: in the center is
Mercury holding the
caduceus and on the right Juno sits on her throne. Behind her
Iris stands and gestures. On the left is
Vulcan (
blond figure) standing behind the wheel, manning it, with Ixion already tied to it.
Nephele sits at Mercury's feet; a Roman fresco from the eastern wall of the
triclinium in the
House of the Vettii,
Pompeii,
Fourth Style (60–79 AD). Juno's theology is one of the most complex and disputed issues in Roman religion. Even more than other major Roman deities, Juno held a large number of significant and diverse
epithets, names and titles representing various aspects and roles of the goddess. In accordance with her central role as a goddess of marriage, these included
Pronuba and
Cinxia ("she who looses the bride's girdle"). However, other epithets of Juno have wider implications and are less thematically linked. While her connection with the idea of vital force, the fullness of vital energy, and eternal youthfulness is now generally acknowledged, the multiplicity and complexity of her personality have given rise to various and sometimes irreconcilable interpretations among modern scholars. Juno is certainly the divine protectress of the community, who shows both a sovereign and a fertility character, often associated with a military one. She was present in many towns of ancient Italy: at
Lanuvium as Sespeis Mater Regina,
Laurentum,
Tibur,
Falerii,
Veii as Regina, at Tibur and Falerii as Regina and Curitis,
Tusculum and
Norba as
Lucina. She is also attested at
Praeneste,
Aricia,
Ardea,
Gabii. In five Latin towns a month was named after Juno (Aricia, Lanuvium, Laurentum, Praeneste, Tibur). Outside Latium in
Campania at
Teanum she was Populona (she who increases the number of the people or, in K. Latte's understanding of the
iuvenes, the army), in
Umbria at
Pisaurum Lucina, at Terventum in
Samnium Regina, at Pisarum Regina Matrona, at
Aesernia in Samnium Regina Populona. In Rome she was since the most ancient times named Lucina, Mater and Regina. It is debated whether she was also known as Curitis before the
evocatio of the Juno of Falerii: this though seems probable. Other epithets of hers that were in use at Rome include
Moneta and Caprotina, Tutula, Fluonia or Fluviona, Februalis, the last ones associated with the rites of purification and fertility of February. Her various epithets thus show a complex of mutually interrelated functions that in the view of
Georges Dumézil and
Vsevolod Basanoff (author of
Les dieux Romains) can be traced back to the Indoeuropean trifunctional ideology: as Regina and Moneta she is a sovereign deity, as Sespeis, Curitis (spear holder) and Moneta (again) she is an armed protectress, as Mater and Curitis (again) she is a goddess of the fertility and wealth of the community in her association with the
curiae. The epithet
Lucina is particularly revealing since it reflects two interrelated aspects of the function of Juno: cyclical renewal of time in the waning and waxing of the moon and protection of delivery and birth (as she who brings to light the newborn as vigour, vital force). The ancient called her
Covella in her function of helper in the
labours of the new moon. The view that she was also a Moon goddess though is no longer accepted by scholars, as such a role belongs to
Diana Lucifera: through her association with the moon she governed the feminine physiological functions, menstrual cycle and pregnancy: as a rule, all lunar deities are deities of childbirth. These aspects of Juno mark the heavenly and worldly sides of her function. She is thus associated with all beginnings and hers are the
kalendae of every month: at Laurentum she was known as
Kalendaris Iuno (Juno of the
Kalends). At Rome on the Kalends of every month the
pontifex minor invoked her, under the epithet
Covella, when from the
curia Calabra he announced the date of the
nonae. On the same day the
regina sacrorum sacrificed to Juno a white sow or lamb in the
Regia. She is closely associated with
Janus, the god of passages and beginnings who is often named
Iunonius after her. Some scholars view this concentration of multiple functions as a typical and structural feature of the goddess, inherent to her being an expression of the nature of femininity. Others prefer to dismiss her aspects of femininity and fertility and stress only her quality of being the spirit of youthfulness, liveliness and strength, regardless of sexual connections, which would then change according to circumstances: thus in men she incarnates the
iuvenes, a word often used to designate soldiers, hence resulting in a tutelary deity of the sovereignty of peoples; in women capable of bearing children, from puberty on she oversees childbirth and marriage. Thence she would be a
poliad goddess related to politics, power and war. Others think her military and political qualities arise from her being a fertility goddess who, through her function of increasing the numbers of the community, became also associated with political and military functions.
Juno Sospita and Lucina with those of
Hope and
Piety at the
Forum Olitorium, drawn by
Lanciani in the scale model of
ancient Rome at the
Museum of Roman Civilization ,
Berlin The rites of the month of February and the
Nonae Caprotinae of July 5 offer a depiction of Juno's roles in the spheres of fertility, war, and regality. In the Roman calendar, February is a month of universal purification and begins the new year. In book II of his
Fasti, Ovid derives the month's name from
februae (expiations); lustrations designed to remove spiritual contamination or ritual pollution accumulated in the previous year. On the 1st of the month, a black ox was sacrificed to
Helernus, a minor underworld deity whom Dumézil takes as a
god of vegetation related to the cult of
Carna/Crane, a nymph who may be an image of Juno Sospita. On the same day, Juno's
dies natalis ("birthday") as Juno Sospita was celebrated at her
Palatine temple. On February 15, the
Lupercalia festival was held, in which Juno was involved as
Juno Lucina. This is usually understood to be a rite of purification and fertility. A goat was sacrificed and its hide cut into strips, used to make whips known as and , wielded by the
Luperci. The Juno of this day bears the epithet of
Februalis,
Februata,
Februa. On the last day of the month, leading into March 1, she was celebrated as protectress of matrons and marriages. The new year began on March 1. The same was celebrated as the birthday of Rome's founder and first king,
Romulus, and the peaceful union of Romans and Sabine peoples through treaty and marriage after their
war, which was ended by the intervention of women. After Wissowa many scholars have remarked the similarity between the Juno of the Lupercalia and the Juno of Lanuvium
Seispes Mater Regina as both are associated with the goat, symbol of fertility. But in essence there is unity between fertility, regality and purification. This unity is underlined by the role of
Faunus in the aetiologic story told by Ovid and the symbolic relevance of the
Lupercal: asked by the Roman couples at her
lucus how to overcome the sterility that ensued the abduction of the Sabine women, Juno answered through a murmuring of leaves "
Italidas matres sacer hircus inito" "That a sacred ram cover the Italic mothers".
Februlis oversees the secundament of the placenta and is strictly associated with
Fluvonia, Fluonia, the goddess who retains the blood inside the body during pregnancy. While the protection of pregnancy is stressed by Duval, Palmer sees in Fluonia only the Juno of lustration in river water. Ovid devotes an
excursus to the lustrative function of river water in the same place in which he explains the etymology of February. A temple () of Juno Lucina was built in 375 BC in the grove sacred to the goddess from early times. It stood precisely on the
Cispius near the sixth shrine of the
Argei. probably not far west of the church of S. Prassede, where inscriptions relating to her cult have been found. The grove should have extended down the slope south of the temple. As
Servius Tullius ordered the gifts for the newborn to be placed in the treasury of the temple, though it looks like another shrine stood there before 375 BC. In 190 BC, the temple was struck by lightning, and its gable and doors were damaged. The annual festival of the
Matronalia was celebrated here on March 1, day of the dedication of the temple. One temple of Juno Sospita was located near the
Temple of
Cybele northwest of the
Palatine Hill within the
Pomerium. This was located near or under the site of the 6th century church of
San Teodoro, which has an unusual circular shape similar to that of the
nymphaeum later misnamed the
Temple of Minerva Medica. In his early 1st-century
poem ,
Ovid states that by his time this temple had become so dilapidated that it was no longer discernible "because of the injuries of time". A later
Temple of Juno Sospita was
vowed by the
consul G. Cornelius Cethegus in and consecrated and opened in This temple was located at the Roman vegetable market () beside Temples of
Hope and
Piety and near the
Carmental Gate. It was apparently this temple that was later reported as having fallen into disrepute by , when it was stained by episodes of
prostitution and a
bitch delivered her puppies beneath the temple's statue of the goddess. The consul
L. Julius Caesar secured its restoration with a
Senatorial decree and relics from the temple remain today.
Juno Caprotina The alliance of the three aspects of Juno finds a strictly related parallel to the Lupercalia in the festival of the
Nonae Caprotinae. On that day, the Roman free and slave women picnicked and had fun together near the site of the wild fig (
caprificus): the custom implied runs, mock battles with fists and stones, obscene language and finally the sacrifice of a male goat to Juno
Caprotina under a wild fig tree and with the use of its lymph. This festival had a legendary aetiology in a particularly delicate episode of Roman history and also recurs at (or shortly after) a particular time of the year, that of the so-called
caprificatio when branches of wild fig trees were fastened to cultivated ones to promote insemination. The historical episode narrated by ancient sources concerns the siege of Rome by the Latin peoples that followed the Gallic sack. The dictator of the Latins, Livius Postumius from
Fidenae would have requested the Roman senate that the
matronae and daughters of the most prominent families be surrendered to the Latins as hostages. While the senate was debating the issue, a slave girl, whose Greek name was
Philotis and Latin Tutela or Tutula, proposed that she, together with other slave girls, would render herself up to the enemy camp pretending to be the wives and daughters of the Roman families. Upon agreement of the senate, the women dressed up elegantly and wearing golden jewellery reached the Latin camp. There, invaded and seduced the Latins into fooling and drinking: after they had fallen asleep, they stole their swords. Then Tutela gave the convened signal to the Romans, brandishing an ignited branch after climbing on the wild fig (
caprificus) and hiding the fire with her mantle. The Romans then irrupted into the Latin camp, killing the enemies in their sleep. The women were rewarded with freedom and a dowry at public expense. Dumézil, in his
Archaic Roman Religion had been unable to interpret the myth underlying this legendary event. Later, though, he accepted the interpretation given by P. Drossart and published it in his ''Fêtes romaines d'été et d'automne, suivi par dix questions romaines
in 1975 as Question IX''. In folklore, the wild fig tree is universally associated with sex because of its fertilising power, the shape of its fruits and the white viscous juice of the tree. Basanoff has argued that the legend not only alludes to sex and fertility in its association with wildfig and goat but is in fact a summary of sort of all the qualities of Juno. As Juno Sespeis of Lanuvium Juno Caprotina is a warrior, a fertiliser and a sovereign protectress. In fact, the legend presents a heroine, Tutela, who is a slightly disguised representation of the goddess: the request of the Latin dictator would mask an attempted
evocatio of the tutelary goddess of Rome.
Tutela indeed shows regal, military and protective traits, apart from the sexual ones. Moreover, according to Basanoff these too (breasts, milky juice,
genitalia, present or symbolised in the fig and the goat) in general, and here in particular, have an inherently apotropaic value directly related to the nature of Juno. The occasion of the
feria, shortly after the
poplifugia, i.e. when the community is in its direst straits, needs the intervention of a divine tutelary goddess, a divine queen, since the king (divine or human) has failed to appear or has fled. Hence the customary battles under the wild figs, the scurrilous language that bring together the second and third function. This festival would thus show a ritual that can prove the trifunctional nature of Juno. Other scholars limit their interpretation of Caprotina to the sexual implications of the goat, the
caprificus and the obscene words and plays of the festival.
Juno Curitis Under this epithet Juno is attested in many places, notably at
Falerii and
Tibur. Dumézil remarked that Juno Curitis "is represented and invoked at Rome under conditions very close to those we know about for
Juno Seispes of
Lanuvium". Martianus Capella states she must be invoked by those who are involved in war. The hunt of the goat by stonethrowing at Falerii is described in Ovid
Amores III 13, 16 ff. In fact, the Juno Curritis of Falerii shows a complex articulated structure closely allied to the threefold Juno Seispes of Lanuvium. Ancient etymologies associated the epithet with
Cures, with the Sabine word for spear
curis, with
currus cart, with
Quirites, with the
curiae, as king Titus Tatius dedicated a table to Juno in every curia, that Dionysius still saw. Modern scholars have proposed the town of Currium or Curria,
Quirinus,
*quir(i)s or
*quiru, the Sabine word for spear and
curia. The *quiru- would design the sacred spear that gave the name to the primitive curiae. The discovery at
Sulmona of a sanctuary of
Hercules Curinus lends support to a Sabine origin of the epithet and of the cult of Juno in the curiae. The spear could also be the
celibataris hasta (bridal spear) that in the marriage ceremonies was used to comb the bridegroom's hair as a good omen. Palmer views the rituals of the curiae devoted to her as a reminiscence of the origin of the curiae themselves in rites of
evocatio, a practice the Romans continued to use for Juno or her equivalent at later times as for Falerii,
Veii and
Carthage. Juno Curitis would then be the deity evoked after her admission into the curiae. Juno Curitis had a temple on the
Campus Martius. Excavations in Largo di Torre Argentina have revealed four temple structures, one of whom (temple D or A) could be the temple of Juno Curitis. She shared her anniversary day with Juppiter Fulgur, who had an altar nearby.
Juno Moneta the
Capitol in 390 BC This Juno is placed by ancient sources in a warring context. Dumézil thinks the third, military, aspect of Juno is reflected in Juno Curitis and Moneta. Palmer too sees in her a military aspect. As for the etymology, Cicero gives the verb
monēre warn, hence
the Warner. Palmer accepts Cicero's etymology as a possibility while adding
mons mount, hill, verb
e-mineo and noun
monile referred to the Capitol, place of her cult. Also perhaps a cultic term or even, as in her temple were kept the
Libri Lintei,
monere would thence have the meaning of recording:
Livius Andronicus identifies her as
Mnemosyne. Her
dies natalis was on the kalendae of June. Her Temple on the summit of the Capitol was dedicated only in 348 BC by dictator L. Furius Camillus, presumably a son of the great Furius. Livy states he vowed the temple during a war against the
Aurunci. Modern scholars agree that the origins of the cult and of the temple were much more ancient. M. Guarducci considers her cult very ancient, identifying her with Mnemosyne as
the Warner because of her presence near the
auguraculum, her oracular character, her announcement of perils: she considers her as an introduction into Rome of the
Hera of
Cuma dating to the 8th century. L. A. Mac Kay considers the goddess more ancient than her etymology on the testimony of
Valerius Maximus, who states she was the Juno of Veii. The sacred geese of the Capitol were lodged in her temple: as they are recorded in the episode of the Gallic siege (ca. 396-390 BC) by Livy, the temple should have existed before Furius's dedication. Basanoff considers her to go back to the regal period: she would be the Sabine Juno who arrived at Rome through
Cures. At Cures she was the tutelary deity of the military chief: as such she is never to be found among Latins. This new quality is apparent in the location of her
fanum, her name, her role: 1. her altar is located in the regia of Titus Tatius; 2. Moneta is, from
monere,
the Adviser: like
Egeria with Numa (Tatius's son in law) she is associated to a Sabine king; 3. In
Dionysius of Halicarnassus the altar-tables of the curiae are consecrated to Juno Curitis to justify the false etymology of Curitis from curiae: the tables would assure the presence of the tutelary
numen of the king as an adviser within each curia, as the epithet itself implies. It can be assumed thence that Juno Moneta intervenes under warlike circumstances as associated to the sacral power of the king. Since coins were later made near her temple, her epithet,
moneta became the Latin term for both the place where coins were made, but also for the currency itself (and the Latin word ultimately yielded in English both
mint and
money).
Juno Regina Juno Regina is perhaps the epithet most fraught with questions. While some scholars maintain she was known as such at Rome since the most ancient times as paredra (consort) of Jupiter in the
Capitoline Triad others think she is a new acquisition introduced to Rome after her
evocatio from Veii. Palmer thinks she is to be identified with Juno Populona of later inscriptions, a political and military poliadic (guardian) deity who had in fact a place in the Capitoline temple and was intended to represent the
Regina of the king. The date of her introduction, though ancient, would be uncertain; she should perhaps be identified with
Hera Basilea or as the queen of Jupiter Rex. The actual epithet Regina could though come from Veii. At Rome this epithet may have been applied to a Juno other than that of the temple on the Aventine built to lodge the evocated Veian Juno as the
rex sacrorum and his wife-queen were to offer a monthly sacrifice to Juno in the Regia. This might imply that the prerepublican Juno was royal. J. Gagé dismisses these assumptions as groundless speculations as no Jupiter Rex is attested and in accord with Roe D'Albret stresses that at Rome no presence of a Juno Regina is mentioned before
Marcus Furius Camillus, while she is attested in many Etruscan and Latin towns. Before that time her Roman equivalent was Juno Moneta. Marcel Renard for his part considers her an ancient Roman figure since the title of the Veian Juno expresses a cultic reality that is close to and indeed presupposes the existence at Rome of an analogous character: as a rule it is the presence of an original local figure that may allow the introduction of the new one through evocatio. He agrees with Dumézil that we ignore whether the translation of the epithet is exhaustive and what Etruscan notion corresponded to the name
Regina which itself is certainly an Italic title. This is the only instance of evocatio recorded by the annalistic tradition. However Renard considers Macrobius's authority reliable in his long list of
evocationes on the grounds of an archaeological find at
Isaura. Roe D'Albret underlines the role played by Camillus and sees a personal link between the deity and her magistrate. Similarly Dumézil has remarked the link of Camillus with
Mater Matuta. In his relationship to the goddess he takes the place of the king of Veii. Camillus's devotion to female deities Mater Matuta and
Fortuna and his contemporary vow of a new temple to both Matuta and Iuno Regina hint to a degree of identity between them: this assumption has by chance been supported by the discovery at
Pyrgi of a bronze lamella which mentions together
Uni and
Thesan, the Etruscan Juno and Aurora, i.e. Mater Matuta. One can then suppose Camillus's simultaneous vow of the temples of the two goddesses should be seen in the light of their intrinsic association.
Octavianus will repeat the same translation with the statue of the Juno of
Perusia in consequence of a dream That a goddess evoked in war and for political reasons receive the homage of women and that women continue to have a role in her cult is explained by Palmer as a foreign cult of feminine sexuality of Etruscan derivation. The persistence of a female presence in her cult through the centuries down to the
lectisternium of 217 BC, when the
matronae collected money for the service, and to the times of Augustus during the
ludi saeculares in the sacrifices to Capitoline Juno are proof of the resilience of this foreign tradition. Gagé and D'Albret remark on an accentuation of the matronal aspect of Juno Regina that led her to be the most matronal of the Roman goddesses by the time of the end of the republic. This fact raises the question of understanding why she was able to attract the devotion of the
matronae. Gagé traces back the phenomenon to the nature of the cult rendered to the Juno Regina of the Aventine in which Camillus played a role in person. The original devotion of the
matronae was directed to Fortuna. Camillus was devout to her and to Matuta, both matronal deities. When he brought Juno Regina from Veii the Roman women were already acquainted with many Junos, while the ancient rites of Fortuna were falling off. Camillus would have then made a political use of the cult of Juno Regina to subdue the social conflicts of his times by attributing to her the role of primordial mother. Juno Regina had two temples (
aedes) in Rome. The one dedicated by Furius Camillus in 392 BC stood on the
Aventine: it lodged the wooden statue of the Juno transvected from Veii. It is mentioned several times by Livy in connexion with sacrifices offered in atonement of
prodigia. It was restored by Augustus. Two inscriptions found near the church of S. Sabina indicate the approximate site of the temple, which corresponds with its place in the lustral procession of 207 BC, near the upper end of the Clivus Publicius. The day of the dedication and of her festival was September 1. Another temple stood near the
circus Flaminius, vowed by consul
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus in 187 BC during the war against the
Ligures and dedicated by himself as censor in 179 on December 23. It was connected by a porch with a temple of Fortuna, perhaps that of Fortuna Equestris. Its probable site according to Platner is just south of the
porticus Pompeiana on the west end of circus Flaminius. The Carthaginian goddess
Tanit was
evoked at the defeat of Carthage in 146 BC, and romanized as Juno Caelestis (Heavenly Juno). The goddess was once again transferred to Rome by Emperor
Elagabalus. A surviving
temple to Juno Caelestis was built between 222 and 235 AD The only ancient source who refers to the presence of this divine triad in Greece is
Pausanias X 5, 1–2, who mentions its existence in describing the Φωκικόν in
Phocis. The Capitoline triad poses difficult interpretative problems. It looks peculiarly Roman, since there is no sure document of its existence elsewhere either in Latium or Etruria. A direct Greek influence is possible but it would be also plausible to consider it a local creation. Dumézil advanced the hypothesis it could be an ideological construction of the Tarquins to oppose new Latin nationalism, as it included the three gods that in the Iliad are enemies of
Troy. It is probable Latins had already accepted the legend of Aeneas as their ancestor. Among ancient sources indeed
Servius states that according to the
Etrusca Disciplina towns should have the three temples of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva at the end of three roads leading to three gates.
Vitruvius writes that the temples of these three gods should be located on the most elevated site, isolated from the others. To his Etruscan founders, the meaning of this triad might have been related to peculiarly Etruscan ideas on the association of the three gods with the birth of
Herakles and the siege of Troy, in which
Minerva plays a decisive role as a goddess of destiny along with the sovereign couple Uni Tinia.
Junos of Latium The cults of the Italic Junos reflected remarkable theological complexes: regality, military protection and fertility. In Latium are relatively well known the instances of Tibur, Falerii, Laurentum and Lanuvium. At Tibur and Falerii their
sacerdos was a male, called
pontifex sacrarius, a fact that has been seen as a proof of the relevance of the goddess to the whole society. In both towns she was known as
Curitis, the spearholder, an armed protectress. The martial aspect of these Junos is conspicuous, quite as much as that of fecundity and regality: the first two look strictly interconnected: fertility guaranteed the survival of the community, peaceful and armed. Iuno Curitis is also the tutelary goddess of the
curiae and of the new brides, whose hair was combed with the spear called
caelibataris hasta as in Rome. In her annual rites at Falerii, youths and maidens clad in white bore in procession gifts to the goddess whose image was escorted by her priestesses. The idea of purity and virginity is stressed in Ovid's description. A she goat is sacrificed to her after a ritual hunt. She is then the patroness of the young soldiers and of brides. At Lanuvium the goddess is known under the epithet Seispes Mater Regina. The titles themselves are a theological definition: she was a sovereign goddess, a martial goddess and a fertility goddess. Hence her
flamen was chosen by the highest local magistrate, the dictator, and since 388 BC the Roman consuls were required to offer sacrifices to her. Her sanctuary was famous, rich and powerful. Her cult included the annual feeding of a sacred snake with barley cakes by virgin maidens. The snake dwelt in a deep cave within the precinct of the temple, on the
arx of the city: the maidens approached the lair blindfolded. The snake was supposed to feed only on the cakes offered by chaste girls. The rite was aimed at ensuring agricultural fertility. The site of the temple, as well as the presence of the snake, shows she was the tutelary goddess of the city, as Athena at Athens and Hera at Argos. The motif of the snake of the palace as the guardian goddess of the city is shared by Iuno Seispes with Athena, as well as its periodic feeding. This religious pattern moreover, includes armour, goatskin dress, sacred birds and a concern with virginity in cult. Virginity is connected to regality: the existence and welfare of the community was protected by virgin goddesses or the virgin attendants of a goddess. This theme shows a connexion with the fundamental theological character of Iuno, that of incarnating vital force: virginity is the condition of unspoilt, unspent vital energy that can ensure communion with nature and its rhythm, symbolised in the fire of
Vesta. It is a decisive factor in ensuring the safety of the community and the growth of crops. The role of Iuno is at the crossing point of civil and natural life, expressing their interdependence. At
Laurentum she was known as Kalendaris Iuno and was honoured as such ritually at the kalendae of each month from March to December, i.e. the months of the
pre-Numan ten-month year, a fact which is a testimony to the antiquity of the custom. A Greek influence in their cults looks probable. It is noteworthy though that Cicero remarked the existence of a stark difference between the Latin Iuno Seispes and the Argolic Hera (as well the Roman Iuno) in his work
De natura deorum. Claudius Helianus later wrote "...she has much new of Hera Argolis" The iconography of Argive Hera, matronal and regal, looks quite far away from the warlike and savage character of Iuno Seispes, especially considering that it is uncertain whether the former was an armed Hera. After the definitive subjugation of the
Latin League in 338 BC, the Romans required as a condition of peace the condominium of the Roman people on the sanctuary and the sacred grove of Juno Seispes in Lanuvium, while bestowing Roman citizenry on the Lanuvians. Consequently, the
prodigia (supernatural or unearthly phenomena) which happened in her temple were referred to Rome and accordingly expiated there. Many occurred during the presence of
Hannibal in Italy. Perhaps the Romans were not completely satisfied with this solution as in 194 BC consul
C. Cornelius Cethegus erected a temple to the
Juno Sospita of Lanuvium in the Forum Holitorium (vowed three years earlier in a war with the
Galli Insubri); in it the goddess was honoured in military garb. The
flamen or special priest belonging to Juno Seispes continued to be a Lanuvian, specially nominated by the town to take care of the goddess even though she was housed in her temple at Rome (in the Forum Holitorium). At the time of
Cicero,
Milo, who served as the city's dictator and highest magistrate in 52 BC (Cic. Mil. 27), and of course was also a Roman citizen (he had been
tribune of the plebs in 57 BC), resided in Rome. When he fatally met
Clodius near
Bovillae (Milo's slaves killed Clodius in that encounter), he was on his way to Lanuvium in order to nominate the
flamen of Juno Seispes. ==Theological and comparative study==