SILVANUS. — God of the Roman religion. Although attempts have been made to explain his name differently (e.g., *silvans*), it seems to be an adjective derived from *silva* ("forest"), and indeed SILVANUS remains throughout Roman history a god of the woods: at most, a distinction is drawn between *S. silvester* and *S. domesticus*, according to whether the god’s functions pertain to the woods or to houses and farms.
It is highly significant that in Rome SILVANUS has no public festival and no temple, whereas his private veneration is abundantly documented, especially by inscriptions. In literature he is credited with the same traits as the god FAUNUS, who, conversely, has a public cult but almost no inscriptions. It seems clear that this is the same deity appearing under one name (the older one) in public worship and under another in private devotion. SILVANUS, conceived no differently from FAUNUS as *in cubo*, was regarded as dangerous to women; to protect childbearing women from him, the intercessory deities PILUMNUS and DEVERRA were invoked, corresponding to three instruments of domestic apotropaic magic. SILVANUS presided over the baths reserved for men; women were excluded from his cult. Like FAUNUS, he was identified with the Greek PAN. His sphere was that of untamed nature. In the Illyrian provinces of the Empire, his veneration—linked with that of DIANA—was especially intense and suggests a Roman interpretation of an indigenous deity of similar character. In representations, SILVANUS appears as a woodcutter, holding a sickle and a tree branch, with a dog at his feet.
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SILVANUS. — Homoeousian bishop of Tarsus, about whom relatively little is known. He attended the Council of Sirmium in 351 and in 357 gave hospitality to ST CYRIL OF JERUSALEM when the latter was deposed by ACACIUS OF CAESAREA (Theodoret, *Hist. eccl.*, II, 26).
His contemporaries spared him no praise, and his orthodoxy was extolled even by ST HILARY OF POITIERS. At the Council of Seleucia (359) he urged approval of the formula of the so-called Synod of *Eucaeini* (Antioch 341) and served on the commission of eastern bishops that was to dispute with EUDOXIUS OF ANTIOCH and ACACIUS OF CAESAREA in the emperor Constantius’s presence. On that occasion he distinguished himself particularly in defending the doctrine of the “consistoriality” of the Word with the Father, and he also subscribed to the letter sent to the delegates at Rimini to warn them against the machinations of the Acacians. The legation, however, failed to achieve its aim; indeed, at the Council of Constantinople (360) several bishops were deposed, including SILVANUS (Theodoret, *Hist. eccl.*, II, 23).
SILVANUS belonged to the many semi-Arians of the 4th century who accepted the Nicene faith but were scandalized by the term *homoiousios*, convinced that it gave the Sabellians a cloak and therefore insisted that the more appropriate term was *homoiousios*.
He returned to his see under Julian and took part in the legation sent to Pope LIBERIUS and Emperor VALENTINIAN in 366. The emperor could not be reached because he was in the Gauls; the legates therefore approached the Pope, before whom they professed the Nicene faith and received letters of communion for the easterners. In the winter of 367 another synod was convoked at Tyana, which scheduled a synod to be held shortly afterward at Tarsus, SILVANUS’s see. The purpose of the Council of Tarsus was to restore ecclesiastical peace and concord. The intervention of the Macedonians and the Acacians with Emperor VALENS, however, prevented the council from assembling. SILVANUS died about 373.