Clitumnus

For the Italian river, see Clitunno.
For the stick insect genus, see Ramulus.


In Roman mythology, Clitumnus (/klɪˈtʌmnəs/; Latin: Clītumnus) was a son of Oceanus and Tethys. He was the god of the Clitunno River in Umbria.

Reference to Clitumnus is best attested in Pliny the Younger "Letters" 8.8: "Hard by is an ancient and sacred temple, where stands Jupiter Clitumnus himself clad and adorned with a toga praetexta, and the oracular responses delivered there prove that the deity dwells within and foretells the future."[1]

The Roman Emperor Caligula visited the sacred grove prior to his invasion of Germany, presumably to consult the oracle of Clitumnus.[2][3]

  1. ^ Pliny; Firth, J.B. (tr.) (1900). Letters 8.8. Retrieved Mar 21, 2019.
  2. ^ Hofmann, Paul (Sep 20, 1998). "A Fount of Poetic Inspiration". The New York Times. Retrieved Mar 21, 2019.
  3. ^ Suetonius. Caligula 43. Retrieved Mar 21, 2019.