In Roman mythology

Roman mythology

Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans...

, Verminus was the Roman god who protected cattle from disease. The god may have been inherited from the Indigetes

Indigetes

The Indigetes were an ancient Iberian people of the Iberian peninsula...

, whom the Romans conquered in 218 BC. An altar dedicated by consul (or duovir) Aulus Postumius Albinus

Aulus Postumius Albinus

Aulus Postumius Albinus, was a politician of the Roman Republic, and second consul in 99 BC with M. Antonius. Aulus Gellius quotes the words of a senatus consultum passed in their consulship in consequence of the spears of Mars having moved...

 in 151 BC to Verminus was discovered in 1876, and was housed in the museum of the Antiquarium Comunale in Rome.

A 2nd century inscription dedicated to the god has been considered to be a reaction to increased worm infections among humans. However, Spanish veterinary scientist M. Cordero del Campillo has concluded that it was due to an epidemic infectious disease affecting both humans and animals.

An altar to Verminus was discovered on Viminal Hill

Viminal Hill

The Viminal Hill is the smallest of the famous seven hills of Rome. A finger-shape cusp pointing toward central Rome between the Quirinal Hill to the northwest and the Esquiline Hill to the southeast, it is home to the Teatro dell'Opera and the Termini Railway Station.At the top of Viminal Hill...

in Rome.