Feronia
Roman · deity · regal · Recorded classification
Feronia belonged to slaves. She is an Italic goddess rather than a native Roman one — Sabine in most accounts, with sanctuaries at Terracina and at Lucus Feroniae in Etruria — and her particular business was manumission: at Terracina a slave who sat on a certain stone seat in her precinct rose from it a free man, with the formula that well-deserving slaves sit down and free men get up. She also received first-fruits, and her festival fell on 15 November.
Domains
- freedom
- harvest
Sources
- Feronia is an Italic goddess received into Roman cult, of the wild, the harvest and manumission, particularly worshipped by slaves seeking freedom, with a festival on 15 November.: Reference treatment of Feronia, her spheres, her worship by slaves and her festival date. (secondary)