Vaticanus (deity)
Vaticanus (also Vagitanus ) was a Roman deity . He was responsible for the crying of the babies and children .
Mentioned by Augustine
Augustine of Hippo (354-430) mentions Vaticanus several times in his work De Civitate Dei ( On the State of God ). He writes about the reasons why, in his opinion, the Romans prefer their numerous gods to the Christian God , and also reports on the deity Vaticanus.
- “Which gods were it whose protection the Roman Empire owed its prosperity and preservation in the opinion of the Romans, while they did not consider entrusting anything to the protection of one god alone to be advisable? (...) ... or the Vaticanus, who presides over the cries [vagitus] of the children ” (4th book, chapter 8)
In the eleventh chapter of the fourth book, Augustine writes that pagan scholars use the name of the god Jupiter as a collective term for many deities:
- “In the learned writings of the pagans, Jupiter is a collective name for many gods. ... he open their mouths to scream and call it Vaticanus "
literature
- Wilhelm Vollmer: Dictionary of the mythology of all peoples. 3. Edition. Stuttgart 1874 sv Vaticanus ( full text ).
- Carl Koch : Vaticanus 2. In: Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume VIII A, 1, Stuttgart 1955, Col. 493 f.