Editing Tempestas

{{Short description|Ancient Roman goddess of storms}}
In [[Religion in ancient Rome|ancient Roman religion]], '''Tempestas''' (Latin ''[[Wiktionary:tempestas|tempestas]]'': "season, weather; bad weather; storm, tempest") is a goddess of storms or sudden weather. As with certain other nature and weather deities, the plural form '''Tempestates''' is common. [[Cicero]], in discussing whether natural phenomena such as rainbows and clouds should be regarded as divine, notes that the Tempestates had been consecrated as deities by the Roman people.<ref>[[Cicero]], ''De Natura Deorum'' 3.51 ''(tempests, quae Populi Romani ritibus consecrate sunt)''; [[H.H. Scullard]], ''Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic'' (Cornell University Press, 1981), p. 127.</ref>

A [[Roman temple|temple]] (''[[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#aedes|aedes]]'' or ''[[delubrum]]'') was dedicated to the Tempestates (given in the singular by [[Ovid]]<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Fasti (poem)|Fasti]]'' 6.193.</ref>) by [[Lucius Cornelius Scipio (consul 259 BC)|L. Cornelius Scipio]] in 259 BC,<ref>''[[Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum|CIL]]'' 1<sup>2</sup>.9 = 6.12897 (''[[Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae|ILS]]'' 3); Michael Lipka, ''Roman Gods: A Conceptual Approach'' (Brill, 2009), p. 128.</ref> as recorded by his [[epitaph]].<ref>John Muccigrosso, "Religion and Politics: Did the Romans Scruple about the Placement of Their Temples?" in ''Religion in Republican Italy'' (Cambridge University Press, 2006), p. 186.</ref> Scipio had been caught in a storm with his fleet off [[Corsica]], and the building of the temple was in fulfillment of a [[votum|vow]] made in asking for deliverance.<ref>Lawrence Richardson, ''A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992), p. 379.</ref> Ovid gives the dedication day as June 1, but it appears as December 23 in the ''[[Fasti Antiates|Fasti Antiates Maiores]]''; this latter date may mark a renovation,<ref>Richardson, ''New Topographical Dictionary,'' p. 379.</ref> or there may have been more than one temple to the Tempestates.<ref>Scullard, ''Festivals and Ceremonies,'' p. 127.</ref> The temple vowed in 259 was located in [[14 regions of Augustan Rome#I: Porta Capena|Regio I]], perhaps near the [[Tomb of the Scipios]], and was connected with the temples of [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]] and [[Minerva]] there.<ref>Richardson, ''New Topographical Dictionary,'' pp. 255, 379.</ref> [[William Warde Fowler]] saw a pattern of temple dedications during this period that acknowledged water as a divine force, including the Temple of Juturna vowed in 241 by [[Gaius Lutatius Catulus|Lutatius Catulus]], and the Temple of [[Fontus|Fons]] during the Corsican war of 231.<ref>[[William Warde Fowler]], ''The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic'' (London, 1908), p. 341.</ref> Black sheep were sacrificed at her temple.

==References==
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[[Category:Roman goddesses]]
[[Category:Sky and weather goddesses]]


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