Last Updated on 2022/10/04
Stata Mater, sometimes known as “Mother who stops or stabilizes,” was a compital goddess who protected against fires, in the ancient Roman pantheon.
She had a replica of herself in the Forum, and as Festus observes, her cultus extended from there throughout the city’s vici (neighborhoods). Aurelius Cotta, who had oversaw the construction of new pavement in the Forum at the end of the 80s BC, was responsible for erecting the original statue. The goddess was there to prevent fire damage to the masonry. Only the Lares Augusti get more dedications from competing shrines than she does.
Stata mater is included in the indigitamenta, a list of gods kept by Roman priests to make sure the right god was summoned during rites, by W.H. Roscher.
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