Silvānus
A Latin divinity of the fields and forests, suggesting somewhat the early Italian
conception of the agricultural Mars and also Faunus. He is likewise called the protector of
the boundaries of fields (
Hor. Epod. 2, 22).
In connection with woods (
silvestris deus), he especially presided over
plantations, and delighted in trees growing wild, whence he is represented as carrying the
trunk of a cypress. Silvanus is further described as the divinity protecting herds of cattle,
promoting their fertility and driving away wolves. Later writers identified Silvanus with Pan,
Faunus, Inuus, and Aegipan. In the Latin poets, as well as in works of art, he always appears
as an old man, but cheerful and in love with Pomona. The sacrifices offered to him consisted
of grapes, ears of corn, milk,
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Silvanus. (Statue in Berlin Museum.)
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meat, wine, and pigs. He was associated with the cypress (
Serv. ad
Georg. i. 20) and the pine, whence he is styled Silvanus Dendrophorus
(
C. I. L. vi. 241).
