630 THE NATURE OF ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
in the English word "mint," for Juno's temple on the Arx was next to the Ro-
man Mint, which was known as ad Monetam.
Another title of Juno was Juno Regina (Queen Juno). Livy (5. 21) describes
how Juno was invited by the Romans to leave the Etruscan city of Veii after its
defeat in 396 B.c. At Rome Camillus dedicated a temple in her honor on the
Aventine Hill. The ritual of persuading an enemy's gods to leave their city was
called evocatio (calling out). By accepting the invitation the goddess was believed
to have come willingly to her new home in Rome, while the Etruscans were de-
prived of her protection.
Under the influence of Greek literature, Juno, the great Italian goddess of
the life of women, became the wife and sister of Jupiter. In the Aeneid she has a
prominent role in opposing the fated success of Aeneas, but eventually Jupiter
and Fate are superior and she accepts the union of the Trojan newcomers and
the indigenous Italian tribes.MINERVA
Minerva, the third member of the Capitoline triad, was also an Italian deity, in-
troduced to Rome by the Etruscans. She became identified with Athena and
Athena's legends, so it is hard to distinguish her original functions. She may
have been a war goddess, for she shared her great festival, the Quinquatrus,
with Mars, whose consort, the Sabine goddess Nerio, was often identified with
her. Her chief importance for the Romans, however, was as the goddess of all
activities involving mental skill. She was the patroness of craftspeople and skilled
workers, among whom Ovid (in his invocation to Minerva in the Fasti) includes
authors and painters.^3 She was also the goddess of schoolchildren, and Quin-
quatrus was the time both of school holidays and the payment of school fees.DIVINITIES OF FIRE: VESTA, VULCAN, AND CACUS
The most important of the other Roman state gods who were of Italian origin
were the two concerned with fire, Vesta and Vulcan (Volcanus). Vesta (whose
name is etymologically identical with the Greek Hestia) was the goddess of the
hearth, the center of family life. Since the state was a community of families, it
had a hearth with an ever-burning fire as the symbolic center of its life. The fire
was kept alight in the round temple of Vesta in the Roman Forum and tended
by the six Vestal Virgins. These were daughters of noble families who entered
the service of Vesta before their tenth birthday and remained until their fortieth
year or even longer. Their life was hedged with many taboos and rituals, and
their vow of chastity was strictly observed. The Vestals were treated with the
highest honor, and were some of the most important persons in the hierarchy
of Roman state religion. Their offices and living quarters were in the Forum,
next to the Regia.