Feronia (mythology)

For other uses, see Feronia (disambiguation).
Denarius from the time of Augustus, in silver, minted under the monetary magistrate Petronius Turpillianus. On the right, the bust in profile of the goddess Feronia crowned with a diadem, dressed in a drape, a necklace around her neck. Legend: TURPILLIANUS III VIR FE RON (“Turpillianus being a monetary triumvir magistrate, in Feronia”)
Head identified as Feronia (Archaeologic Museum of Rieti)

In Etruscan and Sabine religion, Feronia was a goddess associated with wildlife, fertility, health, and abundance, also venerated by the Faliscans and later adopted into ancient Roman religion. As the goddess who granted freedom to slaves or civil rights to the most humble part of society, she was especially honored among plebeians and freedmen.[1] Her festival, the Feroniae, was November 13 (the ides of November) during the Ludi Plebeii ("Plebeian Games"), in conjunction with Fortuna Primigenia; both were goddesses of Praeneste.[2][3](p 7)

Note that the similar-sounding Feralia on February 21 is a festival of Jupiter Feretrius, not Feronia.
  1. ^ Daly, Kathleen N.; Rengel, Marian (2004-01-01). Kathleen N. Daly, Marian Rengel. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4381-1992-2.
  2. ^ Fowler, W.W. (1908). The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic. London, UK. pp. 252–254.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ Dorcey, Peter F. (1992). The Cult of Silvanus: A study in Roman folk religion. Brill.