Carna
or CARNEA, a Roman divinity, whose name is probably connected with
caro, flesh, for she was regarded as the protector of the physical well-being of man.
It was especially the chief organs of the human body, without which man cannot exist, such as the heart, the lungs, and the liver, tliat were recommended to her protection. Junius Brutus, at the beginning of the commonwealth, was believe to have dedicated to her a sanctuary on the Caelian hill, and a festival was celebrated to her on the first of June, which day was called
fabrariue calendae, from beans (
fabae) and bacon being offered to her. (
Macr. 1.12; Varro, apud
Nonium, s. v. Mactare ; Ovid,
Ov. Fast. 6.101, &c., who however confounds
Cardea with
Carna.)
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