ancient Roman religion Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by the Roman people, people of Rome as well as those who were brought under its rule. The Romans thought of themselves as high ...

, Rumina, Rumilia or Rumia, in William Smith, ''A dictionary of greek and roman antiquities'' III, London, Murray, 1895. also known as Diva Rumina, was a goddess who protected breastfeeding mothers, and possibly nursing infants. Her domain extended to protecting animal mothers, not just human ones. As one of the ''

indigitamenta In ancient Roman religion, the ''indigitamenta'' were lists of deities kept by the College of Pontiffs to assure that the correct divine names were invoked for public prayers. These lists or books probably described the nature of the various deit ...

'', Rumina lacked the elaborate mythology and personality of later Roman deities, and was instead a more abstract,

numinous Numinous () means "arousing spiritual or religious emotion; mysterious or awe-inspiring";Collins English Dictionary - 7th ed. - 2005 also "supernatural" or "appealing to the aesthetic sensibility." The term was given its present sense by the Ger ...

entity. Rumina's temple was near the ''

Ficus Ruminalis The ''Ficus Ruminalis'' was a wild fig tree that had religious and mythological significance in ancient Rome. It stood near the small cave known as the Lupercal at the foot of the Palatine Hill and was the spot where according to tradition the f ...

'', the fig tree at the foot of the

Palatine Hill The Palatine Hill (; Classical Latin: ''Palatium''; Neo-Latin: ''Collis/Mons Palatinus''; ), which relative to the seven hills of Rome is the centremost, is one of the most ancient parts of the city; it has been called "the first nucleus of the ...

where

Romulus and Remus In Roman mythology, Romulus and (, ) are twins in mythology, twin brothers whose story tells of the events that led to the Founding of Rome, founding of the History of Rome, city of Rome and the Roman Kingdom by Romulus, following his frat ...

were raised by a she-wolf. Milk, rather than the typical wine, was offered as a sacrifice at this temple. In AD 58, the tree started to die, which was interpreted as a bad

omen An omen (also called ''portent'') is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. It was commonly believed in ancient history, and still believed by some today, that omens bring divine messages ...

References

* Hammond, N.G.L. & Scullard, H.H. (Eds.) (1970). ''The Oxford Classical Dictionary'' (p. 940). Oxford: Oxford University Press. . Roman goddesses Childhood goddesses Animal goddesses Childhood in ancient Rome Breastfeeding {{AncientRome-myth-stub