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Arval Brothers

(Encyclopedia)Arval Brothers ärˈvəl [key], in Roman religion, college of 12 priests chosen from the most distinguished senatorial families. It was said that the original brothers were sons of Acca Larentia. Thei...

Fortuna

(Encyclopedia)Fortuna fôrto͞oˈnə [key], in Roman religion, goddess of fortune. Worshiped under several forms, she appears to have originally been a goddess of fertility. She was later identified with Tyche, the...

Tabb, John Banister

(Encyclopedia)Tabb, John Banister, 1845–1909, American poet, b. Amelia co., Va. He was converted to Roman Catholicism in 1872 and entered the priesthood in 1884. His poems on nature and religion are simple and po...

Quirinus

(Encyclopedia)Quirinus kwĭrˈĭnəs [key], in Roman religion, an early god, possibly of war. Worshiped originally by the Sabines, he was one of the chief gods of ancient Rome, associated with Jupiter and Mars. In ...

magic, in religion and superstition

(Encyclopedia)magic, in religion and superstition, the practice of manipulating and controlling the course of nature by preternatural means. Magic is based upon the belief that the universe is populated by unseen f...

sun worship

(Encyclopedia)sun worship. Deification and adoration of the sun occurred primarily in agrarian societies. When man became a farmer, and thus dependent upon daily and seasonal changes of weather, he often turned to ...

Bacchanalia

(Encyclopedia)Bacchanalia băkənāˈlēə [key], in Roman religion, festival in honor of Bacchus, god of wine. Originally a religious ceremony, like the Liberalia, it gradually became an occasion for drunken, lice...

Prudentius

(Encyclopedia)Prudentius (Aurelius Clemens Prudentius) pro͞odĕnˈshəs [key], b. 348, Christian Latin poet, b. Spain. He wrote a number of hymns, occasional Christian lyrics, and poems on saints. Although he held...

mysteries

(Encyclopedia)mysteries, in Greek and Roman religion, some important secret cults. The conventional religions of both Greeks and Romans were alike in consisting principally of propitiation and prayers for the good ...

Fates

(Encyclopedia)Fates, in Greek religion and mythology, three goddesses who controlled human lives; also called the Moerae or Moirai. They were: Clotho, who spun the web of life; Lachesis, who measured its length; an...