Lusitania

:This article concerns the Roman province. For the ship, see RMS Lusitania.

Origin of the name

The etymology of Lusitania, like the origin of the Lusitani, is unclear. The name may be of Celtic origin: Lus and Tanus, "tribe of Lusus". others say that Lusitania means "City of light".

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Ancient Romans, such as Pliny the Elder (Natural History, 3.5) and Varro (cited by Pliny), speculated that the name Lusitania was of Roman origin, as when Pliny says lusum enim liberi patris aut lyssam cum eo bacchantium nomen dedisse lusitaniae et pana praefectum eius universae: that Lusitania takes its name from the lusus associated with Bacchus and the lyssa of his Bacchantes, and that Pan is its governor. Lusus is usually translated as 'game' or 'play', while lyssa is a borrowing from the Greek ?????, 'frenzy' or 'rage' (and sometimes the personification thereof). Variant translations take these as proper names: Lusus and Lyssa become flesh-and-blood companions of Bacchus. The Os Lusíadas of Luís de Camões, which portray Lusus as the founder of Lusitania, follow this translation.

Related Topics:
Pliny the Elder - Natural History - Varro - Bacchantes - Pan - Greek - Os Lusíadas - Luís de Camões

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