The spring nymph IuturnaThe coin: Roman Republic, Aulus Albinus Sp. f,
gens PostumiaAR -
denarius, 3.61g, 18.13mm, 180°.
Rome, auxiliary
mint 96 BC.
Obv.: Laureate
head of
Apollo r., in front of it X (value mark), behind it
star below
ROMARev.: The
Dioscuri, nude,
chlamys over shoulders, wearing
pileus, standing with
spears l. beside their horses drinking from the Iuturna fountain, in upper l.
field crescent moon
in ex. A ALBINVS SF
Ref.:
Crawford 335/10a;
Sydenham 612;
Albert 1157;
BMCRR 518;
FFC 1055;
Postumia 5
Note:The mintmaster Aulus Albinus Sp. f. was probably the son of Spurius Postumius Albinus
Magnus, the
Roman consul of 148 BC.
The Battle of Lake RegillusThis coin refers to the Battle of Lake Regillus of early
Roman history. The
lacus Regillus was located in the
Tusculum area. It is probably a crater lake drained in the 19th century, today's "
Pantano Secco" near Frascati.
There, at the beginning of the 5th century B.C. (mentioned in 496), the decisive battle in the first Latine war took place, whereby the tradition is strongly legendary. The Latins
had formed a confederation and marched against the young
Roman Republic. In the process, the Latine cavalry was led by the former
Roman king Tarquinius Superbus, who
had been chased out of
Rome by
Brutus shortly before. The
Romans were led by the
dictator Aulus Postumius P. f. Albus († after 493 BC), who afterwards received the honorary name
(agnomen) Regillensis. It is said that when the
Romans were in danger of losing the battle, Aulus Postumius Albus made a promise (
exoratio) to the
Dioscuri, the
patron gods of the Latin cavalry, who were worshipped by the Latins, to build them their own temple. In this way he succeeded in drawing them to the
Roman side. Then, by a clever maneuver, Albus dismounted
his cavalry, threw it against the enemy infantry, and thus raised
his own discouraged infantry. This maneuver, with the
help of the
Dioscuri, decided the battle and the standards were recovered. -
Livius does not know about an intervention of the
Dioscuri, this is only due to the poetic imagination of Ovid. He also tells that
still on the evening of the battle the
Dioscuri appeared at the Iuturna fountain on the
forum in
Rome and watered their horses there and announced their
victory to the
Romans (So also Dion. Hal.).
The promised temple was inaugurated in 484 BC. However, the
Romans had not succeeded in completely subduing the Latins. The
peace treaty (
foedus Cassianum) that was negotiated was an equal defense
alliance between
Rome and the Latins.
Iuturna:Already in the report of the Battle of Lake Regillus,
history and
mythology are mixed. Iuturna was worshipped as a
spring nymph already in archaic times. Originally she was the nymph of a
spring at river Numicius near
Lavinium, but was then transferred to
Rome (by
evocatio?).
The poets of the Augustan period tried to insert the goddess in various ways into the image of
Italic legends of gods and heroes that they created.
(1) Vergil reports in
his Aeneid that she was the daughter of Daunus and the sister of Turnus, the
king of the Rutulians. The similarity of the names probably gave the clue. With Turnus, who possessed a sword hardened in the Styx,
Aeneas had to compete in a duel before the escaped Trojans could finally settle in
Latium. Iuturna
had repeatedly taken the form of a charioteer to
help her brother.
(2) Another version, of which we have knowledge only through Arnobius, made her the daughter of the water god Volturnus, the wife of Ianus and mother of Fontus, the god of springs. A deeper mythological content must not be sought in these arbitrary combinations; the nature and essence of the goddess have been correctly designated by Varro in
his antiqitates rerum divinarum with the words, "
Iuturna inter proprios deos nymphasque ponitur (Iuturna was placed with the typical gods and
nymphs)" (Wissowa)
In Virgil the love of Iuppiter for Iuturna is hinted at, by Ovid in
his fastes it is painted out. Ovid reports that Iuppiter fell in love with her. In return for her giving herself to him,
Juppiter gave her immortality and made her goddess over all the springs and rivers in
Latium. Generally, a local water nymph was in charge of only one water source, but Iuturna's much greater power reflects her importance in
Latium. Ovid further spun out the saga of Iuppiter's love for Iuturna by telling how the brittle nymph flees from the god's solicitations into her wet element, until Iuppiter asks all the other
nymphs of
Latium to
help him and stop the fugitive. Ovid also relates that Larunda, another nymph, betrayed the secret of her love affair and was punished for it by
Juppiter with muteness.
She was the only love of
Juppiter who
had not been angry with
Juno. So she sent Iuturna to the aid of her brother Turnus to save him from imminent death. At the
chariot race, Iuturna threw Metiscus from the
chariot and took
his form. Although Turnus recognized
his sister, he nevertheless jumped from the
chariot to fight with
Aeneas and was killed by him. Iuturna withdrew into her water in mourning (Vergil).
Her name is said to come from
iuvo (= I
help), because her water
had been healing and was used for sacrifice (Varro, de ling.
Lat.).
The cult:
The goddess does not seem to have received a public cult, however, until the end of the First Punic War in 241 BC, when Gaius Lutatius Catulus vowed a temple to her and built it in the
Field of
Mars near the Saepta, where the corner of the Aqua Virgo later was (Serv. Aen.; Ovid. fastes). Probably after a renewal of this temple under
Augustus in 2 BC, the
Iuturnalia was celebrated as the foundation feast of the temple on January 11. where sacrifices were made to her and she was honored by the
fontani, the
men in charge of the fountains and aqueducts of
Rome. This day was festively celebrated by all the craftsmen who needed
spring water to practice their profession (Serv. Aen.).
Another festival where Iuturna was worshipped was the
Volcanalia. On August 23, the day of the
Volcanalia, a solemn sacrifice was held in
Rome to all the deities whose protection was invoked against the danger of fire, which was especially necessary in
Rome, which was often ravaged by fires. Here, after Volcanus, the god of fire, Iuturna and the
nymphs immediately found their place.
The Iuturna SpringTo the left of the Temple of
Castor and
Pollux is the Iuturna
Spring. Frontinus mentions in
his work "De Aquis Urbis Romae" that before the construction of the first aqueduct by Appius
Claudius,
Rome drew its water from the
Tiber, from fountains and from the few springs in the city. The most important of these springs emerged directly at the
Forum at the foot of the Palatine: this was the
lacus Iuturnae, the Iuturna
spring. Originally, the place of worship functioned as a natural sanctuary without a setting. In the first half of the 2nd century BC it was provided with a basin. The first architectural design and the
consecration of the
statues of the
Dioscuri was probably initiated by
Lucius Aemilius Paullus, to whom the
Dioscuri, during their second epiphany at the
spring, proclaimed
his victory over the Macedonian
king Perseus in the battle of Pydna (168 BC). In front of the basin a large space with niches was uncovered, On the back wall the
aedicula of Iuturna rises on a high pedestal. An
inscription calls this place the true place of worship for Iuturna. The
altar placed in front of the
aedicula was found inside. It shows the representation of Turnus and Iuturna. There was also found a statue of
Aesculapius. The current appearance corresponds to that of the time of
Trajan.
Art History:The iconography of Iuturna is largely unknown. A later
altar relief from the temple of
Castor and
Pollux possibly depicts her. I have added the following pics:
(1) Fountain of Iuturna (lacus Iuturnae),
aedicula with the image of Turnus and Iuturna.
Inscription: "
Marcus Barbatius
Pollio, curulic aedile, renewed this sanctuary of Iuturna" (
Wikipedia).
(2) The picture shows the marble fragment of a
horse of the
Dioscuri found in the basin of the Iuturna
spring. It dates back to the 2nd century BC. It can be seen with other parts in the Temple of
Romulus on the
Forum (Wikiüedia)
(3) The so-called
Area Sacra (Sacred District) di Largo di Torre Argentina is located on the ancient Campus
Martius below the present street level and is easily visible from all sides. The excavation
area includes the remains of four temples and adjacent secular buildings from the Republic period. It was known to
Rome fans as the "Cat
Forum" because
poor old women fed the feral cats there out of charity.
The temples are numbered from A to D. The picture shows temple A from the 3rd century .C. It is assumed that it is the temple of Iuturna or the temple of Iunonis Curritis. The former was built by Quintus Lutatius Catulus after the
victory of the
Romans over the Falerii in 241 B.C., the latter by Quintus Lutatius Cercone after the
victory of
his relative Quintus Lutatius Cercone over the Falerii, also in 241 B.C. However, the most probable
identification is the former.
Note:
Sextus Iulius Frontinus (b. c. 35; † 103) was a
Roman senator, soldier, and writer. In 74/75 he became governor of the province of
Britain until he was succeeded by Agricola in 79/80. After serving as
legatus Augusti pro praetore in what would later become
Germania inferior and as
proconsul of the province of
Asia, he was appointed by Emperor
Nerva in 97 AD as superintendent of the aqueducts in
Rome (curator aquarum), a task entrusted only to persons of very high standing. He was
consul three times, the last time in 100 AD together with Emperor
Trajan, which was a high distinction.
His most famous
work is
De aquaeductu urbis Romae in two books. In it, he describes the
history, use, maintenance and condition of the
Roman water supply and disposal system. He considers these to be a great civilizing achievement of the
Romans. However, he also recognized that the managers lacked the necessary expertise. Therefore, he systematically collected the scattered specialized knowledge for the necessary competence to lead the official business also of
his successors.
Another
work, the
Strategematon libri dealt with the
history of Greek and
Roman war lists for use by officers and army commanders
Sources: (1)
Titus Livius, Ab urbe condita
(2) Dionysios von Halikarnassos, Antiqutates Romanae
(3) Vergil, Aeneis
(4) Ovid,
Fasti(5) Varro, De Lingua Latina
(6) Sextus Iulius Frontinus, De aquaeductus urbis Romae
(7) Servius, Kommentar zur Aeneis
(
Valerius Maximus, Facta et dicta memorabilia
(9) Plutarch, Aemilius Paulus
(10) Arnobius der Ältere, Adversus
gentesLiterature:(1) Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher, Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und
römischen Mythologie
(2) Benjamin Hederich, Gründliches mythologisches Lexikon
(3) Theodor
Mommsen, Römische Gechichte
(4) Der Kleine
Pauly(5) Der kleine Stowasser, Lateinisch-Deutsches Schulwörterbuch
Online Sources: (1)
Wikipedia(2)
Wildwinds(3)
acsearch.info
Best regards
Jochen
