Jupiter, a sky god and lightning bearer, was the principal god of the Roman state for almost a millennium from the time of the legendary Roman kings, throughout the Republic, and until the Empire converted to Christianity. He was also considered a caring deity, as Cicero called him a “helping father,” and his alternative name, Jove, means “to help.” He was a sky god and a benevolent caretaker of Rome, but he was also a god with a martial aspect and who enabled and justified Rome’s conquest of much of the known world.
Jupiter Arrives in Rome
Jupiter was an Etruscan god imported to Rome with many other elements of Etruscan culture. This is captured in the legendary story of King Numa Pompilius, the second legendary (and probably fictional) king of Rome negotiating with Jupiter about the sacrifices that should be made for the prosperity of the state.
It also harks back to the story of Zeus and Prometheus and their negotiation to decide the proper division of sacrifices between men and gods. The Romans later identified Jupiter with Zeus, and Jupiter absorbed the mythology of the Greek god, largely obscuring his earlier origins and characteristics. The stories of his birth as a son of Saturn, overthrow of his father, and conquest of the heavens all comes from the Greek mythology of Zeus.
Returning to Numa, according to the story, Numa was having issues with his harvest, so he enticed Jupiter to Earth to negotiate with him about how the Romans could maintain his favour (as a weather deity Jupiter was also an agricultural god). The king skilfully averted any request for human sacrifice and agreed to the more familiar animal sacrifices. When negotiations were complete, Jupiter promised to give Numa and the Romans the pawns of imperium, which was military might. The next morning, Jupiter threw three lightning bolts across the sky and sent a round shield with no angles down from heaven. Numa called it ancile, because imperium and the fate of the Roman people resided within it.
It is said that later, King Tullus Hostilius offended Jupiter by destroying Alba Longa and deporting its people to Rome without consideration for their sanctuary of Jupiter. There were omens that indicated that Jupiter wanted the Albans to continue to perform their traditional rites, but these were ignored, resulting in a plague throughout Rome and the king being killed by a thunderbolt. The rites were later restored in Rome.
Later, when Tarquin the Elder was approaching Rome, an eagle, a bird of Jupiter, swooped down and took his hat, circled him screaming, and then replaced his hat. This was considered an omen that Jupiter had chosen him as Rome’s next king, which he was. He was then responsible for making the Capitoline Triad the principal gods of Rome, which they continued to be after the fall of the kings and the rise of the Roman Republic.
All these stories from the legendary period before the establishment of the Roman Republic, ostensibly at the end of the 6th century BCE, place Jupiter at the centre of the foundation of Rome and demonstrate how its prosperity depends on a good relationship with the god through proper sacrifice.
Even before Rome existed, Jupiter’s hand is evident, as will be seen with the story of Romulus and Remus below.
Sky God
The old Italic Jupiter was a sky god associated with daylight. This made him a weather god linked to agriculture. This is preserved in the fact that Numa summoned Jupiter when he was struggling with crops, and in rituals to encourage rainfall such as the Nudipedalia and the Lapis Manalis.
Even in Etruscan times, he was also associated with lightning, but it may not have been as essential to him as it was to Zeus. The Etruscans believed that there were 12 different types of lightning, each wielded by different gods, and Jupiter was just one of those gods. More important than lightning specifically seems to have been the conditions of the sky, including lightning, wind, rain, and the flights of birds.
Like Zeus, Jupiter was also associated with the eagle, which was the principal bird used in taking the auspices. The auspices were a way to determine the will of the gods based on the flight of birds, especially eagles. Throughout Roman history, priests known as augures observed the flight of birds and interpreted their meaning. While anyone could see an eagle and think it was important, theirs were the only “official” interpretations. This was incredibly important, as no action could be taken without the sanction of the gods.
The Romans also believed that when a man was deified, one of Jupiter’s eagles carried them up to the heavens, and deified emperors are often seen riding on the back of eagles in art.
It was the appearance of eagles that Romulus and Remus used to determine which of the many hills surrounding the Tiber the gods favoured for their new settlement. Remus saw six birds and Romulus 12. Remus claimed he had priority because he saw his birds first, but Romulus pointed out that he saw more. In the end, the twin brothers fought, Romulus killed Remus and established Rome alone with his followers.
Perhaps surprisingly, it was his link to the auspices that made Jupiter the supreme god of Rome, as he was the font of the divine guidance that supported the Roman state.
Capitoline Jupiter
Rome’s most important god logically took pride of place in Rome’s most important temple on the Capitoline Hill. Here he was called Jupiter Optimus Maximus (best and greatest) and was worshipped alongside his wife Juno Regina and daughter Minerva.
Under the Republic, the consuls (chief magistrates) swore their oaths of office in the name of Jupiter. When great generals rose to dominate Rome, they celebrated triumphs in Rome to show off their victories. The “triumphator” imitated Jupiter in his dress and then gave spoils of war to Jupiter as votive offerings. Under the Empire, Jupiter was always the first to receive sacrifices to celebrate and secure the health and prosperity of the emperor and imperial family, alongside Juno, Minerva, deified emperors, and other gods.
As well as the Capitoline Temple, Jupiter had several temples throughout Rome.
According to records, there were two temples to Jupiter Stator (the sustainer), one dedicated after the Third Samnite War in 294 BCE, and one dedicated din 146 BCE in connection with another temple of Juno Regina.
There was also a temple of Jupiter Tonans (the thunderer) that was also restored by Augustus during the early part of his reign.
A temple to Jupiter Victor (the victorious) was also dedicated after the Third Samnite War, later replaced by an imperial temple of Jupiter Invictus (the undefeated).
There is also evidence of a temple of Jupiter Propugnitor (the defender) on the Palatine. These all highlight the martial nature of Jupiter and his connection to Rome’s empire building.
Jupiter was known by many more epithets including Conservator (preserver_, Custos (protector), Feretrius (receiver of spoils), Liber (freedom granter), Sospes (savior), and Vindex (defensor).
Priests of Jupiter
Jupiter had an official priest called the Flamen Dialis, who was the chief priest in the colleges of 15 flamines. He was technically under the direction of the Pontifex Maximus, the chief priest of Rome, but this was more of an advisory relationship than a hierarchy. When a Flamen Dialis was elected, his wife was made Flaminica Dialis and she had her own duties, and the candidate for the position had to be married. They had to live by several strict rules. For example, the Flamen could not take his hat off out of doors or touch anything linked with death, while if the Flaminica received an omen, she had to stop all her activities until he god was propitiated.
Sacrifices were made to Jupiter on regular dates, by various priests, throughout the year including all nundinae in the Roman calendar, which were market days, as well as popular assembly days, the ides of the month and the full moon. There were also specific holidays celebrated for Jupiter, such as the anniversary of the Capitoline Temple, held on Jupiter’s birthday, which was the ides of September.
On 15 October, the Ludi Feretrius were help in honour of Jupiter Feretrius, or the god of treaties. When foreign envoys came to Rome, they would end their business with sacrifices to Jupiter on the Capitoline to acknowledge the superiority of Rome’s power and gods. Replicas of the Capitoline Temple were planted throughout the Empire to reflect Rome’s dominion and ensure the prosperity of her expanded territory. Moves to replace the destroyed temple of Jerusalem with a Capitoline Temple was a major cause of conflict between the Romans and the Jews.
The nature of the animal sacrificed to Jupiter was important. Jupiter received a variety of animals on different occasions including an ox, a lamb, and a wether, which is a castrated goat or ram. The animals always had to be white.
Augustus and Jupiter
When Augustus became emperor and Rome officially switched from militaristic Republic to expansionist Empire, the poets and other literary figures of the day used Jupiter as part of the explanation of the new state of affairs.
The stories of Jupiter at the start of Rome, with Romulus and Numa Pompilius, were used to suggest that the Romans had a grand destiny to dominate the world, based on the imperium given to them by Jupiter. Writing under Augustus, the poet Virgil suggests that Jupiter had promised the Romans imperium sine fine (sovereignty without end).
Augustus then went about presenting himself as the man divinely chosen to lead Rome as she fulfilled her destiny. He did not link himself directly to Jupiter, but instead took advantage of his family’s connection to Venus, from whom they claimed descent. He also claimed to de descended from Romulus, who was reportedly a son of Mars, and adopted Apollo as his on patron god. Apollo is, of course, the son of Zeus and Leto.
But he never considered replacing Jupiter as the most important god in Rome, and records suggest that the new practice was to make sacrifices to the Capitoline Triad for the health and prosperity of Augustus and his family. When Augustus died, a Jovian eagle was released as his funeral to indicates that he was ascending to the heavens to be with the gods. His precedent was followed to centuries to follow.
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