Aius Locutius
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Aius Locutius, also called Loquens, was a Roman numen associated with the Gallic invasions of the early 4th century.
In 390 BC, the Gauls moved in the direction of Rome, the capital of the Roman Republic. According to Roman folklore, a Roman named Caedicius kept hearing a disembodied nocturnal voice at the base of the Palatine hill in the Forum Romanum. The voice warned Caedicius of the oncoming attack and recommended that the walls of Rome be fortified. The authorities did not believe his story and the Gauls entered the city without difficulty and burned it. The Romans eventually drove the Gauls away.
An altar inscribed si deus si dea has been misidentified at times as the "Ara Aius Locutius", mentioned in some Roman texts. In reality the divinity for which the altar was constructed is unknown.
[edit] External links and references
- Rodolfo Lanciani, Pagan and Christian Rome, 1892
- Samuel Ball Platner, A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome 1929
| Roman mythology series |
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| Major deities |
| Apollo | Ceres | Diana | Juno | Jupiter | Mars | Mercury | Minerva | Venus | Vulcan Divus Augustus | Divus Julius | Fortuna | Lares | Pluto | Quirinus | Sol | Vesta |
| Personified concepts |
| Aius Locutius | Angerona | Concordia | Copia | Fides | Fortuna | Spes |
