Juno: Protective Roman Goddess

head of a bronze statuette of Juno, 1st-3rd century CE

Juno had many titles and temples in Republican Rome, most of which reflected her role as protector of the city as well as of women, especially in marriage and childbirth (as Juno Lucina and Juno Opigena). As Juno Regina, queen of gods and men, she was part of the Capitoline Triad. In her own right, however, Juno Regina played an important part in the Roman conquest of Italy. As reigning goddess of Etruscan Veii, she was invited (through an archaic ritual known as evocatio) by the Roman general Lucius Furius Camillus to transfer her protection to Rome with the promise of a bigger and better temple on the Aventine Hill in Rome. After his victory at Veii, Camillus built the temple and dedicated it in 392 BCE, solemnly installing there Juno's cult statue from Veii. Another temple to Juno Regina was vowed by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus during the Ligurian Wars and dedicated in the Circus Flaminius area of the Campus Martius in 179 BCE after the Roman victory. During the wars with Carthage, Juno was frequently placated in special rituals involving the matrons of Rome, perhaps because she was identified with Astarte, the patron goddess of Carthage. In fact, Juno was ritually summoned out of Carthage (evocatio) before the city was destroyed by the Romans in 146 BCE.

Juno Sospita, coin of L. Procilius, 80 BCE	Juno Sospita, coin of L. Papius, 79 BCE

Juno Sispes or Sospita (“Savior”) was the patron deity of Lanuvium, a Latin town south of Rome, and her aid was especially invoked in the pacification of the rebellious Latins. Later Juno Sospita was seen as special protector of the city of Rome during war, and she was depicted wearing a horned goatskin helmet and brandishing shield and spear. Her temple in the Forum Holitorium was vowed by the consul C. Cornelius Cethegus in thanksgiving for a victory over enemy tribes in Cisalpine Gaul and was dedicated in 194 BCE. As Juno Curritis/Curitis/Quiritis (“Protector of Spearmen”), she was worshipped by the 30 curiae (archaic military and political administrative groups), with a temple or shrine in the Campus Martius.

The worship of Juno was particularly associated with Roman matrons; on this sestertius of Domitian in honor of the Secular Games held in 88 CE, the emperor is dictating a prayer to Juno to the matrons kneeling in front of him. During the Matronalia, elebrated on March 1, matrons offered prayers to Juno and her son Mars at the Temple of Juno Lucina on the Esquiline. On this feast day, husbands traditionally gave their wives presents, and female slaves were given special meals and relieved of work.

Juno is frequently depicted standing, wearing a diadem and/or a veil, and holding a scepter and a libation bowl (patera). This full-size marble statue in the Vatican is a Roman copy of a Greek cult statue of Hera; it is commonly referred to as the “Barberini Juno.”