Dea in Italy. She became a war-goddess, as did Juno, and the astrologers were inclined to turn the heaven-goddess into one of destiny, so identifying her with Fortuna.26 We are by this last fact reminded of the connection between Juno and Fortuna at Praeneste.27

* Cumont, op. cit. 1250.

27 Supra pp. 46 ff.

Sospita

Sospita1 and Sispes (sometimes written Sispita and Seispes) were the special names of Juno at Lanuvium. In 338 B.C., when Lanuvium entered the Roman federation, Sospita became Roman; but her cult at the first site was not abandoned, so that Livy2 speaks of a shrine and a grove communis Lanuvinis municipibus cum populo Romano.

Festus states that the name seems to have been derived from σwšev. Corssen1 and Roscher" agree that the source is sapati, "protector"; but if Sispes is the older form, there must be a different origin. H. Ehrlich would find it in *sids-potis (sidus), "one powerful over the celestial body (the moon)."

She had a temple on the heights at Lanuvium. On the side of the hill, however, there seems to have been a cave of a sacred serpent; and Propertius' says that thither dedicated virgins brought cakes on fixed days. If the serpent accepted the offering, the maidens were thus proved pure and the people counted on a fruitful year. Coins portraying Juno Sospita with a serpent would seem to indicate that this rite was part of the Juno-cult, though there is no statement from ancient times which says so. Miss E. M. Douglas, who has made a thorough study of certain aspects of the worship here, justly comments on the incongruity of the goddess worshipped on the citadel and of the serpent in the dark grotto on the hillside. She thinks that the latter ceremony may lead back to a hero-cult at Lanuvium,

8

1 C.I.L. I, 1110-XIV, 2090; Not. d. Sc. 1907, p. 657-Ephem. Epigr. IX (1913) no. 65. For form of the word see Dessau, C.I.L. XIV, p. 192 and E. M. Douglas, Journal of Roman Studies, III (1913) p. 61. According to Miss Douglas, Sospes, Seispes and Sispes are older forms.

2 * VIII, 14, 2.

3 P. 462 L.

Ausspr. 12, pp. 425 f. and II, p. 365.

5 Roscher's Lex. II, 595.

6 Zeitschr. für Vergl. Spr. 1907, pp. 283 ff.

7 IV, 8; Aelian, Hist. An. XI, 16, says Lavinium; Wissowa, op.

note 6.

8 Op. cit. pp. 61 ff.

and that perhaps there was an attempt to render it subordinate to Juno-worship by giving the goddess a snake as an attribute.

But even if the ritual at the cave was a part of the service to the goddess, Juno need not necessarily be a chthonic deity. Erich Küster in his special treatise about the serpent remarks that the agrarian character of this spring custom is clear, as is also the oracular significance of the snakes, by whose behavior the fruitfulness of the year was made known. We observe that at Lanuvium, if the offering be accepted by the serpent, the year will be fruitful, thus indicating that the goddess has power over the harvests. Aelian10 tells of a ceremony in Apollo's holy hedge in Epirus, which was very similar to the Lanuvian. In these rites the snake is the symbol of the power of nature renewing herself, just as the snake after winter takes on new life in the spring. As a symbol of fertility, says Küster, the snake was not only an attribute of the chthonic deities, but also of the Olympians who had assumed temporary or lasting agrarian functions. He cites as instances Zeus Meilichios and Zeus Ktesios.11

In contrast to the ceremony performed by dedicated virgins at the cave, we note that the services of the temple on the heights were conducted by a college of priests, composed of Roman knights and a dictator of Lanuvium together with a flamen appointed by him. The Roman authorities participated in an annual festival, in which the consul must present an offering at the appointed time.12

The festival of her temple in the Forum Holitorium in Rome was on the Calends of February and we may infer that at Lanuvium the same day was sacred to her. Wissowa13 thinks it was not by accident that the celebration here was on the first of February and that of Juno Lucina was on the first of March, the two Calends nearest the Lupercalia. In the Lupercalia Juno had some part, for the thong with which women

'Die Schlange in der gr. Kunst und Relig. pp. 143-4.

10 Nat. An. XI, 2.

11 Op. cit. p. 145.

12 Cicero, Pro Mil. 27 and 45 f.; Dessau, C.I.L. XIV, p. 192; Marquardt, Röm. Staatsver. III, p. 476.

13 Op. cit. p. 185.

were struck to produce fertility was called amiculum Iunonis.14 It must be noted however that the Flamen Dialis, priest of Jupiter, was present at the festival.

According to Mannhardt,15 the participation of Juno in the Lupercalia belonged rather to theological erudition than to old folk-beliefs. He sees similarity in the goat-skin thrown over the shoulder of Juno Sospita to the goat-skin covering of the satyrs, but no close historical connection between the insignia.

Petersen,16 thinking Sospita is no Italian invention but can be traced back to Ionic Athena, believes that the aegis of Athena, of Ionic workmanship and dating from the sixth century, was transferred to the goddess of Lanuvium. Thulin17 agrees with him in this. Those who believe in a derivation from σwšev for Sospita can see some confirmation for this idea in the fact that Athena was also called Zwreɩpa. In like manner the representation of Juno Sospita driving a biga of goats has perhaps a Greek origin.18

Wissowa,19 who also thinks a vanished Greek type is the basis for this form of Juno, is of the opinion that she was raised to the rank of leading deity of the state because she was a goddess of increase. He points to Populona, Fortuna, and Diana, the state deities of Praeneste and Aricia, as parallel cases. In her military aspect she was very like Hera Οπλοσμία, ̓Αλέξανδρος, and Τροπαία.

Certainly there must have been an indigenous Italian divinity at Lanuvium,20 who was older than her imported attributes. She no doubt originated as goddess of the sky and was associated with Jupiter in certain of his manifestations which relate to harvests, general protection, and a main-stay in war. Because of her identification with him, she easily assumed certain attributes of Athena and Hera. But as Hera

14 Her worship as Februa, Februlis was derived from this rite; cf. Festus.

p. 85 L.; Ovid, Fasti, II, 427 f.; Mart. Cap. II, 149; Arnob. III, 30.

15 Quellen und Forsch. zur Spr. und Cultur-Gesch. 1884, pp. 1 ff.

16 Röm. Mitt. IX (1894) pp. 296-7.

17 Etrusk. Disciplin, p. 37, note 2.

18 Wissowa, op. cit. p. 189, note 1; Roscher's Lex. II, 602.

19 Op. cit. p. 189; Dümmler (Kl. Schr. III, p. 254, note 2) thinks it is not impossible that Sospita goes back to Greek cult.

20 Douglas, op. cit. pp. 61-8.

worship eclipsed the Zeus-cult at some Greek centers, such as Argos and Samos, so her cult became the important one at Lanuvium. Like Jupiter she sent the lightning and thunder,2 as did Juno of Falerii and Tibur. This accords well with the fact that in the neighboring cults she held the position of leading deity in the state. We have evidence that Regina2 was sometimes added to the cult-title Sospita.

21 Verg. Aen. I, 42 and Servius's note; Livy, XXII, 1.

22 C.I.L. XIV, 2090.