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Vagitanus

Vagitanus

In ancient Roman religion, Vagitanus or Vaticanus was one of a number of childbirth deities who influenced or guided some aspect of parturition, in this instance the newborn's crying. Some sources relate it to the Latin noun vagitus, "crying, squalling, wailing," particularly by a baby or an animal, and the verb vagio, vagire. Vagitanus has thus been described as the god "who presided over the beginning of human speech," but a distinction should be made between the first cry and the first instance of articulate speech, in regard to which Fabulinus (fari, "to speak"; cf. fabula) was the deity to invoke. Vagitanus has been connected to a remark by Pliny that only a human being is thrown naked onto the naked earth on his day of birth for immediate wails (vagitus) and weeping.

Name

onomatopoeic

The "divine functionaries" (German Sondergötter) whose names express their sphere of influence are considered characteristic of Indo-European religions. The name Vaticanus was discussed by various ancient authors. The name Vaticanus in connection to vagitus is discussed by Aulus Gellius and Augustine of Hippo. Gellius quotes Varro, who is generally acknowledged also as Augustine's main source on ancient Roman theology:

We have been told that the word *Vatican* is applied to the hill, and the deity who presides over it, from the *vaticinia*, or prophecies, which took place there by the power and inspiration of the god; but Marcus Varro, in his book on *Divine Things*, gives another reason for this name. "As Aius," says he, "was called a deity, and an altar was built to his honour in the lowest part of the new road, because in that place a voice from heaven was heard, so this deity was called *Vaticanus*, because he presided over the principles of the human voice; for infants, as soon as they are born, make the sound which forms the first syllable in *Vaticanus*, and are therefore said *vagire* (to cry) which word expresses the noise which an infant first makes.

Despite the insistence on an etymological connection between the god's name and vagitus, Gronovius thought the correct form should be Vaticanus, and that Vagitanus was Vulgar Latin rather than classical. Augustine mentions Vagitanus/Vaticanus three times in Book 4 On the City of God in deriding the "mob" of Roman gods (turba deorum). In demonstrating that the names of gods reveal their function, he points to Vaticanus, "who presides over the cries (vagitibus) of infants," noting elsewhere that among the many deities associated with childbirth, Vaticanus is the one who opens the mouth of the newborn in crying (in vagitu).

References

References

  1. Beryl Rawson, ''Children and Childhood in Roman Italy'' (Oxford University Press, 2003), pp. 136–137 [https://books.google.com/books?id=o8IwHDOpeWYC&dq=Vagitanus&pg=PA137 online.]
  2. Emilio Lorìa, ''Salute e magia attraverso i secoli'' (Padua: Piccin Nuova, 1994), p. 41 [https://books.google.com/books?id=NDJzL1Z5vnkC&dq=Vagitanus&pg=PA40 online.]
  3. George C. Simmons, ''Education and Western Civilization: Greece, Rome, and the Middle Ages'' (College Readings, 1972), p. 93.
  4. Kathryn Hinds, ''Life in the Roman Empire: Religion'' (Marshall Cavendish, 2005), p. 52 [https://books.google.com/books?id=feAe0fXXDhsC&dq=Fabulinus&pg=PA52 online]; Antonio Verone, ''Rediscovering Pompeii: Exhibition by IBM-ITALIA, New York City'' («L'Erma» di Bretschneider, 1990), p. 135 [https://books.google.com/books?id=ciNtH6c9RDQC&dq=Fabulinus+%22names+reflect+their+specific+domains%22&pg=PA135 online.]
  5. [[Pliny the Elder
  6. [[Jan Gonda]], "Reflections on the Indo-European Medium II," in ''Selected Studies'' (Brill, 1975), vol. 1, p. 158 [https://books.google.com/books?id=r7G7Dg9mhN8C&dq=Fabulinus&pg=PA158 online.]
  7. Sascha Priester, ''Antike Autoren, höhere Mächte und der Name Vatikan. Auf der Suche nach dem Gott Vaticanus'' (Römische Quartalsschrift 117, 3–4, 2022) pp. 155
  8. Varro's works "were the closest equivalent to an encyclopedia Augustine had": ''Augustine Through the Ages: An Encyclopedia'' (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1999), p. 863 [https://books.google.com/books?id=GcVhAGpvTQ0C&dq=Varro+Augustine%27s+source&pg=PA863 online.]
  9. [[Aulus Gellius]], ''Attic Nights'' 16.17: ''Et agrum Vaticanum et eiusdem agri deum praesidem appellatum acceperamus a vaticiniis, quae vi atque instinctu eius dei in eo agro fieri solita essent. Sed praeter hanc causam M. Varro in libris divinarum aliam esse tradit istius nominis rationem: "Nam sicut Aius" inquit "deus appellatus araque ei statuta est, quae est infima nova via, quod eo in loco divinitus vox edita erat, ita Vaticanus deus nominatus, penes quem essent vocis humanae initia, quoniam pueri, simul atque parti sunt, eam primam vocem edunt, quae prima in Vaticano syllabast idcircoque "vagire" dicitur exprimente verbo sonum vocis recentis''. English translation by William Beloe, ''The Attic Nights of Aulus Gellius'' (London, 1795), vol. 3, pp. 247–248 [https://books.google.com/books?id=5P8RAAAAIAAJ&dq=Vaticanus+OR+Vagitanus+intitle%3AAttic+intitle%3ANights&pg=PA248 online.]
  10. [[Jakob Gronovius]], note to [[Aulus Gellius]], ''Attic Nights'' 16.18, in ''Auli Gellii: Noctes Atticae'' (London, 1824), p. 1522 [https://books.google.com/books?id=RtoIAAAAQAAJ&dq=Deus+Vagitanus&pg=RA1-PA62 online.] See also Nicola Corcia, "Dell' origine di Roma," ''Atti della Reale Accademia di Archeologia, Lettere e Belle Arti'' 9 (Naples, 1879), p. 148 [https://books.google.com/books?id=OqUOAAAAQAAJ&dq=Deus+Vagitanus&pg=RA1-PA148 online.]
  11. [[Augustine of Hippo]], ''[[De civitate Dei]]'' 4.8: ''Vaticanus, qui infantum vagitibus praesidet'' (4.8) and ''ipse in uagitu os aperiat et uocetur deus Vaticanus'' (4.11); mentioned again in passing at 4.21.
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