Silvanus (Latin: /silˈwaː.nus/, Italianate Latin: /silˈva.nus/ anglicised as /sɪlˈveɪnəs/ or /sɪlˈvɑːnəs/; meaning "of the woods" in Latin) or Sylvanus (Latin: /sylˈwaː.nus/ anglicised as /sɪlˈveɪnəs/ or /sɪlˈvɑːnəs/) was a Roman tutelary deity of woods and fields. As protector of the forest (sylvestris deus), he especially presided over plantations and delighted in trees growing wild. He is also described as a god watching over the fields and husbandmen, protecting in particular the boundaries of fields. The similarly named Etruscan deity Selvans may be a borrowing of Silvanus, or not even related in origin.
Silvanus is described as the divinity protecting the flocks of cattle, warding off wolves, and promoting their fertility. Dolabella, a rural engineer of whom only a few pages are known, states that Silvanus was the first to set up stones to mark the limits of fields, and that every estate had three Silvani:
- a Silvanus domesticus (in inscriptions called Silvanus Larum and Silvanus sanctus sacer Larum)
- a Silvanus agrestis (also called salutaris), who was worshipped by shepherds, and
- a Silvanus orientalis, that is, the god presiding over the point at which an estate begins.
Hence Silvani were often referred to in the plural.
The silvan (Greek: silen) Silvanus is often identified with the two fauns (Inuus and Faunus).
The English word sylvan had come from this deity's name.
Although Silvanus is based on Greek Seilenos, he had had his independent character at the beginning before they identified him with Inuus (Pan) and often Greek Seilenos is called Silenus by Romans; by the way, the latter name is used for another form of Silvanus and sometimes interchangeably for the same god.
Gallery[]
External links[]
- Silvanus - Britannica
- Silvanus (mythology) - Wikipedia
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