Vejovis

Vejovis or Vejove (Template:Langx or Template:Lang; rare Template:Lang or Template:Lang) was a Roman god of Etruscan origins (Template:Langx, or Template:Langx).

Representation and worship

Template:Coin image box 1 doubleVejovis was portrayed as a young man, holding a bunch of arrows (or lightning bolts), or a pilum, in his hand, and accompanied by a goat. Romans believed that Vejovis was one of the first gods to be born. He was a god of healing, and became associated with the Greek Asclepius.<ref>Roman Medicine By John Scarborough</ref> He was mostly worshipped in Rome and Bovillae in Latium. On the Capitoline Hill and on the Tiber Island, temples were erected in his honour.<ref>The New Encyclopædia Britannica: in 30 volumes By Encyclopædia Britannica, Chicago University of, Encyclopædia Britannica Staff, Encyclopædia Britannica(ed.) [1]</ref>

Though he was associated with volcanic eruptions, his original role and function is obscured to us.<ref>Classical Quarterly By Classical Association (Great Britain)</ref> He is occasionally identified with Apollo and young Jupiter.<ref>The Cambridge History of Classical Literature By E. J. Kenney</ref><ref>Nova Roma: Calendar of Holidays and Festivals</ref>

Aulus Gellius, in the Noctes Atticae, written around 177 CE,<ref>Leofranc Holford-Strevens, "Towards a Chronology of Aulus Gellius", Latomus, 36 (1977), pp. 93–109</ref> speculated that Vejovis was an ill-omened counterpart of Jupiter; compare Summanus. Aulus Gellius observes that the particle ve- that prefixes the name of the god also appears in Latin words such as vesanus, "insane," and thus interprets the name Vejovis as the anti-Jove.

Temple

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

Sacrifices

In spring, multiple goats were sacrificed to him to avert plagues. Gellius informs us that Vejovis received the sacrifice of a female goat, sacrificed ritu humano <ref>Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae, [2]</ref> (lit. "by human rite"); this obscure phrase could possibly mean "after the manner of a human sacrifice" or "in the manner of a burial." <ref>Adkins and Adkins, Dictionary of Roman Religion (Facts On File, 1996) Template:ISBN</ref> These offerings were less about the animal sacrificed and more about the soul sacrificed.

Festivals

Vejovis had three festivals in the Roman Calendar: on 1 January, 7 March, and 21 May.<ref>The Nature of the Gods By Marcus Tullius Cicero</ref>