GIOVE - Testa
A community might have had its own cult of J. precisely at the summit of its hill: this is suggested both by the individual names handed down of Iuppiter Viminus, Fagutalis, Coelius, etc., and by the particular correspondence of such places of worship to the character of a supreme god of the luminous sky. Indeed, such was J. from the origins of Roman religion and remained so thereafter: the epithet *Lucretius*, found already in the most ancient field of the Salii, alludes to this character, while also presupposed by common Latin expressions such as "sub Iove" for "in the open air," etc.
In the most ancient Roman calendar, the festivals of J. appear scarce only at first glance: many circumstances confirm the relatively late testimony according to which the *idus*, originally the day of the full moon of each month, was sacred to J. from the beginning. On these days, no other festivals appear in the calendar, not even those whose date and very ancient age are beyond doubt (the *idus* of March: Anna Perenna; those of October: *equus october*); and even in historical times, the most important cults of J. were celebrated on the *Ides* of the various months. On these days, the particular priest of J., the *flamen Dialis*—the first of the *flamines maiores*—sacrificed to J. monthly a sheep (*ovis idulis*) on the acropolis of the city. J. therefore not only is present in the calendar but occupies a central position there; this position, as well as the connection with the full moon (the day of the most enduring light) and the strict ritual purity rules that govern, in every detail, the life of his priest, clearly correspond to the character of the supreme god of the sky. However, the calendar also reveals other aspects of J. It is known, for example, that the festivals connected with wine production—the *Vinalia priora* of April 23, the *Vinalia rustica* of August 19, and the *Meditrinalia* of October 11—were sacred to J. *Feriae Iovis* are also the festival of the *Populifugium* and December 23 (*Larentalia*): festivals whose original connection with the cult of J. now escapes us.
Undoubtedly very ancient—prior, that is, to the establishment of the Capitoline cult—are also other Roman cults of J. that emphasize certain functions and aspects of the god. On the northern summit of the Capitoline Hill, Iuppiter Feretrius or Iuppiter Lapis was venerated: his priestly college, that of the *fetiales*, regulated the international sacred law of ancient Rome, namely the ritual declarations of war; oaths were sworn upon the stone (*lapis silex*) that represented the god. The supposed meteoritic origins of this stone lead to another form of J.'s manifestation: the lightning bolt. Even in classical times, the primitive connection of lightning and thunder with J. survives, as he assumes the epithets *Tonans*, *Fulgurator*, etc., as well as other appellatives, such as *Pluvius*, which indicate his nature as a sky god; but more ancient than all these seems to be the name of Iuppiter Fulgur, i.e., J. the Thunderer. Like the sky deities of primitive religions, J. also sanctioned his decrees with the lightning bolt, similar in this to the Etruscan *Tina*, who, moreover, in archaic times was assimilated to the Greek Zeus. The ancient age of Iuppiter Elicius is also evident from the uncertain interpretation given by the Romans themselves: the meaning of "to produce, evoke" hidden in his epithet may have referred to a power related to water (cf. the *Aquaelicium*, a rite celebrated on the Aventine) and not, or at least not only, as ancient scholars believed, to the prodigies of the sky. Another ancient cult is that of Iuppiter Liber, which, outside Rome, is found in the Sabine region: in Rome, it is mentioned near the sanctuary on the Aventine, whose festival is on September 19. Iuppiter Liber may be related to the aforementioned connection with wine: in this case, the god Liber would be a later conception of an original J. who also contained the Dionysian characteristics of the former. Other epithets, such as *Stator*, *Victor*, *Invictus*, emphasize in J. a martial character or that of supreme master of the fortunes of wars. The administration of his cult by the ancient *flamen Dialis* demonstrates the antiquity of Iuppiter Farreus, who presides over the form of sacred marriage known as *confarreatio*. But flour, or more precisely crushed grain (*far*), as the basic element of all human life and every sacrifice, also appears in another connection with J.: in the figure of Iuppiter Pistor, whose name would only for modern scholars be related to a supposed meaning of the verb *pinsere* ("to hurl lightning bolts"), whereas for the Romans it meant "to crush grain" (later *pistor* = baker).
Among all these cults, the worship of Iuppiter Optimus Maximus on the southern summit of the Capitoline Hill stands out for its central importance in Roman public life. The temple, oriented toward the south and built with three cellae—of which the side ones housed, as his companions, Iuno Regina and Minerva—dates to the period of the Tarquins and was inaugurated in the year 509 BC, which Roman tradition regards as the first year of the Republic. Constructed by Etruscan artisans, the temple contained a statue of Jupiter, certainly in the archaic Greek anthropomorphic style; yet in this cult Jupiter assumes an essentially Roman character, as he stands at the center of the state’s life.
From this time onward, all of Rome’s international treaties were preserved in this temple; here the Senate convened to decide upon entry into war; here the commander departing for campaign would make vows for his expedition, later returning in triumph to present his sacrifice upon victory. On this occasion, the triumphator wore a costume resembling that of Iuppiter Optimus Maximus, which was modeled on that of the Etruscan kings. The temple’s festival on September 13 marked the beginning of the official year, with the entry into office of the magistrates. On the wall of Minerva’s cella was fixed the *clavus annalis*, the annual nail used for the temple’s sacred reckoning; indeed, the founding date of the Capitoline temple served for centuries as a stable chronological reference point.
Various significant connections exist between the Capitoline cult and that of Iuppiter Latiaris: the commander denied a triumph within the city celebrated a triumph on Mount Albanus; during the *Feriae Latinae*, chariot races were also organized on the Capitol; and to Jupiter Capitolinus a bull was likewise offered as a victim. While, however, the Alban cult represents the idea of common Latin descent, the Capitoline cult, independent of kinship ties, embodies the universal political idea of Rome. In Roman colonies, capitolia were built in imitation of the temple of the Urbs. The Capitoline cult remained at the center of Roman public religious life throughout the Republican period.
Augustus was the first to transfer some prerogatives of this cult to the cults he founded of Mars Ultor and Apollo, in service of the dynastic idea he promoted. Under other emperors, whether due to the intense development of the imperial cult or to other specific religious interests (e.g., the cult of the Sun under Aurelian), not only the Capitoline cult but the worship of Jupiter in general sometimes seemed to recede into the background. Yet while sudden enthusiasms and attempts at religious policy generally passed with the emperor who created them, the state of Rome continually rediscovered its religious center in the cult of Jupiter Optimus Maximus.
Non-Italic religious masses within the orbit of the Empire readily found in this supreme Roman deity an expression of their own highest god, just as the Romans themselves believed they recognized their Jupiter in foreign deities (*interpretatio Romana*). Thus not only the European peoples—among whom, for example, the Celtic god Sucellus or the Germanic god Donar were identified with Jupiter—did so, but also the Eastern peoples, who equated their most eminent deities, often likewise celestial, with the Roman god, while the Romans increasingly came under the influence of various Eastern religious ideologies. Hence it came about that from the more or less local cults of Commagene, Baalbek, and Cyrene there developed, among the mixed populations of the Roman provinces, the cults respectively of Iuppiter Dolichanus, Iuppiter Heliopolitanus, and Iuppiter Hammon.