Indigitamenta


In ancient Roman religion, the indigitamenta were lists of deities kept by the College of Pontiffs to assure that the correct divine names were invoked for public prayers. These lists or books probably described the nature of the various deities who might be called on under particular circumstances, with specifics about the sequence of invocation. The earliest indigitamenta, like many other aspects of Roman religion, were attributed to Numa Pompilius, second king of Rome.

Form

It is unclear whether the written indigitamenta contained complete prayer formularies, or simply an index of names. If formulas of invocation, the indigitamenta were probably precationum carmina, chants or hymns of address. Paulus defines them as incantamenta, incantations, and indicia, signs or intimations.
A further point of uncertainty is whether these names represent distinct minor entities, or epithets pertaining to an aspect of a major deity's sphere of influence, that is, an indigitation, or name intended to "fix" or focalize the action of the god so invoked. If the former, the indigitamenta might be described as indexing "significant names which bespoke a specialized divine function," for which the German term Sondergötter is sometimes used; for instance, Vagitanus gives the newborn its first cry . If the indigitamenta record invocational epithets, however, an otherwise obscure deity such as Robigus, the red god of wheat rust, should perhaps be understood as an indigitation of Mars, red god of war and agriculture; Maia, "a deity known apparently only to the priests and the learned," would be according to Macrobius an indigitation of the Bona Dea. Roscher, however, does not consider Robigus and Maia to have been part of the indigitamenta.

Roscher's list of ''indigitamenta''

Many of the indigitamenta are involved in the cycle of conception, birth, and child development ; see List of Roman birth and childhood deities. Several appear in a list of twelve helper gods of Ceres as an agricultural goddess or are named elsewhere as having specialized agricultural functions. Gods not appearing on either of those lists are described briefly here, or are more fully described in their own articles as linked.