gladiatorial contests as well as the exchange of gifts. The merrymaking was presided over by a mock King of Misrule who wore funny clothes and told jokes. Also, people were allowed to wear casual clothes and the masters and slaves reversed roles, the masters waiting on the slaves. It was all in good fun, and people enjoyed being released from the usual strict rules of Roman society.

If some of the customs of Saturnalia sound a little like our Christmas, it's not a coincidence. The first Roman Christian leaders replaced Saturnalia with Christmas and carried over some practices, like feasting and exchanging gifts. Both Christmas and Saturnalia are near the gloomy days of the winter solstice. And during the Middle Ages, people also celebrated Christmas with a King of Misrule.

The god Saturn is still with us today, as a planet and a weekend day. The planet Saturn might be named because it's the slowest one to orbit the sun, and Saturn is connected with time and Cronus. Another theory is that, in ancient times, Saturn was the farthest known planet from the sun. So the Greeks made it sacred to Cronus, and the Romans made it sacred to Saturn.

The Romans named Saturday after their beloved god sometime before the 2nd century CE. It's the only day name in English that retains its Roman origin. So, although the days of Roman rule are long gone, we still have reminders of Saturn that have comes down to us through the centuries.
Here's a quick list of facts about Saturn:
1. Saturn was the Roman god of agriculture, also of wealth and war.

2. Saturn's Greek counterpart was Cronus.

3. Saturn's two wives were Ops, goddess of plenty, and Lua, goddess of destruction.

4. The temple to Saturn was built on the Capitoline Hill in Rome.

5. Saturn was worshiped with the Greek rite, which meant worshipers' heads were uncovered.

6. Saturn's feast was called Saturnalia and was held in December.

7. The planet Saturn and the day Saturday are both named for Saturn.

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Saturn * Facts and Information on the God Saturn

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The Roman god Saturn has a long history and a festival all of his own. The Romans generally borrowed their gods from the ancient Greeks, and almost every Roman god had a Greek counterpart. Saturn's original counterpart in Greece was Cronus. Cronus was a Titan.

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Neptune was the Roman god of all waters, bringer of winds and commander of storms. As capricious as the seas he commanded, Neptune guided the Roman people’s ancestor Aeneas to freedom, but demanded a human sacrifice for his assistance.

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Who was the Greek equivalent of the Roman god Pluto?

Pluto's equivalent in the Greek pantheon was Hades, the lord of the dead and king of the underworld, but Hades lacked Pluto's association with wealth.

What were the symbols of the god Pluto?

Pluto was frequently symbolized by the cornucopia, or horn of plenty, as well as being depicted with his three-headed guard dog Cerberus.

Was a planet named after Pluto?

There is a celestial body named after Pluto, but its status was reclassified in 2006 from planet to dwarf planet, with great outcry.

The foremost of the Roman chthonic ("subterranean") deities, Pluto was god of the dead and lord of the underworld. A figure of enormous dread and terrible might, Pluto dispensed luck and controlled the fates of all mortals. As commander of the subterranean realms, he was the master of ores, metals, and the precious stones found within them. For this reason, he was celebrated by many as the bringer of wealth. Pluto was the Roman counterpart to Hades, the Greek deity who ruled the underworld of the same name.

A wizened Pluto leans on his staff as his three-headed hound Cerberus keeps watch in this statue from the second century CE. Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete, Greece.
Carole Raddato / CC BY-SA 2.0

The crystallization of Pluto's identity as the Roman god of the dead, the underworld, and wealth reflected a complex historical development. Pluto's identity was largely comprised of elements taken from two distinct entities: Hades, a Greek deity, and Plouton, the lord of wealth. The latter was a Dīs Pater, a deity worshipped by early Romans for his power over the underworld and mineral wealth. In some mythographic and historiographic traditions, the name Dīs Pater was used in lieu of the name Pluto; evidence suggests that the Romans used these identifiers interchangeably.

Etymology

The name "Pluto," rendered as Plūtō in the Latin, was derived from the Greek name Plouton, meaning "the wealthy one." This name was an aspect of the deity Hades, one that highlighted his control over subterranean sources of mineral wealth. The name was also rooted in the ancient Greek noun ploutos, meaning "wealth" or "riches."

Dīs Pater, another of Pluto's names used widely by early Romans, was ultimately derived from the Proto Indo-European words meaning "god" and "father." In Latin, the words were deus (god) and pater (father). Extremely similar names ( Diespiter and Dispiter) were given to Jupiter, the greatest of the Roman gods; the similarity of these titles suggested that Dīs Pater (i.e. Pluto) was originally an aspect of Jupiter. In time, this aspect became independent of Jupiter and eventually merged with the Hellenic god Hades.

Attributes

Pluto was the lord of the subterranean underworld, which in Roman mythology served as the resting place of departed souls. He lived underground in a gloomy palace, and seemed to have little interest in the world of men. Likewise, Pluto seldom involved himself in godly affairs. He rode a chariot, carried a staff, and was often depicted wearing a warrior's helm. Pluto was often accompanied by Cerberus, a three-headed hound that served both as his pet and guardian of the underworld.

In this 18th century Dutch engraving, Pluto reclines in a chariot pulled by Cerberus.
Rijksmuseum / Public Domain

Family

Pluto's parents were Ops, goddess of the earth, and Saturn, ruler of the cosmos. His brother Jupiter-the mightiest of all gods-freed Pluto and his siblings from their father's wrath. These siblings included Neptune, lord of all waters, Juno, the matron goddess, Vesta, guardian of hearth and home, and Ceres, a fertility goddess associated with agriculture.

Though Pluto lived alone in the gloomy places beneath the earth for much of his life, he eventually came to share his realm with another-Proserpina, the daughter of Ceres and Jupiter. While Greek and Roman traditions insisted that Pluto had children, there was little consensus about who they might have been. Among the most popular candidates were the goddesses known as the Eumenides (or Furies)-deities of vengeance who lived in the chthonic darkness.

Family Tree

Mythology

Pluto and the Rape of Proserpina

One of Pluto's most famous myths centered on his abduction of Proserpina and the grief it unleashed upon her mother, Ceres. Pluto was a lonely deity who lived in the gloomy underworld and seldom encountered others. Taking pity on him, Venus told her son Cupid to fire one of his love arrows at Pluto so that he might become smitten with the next woman he saw. That woman was Proserpina, who was frolicking in fields of Nysa. Seized with irrepressible desire, Pluto flew forth upon his chariot, abducted Proserpina, and carried her away, leaving naught behind but a bow the girl had used as a belt. The scene-one of the most famous in ancient literature-was rendered beautifully by the poet Ovid in his masterwork the Metamorphoses:

Here, while young Proserpina, among the maids,
Diverts herself in these delicious shades;
While like a child with busy speed and care
She gathers lillies here, and vi'lets there;
While first to fill her little lap she strives,
Hell's grizly monarch at the shade arrives;
Sees her thus sporting on the flow'ry green,
And loves the blooming maid, as soon as seen.
His urgent flame impatient of delay,
Swift as his thought he seiz'd the beauteous prey,
And bore her in his sooty carr away.
The frighted Goddess to her mother cries,
But all in vain, for now far off she flies...
O'er hills, the ravisher, and vallies speeds,
By name encouraging his foamy steeds;
He rattles o'er their necks the rusty reins,
And ruffles with the stroke their shaggy manes.
O'er lakes he whirls his flying wheels, and comes
To the Palici breathing sulph'rous fumes.1

Following Proserpina's abduction, Ceres searched high and low for her missing daughter. Her search was in vain, however, for she did not know that Proserpina had been taken to Pluto's "realms of night."2 There she became the unwilling bride to Pluto, who contentedly refused to acknowledge the kidnapping.

As she continued her search, Ceres began to waste away. In her sorrow, she neglected her oversight of the growth of crops and the fertility of domestic animals. As the world became barren, the other gods decided that they must intervene. The messenger god Mercury, who could travel freely between the worlds of the living and the dead, spied Proserpina in Pluto's possession and quickly informed Jupiter. The king of the gods approached his brother and ordered him to release Proserpina at once, lest he suffer the wrath of Jupiter.

The Abduction of Proserpine (1570) by Alessandro Allori, a Florentine artist influenced by Michelangelo. The scene was a common subject in Renaissance and Early Modern art.

The J. Paul Getty Museum / Public Domain

Seeing that he had no choice, Pluto consented to return the girl, so long as she had refused all sustenance in the underworld. When it was discovered that Proserpina had consumed a few pomegranate seeds, Pluto demanded that Proserpina remain with him for some time each year. Jupiter agreed, ordering that the girl would spend half her time with Ceres on the surface and half with Pluto in the underworld. Her absences from Ceres correspond to the annual seasons-when Proserpina departs at the beginning of autumn, Ceres mourns and living things cease to grow; when she returns at the beginning of spring, Ceres beams and the world blooms. As Ovid put it:

Jove some amends for Ceres lost to make,
Yet willing Pluto shou'd the joy partake,
Gives 'em of Proserpina an equal share,
Who, claim'd by both, with both divides the year.
The Goddess now in either empire sways,
Six moons in Hell, and six with Ceres stays.
Her peevish temper's chang'd; that sullen mind,
Which made ev'n Hell uneasy, now is kind,
Her voice refines, her mein more sweet appears,
Her forehead free from frowns, her eyes from tears,
As when, with golden light, the conqu'ring day
Thro' dusky exhalations clears a way.
Ceres her daughter's rape no longer mourn'd,
But back to Arethusa's spring return'd;
And sitting on the margin, bid her tell
From whence she came, and why a sacred well.3

Pluto and Orpheus

Another prominent tale in Pluto's mythos involved the figure of Orpheus, a musician and mystic known in the Greek world for founding a cult known as the Orphic Mysteries. In most traditions, Orpheus was the mortal son of Apollo (a deity the Romans shared with the Greeks). As a musician of great renown, Orpheus could both seduce and persuade others with the power of his music. He was often portrayed as a master of the lyre, which he would use to put listeners into trance-like states.

One day, Orpheus' lover Eurydice stepped on a viper and died. In his despair, Orpheus played music that was so beautiful it made the gods weep. Inspired by this turn of events, Orpheus resolved to win Eurydice back by playing his music for Pluto and Proserpina in the underworld.

Orpheus and Eurydice (c. 1709) by French artist Jean Raoux. The tableau depicts Orpheus leading Eurydice from the underworld as Pluto and Proserpina look on from the upper left-hand corner.

The Paul J. Getty Museum / Public Domain

He thus journeyed to Pluto's "realms of night" and sought an audience with the king and queen of darkness. Pluto and Proserpina were so moved by Orpheus's music that they consented to return Eurydice to him-on one condition. As he left the underworld with Eurydice, he was to walk in front of her, never turning around to view his lover until they had made their way to the surface. Just as they were about to cross the threshold, however, Orpheus was seized with the fear that Pluto had deceived him and turned around to confirm Eurydice's presence. In turning to see her face, Orpheus broke his contract with Pluto and doomed his lover to the gloom of the underworld for all eternity.

By virtue of his centrality to the myth of Orpheus, Pluto became enshrined in the Orphic Mysteries. He was celebrated in the Orphic Hymns (written anonymously in the first and second centuries CE), where he was presented as a leading deity, the "terrestrial Jove"-that is, the Jupiter of the earth-whose bounty and generosity nourished mankind:

PLUTO, magnanimous, whose realms profound
Are fix'd beneath the firm and solid ground,
In the Tartarian plains remote from fight,
And wrapt forever in the depths of night;
Terrestrial Jove, thy sacred ear incline,
And, pleas'd, accept thy mystic's hymn divine.
Earth's keys to thee, illustrious king belong,
Its secret gates unlocking, deep and strong.
'Tis thine, abundant annual fruits to bear,
For needy mortals are thy constant care.4

Pluto and Roman Religion

Due to his mysterious nature and association with death, Pluto was not a central figure of worship in the Roman state religion. No state festivals were held in his honor. Though this seems a strange omission, it may have represented a concession to the mystery religions, such as the Orphic Mysteries discussed above, which placed the god in high esteem.

Pop Culture

The name of the Roman god of the underworld resonates today in the name of the planetary object, Pluto, formerly the ninth and final planet in the solar system (now demoted to the status of dwarf planet). Discovered in 1930 by the American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, Pluto resides in the Kuiper Belt at the edge of the solar system beyond Neptune. The name "Pluto" was suggested Venetia Burney, an eleven-year-old Roman mythology. The board members of the Lowell Observatory then selected it from a list of names that also included Minerva and Cronus.

The name was later used by the animator Walt Disney, who gave it to Mickey Mouse's pet dog Pluto.

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Who was the Greek equivalent of the Roman god Pluto? Pluto's equivalent in the Greek pantheon was Hades, the lord of the dead and king of the underworld, but Hades lacked Pluto's association with wealth. What were the symbols of the god Pluto?

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Colosseum | Definition, Characteristics, History, & Facts

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Colosseum, giant amphitheater built in Rome under the Flavian emperors. Unlike earlier amphitheaters, the Colosseum is a freestanding structure of stone and concrete that uses a complex system of vaults. It was the scene of thousands of gladiator combats, contests between men and animals, and mock n…

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In Roman mythology, Romulus and his twin brother Remus were the founders of the city of Rome. They were the children of Rhea Silvia and Mars (or in some variations the demi- god hero Hercules) and their story is recorded by many authors including Virgil who claims their birth and adventures were fated in order for Rome to be founded.

The Birth & Parentage of Romulus & Remus

Romulus and Remus were the direct descendants of Aeneas, whose fate-driven adventures to discover Italy are described by Virgil in . Romulus and Remus were related to Aeneas through their mother's father, Numitor. Numitor was a king of Alba Longa, an ancient city of Latium in central Italy, and father to Rhea Silvia. Before Romulus' and Remus' conception, Numitor's reign was usurped by Numitor's younger brother, Amulius. Amulius inherited control over Alba Longa's treasury with which he was able to dethrone Numitor and become king. Amulius, wishing to avoid any conflict of power, killed Numitor's male heirs and forced Rhea Silvia to become a Vestal Virgin. Vestal Virgins were priestesses of Vesta, patron goddess of the hearth; they were charged with keeping a sacred fire that was never to be extinguished and to take vows of chastity.

A servant placed the twins into a basket onto the River Tiber, & the river carried the boys to safety.

There is much debate and variation as to whom was the father of Romulus and Remus. Some myths claim that Mars appeared and lay with Rhea Silvia; other myths attest that the demi-god hero Hercules was her partner. However, the author Livy claims that Rhea Silvia was in fact raped by an unknown man, but blamed her pregnancy on divine conception. In either case, Rhea Silvia was discovered to be pregnant and gave birth to her sons. It was custom that any Vestal Virgin betraying her vows of celibacy was condemned to death; the most common death sentence was to be buried alive. However, King Amulius, fearing the wrath of the paternal god (Mars or Hercules) did not wish to directly stain his hands with the mother's and children's blood. So, King Amulius imprisoned Rhea Silvia and ordered the twins' death by means of live burial, exposure, or being thrown into the Tiber River. He reasoned that if the twins were to die not by the sword but by the elements, he and his city would be saved from punishment by the gods. He ordered a servant to carry out the death sentence, but in every scenario of this myth, the servant takes pity on the twins and spares their lives. The servant, then, places the twins into a basket onto the River Tiber, and the river carries the boys to safety.

The Discovery of Romulus & Remus

The river god Tibernus ensured their safety by calming the river, and he caused their basket to catch in the roots of a nearby fig tree. The tree was located at the base of the Palatine Hill in the Velabrum swamp. The twins were first discovered by a she-wolf or lupa, who suckled them and they were fed by a woodpecker or picus. Eventually, they were discovered and cared for by a shepherd and his wife: Faustulus and Acca Larentia. The two boys grew up to be shepherds like their adoptive father. One day while they were herding their sheep, they were met by shepherds of King Amulius. These shepherds started a fight with Romulus and Remus in which Remus was captured and taken before King Amulius. Romulus gathered and incited a band of local shepherds to join him in rescuing his brother. King Amulius believed that Rhea Silvia's children were dead; he did not recognize Remus or Romulus. Romulus freed his brother, and in the process killed King Amulius.

Romulus began to dig trenches & to build walls around his hill: the Palatine Hill.

Romulus & Remus Argue

After Amulius' death, the brothers rejected the citizens' offer of the crown of Alba Longa and instead reinstated Numitor as king. They left Alba Longa seeking to found their own city, and each set out to find the best locale. The brothers quarrelled over the location of the foundation of their new city; Romulus wished to start the city on the Palatine Hill, while Remus wished to found it on the Aventine Hill. In order to settle their disagreement, they agreed to consult augury; augury is a type of prophecy in which birds are examined and observed to determine what actions or persons the gods favour. Each brother prepared a sacred space on their respective hills and began to watch for birds. Remus claimed to have seen six birds, while Romulus said he saw twelve birds. Romulus asserted that he was the clear winner by six birds, but Remus argued that since he saw his six birds first, he had won. The brothers remained at a standstill and continued to quarrel until Romulus began to dig trenches and build walls around his hill: the Palatine Hill.

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Death of Remus & Founding of Rome

In response to Romulus' construction, Remus made continuous fun of the wall and his brother's city. Remus was so bold as to jump over Romulus' wall jestingly. In response to Remus' mockeries and for jumping over his wall, Romulus, angered by his brother's belittlement, killed him. There are several versions as to how Remus was killed on the day Rome was founded. In Livy's version, Remus simply died after jumping over Romulus' wall, which is thought to be a sign from the gods of Rome's power and fate. According to St. Jerome, Remus was killed for his mockery by one of Romulus' supporters, either Fabius or Celer, who killed Remus by throwing a spade at his head. Afterwards, Romulus mournfully buries his brother, bestowing upon him full funeral honours. However, most sources would convey that Romulus killed Remus. Remus' death and founding of Rome are dated by Livy to April 21st, 753 BCE.

Beginnings of Rome: War & Peace

Romulus named his city Roma after himself. Following the foundation of his city, Romulus instated a government system that implemented senators and patricians. As the popularity of his city and government system grew, so did the population. Rome's initial population was supplied by fugitives, exiles, runaway slaves, and criminals and other castoffs. Due to the inflation of the male population, Rome was unable to produce any generations of their own. As a result of the low ratio of women to men, the newly Roman men decided to abduct women from a neighbouring city. They invited the Sabines and Latins to a festival of Cronus at the Circus Maximus, and while the men of these cities were distracted, the Roman men carried off their women into Rome. Many of these women were persuaded to marry; however, in response to this rape or abduction of women, the Sabine and Latin men went to war against Rome. Romulus was the definitive winner of this war and his victory was Rome's first triumph.

A truce formed between the Romans & Sabines along with Tatius & Romulus agreeing to form a joint reign of two kings.

Although defeated, the Sabine king, Titus Tatius, attempted to assault Rome by marching on the Capitoline citadel. The citadel's commander's daughter promised to open the gates for the Sabine army if they gave her whatever "they bore on their left hand." When the Sabine army passed through, the poor girl expected hundreds of golden bracelets, but unfortunately she was crushed to death by their large shields. The Sabines besieged the Romans and the Romans almost lost until Romulus prayed to Jupiter for help. Jupiter answered, aiding the Romans to a final victory. Eventually, a truce formed between the Romans and Sabines along with Tatius and Romulus agreeing to form a joint reign of two kings. They jointly ruled for five years, and integrated each other's customs from calendars, gods, and even military tactics. This was a time of peace within Rome, but this intercity harmony ceased due to Tatius' actions. After these prosperous five years, Tatius was caught sheltering some of his allies who had robbed the neighbouring allied Lavinians and murdered some of their ambassadors. The Senate decided that Tatius must go to Lavinium to sacrifice and appease both the locals and god in regards to his crimes. While in Lavinium, Tatius was assassinated and Romulus became the sole king of Rome. For the next 20 years, Romulus sought to expand Rome's land through war. When Numitor died, Romulus incorporated Alba Longa into Rome's government and lands. Through Romulus' reign, he slowly became more autocratic and the Senate became resentful.

Death of Romulus

The life of Romulus has several endings depending on the myth and source. In one myth, Romulus mysteriously disappeared in a storm or whirlwind. Romulus is claimed to have ascended to the heavens to become a god by several eye-witnesses. There was the suspicion that Romulus' death was plotted by the Senate in order to reassume their own power. Livy writes about these events, while Cassius Dio writes about how Romulus was surrounded by hostile, resentful senators who "rent limb from limb" the senate-house, which was then followed by an eclipse and sudden storm (which Dio claims to be the same phenomenon that happened at his birth). Romulus disappeared in 717 BCE as reported by Plutarch at the age of 53, but Dionysius of Halicarnassus reports that he died at the age of 55.

A Man or myth?

There is much debate on whether Romulus and Remus were real men or simply a myth or even a combination of both. While most scholars believe that Aeneas, the catalyst of the foundation of Rome, may have existed in some folktale, his Roman mythology was not solidified until Augustus commissioned Vergil's epic . Romulus' and Remus' feats and adventures are somewhat far-fetched to be taken literally, but some scholars attest that their characters may be based on some historic foundation. Foundation myths are often convoluted with aspects of fiction and non-fiction. While it may never be certain if these twin brothers were real, what is certain is that their story was treated with respect and discussed at length even by the ancients.

Depiction in Art

Romulus and Remus are most commonly portrayed together in art and on coins. They are often only seen in art as infants being suckled by the she-wolf. They are featured in this manner on the statue of Romulus and Remus in Siena, Italy. Siena was founded, according to myth, by Remus' son, Senius. Likewise, they are also featured on a mosaic found in Yorkshire from 300 CE known as the Wolf Mosaic. However, the most famous representation in art is the Capitoline She-Wolf. It is a 5th century BCE Etruscan bronze wolf to which two small figures of Romulus and Remus were added in 15th century CE. Romulus' and Remus' mythical lives also inspired many Renaissance artists from Berrettini to LaFosse to Cesari, and even Rubens.

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In Roman mythology, Romulus and his twin brother Remus were the founders of the city of Rome. They were the children of Rhea Silvia and Mars (or in some variations the demi-god hero Hercules) and their...

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Kids learn about the plebeians and patricians of Ancient Rome including the rise of plebeian powers, early Rome, the Law of the Twelve Tables, officers, nobles, and fun facts.

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The Roman Empire: in the First Century. The Roman Empire. Emperors. Julius Caeser | PBS

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Although he did not rule for long, he gave Rome fresh hope and a whole dynasty of emperors.

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Diocletian was a formidable emperor who ended a period of turmoil for the Roman world. Known as a great reformer with a harsh personality, he garnered respect where others failed miserably. Born in 244, in the Balkans, Diocletian grew up in turbulent conditions with little government or stability.

Before Diocletian: Political Anarchy

During the 3 rd century AD, Rome experienced a period of prolonged anarchy which almost destroyed the Empire. During a 50-year period, there were at least 60 claimants to the throne and many emperors ruled for only a couple of months. There were so many wannabe emperors at this time that historians are still unearthing coins minted by unknown claimants.

The crisis reached its zenith when Britain and France broke away to form the Gallic Empire , and the Palmyrene Empire conquered large parts of the Roman East. Although the worst of the damage was repaired by the emperor Aurelian, by the time Diocletian was declared emperor, Rome was still facing internal rebellions, barbarian incursions, and multiple claimants to the throne. The Roman Empire had become a shaky shell of its former self.

Rise To Power: The Dyarchy

Diocletian's rise to power was typical of this period. He was a strong military commander, popular with his troops, and was proclaimed emperor by his legions in Nicomedia (modern Turkey) in 284. Diocletian knew that being proclaimed emperor was incredibly dangerous; the vast majority of emperors were assassinated not long after they were raised. He had to act quickly to build a power base.

Maximian had a distinguished military record and was sent West to subdue dangerous rebellions brewing there, while Diocletian tackled the East. The pair would have to contend with many other claimants to the throne before they could rule safely. They established a temporary dyarchy, and Maximian was made an , his power second only to Diocletian's.

The Dominate Of Diocletian: Ruling With An Iron Fist

Diocletian's rule, and the period that followed it, is sometimes referred to as the , because of the authoritarian character of the monarchy at this time. Although to modern readers and democrats this may sound terrible, it must have seemed necessary in a period of chaos.

The emperorship as an organ of state and respected position had degraded to nothing. To ensure he wasn't vulnerable Diocletian had to make certain people believed power truly resided in his hands and that it could not simply be taken from him. His ability to craft a powerful image of himself as a Godlike ruler was extremely effective, and as a result, he was able to hold power for twenty years.

Diocletian took a different approach. He wore a diadem, a symbol of royalty emperors never dared to wear. His subjects were required to kneel in his presence. Rigid court ceremonial was introduced, such as kissing the hem of the emperor's robe. Access to the emperor was increasingly limited. He demanded to be called, "Lord and Master," and "Lord and God." Artistic conventions in this period shift quite dramatically towards authoritarian portrayals of the emperor, who is shown towering over tiny courtiers. Ordinary people were banned from wearing purple, which became the preserve of royalty. Jewels and silk became part of the elaborate luxury and pomp of imperial court ceremonial.

Doing Things Differently: The Rule Of Four

In spite of his tyrannical reputation, one of Diocletian's real strengths was knowing that true leadership requires careful delegation. His rule is known to history as the tetrarchy , or rule of four.

He appointed two more junior emperors, and the four men went in four different directions in order to clear up the last of the rebels, usurpers, and invaders. The senior emperors officially adopted their juniors. Their families intermarried to create strong bonds, and edicts, and statuary showed displays of unity and brotherhood.

In theory, the junior emperors could take over upon the death or retirement of the senior emperors and appoint new juniors in their place. This was an attempt to create long term stability for Rome, although it had limited success in the face of personal ambition.

Breaking The Power Of The Provinces

Diocletian's biggest challenge was dealing with the structural problems that had brought the empire to its knees. He more than doubled the number of , which were in turn broken into groups of 12 dioceses, and four prefectures. He recognized that by clipping the power of the provinces, very few people would be powerful enough to challenge him. More people held positions of rank over smaller less powerful areas. This effectively got rid of the 3 rd -century problem of too many competing generals with large armies.

He also took the major step of further divorcing military and civil offices at the provincial level. Soldiers would no longer have the standing in the local community they once had, and provincial bureaucracy was expanded greatly to deal with the reality of empire.

In addition to quelling the power of the generals, he made the army more effective. The tetrarchs ensured the army's main role was simply to keep the borders safe. The number of troops was shored up, forts were constructed, and conscription was introduced to make certain Rome would not be vulnerable to the pressure it faced at its borders: East, West, and North.

Hyperinflation And Struggle For Stability

One of the toughest struggles Diocletian faced during his reign was hyperinflation. In a mistake that would happen many subsequent times throughout history, Septimius Severus had a bright idea for making more money. What if he added more worthless metals to the silver denarius, and therefore minted more coins? As a result, Roman currency became more and more worthless, and what followed was a period of hyperinflation .

Many successive emperors debased the coinage further. Eventually, the silver content was reduced to a thin wash on the outside of the coin. By the time Diocletian came to the throne a barter economy had become the norm in many places.

One of Diocletian's ideas to fix the economy was "the Edict of Maximum prices," an extraordinary document that attempted to list every item people bought regularly and the maximum people could charge for it. Many people flouted this decree and it appears not to have worked, but he was the only emperor, apart from Aurelian, who had tried to find a working solution to the economic meltdown.

He also realized that diluting the coinage had caused the problem and struck new gold and silver coins to combat inflation. Although he was not able to solve the Roman Empire's economic problems, inflation began to slow. His successors would revisit his ideas with more success and Constantine would introduce the gold solidus, a pure gold coin that became "the dollar of the middle ages."

Tyranny And Christianity In The Roman Empire

Diocletian's rule had a dark side. The emperor was seen as a tyrant by many people, not least because he hated the growing sect of Christians in his empire. He was concerned with stability; he wanted to root out the causes of Roman decline. Religious reasons were top of his list. Christianity was experiencing a boom in popularity, perhaps in part as a response to dark times. He believed the turn away from Jupiter and the other Roman gods, who traditionally protected the state, might have led to divine disfavor.

Emperor Diocletian And His Legacy To The Roman Empire

Diocletian was the only Roman emperor to voluntarily retire. He moved into his palace and apparently spent the rest of his life gardening.

Historians are divided on Diocletian's legacy. The success of the tetrarchy was mixed. The smooth succession he had hoped for with his junior emperors did not last. Although the method he used for breaking provinces among multiple emperors would continue in various forms, the temptation for emperors to install their children as their co-rulers proved to be too great.

Rome would never have an internal conflict on the scale of the 3 rd century again. Diocletian's military reforms served their purpose and kept Rome stable. Furthermore, he established peace with Sassanid Persia which would last 40 years. Constantine the Great would keep and reintroduce many of his tactics and reforms, creating a strong empire with a highly organized rulership.

Although he had authoritarian tendencies and was hated by Christian writers, Diocletian's political acumen put him head and shoulders above any emperor in the previous century. Most of his successors would copy his dictatorial style of leadership in an attempt to emulate his hard-won stability.

Diocletian resuscitated Rome, and because of his efforts, the empire would carry on until the 5 th century. So great was his rule that when trouble started brewing, people begged him to come out of retirement. He responded that he would rather live in peace tending his cabbages.

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Emperor Diocletian: The Genius Who Saved the Roman Empire

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Diocletian was a formidable emperor who ended a period of turmoil for the Roman world. Known as a great reformer with a harsh personality, he garnered respect where others failed miserably. Born in 244, in the Balkans, Diocletian grew up in turbulent conditions with little government or stability.

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J.F. Matthews Professor of Middle and Later Roman History, University of Oxford; Official Fellow of Queen’s College, Oxford.

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Constantine I | Biography, Accomplishments, Death, & Facts

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Constantine I, first Roman emperor to profess Christianity. Militarily, he triumphed over foreign and domestic threats. He not only initiated the evolution of the empire into a Christian state but also provided the impulse for a distinctively Christian culture which grew into Byzantine and Western medieval culture.

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Nero (A.D. 37-68) became emperor of the Roman Empire after the death of his adopted father, the Emperor Claudius, in A.D. 54. The last ruler of what historians call the "Julio-Claudian" dynasty, he ruled until he committed suicide in June, A.D. 68.

Famously known for the apocryphal story that he fiddled while Rome burned in a great fire, Nero has become one of the most infamous men who ever lived. During his rule, he murdered his own mother, Agrippina the Younger; his first wife, Octavia; and allegedly, his second wife, Poppaea Sabina. In addition, ancient writers claim that he started the great fire of Rome in A.D. 64 so that he could re-build the city center.

Yet, despite the numerous charges that have been levelled by ancient writers, there is evidence that Nero enjoyed some level of popular support. He had a passion for music and the arts, an interest that culminated in a public performance he gave in Rome in A.D. 65. Also, while he was blamed for starting the fire, he took it upon himself to organize relief efforts, and ancient writers make other allusions to acts of charity that he performed.

"He let slip no opportunity for acts of generosity and mercy, or even for displaying his affability," wrote the otherwise critical Suetonius in the 2nd century A.D. ( translation by J. C. Rolfe).

Recently, a newly translated poem has been published, and it depicts Nero in a positive light. It tells of the deification of his dead wife Poppaea Sabina, concluding with her watching over Nero from the heavens. Scholars were surprised to discover that the text, which proclaims Nero a man "equal to the gods," dates to about two centuries after Nero's death, suggesting that some individuals in the Roman Empire held a favorable view of him long after his death.

Early life

Nero was born in Antium, in Italy, on Dec. 15, A.D. 37, to his mother, Agrippina the Younger, and his father, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus. His father, a former Roman consul, died when he was about 3 years old, and his mother was banished by the Emperor Caligula, leaving him in the care of an aunt. His name at birth was Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus.

After the murder of Caligula in January A.D. 41, and the ascension of Emperor Claudius shortly afterward, mother and son were reunited. His ambitious mother would go on to marry Claudius (who was also her uncle) in A.D. 49, and she saw to it that he adopted her son, giving him a new name that started with "Nero." His tutors included the famous philosopher Seneca, a man who would continue advising Nero into his reign, even writing the proclamation explaining why Nero killed his mother.

The newly adopted son would later take the hand of his stepsister, Octavia, in marriage, and become Claudius' heir apparent, the emperor choosing him over his own biological son, Britannicus (who died shortly after Nero became emperor).

After the death of Claudius in A.D. 54 (possibly by being poisoned with a mushroom), Nero, with the support of the Praetorian Guard and at the age of 17, became emperor. In the first two years of Nero's reign, his coins depicted him side by side with his mother, Agrippina.

She "managed for him all the business of the empire ... she received embassies and sent letter to various communities, governors and kings ..." wrote Cassius Dio who lived A.D. 155-235 (translation from the book "Nero Caesar Augustus: Emperor of Rome" by David Shotter, Pearson, 2008).

Killing his mother

Nero and his mother appear to have had a falling out within about two years of his becoming emperor. Her face stopped appearing on Roman coins after A.D. 55, and she appears to have lost power in favor of Nero's top advisers, Seneca and Burrus, the commander of the Praetorian Guard who advised him on military affairs.

Officially, the reason given for Nero's orders to kill his own mom in A.D. 59 was that she was plotting to kill him. Whatever the reasons, Nero knew that he was making a decision that could come back to haunt him. "This was a crime that will have caused revulsion in the Roman world, for the mother was that most sacred of icons within the Roman family," writes David Shotter, a professor of history at Lancaster University, in his book.

Nero, not trusting his Praetorian Guard to carry out the killing, ordered naval troops to sink a boat that she would be sailing on. This first attempt failed, with his mother swimming to shore. Nero then ordered the troops to do the job directly.

Tacitus (A.D. 56-120) wrote that when the troops came to kill her, she told them if "you have come to see me, take back word that I have recovered (from the sinking boat), but if you are here to do a crime, I believe nothing about my son, he has not ordered his mother's murder" (translation from the book "Nero" by Jürgen Malitz, Blackwell Publishing, 2005).

Nero, much to his relief, found his actions applauded. The senators said that they believed his life was at risk and congratulated him on killing his own mom. Seneca himself wrote Nero's report on the murder to the Senate.

Killing his first wife

His marriage to Octavia was not a happy one. She gave him no heir, and the two were estranged by A.D. 62. In that year, he divorced her then accused her of adultery and killed her.

Nero may have taken the step of killing her as a way to protect his position as emperor. As Shotter notes, a large part of Nero's legitimacy as emperor was based, not only on the fact that he was the adopted son of Claudius, but that he was married to his daughter.

Suetonius writes that "after several vain attempts to strangle her, he divorced her on the ground of barrenness, and when the people took it ill and openly reproached him, he banished her besides; and finally he had her put to death on a charge of adultery that was so shameless and unfounded, that when all who were put to the torture maintained her innocence, he bribed his former preceptor Anicetus to make a pretended confession that he had violated her chastity by a stratagem," (translation by J. C. Rolfe).

Marriage to Poppaea

Nero would go on to marry the already pregnant Poppaea Sabina in that same year, and she would give birth to their daughter (who lived only about three months) in January, A.D. 63. He took the death of their infant daughter hard and had the baby deified.

In A.D. 65, while Poppaea was pregnant again, she died. Ancient writers say Nero killed her with a kick to the belly. However, the newly deciphered poem from Egypt casts doubt on this, showing Poppaea in the afterlife wanting to stay with Nero.

"The poet is trying to tell you [that] Poppaea loves her husband and what it implies is this story about the kick in the belly cannot be true," said Paul Schubert, a professor at the University of Geneva and the lead researcher who worked on the text, in an interview with LiveScience at the time. "She wouldn't love him if she had been killed by a kick in the belly."

The Great Fire of Rome

On the night of July 18, A.D. 64, a fire started in the Circus Maximus that would burn out of control, leaving little of the city untouched. At the time it occurred, Nero was at Antium but immediately returned to Rome to oversee relief efforts.

While ancient writers tend to blame Nero for starting the fire, this is far from certain. Much of Rome was made with combustible material and the city was overcrowded.

After the flames died down Nero apparently tried to cast blame on the Christians, at the time a fairly small sect. "Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace," wrote Tacitus (translation from Jürgen Malitz's "Nero"). "Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as nightly illumination when daylight had expired."

While it is not known whether Nero started the fire, he did take advantage of the space it cleared. He started work on a new palace called the Domus Aurea (golden palace), which was said, at the entranceway, to have included a 120-foot-long (37 meters) column that contained a statue of him.

Bloodshed in the empire

Nero's rule would have its share of bloodshed in places throughout the empire. In Britain, in A.D. 60, the Iceni Queen Boudicca (also spelled Boudica or Boudicea) rose in rebellion after she was flogged and her daughters raped by Roman soldiers. Her husband, King Prasutagus, had made a deal with Claudius that would see him rule as a client-king. Upon his death in A.D. 59, the officials appointed by Nero ignored it, seizing Iceni land.

At first, Boudicca was successful, overrunning a number of Roman settlements and military units. "At Camulodunum and Londinium the results of the Boudican revolt may be compared, on a smaller scale, with those of the volcanic eruptions that smothered Pompeii and Herculaneum," writes researchers Richard Hingley and Christina Unwin in their book, "Boudica: Iron Age Warrior Queen" (Cambridge University Press, 2005).

Ancient sources say that Nero considered evacuating the island, but this proved unnecessary as the Roman commander on the island Gaius Suetonius Paulinus massed a force of 10,000 men and defeated Boudicca at the Battle of Watling Street.

Britain wasn't the only place where Rome had military trouble during Nero's reign. In the east, Rome fought, and essentially lost, a war with Parthia, having to give up plans to annex the kingdom of Armenia, which served as a buffer between the two powers. Additionally a rebellion in Judea in A.D. 67, near the end of Nero's reign, would eventually lead to the siege of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and the destruction of the Second Temple. One effect of this was the abandonment of Qumran, the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found stored in nearby caves.

Journey to Greece

Not all of Nero's dealings throughout the empire ended in violence. In A.D. 66, Nero, a lover of Greek culture, embarked on a trip to Greece, which had been under Roman control for about two centuries by his time.

Shotter writes that Nero took part in several Greek festivals, taking home 1,808 first prizes for his artistic presentations. The Greeks also agreed to postpone the Olympic Games by one year so that Nero could compete in them. That wasn't all they agreed to do, to the "athletic contests were added for the first time artistic competitions, which included singing and acting, for Nero's sake," writes Edward Champlin in his book "Nero" (The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2003).

"In one dangerous race, he fell out of his chariot, but the Hellenic Judges in charge of the games nevertheless granted him the wreath of victory: he rewarded these traditionally unpaid officials with one million sesterces."

Shotter notes that Nero was so happy with the results of his trip to Greece that he rewarded the Greeks their "freedom," essentially tax exemption.

Nero's end

By A.D. 68, the problems Nero faced had piled up. He had killed his mother, first wife and, by some accounts, his second. Additionally, the rebuilding of Rome, not to mention the construction of his "golden palace," was putting a financial strain on the empire. This forced him to raise taxes wherever he could and even take religious treasures.

"Nero took votive offerings from temples in Rome and Italy as well as hundreds of cult statues from temples in Greece and Asia, after the fire of Rome in A.D. 64," writes Richard Duncan-Jones in his book "Money and Government in the Roman Empire" (Cambridge University Press, 1995), who also notes that Nero reduced the size of the coins Rome minted.

Nero's support began to crumble. Sotter writes that in April of 64, a Roman governor in Gaul named Gaius Iulius Vindex renounced Nero and declared his support for Galba, then in Spain, for emperor. Although Vindex committed suicide after his forces were defeated by German legions in May, it was enough to undo Nero.

Not long afterward, the Praetorian Guard, the force charged with guarding the emperor himself, renounced their support for Nero and the now former emperor was declared an enemy of the people by the Senate on June 8. The following day, he committed suicide. His last words were said to be "what an artist dies in me!" Shotter notes that his long-time mistress Acte was by his side and "ensured Nero a decent burial in the family tomb of the Domitii on the Pincian Hill in Rome."

The emperor is dead

After Nero's death, the Roman Empire plunged into chaos as a succession of short-lived emperors tried to gain control of the empire. Sotter notes that Nero still had a considerable deal of popular support and one of these emperors, Otho, even renamed himself "Nero Otho" in his honor.

Champlin writes that people also refused to believe that Nero was actually dead. "Many believe that Nero did not kill himself in June of 68," he writes. "As Tacitus (the ancient writer) admits, various rumors circulated about Nero's death and, because of them, many believed or pretended to believe that he was still alive."

Sotter also notes this, writing that "the decades that followed Nero's death saw a number of appearances in the East of imposters (or false Nero's)," a sign that some in the Roman Empire still approved of the man who, today, is known so infamously. [ Related: History's Most Notorious and Elusive Bad Guys]

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Nero (A.D. 37-68) became emperor of the Roman Empire after the death of his adopted father, the Emperor Claudius, in A.D. 54. The last ruler of what historians call the "Julio-Claudian" dynasty, he ruled until he committed suicide in June, A.D. 68.

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To gain more wealth and power, the Patricians took plebeian land and heired slaves to work on it. The plebeians almost left Rome to find their own society, but patricians needed them for military power and so they granded plebeians the right to participate in politics and elect their own officials.

The patricians were the wealthy land-owning noble class in Rome. They often owned slaves who would work their farms for them. The patricians inherited their power and held almost all the important government positions such as the consuls. However, only males could vote. In early Rome, patricians were the only ones who could hold political or religious office. The plebeians were the commoners in Rome and had the highest population in society.

They included merchants, farmers, and craft workers. Many lived in apartments above or behind their shops and rented the stories above it. After the Conflict of the Orders, plebeians were allowed to participate in politics and gain political offices and power in society. The plebeians elected tribunes to give them a voice in government. However, the patricians held most of the power.

Patricians and Plebeians rarely married between classes. Both classes were considered citizens of Rome. In both Patrician and Plebeian society, males were heads of the family. These could be the father, grandfather, or uncle. He was called pater familias. They honored the elderly. Women had no rights in society, meaning they could not vote and did not hold political office or political power. Both classes owned slaves. They also worshipped the same gods

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To gain more wealth and power, the Patricians took plebeian land and heired slaves to work on it. The plebeians almost left Rome to find their own society, but patricians needed them for military power and so they granded plebeians the right to participate in politics and elect their own officials.

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A summary of the geography of the Ancient Roman Republic and how the geography helped Rome thrive and become a powerful Empire.