The Gods Of Roman Mythology

What the Romans did for us was to encourage Godliness on a grand scale.

You were spoilt for choice. Far from destroying the beliefs of conquered countries, they were actively encouraged - and in many cases absorbed. The Romans just couldn't have enough Gods. In fact sometimes they appear to have invented some for special occasions.

They gave the Greek pantheon a major makeover and fancy Latin names. The major deities were built up into the Planet Suite: Mars, Venus, Jupiter, etc. A good means of identification. We've attempted to point out the Greek vs Roman equivalents and hopefully haven't missed out too many.

Most of the Latin words still in use today seem to have a God connected to them. Discipline = DISCIPLINA, Fauna = FAUNUS, and Fortune = FORTUNA. Just add an 'a' or an 'us' to the end of a Latin word and see what God you get. With the romantic Romans, the more Gods the merrier. And some of their Gods could be very merry indeed.

Meanwhile, in Tuscany, sandwiched between Greek and Roman dynasties, the Etruscans or Etrurians seemed to have lived life to the full if their frescoes and artifacts are anything to go by. Which is pretty much all we can do as Etruscan remains a dead language.

So far scholars have been stymied. It looks a bit Greekish and a bit Latin - but no... On closer inspection a sort of dithyrambic rambling takes place, and although 300 or so actual words have been translated they don't make much sense when put together. Where they came from or where they went nobody knows. (Or if they do, they haven't told us!)

But the Romans must have happened to them at some point - as they appropriated many of their Gods. No doubt some UFO nutter will come up with a spaceship abduction theory, but we feel they were slowly absorbed by Roman romantics. You will have to take it on trust, or etrusc, which is possibly similar to deciphering truncated e-mails.