Editing Neptune (mythology) (section)

==Worship==
[[File:DSC00363 - Mosaico delle stagioni (epoca romana) - Foto G. Dall'Orto.jpg|thumb|alt=See caption|Mosaic of Neptune ([[Regional Archeological Museum Antonio Salinas]], [[Palermo]])]]
[[File: House of the Neptune Mosaic (7254082844).jpg|thumb|alt=See caption|[[Roman mosaic]] on a wall in the House of Neptune and Amphitrite, [[Herculaneum]], Italy]]
[[File:Chichester inscription.jpg|thumb|alt=See caption|The [[Chichester inscription]], which reads (in English): "To Neptune and [[Minerva]], for the welfare of the Divine House, by the authority of [[Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus]], Great King in Britain, the college of artificers and those therein erected this temple from their own resources [...]ens, son of Pudentinus, donated the site."]]
[[File:Llotja Neptu.jpg|thumb|alt=Statue of Neptune and two sea nymphs|''Neptune'' (1802) by [[Catalans|Catalan]] sculptor Nicolau Travé, with two [[nereids]] by Antoni Solà ([[Barcelona]]: Llotja de Mar)]]
[[File:Neptune Roman mosaic Bardo Museum Tunis.jpg|thumb|alt=Ornate mosaic|''Triumph of Neptune'', Roman mosaic with the seasons in each corner and agricultural scenes and flora (La Chebba, Tunisia, late 2nd century, Bardo National Museum)]]
[[File:Mosaique de sol avec le triomphe de Neptune et son épouse Amphitrite (Louvre, Ma 1880)1.jpg|thumb|alt=Another ornate mosaic|''Triumph of Poseidon and [[Amphitrite]]'', showing the couple [[Thiasus#Other thiasoi|in procession]]. Detail of a large Roman mosaic from [[Cirta]], [[Africa (Roman province)|Roman Africa]] (c. 315–325 AD, now at the [[Louvre]])]]

The [[theology]] of Neptune is limited by his close identification with the Greek god [[Poseidon]], one of many members of the [[Greek mythology|Greek pantheon]] whose theology was later tied to a [[List of Roman deities|Roman deity]].{{sfn|Bloch|1981|pp=341–344}} The ''[[lectisternium]]'' of 399 BC indicated that the Greek figures of Poseidon, [[Artemis]], and [[Heracles]] had been introduced and worshipped in Rome as Neptune, Diana, and Hercules.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Showerman |first1=Grant |title=The Great Mother of the Gods |date=1901 |publisher=University of Wisconsin, Madison |location=Madison, WI |page=223 |url=https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Grant_Showerman_The_Great_Mother_of_the_Gods?id=5bJhAAAAMAAJ |access-date=August 10, 2021}}</ref> It has been speculated that Neptune has been conflated with a [[Proto-Indo-European]] freshwater deity; since the Indo-Europeans lived inland and had little direct knowledge of the sea, the Romans may have reused the theology of a previous freshwater god in their worship of Neptune.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wissowa |first1=Georg |title=Religion und Kultus der Römer |date=1902 |publisher=C. H. Beck |location=Munchen |language=German}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=von Domaszewski |first1=Alfred |title=Abhandlungen zur römische Religion |date=1909 |publisher=Teubner |location=Leipzig and Berlin |language=German}}</ref> [[Servius (grammarian)|Servius]] explicitly names Neptune as the god of rivers, springs, and waters;{{sfn|Bloch|1981|p=346}} he may parallel the [[Irish mythology|Irish]] god [[Nechtan (mythology)|Nechtan]], master of rivers and wells.{{cn|date=August 2021}} This is in contrast to Poseidon, who was primarily a god of the sea.{{sfn|Bloch|1981}}

Neptune has been associated with a number of other Roman deities. By the first century BC, he had supplanted [[Portunus (mythology)|Portunus]] as the god of naval victories; [[Sextus Pompeius]] called himself the "son of Neptune".<ref>{{cite book |last=Fox |first=Robin Lane |title=The Classical World |date=2006 |publisher=Basic Books |page=412 |isbn=0-465-02496-3}}</ref> For a time, Neptune was paired in his dominion of the sea with [[Salacia]], the goddess of [[saltwater]].<ref>{{cite book |last=van Aken |first=A. R. A. |title=Elsevier's Mythologische Encyclopedie |date=1961 |publisher=Elsevier |location=Amsterdam}}</ref> Neptune was considered the legendary progenitor god of the [[Falisci]] (who called themselves ''Neptunia proles''), joining [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]], [[Janus]], [[Saturn (mythology)|Saturn]], and [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] as the deific father of a Latin tribe.{{sfn|Fowler|1912|p=186}} 

===Neptunalia===
[[Neptunalia]], the Roman festival of Neptune, was held at the height of summer (typically on July 23). The date of the festival and the construction of tree-branch shelters suggest that Neptune was a god of water sources in times of drought and heat.<ref>"C'est-à-dire au plus fort de l'été, au moment de la grande sécheresse, et qu'on y construisaient des huttes de feuillage en guise d'abris contre le soleil" (Cadotte 2002:342, noting [[Sextus Pompeius Festus]], ''De verborum significatu'' [ed. Lindsay 1913] 519.1)</ref> The most ancient [[Roman calendar]] set the ''[[feriae]]'' of Neptunus on July 23, between the [[Lucaria]] festival of the grove and the [[Furrinalia]] festival of July 25. All three festivals were connected to water during the period of summer heat (''canicula'') and drought, when freshwater sources were lowest.<ref name="dumezil n">G. Dumézil ''Fêtes romaines d' été et d' automne. Suivi de Dix questions romaines'' Paris 1975 1. "Les eaux et les bois" p. 25-31.</ref>

It has been speculated that the three festivals fall in a logical order. The ''Lucaria'' was devoted to clearing overgrown bushes and uprooting and burning excess vegetation.<ref name="dumezil n" /> Neptunalia followed, devoted to conservation and the draining of superficial waters. These culminated in the ''Furrinalia'', sacred to [[Furrina]] (the goddess of springs and wells).

Neptunalia was spent under branch huts in a woods between the [[Tiber]] and the [[Via Salaria]], with participants drinking spring water and wine to escape the heat.<ref>''[[Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum|CIL]]'', vol. 1, pt 2:323; [[Varro]], ''De lingua Latina'' vi.19.</ref> It was a time of merrymaking, when men and women could mix without the usual Roman societal constraints.<ref name=Takas_2008>Sarolta A. Takacs ''Vestal virgins, sibyls and matronae: women in Roman religion'' 2008, University of Texas Press, p. 53 f., citing Horace  ''Carmina'' III 28.</ref> There is an added context of agricultural fertility in the festival, since Neptune received the sacrifice of a bull.<ref>Sarolta A. Takacs 2008; citing Macrobius ''Saturnalia'' III 10, 4.</ref>

===Temples===
Neptune had only one temple in [[Rome]]. It stood near the [[Circus Flaminius]], the Roman racetrack in the southern part of the [[Campus Martius]], and dates back to at least 206 BC.<ref>[[Cassius Dio]] 17 fragment 57. 60 as cited by L. Richardson jr. ''A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome'' 1992 p. 267.</ref> The temple was restored out by [[Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 32 BC)|Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus]] {{circa|40 BC}}, an event depicted on a coin struck by the consul. Within the temple was a sculpture of a marine group by [[Scopas]] Minor.<ref>On the issue of this group by Scopas cf. F. Coarelli "L'ora di Domizio Enobarbo e la cultura artistica in Roma nel II sec. a. C." in ''Dialoghi di Arrcheologia'' II  '''3''' 1968 p. 302-368.</ref><ref>{{citation |url=http://www.mmdtkw.org/VNeptunalia.html |title=Neptunalia Festival |first=Thomas K. |last=Wukitsch}}</ref> The Basilica Neptuni was later built on the Campus Martius, and was dedicated by [[Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa|Agrippa]] in honor of the naval [[Battle of Actium|victory of Actium]].<ref>{{citation |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/basilicae.html |first1=Samuel |last1=Ball Platner |first2=Thomas |last2=Ashby |title=A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, "Basilica Neptuni" |location=London |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1929}}</ref> This [[basilica]] supplanted the older temple, which had replaced an ancient altar.<ref>Dumézil 1977 p. 340, who cites Livy ''[[Ab Urbe Condita Libri]]'' XXVIII 11, 4. Bloch 1981 p. 347 n. 19.</ref>

===Sacrifices===
Neptune is one of only four Roman gods to whom it was considered appropriate to sacrifice a bull. The other three were [[Apollo]], [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]], and [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]], although [[Vulcan (mythology)|Vulcan]] (known in Greek mythology as Hephaestus) has also been depicted with the offering of a red bull and a red-bull calf.<ref>Macrobius ''Saturnalia'' III 10,4</ref> If an incorrect offering was presented, either inadvertently or due to necessity, additional [[propitiation]] was required to avoid divine retribution. This type of offering implied a stricter connection between the deity and the world.<ref>G. Dumezil "Quaestiunculae indo-italicae: 11. Iovi tauro verre ariete immolari non licet" ''Revue d' Etudes Latins'' '''39''' 1961 p. 241-250.</ref>
===Paredrae===
''Paredrae'' are entities who accompany a god, representing the fundamental aspects (or powers) of that god. With Hellenic influence, these ''paredrae'' came to be considered separate deities and consorts of their associated god.<ref>William Warde Fowler ''The Religious experience of the Roman People'' London, 1912, p. 346f.</ref> Earlier folk belief might have also identified ''paredrae'' as consorts of their god.<ref>Aulus Gellius ''Noctes Atticae'' XIII 24, 1-18.</ref>

Salacia and [[Venilia]] have been discussed by ancient and modern scholars. Varro connects Salacia to ''salum'' (sea), and Venilia to ''ventus'' (wind).<ref>Varro Lingua Latina V 72.</ref> Festus attributed to Salacia the motion of the sea.<ref>Festus p. L s.v.</ref> Venilia brought waves to the shore, and Salacia caused their retreat out to sea.<ref name="Augustine-p22">Varro apud Augustine ''[[The City of God|De Civitate Dei]]'' VII 22.</ref> They were examined by the Christian philosopher [[Augustine of Hippo|St. Augustine]], who devoted a chapter of ''[[The City of God|De Civitate Dei]]'' to ridiculing inconsistencies in the theological definition of the entities; since Salacia personified the deep sea, Augustine wondered how she could also be the retreating waves (since waves are a surface phenomenon).<ref name="Augustine-p22" /> He wrote elsewhere that Venilia would be the "hope that comes", an aspect (or power) of Jupiter understood as ''[[anima mundi]]''.<ref>Augustine above II 11.</ref>

Servius, in his commentary on the ''[[Aeneid]]'', wrote about Salacia and Venilia in V 724: "''([[Venus (mythology)|Venus]]) dicitur et Salacia, quae proprie meretricum dea appellata est a veteribus''"; "(Venus) is also called Salacia, who was particularly named goddess of prostitutes by the ancient". Elsewhere, he wrote that Salacia and Venilia are the same entity.<ref name="Fowler_appendix">William Warde Fowler ''The Religious Experience of the Roman People'' London, 1912, Appendix II.</ref>

Among modern scholars, Dumézil and his followers Bloch and Schilling centre their interpretation of Neptune on the direct, concrete, limited value and functions of water. Salacia would represent the forceful, violent aspect of gushing and overflowing water and Venilia the tranquil, gentle aspect of still (or slowly-flowing) water. According to Dumézil,<ref>Dumézil accepts and re-proposes the interpretations of Wissowa and von Domaszewski.</ref> Neptune's two ''paredrae'' (Salacia and Venilia) represent the overpowering and  tranquil aspects of water, natural and domesticated: Salacia the gushing, overbearing waters, and Venilia the still (or quietly-flowing) waters.<ref>Dumezil above p.31</ref>

Preller, Fowler, Petersmann and Takács attribute to the theology of Neptune broader significance as a god of universal worldly fertility, particularly relevant to agriculture and human reproduction. They interpret Salacia as personifying lust, and Venilia as related to ''venia'': ingratiating attraction, connected with love and the desire for reproduction. [[Ludwig Preller]] cited a significant aspect of Venilia; she was recorded in the ''[[indigitamenta]]'' as a deity of longing or desire. According to Preller, this would explain a theonym similar to that of Venus.<ref>Ludwig Preller ''Römische Mythologie'' Berlin, 1858 part II, p.121-2; Servius ''Ad Aeneidem'' VIII 9.</ref> Other data seem to agree; Salacia would parallel [[Thetis]] as the mother of Achilles, and Venilia would be the mother of [[Turnus]] and [[Iuturna]] by [[Daunus]] (king of the [[Rutulians]]). According to another source, Venilia would be the partner of [[Janus]], with whom she mothered the nymph [[Canens (mythology)|Canens]] (loved by [[Picus]]).<ref>Ovid ''Metamorphoses'' XIV 334.</ref> These mythical data underline the reproductive function envisaged in the figures of Neptune's ''paredrae'', particularly that of Venilia, in childbirth and motherhood. A legendary king [[Venulus]] was remembered at [[Tibur]] and [[Lavinium]].<ref>Ludwig Preller above, citing Servius; C. J. Mackie "Turnus and his ancestors" in ''The Classical Quarterly'' (New Series) 1991, 41, pp. 261-265.</ref>