Neptūnus
The Italian god of the sea, husband of Salacia, the goddess of salt water (Varro,
L.
L. v. 72), and identified by the Romans with the Greek Poseidon. This identification
dated from B.C. 399, when a
lectisternium (q. v.) was ordained in his
honour by the Sibylline Books (
Livy, v. 13). Like Poseidon, he was
worshipped as god of the sea and of equestrian accomplishments. As such he had a temple in the
Circus Flaminius, while in the Circus Maximus the old Italian god Consus had an altar in a
similar capacity. In after-times Agrippa built a temple and portico to Neptune on the Field of
Mars, in honour of his naval victory over Sextus Pompeius and Antonius. A festival of Neptune
(Neptunalia), accompanied by games, was celebrated on July 23. The old harbour-god of the
Romans was
Portunus (q.v.). The original conception
of Neptunus was of a god presiding over rivers and springs, as the early Romans had little to
do with the sea. The wider view which made him primarily a sea-god is possibly due to the
influence of the Etruscan religion in which Neptune (Nethuns) was so regarded. See
Poseidon.
