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Dea Dia

Dea Dia
Goddess of fertility and growth
FestivalsAmbarvalia
Equivalents
GreekDemeter
Religion in
ancient Rome
Marcus Aurelius sacrificing
Marcus Aurelius (head covered)
sacrificing at the Temple of Jupiter
Practices and beliefs
Priesthoods
Deities
Related topics
Bust of Lucius Verus wearing the headdress of an "Arval brother," who honoured Dea Dia at Ambarvalia.

Dea Dia (Latin: "Goddess of Daylight", or "Bright Goddess") was a goddess of fertility and growth in ancient Roman religion. She was sometimes identified with Ceres, and sometimes with her Greek equivalent Demeter.[1]

She was worshiped during Ambarvalia, a festival to Ceres.[2] Every May, her priests, the Fratres Arvales, held a three-day festival in her honor.[3][4]

Name

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The name Dea Dīa (Classical Latin: [ˈd̪e.a ˈd̪iː.a]) means 'Goddess of Daylight' or 'Bright Goddess'.[5][6] The first element stems from the Latin dea ('goddess'), while the second is related to diēs ('day'), probably in reference to the ritual prescription to announce in January the May ceremonies sub divo culmine ('under the celestial vault').[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Michael Lipka (2009). Roman Gods: A Conceptual Approach. BRILL. pp. 64–. ISBN 978-90-04-17503-7.
  2. ^ Hildegard Temporini (1 December 1985). Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt: Geschichte und Kultur Roms im Spiegel der neueren Forschung. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 1949–. ISBN 978-3-11-008289-0.
  3. ^ Notes on Strabo's account, 5.3
  4. ^ Angelo Pellegrini (1865). Gli edifici del collegio dei Fratelli Arvali nel lugo della dea dia e i di loro avanzi: opuscolo corredato con pianta delineata dal medesimo. tipografia Chassi. pp. 6–.
  5. ^ a b Schilling 1992, pp. 113–114.
  6. ^ Jenkyns 2013, p. 96.

Bibliography

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Further reading

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  • Brinton, D. G. (1892). "The Etrusco-Libyan Elements in the Song of the Arval Brethren". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 30 (139): 317–324. JSTOR 983355.
  • Kilgour, Andrew (1938). "The Ambarvalia and the Sacrificivm Deae Diae". Mnemosyne. 6 (3): 225–240. JSTOR 4426866. ProQuest 1299139937.
  • Price, S. R. F. (1992). "The Arval Brothers". The Classical Review. 42 (2): 341–344. doi:10.1017/S0009840X00284060. JSTOR 713240. S2CID 246879606.
  • Scheid, John (2019). Ad Deam Diam. Ein heiliger Hain in Roms Suburbium [Ad Deam Diam. A sacred grove in Rome's suburbium]. Stuttgart: Steiner, ISBN 978-3-515-12327-3 (introduction to the cult of Dea Dia and its significance for the understanding of Roman religion, in German).
  • Scheid, John; Broise, Henri (2020). Un bois sacré du suburbium romain. Topographie générale du site ad deam diam [A sacred grove in the Roman suburbium. General topography of the ad deam diam site]. Roma Antica, vol. 8. Rome: École Française de Rome, ISBN 978-2-7283-1476-8 (Final report on the more recent excavations in the sanctuary of Dea Dia, mostly in French).