Editing Jupiter (god) (section)

=== Veiove ===
{{Main|Vejovis}}
Scholars have been often puzzled by Ve(d)iove (or [[Veiovis]], or Vedius) and unwilling to discuss his identity, claiming our knowledge of this god is insufficient.{{sfnp|Dumézil|1977|p=188 n. 44}}{{sfnp|Fowler|1899|pp=121–122}}<ref>Kurt Latte ''Römische Religionsgeschichte'' Munich 1960 p. 81 and n. 3.</ref> Most, however, agree that Veiove is a sort of special Jupiter or anti-Iove, or even an underworld Jupiter. In other words, Veiove is indeed the Capitoline god himself, who takes up a different, diminished appearance (''iuvenis'' and ''parvus'', young and gracile), in order to be able to discharge sovereign functions over places, times and spheres that by their own nature are excluded from the direct control of Jupiter as Optimus Maximus.<ref>G. Piccaluga "L' anti-Iupiter" in ''Studi e Materiali di Storia delle Religioni'' XXXIV 1963 p. 229-236; E. Gierstad "Veiovis, a pre-indoeuropean God in Rome?" in ''Opuscola Romana'' 9, 4 1973 pp. 35–42.</ref> This conclusion is based on information provided by Gellius,<ref>Aulus Gellius V 12.</ref> who states his name is formed by adding prefix ''ve'' (here denoting "deprivation" or "negation") to ''Iove '' (whose name Gellius posits as rooted in the verb ''iuvo'' "I benefit"). D. Sabbatucci has stressed the feature of bearer of instability and antithesis to cosmic order of the god, who threatens the kingly power of Jupiter as ''Stator'' and ''Centumpeda'' and whose presence occurs side by side to Janus' on 1 January, but also his function of helper to the growth of the young Jupiter.<ref>{{harvp|Sabbatucci|1988}}, as summarized by {{harvp|Turcan|1989|pp=70, 72–73}}. On the aspect of making Jupiter grow up, Turcan cites the denarii struck by [[Manius Fonteius]] and [[Valerian the younger]] of the type ''Iovi crescenti'' mentioned by A. Alföldi in ''Studien zur Geschichte der Weltkrisedes 3. Jhd. n.Chr.'' Darmstadt 1067 p. 112 f.</ref> In 1858 [[Ludwig Preller]] suggested that Veiovis may be the sinister double of Jupiter.<ref>Ludwig Preller ''Römische Mythologie'' I p. 262 f.</ref>

The god (under the name ''Vetis'') is placed in the last case (number 16) of the outer rim of the Piacenza Liver—before ''Cilens'' (Nocturnus), who ends (or begins in the Etruscan vision) the disposition of the gods. In [[Martianus Capella]]'s division of heaven, he is found in region XV with the ''dii publici''; as such, he numbers among the infernal (or antipodal) gods. The location of his two temples in Rome—near those of Jupiter (one on the Capitoline Hill, in the low between the ''arx'' and the Capitolium, between the two groves where the [[asylum (antiquity)|asylum]] founded by Romulus stood, the other on the Tiber Island near that of ''Iuppiter Iurarius'', later also known as temple of Aesculapius)<ref>Ovid ''Fasti'' I, 291–294.</ref>—may be significant in this respect, along with the fact that he is considered the father of Apollo, perhaps because he was depicted carrying arrows.<ref>Ferruccio Bernini ''Ovidio. I Fasti'' (translation and commentary), III 429; Bologna 1983 (reprint).</ref> He is also considered to be the unbearded Jupiter.<ref>Vitruvius ''De Architectura'' IV 8, 4.</ref> The dates of his festivals support the same conclusion: they fall on 1 January,<ref>Ovid ''Fasti''. Fasti Praenestini CIL I 2nd p. 231: ''Aescu]lapio Vediovi in insula''.</ref> 7 March<ref>Fasti Praen.: ''Non. Mart. F(as)...]ovi artis Vediovis inter duos lucos''; Ovid ''Fasti'' III, 429–430.</ref> and 21 May,<ref>Ovid ''Fasti'' V, 721–722. ''XII Kal. Iun. NP Agonia'' (Esq. Caer. Ven. Maff.); ''Vediovi'' (Ven.).</ref> the first date being the recurrence of the [[Agonalia]], dedicated to Janus and celebrated by the king with the sacrifice of a ram. The nature of the sacrifice is debated; Gellius states ''capra'', a female goat, although some scholars posit a ram. This sacrifice occurred ''rito humano'', which may mean "with the rite appropriate for human sacrifice".<ref>Wissowa on the grounds of Paulus's glossa ''humanum sacrificium'' p. 91 L interprets "with a rite proper to a ceremony in honour of the deceased". G. Piccaluga at n. 15 and 21 pp. 231–232 though remarks that Gellius does not state ''sacrificium humanum'' but only states...''immolaturque ritu humano capra''.</ref> Gellius concludes by stating that this god is one of those who receive sacrifices so as to persuade them to refrain from causing harm.

The arrow is an ambivalent symbol; it was used in the ritual of the [[devotio]] (the general who vowed had to stand on an arrow).<ref>Livy VIII 9, 6.</ref> It is perhaps because of the arrow and of the juvenile looks that Gellius identifies Veiove with Apollo<ref>Gellius V 12, 12.</ref> and as a god who must receive worship in order to obtain his abstention from harming men, along with [[Robigus]] and [[Averruncus]].<ref>Gellius V 12. The Romans knew and offered a cult to other such deities: among them ''Febris'', ''Tussis'', ''Mefitis''.</ref> The ambivalence in the identity of Veiove is apparent in the fact that while he is present in places and times which may have a negative connotation (such as the ''asylum'' of Romulus in between the two groves on the Capitol, the Tiberine island along with Faunus and Aesculapius, the kalends of January, the nones of March, and 21 May, a statue of his nonetheless stands in the ''arx''. Moreover, the initial particle ''ve-'' which the ancient supposed were part of his name is itself ambivalent as it may have both an accrescitive and diminutive value.<ref>G. Piccaluga "L' anti-Juppiter" in ''Studi e Materiali di Storia delle Religioni'' XXXIV 1963 p. 233-234 and notes 30, 31 citing Gellius V 12 and Pliny the Elder ''Naturalis Historia'' XVI 216: "''Non et simulacrum Veiovis in arce?''".</ref>

Maurice Besnier has remarked that a temple to ''Iuppiter'' was dedicated by ''praetor'' Lucius Furius Purpureo before the [[Battle of Cremona (200 BC)|battle of Cremona]] against the [[Cenomani (Cisalpine Gaul)|Celtic Cenomani of Cisalpine Gaul]].<ref>Livy XXXI 21.</ref> An inscription found at [[Brescia]] in 1888 shows that ''Iuppiter Iurarius'' was worshipped there<ref>Ettore Pais CIL ''Supplementa Italica'' I ''addimenta al CIL V'' in ''Atti dei Lincei, Memorie'' V 1888 n. 1272: ''I O M IUR D(e) C(onscriptorum) S(ententia)''.</ref> and one found on the south tip of Tiber Island in 1854 that there was a cult to the god on the spot too.<ref>CIL I 1105: ''C. Volcaci C. F Har. de stipe Iovi Iurario... onimentum''.</ref> Besnier speculates that Lucius Furius had evoked the chief god of the enemy and built a temple to him in Rome outside the ''pomerium''. On 1 January, the ''Fasti Praenestini'' record the festivals of Aesculapius and Vediove on the Island, while in the ''Fasti'' Ovid speaks of ''Jupiter'' and his grandson.<ref>Ovid ''Fasti'' I, 291–295.</ref> Livy records that in 192 BC, ''duumvir'' Q. Marcus Ralla dedicated to Jupiter on the Capitol the two temples promised by L. Furius Purpureo, one of which was that promised during the war against the Gauls.<ref>Livy XXXV 41.</ref> Besnier would accept a correction to Livy's passage (proposed by Jordan) to read ''aedes Veiovi'' instead of ''aedes duae Iovi''. Such a correction concerns the temples dedicated on the Capitol: it does not address the question of the dedication of the temple on the Island, which is puzzling, since the place is attested epigraphically as dedicated to the cult of ''Iuppiter Iurarius'', in the ''Fasti Praenestini'' of ''Vediove''<ref>Cfr. above: "''Aeculapio Vediovi in insula''".</ref> and to Jupiter according to Ovid. The two gods may have been seen as equivalent: ''Iuppiter Iurarius'' is an awesome and vengeful god, parallel to the Greek ''Zeus Orkios'', the avenger of perjury.<ref>Maurice Besnier "Jupiter Jurarius" in ''Mélanges d'archéologie et d' histoire'' '''18''' 1898 pp. 287–289.</ref>

A. Pasqualini has argued that Veiovis seems related to ''Iuppiter Latiaris'', as the original figure of this Jupiter would have been superseded on the Alban Mount, whereas it preserved its gruesome character in the ceremony held on the sanctuary of the Latiar Hill, the southernmost hilltop of the [[Quirinal]] in Rome, which involved a human sacrifice. The [[gens Iulia]] had gentilician cults at [[Bovillae]] where a dedicatory inscription to Vediove has been found in 1826 on an ara.<ref>CIL XIV 2387 = ILS 2988 = ILLRP 270=CIL I 807: ''Vediovei patrei genteiles Iuliei leege Albana dicata''.</ref> According to Pasqualini it was a deity similar to Vediove, wielder of lightning bolts and chthonic, who was connected to the cult of the founders who first inhabited the Alban Mount and built the sanctuary. Such a cult once superseded on the Mount would have been taken up and preserved by the Iulii, private citizens bound to the ''sacra Albana'' by their Alban origin.<ref>A. Pasqualini "Le basi documenatarie della ''leggenda'' di Alba Longa" Universita' di Roma Torvergata 2012 online.</ref>