Vagitanus Guangxiensis
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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 ...
, Vagitanus or Vaticanus was one of a number of childbirth deities who influenced or guided some aspect of
parturition Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the f ...
, in this instance the newborn's crying. Some sources relate it to the
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
noun In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, like living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an Object (grammar), object or Subject (grammar), subject within a p ...
''vagitus'', "crying, squalling, wailing," particularly by a baby or an animal, and the
verb A verb is a word that generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual description of English, the basic f ...
''vagio, vagire''. Vagitanus has thus been described as the god "who presided over the beginning of human speech," but a distinction should be made between the first cry and the first instance of articulate speech, in regard to which
Fabulinus In the popular religion of ancient Rome, though not appearing in literary Roman mythology, the god Fabulinus (from ''fabulari'', to speak) taught children to speak. He received an offering when the child spoke its first words. He figured among wh ...
(''fari'', "to speak"; cf. '' fabula'') was the deity to invoke. Vagitanus has been connected to a remark by Pliny that only a human being is thrown naked onto the naked earth on his day of birth for immediate wails (''vagitus'') and weeping.


Name

The "divine functionaries" (
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
''Sondergötter'') whose names express their sphere of influence are considered characteristic of
Indo-European religion Proto-Indo-European mythology is the body of myths and deities associated with the Proto-Indo-Europeans, speakers of the hypothesized Proto-Indo-European language. Although the mythological motifs are not directly attested – since Proto-Ind ...
s. The name ''Vaticanus'' was discussed by various ancient authors. The name ''Vaticanus'' in connection to ''vagitus'' is discussed by
Aulus Gellius Aulus Gellius (c. 125after 180 AD) was a Roman author and grammarian, who was probably born and certainly brought up in Rome. He was educated in Athens, after which he returned to Rome. He is famous for his ''Attic Nights'', a commonplace book, ...
and
Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...
. Gellius quotes
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 ...
, who is generally acknowledged also as Augustine's main source on ancient Roman theology:
We have been told that the word ''Vatican'' is applied to the hill, and the deity who presides over it, from the ''vaticinia'', or prophecies, which took place there by the power and inspiration of the god; but Marcus Varro, in his book on ''Divine Things'', gives another reason for this name. "As
Aius Aius Locutius (, spoken affirmation), or Aius Loquens (, speaking affirmation), was a Roman deity or numen associated with the Gallic invasions of Rome during the early 4th century BC. According to legend, a Roman plebeian named M. Caedicius he ...
," says he, "was called a deity, and an altar was built to his honour in the lowest part of the new road, because in that place a voice from heaven was heard, so this deity was called ''Vaticanus'', because he presided over the principles of the human voice; for infants, as soon as they are born, make the sound which forms the first syllable in ''Vaticanus'', and are therefore said ''vagire'' (to cry) which word expresses the noise which an infant first makes.
Despite the insistence on an etymological connection between the god's name and ''vagitus'', Gronovius thought the correct form should be ''Vaticanus'', and that ''Vagitanus'' was
Vulgar Latin Vulgar Latin, also known as Colloquial, Popular, Spoken or Vernacular Latin, is the range of non-formal Register (sociolinguistics), registers of Latin spoken from the Crisis of the Roman Republic, Late Roman Republic onward. ''Vulgar Latin'' a ...
rather than classical.
Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...
mentions Vagitanus/Vaticanus three times in Book 4 '' On the City of God'' in deriding the "mob" of Roman gods (''turba deorum''). In demonstrating that the names of gods reveal their function, he points to Vaticanus, "who presides over the cries (''vagitibus'') of infants," noting elsewhere that among the many deities associated with childbirth, Vaticanus is the one who opens the mouth of the newborn in crying (''in vagitu'').
Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...
, ''
De civitate Dei ''On the City of God Against the Pagans'' (), often called ''The City of God'', is a book of Christian philosophy written in Latin by Augustine of Hippo in the early 5th century AD. Augustine wrote the book to refute allegations that Christian ...
'' 4.8: ''Vaticanus, qui infantum vagitibus praesidet'' (4.8) and ''ipse in uagitu os aperiat et uocetur deus Vaticanus'' (4.11); mentioned again in passing at 4.21.


See also

*
Eileithyia Eileithyia or Ilithyia (; ; (''Eleuthyia'') in Crete, also (''Eleuthia'') or (''Elysia'') in Laconia and Messene, and (''Eleuthō'') in literature)Nilsson Vol I, p. 313 was the Greek goddess of childbirth and midwifery, and the daughter o ...
*
Di nixi In Religion in ancient Rome, ancient Roman religion, the ''di nixi'' (or ''dii nixi''), also ''Nixae'', were birth deities. They were depicted kneeling or squatting position, squatting, a more common Childbirth positions, birthing position in anti ...
*
List of Roman birth and childhood deities In ancient Roman religion, birth and childhood deities were thought to care for every aspect of conception, pregnancy, childbirth, and child development. Some major deities of Roman religion had a specialized function they contributed to this ...


References

{{Roman religion Childhood gods Roman gods