Hospita'lis
the guardian or protector of the law of hospitality. We find the title of
dii hospitales as applied to a distinct class of gods, though their names are not mentioned. (
Tac. Ann. 15.52;
Liv. 39.51;
Ov. Met. 5.45.)
But the great protector of hospitality was Jupiter, at Rome called
Jupiter hospitalis, and by the Greeks
Ζεὺς ξένιος. (
Serv. ad Aen. 1.140; Cic.
ad Q. frat. 2.12; Horn.
Od. 14.389.)
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