Summanus
Encyclopedia
In ancient Roman religion
, Summanus was the god of nocturnal thunder
, as counterposed to Jupiter, the god of diurnal (daylight) thunder. His precise nature was unclear even to Ovid
.
The temple of Summanus was dedicated during the Pyrrhic War
c. 278 BC on June 20. It stood at the west of the Circus Maximus
, perhaps on the slope of the Aventine. It seems the temple had been dedicated because the statue of the god which stood on the roof of the temple of Iupiter Capitolinus had been struck by a lightningbolt.
Every June 20, the day before the summer solstice
, round cakes called summanalia, made of flour, milk and honey and shaped as wheels, were offered to him as a token of propitiation: the wheel might be a solar symbol. Summanus also received a sacrifice of two black oxen or wethers. Dark victims were typically offered to chthonic
deities.
Saint Augustine
records that in earlier times Summanus had been more exalted than Jupiter, but with the construction of a temple that was more magnificent than that of Summanus, Jupiter became more honored.
Cicero recounts that the clay statue of the god which stood on the roof of the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus was struck by a lightningbolt: its head was nowhere to be seen. The haruspices announced that it had been hurled into the Tiber River, where indeed it was found on the very spot indicated by them.
The temple of Summanus itself was struck by lightning in 197 BC.
Pliny
thought that he was of Etruscan origin, and one of the nine gods of thunder. Varro
, however, lists Summanus among gods he considers of Sabine origin, to whom king Titus Tatius
dedicated altars (arae) in consequence of a votum
. Paulus Diaconus considers him a god of lightning.
The name Summanus may be derived from the Latin
sub-manus (cf. mane, Matuta
) for "preceding the morning", but was formerly thought to be from Summus Manium "the greatest of the Manes
", or sub-, "under" + manus, "hand".
Georges Dumézil
has argued that Summanus would represent the uncanny, violent and awe-inspiring element of the gods of the first function
, connected to heavenly sovereignty. The double aspect of heavenly sovereign power would be reflected in the dichotomy Varuna
-Mitra
in Vedic religion
and in Rome in the dichotomy Summanus-Dius Fidius. The first gods of these pairs would incarnate the violent, nocturnal, mysterious aspect of sovereignty while the second ones would reflect its reassuring, daylight and legalistic aspect.
According to Martianus Capella
, Summanus is another name for Pluto
as the "highest" (summus) of the Manes
. This identification is taken up by later writers such as Camões ("If in Summanus' gloomy realm / Severest punishment you now endure …") and Milton
, in a simile
to describe Satan
visiting Rome
: "Just so Summanus, wrapped in a smoking whirlwind of blue flame, falls upon people and cities".
(Veneto, Italy) is considered a site of the cult of god Pluto, Iupiter Summanus and the Manes .
The area was one of the last strongholds of ancient religion in Italy as is shown by the fact that Vicenza had no bishop til 590 CE.
Archeological excavations have found a sanctuary area that dates back to the first Iron Age (IX century) and was continuously active til late antiquity (at least IV century CE). The local flora is very peculiar as in ancient times pilgrims used to bring flowers from their native lands.
The mountain top is frequently hit by lightningbolts. The mountain has a deep grotto (named Bocca Lorenza) in which according to a local legend a young shepherdess got lost and disappeared. The story looks to be an adaptation of the myth of Pluto and Proserpina.
The content of this section is adapted from the entry Monte Summano of WP Italian.
Religion in ancient Rome
Religion in ancient Rome encompassed the religious beliefs and cult practices regarded by the Romans as indigenous and central to their identity as a people, as well as the various and many cults imported from other peoples brought under Roman rule. Romans thus offered cult to innumerable deities...
, Summanus was the god of nocturnal thunder
Thunder
Thunder is the sound made by lightning. Depending on the nature of the lightning and distance of the listener, thunder can range from a sharp, loud crack to a long, low rumble . The sudden increase in pressure and temperature from lightning produces rapid expansion of the air surrounding and within...
, as counterposed to Jupiter, the god of diurnal (daylight) thunder. His precise nature was unclear even to Ovid
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...
.
The temple of Summanus was dedicated during the Pyrrhic War
Pyrrhic War
The Pyrrhic War was a complex series of battles and shifting political alliances among the Greeks , Romans, the Italian peoples , and the CarthaginiansThe Pyrrhic War initially started as a minor conflict between Rome and the city of Tarentum over a naval...
c. 278 BC on June 20. It stood at the west of the Circus Maximus
Circus Maximus
The Circus Maximus is an ancient Roman chariot racing stadium and mass entertainment venue located in Rome, Italy. Situated in the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills, it was the first and largest stadium in ancient Rome and its later Empire...
, perhaps on the slope of the Aventine. It seems the temple had been dedicated because the statue of the god which stood on the roof of the temple of Iupiter Capitolinus had been struck by a lightningbolt.
Every June 20, the day before the summer solstice
Summer solstice
The summer solstice occurs exactly when the axial tilt of a planet's semi-axis in a given hemisphere is most inclined towards the star that it orbits. Earth's maximum axial tilt to our star, the Sun, during a solstice is 23° 26'. Though the summer solstice is an instant in time, the term is also...
, round cakes called summanalia, made of flour, milk and honey and shaped as wheels, were offered to him as a token of propitiation: the wheel might be a solar symbol. Summanus also received a sacrifice of two black oxen or wethers. Dark victims were typically offered to chthonic
Chthonic
Chthonic designates, or pertains to, deities or spirits of the underworld, especially in relation to Greek religion. The Greek word khthon is one of several for "earth"; it typically refers to the interior of the soil, rather than the living surface of the land or the land as territory...
deities.
Saint Augustine
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
records that in earlier times Summanus had been more exalted than Jupiter, but with the construction of a temple that was more magnificent than that of Summanus, Jupiter became more honored.
Cicero recounts that the clay statue of the god which stood on the roof of the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus was struck by a lightningbolt: its head was nowhere to be seen. The haruspices announced that it had been hurled into the Tiber River, where indeed it was found on the very spot indicated by them.
The temple of Summanus itself was struck by lightning in 197 BC.
Pliny
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
thought that he was of Etruscan origin, and one of the nine gods of thunder. Varro
Varro
Varro was a Roman cognomen carried by:*Marcus Terentius Varro, sometimes known as Varro Reatinus, the scholar*Publius Terentius Varro or Varro Atacinus, the poet*Gaius Terentius Varro, the consul defeated at the battle of Cannae...
, however, lists Summanus among gods he considers of Sabine origin, to whom king Titus Tatius
Titus Tatius
The traditions of ancient Rome held that Titus Tatius was the Sabine king of Cures, who, after the rape of the Sabine women, attacked Rome and captured the Capitol with the treachery of Tarpeia. The Sabine women, however, convinced Tatius and the Roman king, Romulus, to reconcile and subsequently...
dedicated altars (arae) in consequence of a votum
Votum
In ancient Roman religion, a votum, plural vota, is a vow or promise made to a deity. The word comes from the past participle of the Latin verb voveo, vovere, "vow, promise." As the result of this verbal action, a votum is also that which fulfills a vow, that is, the thing promised, such as...
. Paulus Diaconus considers him a god of lightning.
The name Summanus may be derived from the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
sub-manus (cf. mane, Matuta
Mater Matuta
Mater Matuta was an indigenous Roman goddess, whom the Romans eventually made equivalent to the dawn goddess Aurora, and the Greek goddess Eos. Mater Matuta had a temple on the Forum Boarium, and she was also associated with the sea harbors and ports, where there were other temples to her.Her...
) for "preceding the morning", but was formerly thought to be from Summus Manium "the greatest of the Manes
Manes
In ancient Roman religion, the Manes or Di Manes are chthonic deities sometimes thought to represent the souls of deceased loved ones. They were associated with the Lares, Genii, and Di Penates as deities that pertained to domestic, local, and personal cult...
", or sub-, "under" + manus, "hand".
Georges Dumézil
Georges Dumézil
Georges Dumézil was a French comparative philologist best known for his analysis of sovereignty and power in Proto-Indo-European religion and society...
has argued that Summanus would represent the uncanny, violent and awe-inspiring element of the gods of the first function
Trifunctional hypothesis
The trifunctional hypothesis of prehistoric Proto-Indo-European society postulates a tripartite ideology reflected in the existence of three classes or castes—priests, warriors, and commoners —corresponding to the three functions of the sacral, the martial and the economic, respectively...
, connected to heavenly sovereignty. The double aspect of heavenly sovereign power would be reflected in the dichotomy Varuna
Varuna
In Vedic religion, Varuna is a god of the sky, of water and of the celestial ocean, as well as a god of law and of the underworld...
-Mitra
Mitra
*Mitra was an important Indo-Iranian divinity. Following the prehistoric cultural split of Indo-Aryan and Iranian cultures, names descended from *mitra were used for the following religious entities:...
in Vedic religion
Vedic religion
Vedic religion may refer to:*the historical Vedic religion- Vedic Hinduism **Vedic mythology*Shrauta, surviving conservative traditions within HinduismIn wider meanings of the term "Vedic"*Vedanta*Hinduism in general...
and in Rome in the dichotomy Summanus-Dius Fidius. The first gods of these pairs would incarnate the violent, nocturnal, mysterious aspect of sovereignty while the second ones would reflect its reassuring, daylight and legalistic aspect.
According to Martianus Capella
Martianus Capella
Martianus Minneus Felix Capella was a pagan writer of Late Antiquity, one of the earliest developers of the system of the seven liberal arts that structured early medieval education...
, Summanus is another name for Pluto
Pluto (mythology)
In ancient Greek religion and myth, Pluto was a name for the ruler of the underworld; the god was also known as Hades, a name for the underworld itself...
as the "highest" (summus) of the Manes
Manes
In ancient Roman religion, the Manes or Di Manes are chthonic deities sometimes thought to represent the souls of deceased loved ones. They were associated with the Lares, Genii, and Di Penates as deities that pertained to domestic, local, and personal cult...
. This identification is taken up by later writers such as Camões ("If in Summanus' gloomy realm / Severest punishment you now endure …") and Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
, in a simile
Simile
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two different things, usually by employing the words "like", "as". Even though both similes and metaphors are forms of comparison, similes indirectly compare the two ideas and allow them to remain distinct in spite of their similarities, whereas...
to describe Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
visiting Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
: "Just so Summanus, wrapped in a smoking whirlwind of blue flame, falls upon people and cities".
Summanus and Mount Summano
Traditionally Mount Summano (elevation 1291 m.) in the Alps near VicenzaVicenza
Vicenza , a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione...
(Veneto, Italy) is considered a site of the cult of god Pluto, Iupiter Summanus and the Manes .
The area was one of the last strongholds of ancient religion in Italy as is shown by the fact that Vicenza had no bishop til 590 CE.
Archeological excavations have found a sanctuary area that dates back to the first Iron Age (IX century) and was continuously active til late antiquity (at least IV century CE). The local flora is very peculiar as in ancient times pilgrims used to bring flowers from their native lands.
The mountain top is frequently hit by lightningbolts. The mountain has a deep grotto (named Bocca Lorenza) in which according to a local legend a young shepherdess got lost and disappeared. The story looks to be an adaptation of the myth of Pluto and Proserpina.
The content of this section is adapted from the entry Monte Summano of WP Italian.