Luna is the divine embodiment of the Moon in Roman religion, the female counterpart of Sol the Sun, and the two together made up the cult of the heavenly lights that measured the Roman day and month. She was imagined driving a two-horse chariot, the biga, across the night sky, as Sol drove his four-horse team by day, and she was worshipped under titles such as Noctiluca, the night-shiner, whose shrine on the Palatine was said to be lit up through the night.
An old temple of Luna stood on the Aventine, traditionally ascribed to the regal period, marking her as one of the ancient deities of the city. Over time Luna was drawn together with the Greek Selene and with Diana in her lunar aspect, and later still with the composite goddesses of the mystery cults, so that by the imperial age she could stand as one face of a many-named celestial mother. At her simplest, though, she remained what her name says: the Moon itself, honoured beside the Sun as one of the two great lamps of the world.