Salacia (mythology)
In Roman mythology, Salacia is the goddess of salt water and the consort of Neptune . The nymph Salacia is often equated with the amphitrite from Greek mythology .
There are various etymological derivations for the origin of the name. The name could be derived from “salum” (sea or ocean wave), but also from “sal” (salt). Another possible derivation comes from the word "salax" (horny), so that Salacia was sometimes seen as the goddess of love.
The ancient Roman cult around the goddess Salacia had largely been forgotten in the late Roman Republic and the Roman Empire . Salacia is mentioned in passing by some authors. Cicero equated Salacia with Thetis , Apuleius also mentions Salacia together with Nereids and as Neptune's companion. With Marcus Terentius Varro and Augustine of Hippo , Salacia is the wife of Neptune, also with Maurus Servius Honoratus , who called her the mother of Triton .
In Eastern Europe there are several references to a resurgence of the cult around Salacia in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, for example on an inscription from Tragurium (today Trogir, Croatia) and on altars from Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa (today Sarmizegetusa , Romania) and Vindobona (Vienna ).
(120347) Salacia , an asteroid in the Kuiper Belt , was named after Salacia.
The Roman settlement Salacia Urbs Imperatoria , today's Alcácer do Sal in Portugal, was named in honor of the nymph Salacia.
literature
- Géza Alföldy : The goddess Salacia and the Roman religion in Illyricum. In: Zbornik u čast Emilija Marina: za 60. rođendan = Miscellanea Emilio Marin: sexagenario dicata. Split 2011, pp. 87-130.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alcácer eo Império Romano on the website of the municipality of Alcácer do Sal, accessed on February 23, 2020 (Portuguese).