148 MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS RITES. 
Jupiter of the Romans. Next to him ranked Janus. He was god.of Time; 
of the year, which he opened and closed; of the harvest, representing the 
sun; and acted as mediator between the mortals and the immortals, convey- 
ing the prayers of men tothe ears of the gods. He appears in this character 
(pl. 15, figs.:1 and 2a) with two faces. He was also regarded as an 
inhabitant of the whole universe, heaven, earth, and sea; the guardian 
and director of human affairs; and in order to express his omniscience or 
his powers of seeing into the four quarters of the world at: once, he was 
represented with four faces (jig. 2). By the ship-prow at his feet is com- 
memorated the myth that Cronos, after having been dethroned by Zeus, fled 
to Janus in Italy. Another of their gods, Tages (jig. 12), resembled the 
Roman Amor. He came as was supposed out of the ground (when a hus- 
bandman of Tarquinii was ploughing deep), in the form of a handsome boy, 
but with the wisdom of an old man ; and after teaching the rustic and such 
persons as had been attracted to the spot by his exclamations of surprise, © 
the knowledge of divine things, of divination and augury by the flight of 
birds, and the entrails of the animals offered in sacrifice, and they had 
recorded his words, he instantly died. Among the goddesses of the lower 
order, the chief was Voltwmna (jfig.:20), at whose temple in Viterbo the 
Etruscan confederation held its meetings. She was goddess of deliberative 
assemblies, and the patroness of counsellors, senators, &c. Ancaria or 
Ancharia (fig. 16) also belonged to this class, but was scarcely known 
beyond the district of Fiesole, the ancient Feesule, where she was wor- 
shipped. 
The Umbrians had a worship and a class of gods very similar to those of 
the Etruscans ; and even the Sabznes, who in early times possessed a system 
of their own, afterwards adopted much from the more polished Etruscans. 
So too the Zatums were indebted to the common source, though in many 
particulars their mythology varied from all others. Their first god was 
Saturnus, the next Neptunus with his wives Salatia and Venilia. They 
recognised a Jupiter Axur or Anxur, concerning whose meaning and form 
the ancients themselves did not agree. He is often represented (pl. 16, 
jig. 18) as youthful and standing, his left arm enveloped with an e@gis and 
serpents, the hand supporting a sceptre; and his right hand grasping three 
thunderbolts. At his feet sits the eagle, and behind him lies the shield. 
The inscription refers to the name of the sculptor. Probably the figure is 
intended to show him in the armor in which he fought the Titans. In 
pl. 17, fig. 4, he is represented sitting upon a throne or chair, partially 
dressed, with a radiant head, and holding in one hand a sceptre, in the other 
a sacrificial cup. He was regarded in some measure as a wicked god, and 
goats were sacrificed to him. Vejovrs, in some respects similar to, and even 
identical with him (pl. 15, jig. 22 a, 6), was looked on as an awful being; he 
was originally an Etruscan god. Others, however, regarded him as a weak, 
boyish god, incompetent to render assistance. He was represented beard- 
less, and accompanied by a goat. Opis or Ops (fig. 4) was goddess of 
Shepherds, and when the whole Latin worship came to be blended with the 
Grecian, she held the rank and position of Rhea. 
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