CELESTE. - The name Cælestia denotes, in Roman religion, the principal goddess of Carthage who, having been evoked from the enemy city, seems to have found worship in Rome from that time onward. Her temple was perhaps on the Capitoline. Once Carthage had been colonized, the Romans restored her worship there, but only under Elagabalus was her image once again removed and transferred to the Palatine.
Originally the goddess was none other than Tanit, whose importance in Punic religion surpassed that of her consort, Ba'al Hammon. Given the great antiquity of the Carthaginian temple, one may suppose Phoenician influences that would explain the many common traits between Tanit and Astarte. A goddess of fertility and yet virginal and celestial (lunar), at Rome she was identified above all with Juno, but also with other goddesses (Diana, Venus, Fortuna). In the Roman provinces her worship is attested solely by dedications of African soldiers.