Nor was the marriage state without its peculiar defenders. Five deities
were esteemed so necessary, that no marriages were solemnized without
asking their favours; these were Jupiter-Perfectus, or the Adult, Juno,
Venus, Suadela,[61] and Diana. Jugatinus tied the nuptial knot; Domiducus
ushered the bride home; Domitius took care to keep her there, and
prevent her gadding abroad; Maturna preserved the conjugal union entire;
Virginensis[62] loosed the bridle zone or girdle; Viriplaca was a
propitious goddess, ready to reconcile the married couple in case of any
accidental difference. Matuta was the patroness of matrons, no maid
being suffered to enter her temple. The married was always held to be
the only honourable state for woman, during the times of pagan
antiquity. The goddess Vacuna,[63] is mentioned by Horace (Lib. 1. Epist.
X. 49.) as having her temple at Rome; the rustics celebrated her
festival in December, after the harvest was got in (Ovid. Fast. Lib.
XI).
The ancients assigned the particular parts of the body to particular
deities; the head was sacred to Jupiter; the breast to Neptune; the
waist to Mars; the forehead to Genius; the eye-brows to Juno, the eyes
to Cupid; the ears to Memory; the right hand to Fides or Veritas; the
back to Pluto; the knees to Misericordia or mercy; the legs to Mercury;
the feet to Thetis; and the fingers to Minerva.
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