__NOTOC__ Portunus was the ancient Roman god of keys, doors, livestock and ports. He may have originally protected the warehouses where grain was stored, but later became associated with ports, perhaps because of folk associations between ''porta'' "gate, door" and ''portus'' "harbor", the "gateway" to the sea, or because of an expansion in the meaning of ''portus''. Portunus later became conflated with the Greek Palaemon. Portunus' festival, celebrated on August 17, the sixteenth day before the Kalends of September, was the Portunalia, a minor occasion in the Roman year. On this day, keys were thrown into a fire for good luck in a very solemn and lugubrious manner. His attribute was a key and his main temple in the city of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, the Temple of Portunus, was to be found in the

Forum Boarium The Forum Boarium (, ) was the cattle market or '' forum venalium'' of ancient Rome. It was located on a level piece of land near the Tiber between the Capitoline, the Palatine and Aventine hills. As the site of the original docks of Rome () ...

near the city's oldest riverine port, the , and the oldest stone bridge over the river, the Pons Aemilius. Temple of Portunus

Portunus appears to be closely related to the god Janus, with whom he shares many characters, functions and the symbol of the key. He too was represented as a two headed being, with each head facing opposite directions, on coins and as figurehead of ships. He was considered to be ''deus portuum portarumque praeses'' (lit. God presiding over ports and gates). The relationship between the two gods is underlined by the fact that the date chosen for the dedication of the rebuilt temple of Janus in the Forum Holitorium by emperor

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

is the day of the Portunalia, August 17. Linguist Giuliano Bonfante has speculated, on the grounds of his cult and of the meaning of his name, that Portunus should be a very archaic deity and might date back to an era when Latins lived in dwellings built on pilings. He argues that in Latin the words ''porta'' (door, gate) and ''portus'' (harbour, port) share their etymology from the same Indo-European root meaning ''ford'', ''wading point''. Portunus' flamen, the flamen Portunalis, was one of the flamines minores and performed the ritual of oiling the spear (''hasta'') on the statue of god

Quirinus In Roman mythology and Roman religion, religion, Quirinus ( , ) is an early god of the Ancient Rome, Roman state. In Augustus, Augustan Rome, ''Quirinus'' was also an epithet of Janus, Mars (mythology), Mars, and Jupiter (god), Jupiter. Name ...

, with an ointment especially prepared for this purpose and stored in a small vase (''persillum'').Fest. p. 321 L2

Gallery

File:Roman key humanoid face 1st century CE Cleveland Museum of Art.jpg, ''Roman key human face 1st century CE'' File:Roman key with Pan face 1st century CE Cleveland Museum of Art.jpg, ''Roman key Pan face 1st century CE'' File:Italy, Roman, 1st Century - Key - 1952.586 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif, ''Roman key with Janus-style handle 1st century CE''

References and sources

References

Sources

Marcus Terentius Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BCE) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Virgil and Cicero). He is sometimes call ...

, ''De Lingua Latina'' vi.19. *

External links

William Smith, 1875. ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'' (John Murray, London): "Portumnalia"
{{authority control Roman gods Sea and river gods Liminal gods Agricultural gods