Pluvius

"Causing rain." I.e. the sender of rain, a surname of Jupiter among the Romans, to whom sacrifices were offered during long protracted droughts. These sacrifices were called aquilicium, "the calling forth of water," because certain magic ceremonies were performed by Etruscans to call down rain from heaven.

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References

Sources

  • Festus, p. 2 (ed. Müller)
  • Smith, William. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: Taylor, Walton, and Maberly.
  • Tertullian. Apologeticus, 40.
  • Tibullus, i, 8.26.

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