Goddesses of Ancient Rome ~ A

Abeona
The Roman goddess who protects children when they leave the parental house for the first time.

Abundantia
A minor Roman goddess of abundance, prosperity and good fortune. Her attribute is a cornucopia ("horn of plenty") with which she distributes grain and money. After the Roman occupation of France, she remained in French folklore as Lady Hobunde.

Acca Larentia
In Roman myth, a loose woman and a mistress of Hercules. She married the wealthy Tarutius and after his death she donated his money to the Roman people. In return, Rome celebrated the festival of the Larentalia (possibly a feast of the dead in honor of the goddess Larentia) on December 23. In another version, Acca Larentia is the wife of the shepherd Faustulus who raised the twins Romulus and Remus.

Adeona
The Roman goddess who guides the child back home, after it has left the parental house for the first time.

Aera Cura
The Roman goddess of the infernal regions.

Aestas
The Roman goddess of summer, her festival was held on June 27th.

Alaisiagae, the
The attendant goddesses of Mars Thincsus who were brought by Frisian troops to a Roman camp in Northumberland and depicted as naked, winged victories bearing wreaths and palms.

Alemonia
The Roman goddess who feeds the unborn child.

Amata
The wife of King Latinus of Laurentum. She was the mother of Lavinia, whose fiancee Turnus she supported in his resistance against Aeneas. When she realized that Turnus would lose the fight against the Trojans she killed herself.

Anastasia (St.)
A Roman matron said to have been beheaded with St. Basilissa for having buried the bodies of St. Peter and St. Paul.

Angerona
The protecting deity of ancient Rome and a goddess of secrecy and of the winter solstice. Angerona is shown with a bandaged mouth with a finger to her lips commanding silence. Her feast -- the Divalia or Angeronalia -- was celebrated on December 21.

Angita
An early Roman goddess of healing and witchcraft.

Angitia
A Roman snake-goddess who was especially worshipped by the Marsi, a tribe in central Italy.

Anna
The daughter of Belus, and sister of Dido. After Dido's death she fled from Africa to Latium, where she was welcomed by Aeneas. Dido's shade warned her for the jealousy of Lavinia, the wife of Aeneas. After hearing this, she threw herself into the river Numicius and drowned. As a river nymph she was later venerated as Anna Perenna. According to some sources, this name has no connection with Dido's sister.

Anna Perenna
The Roman goddess of the new year. Her festival was celebrated on March 15. The Romans gave various explanations to the origin of her name; amnis perennis ("eternal stream"); she was a river nymph; her name was derived from annis ("year"); she was a moon-goddess of the running year. She was equated with Anna, the sister of Dido, who was received in Latium by Aeneas, but drowned herself in a river. In the class-struggle between the patricians and plebeians she chose the side of the plebeians.

Annonaria
An alternative name of Fortuna as protector of the corn supplies.

Antevorte
The Roman goddess of the future.

Appiades
The five Roman goddesses who had a temple near the Appian aqueducts. They are Concordia, Minerva, Pax, Venus, and Vesta.

Aradia
Italian (Tuscan) witch goddess, surviving there into this century. She is the daughter of Diana and Diana's brother Lucifer (i.e. of the Moon and Sun), and came to earth to teach the witches of her mother's magic.

Arria
A heroic Roman woman whose husband was ordered by the emperor to commit suicide. The husband could not force himself to do so, until Arria grabbed his dagger, stabbed herself, then handed the dagger to her husband saying, "It does not hurt."

Aurora
The Roman personification of the dawn and the equivalent of the Greek goddess Eos. Aurora is seen as a lovely woman who flies across the sky announcing the arrival of the sun. Aurora has two siblings: a brother, the sun; and a sister, the moon. She has a number of husbands and sons; the four winds (north, south, east, and west) are among her sons. According to one myth, the morning dew is caused by her tears as she flies across the sky weeping for one of her sons, who was killed. Aurora asked Zeus to grant one of her husbands immortality, but forgot to ask for everlasting youth. As a result, her husband soon became aged. Shakespeare refers to her in his famous play Romeo and Juliet.

Averna
The Roman queen of the dead.