Juturna was an ancient Latin deity of fountains,[3] who in some myths was turned byJupiter into a waternymph – aNaiad – and given by him a sacred well inLavinium,Latium,[4] as well as another one near the temple toVesta in theForum Romanum. Her original home was said to be on the mythological riverNumicius.[2]
Denarius issued in 96 BC with Castor and Pollux watering their horses at the fountain of Juturna, and the laureate head ofApollo on theobverse
The pool next to the second well in the Roman Forum (Rome) was calledLacus Juturnae. A local water nymph or river-god generally presides over a single body of water, but Juturna has broader powers which probably reflect her original importance in Latium, where she had temples in Rome and Lavinium, a cult of healthful waters at Ardea, and the fountain/well next to the lake in the Roman forum. It was here in Roman legend that the deitiesCastor and Pollux watered their horses after bringing news of the Roman victory at theBattle of Lake Regillus in 496 BC (Valerius Maximus, I.8.1; Plutarch, Life of Aemilius Paulus, 25.2, Life of Coriolanus, 3.4).
Virgil makes her a sister ofTurnus who supported him againstAeneas by giving him his sword after he dropped it in battle, as well as by taking him away from the battle when it seemed he would be killed.[5] In the end, however, she could not save him from his fate, and retreated into her waters in mourning. Juturna is further hellenized by Juno’s conferral ofcatasterism (Aen. 12.143, 145), an act that links her with the Dioscuri. These divinities all share a similar function as helpers of mortals and had traditional cultic connections in early Latium.
Ovid relates her affair with Jupiter (Greek Zeus): the secret was betrayed by another nymph,Larunda, whom Jupiter struck with muteness as punishment.[6]
Holloway has argued that the goddess shown carrying a winged helmet on early Roman coinage is Juturna, but her iconography is largely unknown. A later altar relief from theTemple of Castor and Pollux in the Roman Forum may depict her. A Roman festival was held in her honor on January 11, when she was given sacrifices and honored by thefontani (the men who maintained the fountains and aqueducts of Rome).[7]
Holloway, Robert Ross. "The lady of the denarius,"Numismatica e antichità classiche: quaderni ticinesi 1995 24: 207–215.
Jaakko, Aronen. "Iuturna, Carmenta, e Mater Larum. Un rapporto arcaico tra mito, calendario e topografia."Opuscula Instituti Romani Finlandiae 4 1989 (Roma Bardi), 65–88.
Manning, Craig. "Nemean X and the Juturna-episode in Aeneid XII",Classical World 81 (1988) 221–2.
Steinby, Eva Margareta. "Lacus Iuturnae 1982-1983," inRoma. Archeologia nel centro I: L’area archeologica centrale. 1985, 73–92.
Ziolkowski, Adam. "Les temples A et C du Largo Argentina. Quelques considérations," Mélanges de l'Ecole française de Rome 98 1986: 623–641.
Ancient sources include: VarroDe ling. Lat. 1, c. 10; Ovid,Fasti, 1, v. 708, l.2 v. 585; Vergil,Aeneid 12, v. 139 (and Servian notes); Cicero,Cluent. 36; Arnobius of Sicca,Adversus gentes 3, 29
Levi, Peter,Virgil, His Life and Times, Duckworth 1998.p. 219.
Media related toJuturna at Wikimedia Commons
