Quirinus

In Roman mythology, Quirinus was a mysterious god.

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At first he probably was a Sabine god. Sabines had a settlement near the future site of Rome, and they called one of their sites, in which they had erected an altar, the Collis Quirinalis ("Quirinal Hill") after Quirinus; this area was later included among the Seven hills of Rome, and Quirinus became one of the most important gods of the state as the deified form of Romulus, the founder and first king of Rome.

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His name derives from co-viri "men together"; as such, he embodied the military and economic strength of the Roman populus collectively. He also watched over the curia "senate house" and comitia curiata "tribal assembly", the names of which are cognate with his own.

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Quirinus' wife was Hora.

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In art, he was portrayed as a bearded man with religious and military clothing.

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He was sometimes associated with the myrtle plant.

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His festival was the Quirinalia, on February 17. His priest was the Flamen Quirinalis.

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Cited in Virgil's Aeneid I, 292

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Roman citizens were sometimes called "Quirites" after Quirinus, and considered the title an honor (Livy).

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Roman mythology: Roman mythology can be considered as two parts. One part, largely later and literary, consists of whole-cloth borrowings from Greek mythology. The other, largely early and cultic, functioned in very different ways from its Greek counterpart....

God: :This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism. See deity, gods or goddesses for details on polytheistic usages. See Names of God for terms used in other languages or specific faiths. See God (disambiguation) for non-religious abbreviations....

Sabine: The tribe of the Sabines (Latin Sabini) was an Italic tribe of ancient Italy. Their language belonged to the Sabellic subgroup of Italic languages and was akin to Oscan and Umbrian....