Robigus
Roman · deity · regal · deity
Robigus is mildew with a festival. Roman religion handled agricultural danger by naming it and giving it a day: on 25 April the priests went out to the fifth milestone of the Via Claudia and sacrificed a rust-coloured dog, the colour chosen to match the disease, asking the god of the blight to keep away from the standing corn. He is paired in cult with Flora, whose flowering he threatens.
Domains
- agriculture
Powers
- to keep the rust off the standing corn, being the rust himself
Relations
- ally: Flora
Sources
- Reference treatment of Robigus, his protection of the corn against disease, and the Robigalia.