Vejovis or Vejove ( or ; rare or ) was a Roman god of Etruscan origins (, or ).
Representation and worship Vejovis was portrayed as a young man, holding a bunch of arrows (or lightning bolts), or a pilum, in his hand, and accompanied by a goat. Romans believed that Vejovis was one of the first gods to be born. He was a god of healing, and became associated with the Greek Asclepius.Roman Medicine By John Scarborough He was mostly worshipped in Rome and Bovillae in Latium. On the Capitoline Hill and on the Tiber Island, temples were erected in his honour.The New Encyclopædia Britannica: in 30 volumes By Encyclopædia Britannica, Chicago University of, Encyclopædia Britannica Staff, Encyclopædia Britannica(ed.)
Though he was associated with volcanic eruptions, his original role and function is obscured to us.Classical Quarterly By Classical Association (Great Britain) He is occasionally identified with Apollo and young Jupiter.The Cambridge History of Classical Literature By E. J. KenneyNova Roma: Calendar of Holidays and Festivals
Aulus Gellius, in the Noctes Atticae, written around 177 CE,Leofranc Holford-Strevens, "Towards a Chronology of Aulus Gellius", Latomus, 36 (1977), pp. 93–109 speculated that Vejovis was an ill-omened counterpart of Jupiter; compare Summanus. Aulus Gellius observes that the particle ve- that prefixes the name of the god also appears in Latin words such as vesanus, "insane," and thus interprets the name Vejovis as the anti-Jove.
Temple He had a temple between the two peaks of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, where his statue carried a bundle of arrows and stood next to a statue of a she-goat.
Sacrifices In spring, multiple goats were sacrificed to him to avert plagues. Gellius informs us that Vejovis received the sacrifice of a female goat, sacrificed ritu humano Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae, (lit. "by human rite"); this obscure phrase could possibly mean "after the manner of a human sacrifice" or "in the manner of a burial."Adkins and Adkins, Dictionary of Roman Religion (Facts On File, 1996) These offerings were less about the animal sacrificed and more about the soul sacrificed.
Festivals Vejovis had three festivals in the Roman Calendar: on 1 January, 7 March, and 21 May.The Nature of the Gods By Marcus Tullius Cicero
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