Ceres

ceres
Ceres, from a Pompeian wall painting (photo courtesy of VRoma)

Ceres was the Italic goddess of agriculture whose worship was overlaid by Demeter, the Greek goddess of grain, when in 496 BCE the Sibylline books advised the introduction of her worship, along with that of the other gods in the Eleusinian triad, Iacchus and Kore, in order to end the drought. The Temple of the triad Ceres, Liber and Libera was dedicated at the Cerealia (the cult festival, April 12-19) in 490 BCE on the Aventine and placed in the care of the plebeian aediles. Another festival was established to Ceres after the 2nd Punic War; it took place in August to celebrate the 1st fruits of the harvest. After 191 BCE a fast in honor of Ceres was instituted and fell annually on October 4th, by command of the Sibylline books. The importance of the goddess' favor to the well-being of Rome is indicated by the statues depicting imperial women in the guise of Ceres (e.g., Livia and Julia Domna).
Here Umbricius names two goddesses who are associated with the land, perhaps the town's chief deities, as notable in Aquinum. The adjective Helvina may refer to a family in Aquinum who, through building or statuary, established a local connection with Ceres. A fragmentary marble inscription (CIL. 10.5382), now lost, was found in Arpinum that named a Iuvenalis, a military tribune of the 1st cohort of Dalmatians and a duumvir and flamen of Vespasian's cult -- either the satirist himself or a relative -- as the donor of an altar to Ceres.