Jupiter (mythology) - Epithets of Jupiter, Capitoline Jupiter, In language

The chief Roman god, equivalent to Greek Zeus, originally a sky-god with the attributes of thunder and the thunderbolt. He is sometimes given additional names (eg Jupiter Optimus Maximus). Roman generals visited his temple to do him honour.

In Roman mythology, Jupiter (Iuppiter in Latin) held the same role as Zeus in the Greek pantheon.

Jupiter is, properly speaking, a derivation of Jove and pater (Latin for father).

Epithets of Jupiter

Juppiter Caelestis ("heavenly") Juppiter Fulgurator ("of the lightning") Juppiter Latarius ("God of Latium") Juppiter Lucetius ("of the light") Juppiter Pluvius ("sender of rain") See also Pluvius Juppiter Stator (from stare meaning "standing") Juppiter Terminus or Jupiter Terminalus (defends boundaries). See also Terminus Juppiter Tonans ("thunderer") Juppiter Victor (led Roman armies to victory) Juppiter Summanus (sender of nocturnal thunder) Juppiter Feretrius ("who carries away [the spoils of war]") Juppiter Optimus Maximus (best and greatest)

Capitoline Jupiter

The largest temple in Rome was that of Juppiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill. Temples to Juppiter Optimus Maximus or the Capitoline Triad as a whole were commonly built by the Romans at the center of new cities in their colonies.

The building was begun by Tarquinius Priscus and completed by the last king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus, although it was inaugurated, by a tradition recorded by the historians, on 13 September, at the beginning of the Republican era (509 BC).

The temple building stands on a high podium with an entrance staircase to the front.

The surviving remains of the foundations and of the podium, most of which lie underneath Palazzo Caffarelli, are made up of enormous parallel sections of walling made in blocks of grey tufa-quadriga stone (cappellaccio) and bear witness to the sheer size of the surface area of the temple's base (about 55 x 60 m).

On the roof a terracotta auriga, made by the Etruscan artist Vulca of Veii in the 6th century BC, commissioned by Tarquinius Superbus;

The temple was rebuilt in marble after fires had worked total destruction in 83 BC, when the cult image was lost, and the Sibylline Books kept in a stone chest.

In front of the steps was the altar of Jupiter (ara Iovis). The large square in front of the temple (the Area Capitolina) featured a number of temples dedicated to minor divinities, in addition to other religious buildings, statues and trophies.

Its delapidation began in the fifth century, when Stilicho carried off the gold -plated doors and Narses removed many of the statues, in 571 AD.

In language

It was once believed that the Roman god Jupiter (Zeus in Greece) was in charge of cosmic Justice, and in ancient Rome, people swore to Jove in their courts of law, which lead to the common expression "By Jove!", still used as an archaism today.