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Final Draft - Preview Matter - Florida State University

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often retain their connection with the snake. 441 Thus, when scholars such as Shields suggest that<br />

a connection with the Lanuvine serpent need not imply a chthonic aspect for Juno, 442 we must be<br />

skeptical. The presence of the goddess’ temple on the top of a mountain need not exclude her<br />

from the chthonic realm either, as Apollo Soranus, discussed earlier in Chapter Three, was the<br />

god of Mt. Soracte.<br />

Furthermore, there are other indications of Juno Sospita’s chthonic nature. Her festival<br />

was celebrated on the first of February, an ill-omened month associated with purification,<br />

fertility and the dead. Fowler states, “If pleasure is the object of the mid-winter festivals, the<br />

fulfillment of duties towards the gods and the manes would seem to be that of the succeeding<br />

period.” 443 This is the character of the month opened by the worship of Juno Sospita and the<br />

dedication of her temple in Rome. 444 During the month of February, there are further<br />

connections between Juno and fertility rites; Turcan notes that Juno is also worshipped in<br />

February under the guise Juno Caprotina, or Juno Februata. Fowler goes on to associate the rites<br />

of Juno Caprotina with those of the Lupercalia suggesting that she was likely represented as<br />

wearing the goat skin of Juno Sospita and was thus linked to the generative power of the he-<br />

goat. 445 Juno Caprotina was also worshipped on July 7, the Nonae Caprotinae. The Nonae<br />

Caprotinae involved a role reversal of matrons and their hand-maidens in addition to the<br />

sacrifice of a goat under a sacred fig tree, a caprificus, in the Campus Martius. Like Juno<br />

Sospita, Juno Caprotina was a Latin goddess and was also associated with the goat, a creature<br />

known in antiquity for its fertility. In this instance, there is no doubt that Juno is associated with<br />

female fertility and the earth. 446 It has also been suggested that the rites of the Nonae Caprotinae<br />

may also have been intended as purificatory and the sacred goat sacrificed to Juno was a<br />

representation of Caprotina herself. 447 Given all of this evidence, it is not clear whether Juno<br />

Caprotina and Juno Sospita were separate goddesses. 448<br />

Juno Sospita was a polyvalent goddess not limited strictly to female concerns. As<br />

mentioned earlier, she was also the great protectress of Lanuvium. Regardless of whether or not<br />

441 Bevan 1986, 266<br />

442 Shields 1926, 68.<br />

443 Fowler 1925, 299.<br />

444 Fowler 1925, 302.<br />

445 Turcan 2000, 35.<br />

446 Fowler 1925, 178; Shields 1926, 49.<br />

447 Johnson 1960, 114.<br />

448 Grueber 1910, 370 n.3.<br />

91

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