Festival of Jupiter

Epulum Jovis in Capitoli was a three-day festival honouring the one Roman deity given the title of God – Jupiter, or Jove to the Romans and Zeus to the Greeks.

Jupiter was the god of the sky and thunder, a friendly, mostly happy god, not vengeful or destructive like the Bible's Jehovah (God of the Jews), who is also sometimes called in English 'Jove' by association. The English word 'jovial', in fact, comes from this happy god. However, he could sometimes be a punishing deity ...

On this, the first day, celebrations commenced in honour of the goddesses of Plenty, Fortune and Piety, climaxing tomorrow on the Ides of the month ...

Categories: ancient-rome, calendar-customs, deity, mythology