Carna

A Roman divinity, whose name is probably connected with caro, flesh, for she was regarded as the protector of the physical well-being of man. It was especially the chief organs of the human body, without which man cannot exist, such as the heart, the lungs, and the liver, that were recommended to her protection. Junius Brutus, at the beginning of the commonwealth, was believe to have dedicated to her a sanctuary on the Caelian hill, and a festival was celebrated to her on the first of June, which day was called fabrariue calendae, from beans (fabae) and bacon being offered to her.

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References

Sources

  • Macrobius, i, 12.
  • Ovid. Fasti vi, 101 ff., who however confounds Cardea with Carna.
  • Smith, William. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: Taylor, Walton, and Maberly.
  • Varro, ap. Nonium, s.v. Mactare.

This article incorporates text from Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) by William Smith, which is in the public domain.