position of eminence, his priestly
college, the Salian (traditionally referred to Numa), was one of the
greatest, he was connected with various departments of life, and for the
warlike Romans he naturally became the patron of war. The cult of the
old war-goddess Bellona maintained itself, but she never attained the
highest rank; she is not the equal of Mars, with whom in the later
constructions she was brought into connection. In the Hellenizing period
he was identified with Ares.[1379]

+801+. The name Saturn is generally connected with the stem _sa_
(_sero_, _satum_, _sata_), to sow, and he is accordingly regarded as an
agricultural deity, the special patron of agricultural work. Whether or
how he differed originally from Mars is not clear--perhaps in original
differentiation of functions, he being attached to the work of sowing,
Mars to vegetation in general; or perhaps they were two similar deities
belonging originally to different regions, and differentiated when
brought together in the same system. Information on this point is
lacking. That Saturn was an ancient Latin god is probable from the fact
that he was traditionally said to be an old king of Latium. Of his
earliest cult in Rome little is known. The feast that bears his name,
the Saturnalia (held on December 17 and some following days), was a time
of popular festivity, when social distinctions were laid aside (slaves
were on an equality with masters). Similar festivals are found
elsewhere.[1380] Midwinter, when the work of gathering in the harvest
was over, was a natural time for festivities.[1381] Saturn, or the
figure from which he arose, may have presided over this season
originally, or he may have been gradually connected with an old
ceremony. The process of Hellenizing him began early. He was identified
with Kronos, made the father of Jupiter and the head of a pre-Jovian
divine dynasty, and, in accordance with the tendency to regard the
former days as better than the present, the _Saturnia regna_ became the
golden age of the past.[1382] Apart from this he seems to have had no
ethical significance.

+802+. In the case of certain deities, as Volcanus, Neptunus, Mercurius,
Sancus, a pronounced Roman development cannot be traced, partly because
of the lack of full data, partly, in the case of Volcan, Neptune, and
Mercury, because of an early and complete identification with the Greek
gods Hephaistos, Poseidon, and Hermes.

+803+. The Roman _female deitie