The Capitoline Triad is the grouping of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva worshipped together in the great temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Rome's Capitoline Hill, dedicated according to tradition in 509 BCE at the start of the Roman Republic. Jupiter presided as the guarantor of oaths, treaties and the power of Rome; Juno stood beside him as protector of the state and of women; Minerva completed the group as goddess of wisdom, strategy and craft. The three shared a single temple with three separate cellae, or inner chambers, one for each deity, and their combined cult stood at the civic and religious center of Roman public life throughout the Republic and into the Empire. The grouping is usually read by scholars as replacing an earlier Archaic Triad of Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus, reorganized under Etruscan influence to give the state cult a structure built around sovereignty, protection and craft rather than around war and the Roman people themselves.
Facts
Attestation
Era of AttestationAttested from the temple's traditional dedication in 509 BCE, at the start of the Roman Republic, through the Republic and Empire until the suppression of the public pagan cults in the late fourth and early fifth centuries CE. 1 Veneration TodayHistorically attested; no continuous cult 1 Cult
Principal Cult CentreThe Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill, Rome, sharing three cellae, one for each deity of the triad. 1 Structure
Structure of the PantheonLocal and lineage cults gathered under one name, with no single frame 1 Connections
Associated With
The Capitoline Hill carried the shared temple of the Capitoline Triad, with a separate chamber for each of the three deities.
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Juno, Deities Juno was worshipped with Jupiter and Minerva as a member of the Capitoline Triad, in the temple on the Capitoline Hill.
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Jupiter stood alongside Juno and Minerva in the Capitoline Triad as guarantor of oaths, treaties and the power of Rome.
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Menrva, the Etruscan goddess later merged with Minerva in Roman religion, is linked to the Capitoline Triad through that identification.
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Minerva completed the Capitoline Triad alongside Jupiter and Juno as goddess of wisdom, strategy and craft.
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Belongs to Tradition
The Capitoline Triad was the central grouping of the Roman state cult.
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Originated In
Sources
1. Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005Entry on Roman religion and the Capitoline cultView the Source Capitoline Triad (Wikipedia)
Originated In: Rome, LeadQuote, Originated In: Rome, Lead
The Capitoline Triad was a group of three deities who were worshipped in ancient Roman religion in an elaborate temple on Rome's Capitoline Hill (Latin Capitolium).
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