INDIGETI (Di indigetes). — The term, which evidently denotes a category or group of deities, occurs, for example, in a Roman formula of collective invocation reported by Livy, specifically after the names of Janus, Jupiter, Mars, Quirinus, Bellona, and the di novensiles.
The Roman grammarians already explained the term in different ways: gods with a secret name, invoked gods (cf. indigitare), ancestral gods, men made into gods, and so forth. The scanty ancient evidence shows only that, in addition to the collective body of the I., there were individual deities who bore the appellation Indiges: thus a god worshipped near the Numicius River at Lavinium, identified at times with Jupiter, at times with Aeneas or Anchises; or, in Rome itself, a god whose festival (Aganium Indigetiis) was celebrated on 11 December and who seems to be identical with the Sol Indiges worshipped on the Quirinal, which also had a festival on 9 August. Among modern scholars, until recently the interpretation prevailed (Wissowa) according to which the term denoted the “indigenous” Roman deities, as distinct from imported deities (novensiles - novensides). Once the untenability of this thesis had been demonstrated, the meaning “divine ancestor” was proposed (Koch), based on the Greek translation of indiges as γενάρχης and on the cult practices of Lavinium. The discussion of the subject, however, is still ongoing, revolving less around the scanty evidence than around attempts to provide an etymological explanation of the word.