The Mythology Book

106

THE FATHER OF GODS

SPURTS RED FLAMES

THROUGH THE CLOUDS

NUMA OUTWITS JUPITER

W

hen angry Jupiter sent

lightning flaming from

the sky with torrents of

rain, King Numa—the second king

of Rome—was alarmed. However,

his wife, the nymph Egeria, told

him, “You must appease Jupiter

and deflect his anger. Seek out

Picus and his son Faunus, gods

of the Roman soil, for they know

how it can be done.”

These woodland gods could be

found on the Aventine Hill, which

was then a pastoral place of springs

and dells, and not yet part of the

city. Numa mixed wine and honey

with water in the spring where the

two gods drank. When they fell

asleep, Numa bound their hands

tight with ropes.

Upon awakening, Picus and

Faunus tried to escape by changing

from one fantastical shape to

another, but they could not free

themselves from Numa’s bonds.

Numa told them he meant no

harm—he simply wanted to learn

how to appease Jupiter. The gods,

unable to offer this knowledge,

were willing to bring Jupiter to

him: “You ask what is not lawful for

a man to know. Release us, and we

will lure Jupiter down from the sky.”

Man versus god

Jupiter descended, as promised,

the earth sinking beneath his

weight. Numa was so afraid that

his face drained of blood and his

hair stood on end, but he entreated

the god, “King of heaven, call back

your thunderbolts, I pray. Tell me

what offering you desire.” Jupiter

replied, “Cut off the head ...” “Of an

onion,” answered Numa, quick as

a flash. “A man’s ...,” said Jupiter.

“Hair,” Numa cut in. “The life of a

...” “Sprat.” At this, Jupiter roared

with laughter. It delighted him to

meet a mortal fit to converse with

IN BRIEF

THEME

Prophecy and destiny

SOURCES

History of Rome, L iv y, 1s t

century bce; Fasti (“The Book

of Days”), Ovid, 8 ce; Parallel

Lives, Plutarch, early 2nd

century ce.

SETTING

The Aventine Hill, Rome,

ca. 715 – 673 bce.

KEY FIGURES

Jupiter The Roman god of

thunder; ruler of the gods.

Numa The second king

of Rome (715–673 bce).

Egeria A nymph and queen;

wife of King Numa.

Faunus and Picus Woodland

gods, captured by Numa.

Salii Dancing priests and

guardians of the sacred shield

of Rome.

When captured, they dropped

their own forms and assumed

many different shapes,

presenting hideous and

dreadful appearances.

Plutarch,

Life of Numa

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ANCIENT ROME 107

Numa consults Egeria in her

sacred grove, while an unknown

figure sits hunched in the background,

in Pompilius and the Nymph Egeria

(1631–1633), by artist Nicolas Poussin.

See also: The Olympian gods 24–31 ■ The founding of Rome 102–05 ■ The Sibyl of Cumae 110–11 ■

Philemon and Baucis 125

a god—despite only possessing

human faculties, Numa’s quick

wits were a match for his own.

Jupiter then told Numa, “When

Apollo is at his highest point in the

sky tomorrow, I will send you signs

of empire.” With these last words,

Jupiter rose again into the sky with

loud claps of thunder, leaving the

awed Numa on the hillside. When

Numa returned to the city in high

spirits, the citizens didn’t believe

his story. “Actions speak louder

than words,” he said. “Let us gather

tomorrow and see what omens

Jupiter will send.” The next

morning, the people of Rome

came to Numa’s door. The king

sat among them on his throne,

and they watched Apollo rise into

the sky and travel across it. When

the sun reached its zenith, Numa

raised his hands to the sky and

said, “The time has come, Jupiter,

to fulfill your vow.”

Omnipotent Jupiter

Jupiter answered King Numa

from heaven by hurling three

thunderbolts. Then a shield fell out

of the sky, and a voice declared that

so long as the shield was preserved,

Rome would rule the world.

Wily Numa asked the craftsman

Mamurius to make 11 more shields

exactly like it—to confuse any

would-be thief. These 12 sacred

objects were kept in the Temple of

Mars, in the care of the dancing

priests, the Salii. ■

Roman Trinity

The Capitoline Triad of Jupiter,

his wife, Juno, and his daughter

Minerva shared a temple on the

Capitoline Hill in Rome known

as the Temple of Jupiter. They

were regarded as the ruling

gods of Rome. This trio of

supreme gods succeeded an

earlier triad, known to scholars

as the Archaic Triad, which

consisted of the gods Jupiter,

Mars, and Quirinus.

Both triads were central to

the public religion of ancient

Rome. Capitolia temples were

built across Italy and the

provinces. In them, Jupiter

was revered as Jupiter Optimus

Maximus (“Jupiter Best and

Greatest”), alongside Juno,

his queen, and Minerva, the

goddess of war.

The temple of Jupiter was

regarded as one of the most

important of all temples in

ancient Rome. Within its walls

lay the Jupiter Stone, which was

used by political officials to

swear oaths. Its Latin name—

Iuppiter Lapis—became the title

of a cult that came to regard the

stone itself as a god.

Three Capitoline temples, built in

the 2nd century ce in Sufetula (now

Sbeitla, Tunisia), are just some of the

many capitolia temples that were

built across the Roman world.

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