of a serpent, as in the tradition that Atia, the mother of Augustus Cæsar, asserted that he had been engendered by intercourse which she thought she had had with Apollo, in the form of a serpent, while she slept in his temple (Dion Kassios, xlv, 2; cf. Suetonius, Vita Augustæ, 94; Aulus Gellius, VI, i, 3; Livy, xxvi, 19). Pliny states (op. cit., xxix, 22) that the sacred Esculapian serpents were first brought from Epidauros and were commonly raised in the houses of Rome to such an extent, if they had not been kept down by frequent conflagrations, it would have been impossible to make headway against their rapid increase. The original Epidaurian reptiles were harmless, but Pliny says that these were watersnakes and venomous, and that their livers were used to remedy the ill effects of their bites. Other parts of the serpents were also used as remedies. The serpent, as dwelling in a hole in the ground, and often under the house, came to be regarded as the guardian spirit of the household, and hence as symbolizing Genius and Iuno."

Votive offerings.

Those who had been healed at the temples not only paid fees when able, but left donaria of various kinds as an expression of their gratitude, these objects covering a wide range from works of art and inscribed tablets to relics and silver, bronze, or terra-cotta models of the parts diseased.

Greek medicine in Rome.

While religious healing was gaining popularity among the citizens of Rome, the germs of more scientific methods of treatment of disease had been transplanted from Knidos, Kos, and Alexandria by many Greek physicians.

53 J. A. MacCulloch, "Serpent-Worship (Introductory and Primitive)," in ERE xi, 405; also Wissowa, op. cit. (ed. 1902), p. 24.

Notwithstanding the violent hatred of the Elder Cato and other Romans toward the earlier Hellenic doctors, and despite the cold reception given them, they came in increasing numbers, many of them gaining respect, influence, and popularity. It appears that the great majority of the educated Romans eventually preferred their traditional medical treatment or the physicians, such as they were, to the religious healing of the temples, which they regarded with scepticism and scorn, often as being too plebeian for personal patronage, at least until long after the establishment of the Empire. These Greek doctors had their offices on the streets and in the Forum, and accepted patients at their homes. During the second and third centuries A.D., the cult of Esculapius gained materially in the estimation of the better classes of Rome, and it became a common practice for the wealthier families to seek the aid of the Greek healing god elsewhere, particularly at his sanctuaries of Epidauros and Pergamon.

Scepticism toward cult-healing.

That there was a widespread scepticism toward all religious medicine among the more intelligent citizens of Rome, especially among the followers of the Stoic philosophy, is evidenced by the concluding remarks of Cicero on the subject of dreams and divination: "Now whence comes this distinction between true dreams and false? And if true dreams are sent by God, whence do the false ones rise?—What can be more ignorant than to excite the minds of mortals by false and deceitful visions?-What authority is there for making such a distinction as, 'God did this, and nature that?'" (op. cit., ii, 62). "How, then, can it be reasonable for invalids to seek healing from an interpreter of dreams rather than from a physician? Can Esculapius or Serapis, by a dream, prescribe to us a

cure for weak health? And cannot Neptune do the same for pilots? Or will Minerva give medicine without a doctor, and the Muses not give dreamers knowledge of writing, reading, and other arts? But if healing of feeble health were given, all these things which I have mentioned would be given. Since they are not given, neither is medicine; and if that be the case, all authority of dreams is at an end" (ib., ii, 59). "Let this divination of dreams be rejected with the rest. For, to speak truly, that superstition, spreading through the world, has oppressed the intellectual energies of nearly all men, and has seized upon the weakness of humanity. This I have argued in my treatise 'On the Nature of the Gods,' and I especially labored to prove it in this discussion 'On Divination.' For I thought I should be doing a great benefit to myself and to my countrymen if I could eradicate that belief" (ib., ii, 72). Cicero expresses himself definitely in respect to religious healing: "I believe that those who recover from illness are more indebted to the care of Hippocrates than to the power of Esculapius" (de Nat. Deor., iii, 38).

PART II: THE HEALING DEITIES

THE list here presented includes the names of the chief deities who were concerned with the healing art in ancient Rome, and whose cults and activities are considered in the following sections. The classification adopted is an arbitrary one which has appeared to be the most convenient for the discussion of their special functions in connection with the sick and the preservation of health.**

Carna

Angina

Iuturna

Mater Matuta

(C) Underworld Deities.

Dis (Dis Pater, or Orcus) Lares Proserpina

(D) Deities of Disease.

Cloacina Febris

Mefitis

Scabies

(E) Deities with minor functions related to healing,

Note. The cults of many of these deities-not only Roman but Græco-Roman and Oriental-extended to the confines of the Latin provinces; but usually they continued true to the Roman types, though frequently syncretized with local gods. For details, see Toutain, op. cit.

I. ROMAN DEITIES.

(A) Deities of General Functions.

ANGERONA (OR ANGERONIA)

ANGERON(I)A was an ancient Roman goddess whose functions had become so obscure that her real character was practically unknown. A statue in the temple of Volupia representing her with her mouth bound with a fillet (Pliny, op. cit., iii, 9) probably implied ignorance of her true nature, but it led to the fancy that she symbolized fear and the silence inculcated by the early Romans concerning religious matters. Hence she was supposed to have been the guardian divinity of the city of Rome and to keep inviolate its secret and sacred name; while, through a popular etymology Angerona was regarded as another name for Angitia, and some believed she was called Angerona because Romans afflicted with the disease called angina (quinsy, or angor) were cured after making vows to her (Macrobius, Saturnalia, i, 10; Paulus, pp. 8, 17),55 and she was invoked for relief from plagues (a pellendis angoribus). As a matter of fact, since her festival was celebrated on December 21,5" she was prob