In Roman religion, Viduus (“he who divides”) was a minor god, deputed to separate (in Latin viduare) the soul from the body after death.
He is mentioned by St. Cyprian in De vanitate idolorum, which specifies that no altars were erected to Viduus within the city of Rome:
«In tantum vero Deorum vocabula apud Romanos figuntur ut sit et apid illos viduus Deus,
qui anima corpus viduet, qui quasi feralis et funebris intra muros non habetur, sed foris, collocatur.»
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