Vejovis or Vejove ( or ; rare or ) was a

Roman god Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the Latin literature, literature and Roman art, visual arts of the Romans, and is a form of Roman folklore. "Roman mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these ...

Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *Etruscan civilization (1st millennium BC) and related things: **Etruscan language ** Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities **Etruscan coins **Etruscan history **Etruscan myt ...

origins (, or ).

Representation and worship

Vejovis was portrayed as a young man, holding a bunch of arrows (or lightning bolts), or a

pilum The ''pilum'' (; : ''pila'') was a javelin commonly used by the Roman army in ancient times. It was generally about long overall, consisting of an iron shank about in diameter and long with a pyramidal head, attached to a wooden shaft by eith ...

, in his hand, and accompanied by a goat. Romans believed that Vejovis was one of the first gods to be born. He was a god of healing, and became associated with the Greek

Asclepius Asclepius (; ''Asklēpiós'' ; ) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Religion in ancient Greece, Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis (lover of Apollo), Coronis, or Arsinoe (Greek myth), Ars ...

. He was mostly worshipped in

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, ...

and

Bovillae Bovillae was an ancient Latin town in Lazio, central Italy, currently part of Frattocchie ''frazione'' in the municipality of Marino. Overview Bovillae was a station on the Via Appia (which in 293 BC was already paved up to this point), located ...

Latium Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire. Definition Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil (Old Latium) on whic ...

. On the

Capitoline Hill The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; ; ), between the Roman Forum, Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn (mythology), Saturn. The wo ...

and on the

Tiber Island The Tiber Island (, Latin: ''Insula Tiberina'') is the only river island in the part of the Tiber which runs through Rome. Tiber Island is located in the southern bend of the Tiber. The island is boat-shaped, approximately long and wide, and ha ...

, temples were erected in his honour. Though he was associated with volcanic eruptions, his original role and function is obscured to us. He is occasionally identified with

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

and young

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

. Aulus Gellius, in the '' Noctes Atticae'', written around 177 CE, speculated that Vejovis was an ill-omened counterpart of

; compare

Summanus Summanus () was the god of nocturnal thunder in ancient Roman religion, as counterposed to Jupiter, the god of diurnal (daylight) thunder. His precise nature was unclear even to Ovid. Pliny thought that he was of Etruscan origin, and one of t ...

. Aulus Gellius observes that the particle ''ve-'' that prefixes the name of the god also appears in

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 ...

words such as ''vesanus'', "insane," and thus interprets the name Vejovis as the anti-

Jove Jupiter ( or , from Proto-Italic "day, sky" + "father", thus "sky father" Greek: Δίας or Ζεύς), also known as Jove ( nom. and gen. ), is the god of the sky and thunder, and king of the gods in ancient Roman religion and mytholog ...

Temple

He had a

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

between the two peaks of the

, where his statue carried a bundle of arrows and stood next to a statue of a she-goat.

Sacrifices

In spring, multiple goats were sacrificed to him to avert plagues. Gellius informs us that Vejovis received the

sacrifice Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Gree ...

of a female

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...

, sacrificed ''ritu humano'' (lit. "by human rite"); this obscure phrase could possibly mean "after the manner of a

human sacrifice Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease deity, gods, a human ruler, public or jurisdictional demands for justice by capital punishment, an authoritative/prie ...

" or "in the manner of a burial." These offerings were less about the animal sacrificed and more about the soul sacrificed.

Festivals

Vejovis had three festivals in the Roman Calendar: on 1 January, 7 March, and 21 May.The Nature of the Gods By Marcus Tullius Cicero
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References

{{Authority control Roman gods Etruscan gods Sabine gods Vengeance gods Underworld gods Health gods Asclepius Plague gods Jovian deities Epithets of Śuri