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In ancient Roman religion
Religion in ancient Rome

Ancient Roman religion encompasses the collection of beliefs and rituals practised in ancient Rome in the form of cult practices. It is therefore the practical counterpart of Roman mythology....
 and Hellenic neopaganism, Vulcan is the god of beneficial and hindering fire, including the fire of volcano
Volcano

A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet's surface or Crust , which allows hot, molten rock, ash, and gases to escape from below the surface....
es. He is also called Mulciber ("smelter") in Roman mythology
Roman mythology

Roman mythology, or more appropriately, Latin mythology, refers to the mythology beliefs of the Italic people inhabiting the region of Latium and its main city, Rome....
 and Sethlans in Etruscan mythology
Etruscan mythology

The Etruscan civilizations were a people of unknown origin living in Northern Italy, who were eventually integrated into Roman culture and politically became part of the Roman Republic....
. He was worshipped at an annual festival on August 23 known as the Volcanalia.

Vulcan was identified with the Greek god of fire and smithery, Hephaestus
Hephaestus

Hephaestus was a Greek god whose Roman equivalent was Vulcan . He was the god of technology, blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculpture, metals, metallurgy, Fire and volcanoes....
.

an's oldest shrine in Rome, called the "Volcanal", was situated at the foot of the Capitoline
Capitoline Hill

The Capitoline Hill , between the Roman Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the seven hills of Rome of Rome. By the 16th century, Capitolinus had become Campidoglio in the Romanesco....
 in the Forum Romanum, and was reputed to date to the archaic period of the kings of Rome, and to have been established on the site by Titus Tatius
Titus Tatius

The traditions of ancient Rome held that Titus Tatius was the Sabine king of Cures, who, after the The Rape of the Sabine Women, attacked Rome and captured the Capitol with the treachery of Tarpeia....
, the Sabine co-king, with a traditional date in the eighth century BC.






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In ancient Roman religion
Religion in ancient Rome

Ancient Roman religion encompasses the collection of beliefs and rituals practised in ancient Rome in the form of cult practices. It is therefore the practical counterpart of Roman mythology....
 and Hellenic neopaganism, Vulcan is the god of beneficial and hindering fire, including the fire of volcano
Volcano

A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet's surface or Crust , which allows hot, molten rock, ash, and gases to escape from below the surface....
es. He is also called Mulciber ("smelter") in Roman mythology
Roman mythology

Roman mythology, or more appropriately, Latin mythology, refers to the mythology beliefs of the Italic people inhabiting the region of Latium and its main city, Rome....
 and Sethlans in Etruscan mythology
Etruscan mythology

The Etruscan civilizations were a people of unknown origin living in Northern Italy, who were eventually integrated into Roman culture and politically became part of the Roman Republic....
. He was worshipped at an annual festival on August 23 known as the Volcanalia.

Vulcan was identified with the Greek god of fire and smithery, Hephaestus
Hephaestus

Hephaestus was a Greek god whose Roman equivalent was Vulcan . He was the god of technology, blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculpture, metals, metallurgy, Fire and volcanoes....
.

Worship

Vulcan's oldest shrine in Rome, called the "Volcanal", was situated at the foot of the Capitoline
Capitoline Hill

The Capitoline Hill , between the Roman Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the seven hills of Rome of Rome. By the 16th century, Capitolinus had become Campidoglio in the Romanesco....
 in the Forum Romanum, and was reputed to date to the archaic period of the kings of Rome, and to have been established on the site by Titus Tatius
Titus Tatius

The traditions of ancient Rome held that Titus Tatius was the Sabine king of Cures, who, after the The Rape of the Sabine Women, attacked Rome and captured the Capitol with the treachery of Tarpeia....
, the Sabine co-king, with a traditional date in the eighth century BC. It was the view of the Etruscan
Etruscan civilization

Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to the culture and way of life of a people of ancient Italy and Corsica whom the ancient Romans called Etrusci or Tusci....
 haruspices
Haruspex

File:Haruspex.pngIn Ancient Rome practice inherited from the Etruscan civilization, a haruspex was a man trained to practice a form of divination called haruspicy, hepatoscopy or hepatomancy....
 that a temple of Vulcan should be located outside the city, and the Volcanal may originally have been on or outside the city limits
Pomerium

The pomerium , from post + moerium>murum , was the sacred boundary of the city of Rome. In legal terms, Rome existed only within the pomerium; everything beyond it was simply land belonging to Rome....
 before they expanded to include the Capitoline Hill
Capitoline Hill

The Capitoline Hill , between the Roman Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the seven hills of Rome of Rome. By the 16th century, Capitolinus had become Campidoglio in the Romanesco....
. The Volcanalia sacrifice was offered here to Vulcan, on August 23. Vulcan also had a temple on the Campus Martius
Campus Martius

The Campus Martius , was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about 2 km? in extent. In the Middle Ages it was the most populous area of Rome....
, which was in existence by 214 BC.

The Romans identified Vulcan with the Greek smith
Smith (metalwork)

A smith, or metalsmith, is a person involved in the shaping of metal objects.In Pre-Industrial Era times, smiths held high or special social standing since they supplied the metal tools needed for farming and warfare....
-god Hephaestus
Hephaestus

Hephaestus was a Greek god whose Roman equivalent was Vulcan . He was the god of technology, blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculpture, metals, metallurgy, Fire and volcanoes....
, and he became associated like his Greek counterpart with the constructive use of fire in metalworking
Metalworking

Metalworking is the process of working with metals to create individual parts, assemblies, or large scale structures. The term covers a wide range of work from large ships, bridges and oil refineries to delicate jewellery....
. A fragment of a Greek pot showing Hephaestus found at the Volcanal has been dated to the 6th century BC, suggesting that the two gods were already associated at this date. However, Vulcan had a stronger association than Hephaestus with fire's destructive capacity, and a major concern of his worshippers was to encourage the god to avert harmful fires. His festival, the Vulcanalia, was celebrated on August 23 each year, when the summer heat placed crops and granaries most at risk of burning. During the festival bonfire
Bonfire

A bonfire is a large controlled outdoor fire. The word is a contraction of "bone fire" . The practice is believed to derive from the Celtic festival of Samhain when animal bones were burnt to ward off evil spiritual being....
s were created in honour of the god, into which live fish
Fish

A fish is any marine biology vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scale , and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins....
 or small animals were thrown as a sacrifice, to be consumed in the place of humans. Vulcan was among the gods placated after the Great Fire of Rome
Great Fire of Rome

According to the historian Tacitus, the Great Fire of Rome started on the night of 18 July in the year 64 CE, among the shops clustered around the Circus Maximus....
 in AD 64. In response to the same fire, Domitian
Domitian

Titus Flavius Domitianus , commonly known as Domitian, was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 14 September 81 until his death. Domitian was the last emperor of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Domitian's father Vespasian , his elder brother Titus , and that of Domitian himself...
 (emperor 81–96) established a new altar to Vulcan on the Quirinal Hill
Quirinal Hill

The Quirinal Hill is one of the Seven Hills of Rome, at the north-east of the city center. It is the location of the official residence of the Italian Head of State, who resides in the Quirinal Palace....
. At the same time a red bull-calf
Cattle

Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domestication ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. They are raised as livestock for meat , dairy products , leather and as draft animals ....
 and red boar
Boar

The wild boar , or colloquially simply called the boar, is an omnivorous, wikt:gregarious mammal of the family Suidae. It is native across much of Central Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and much of Asia as far south as Indonesia, and has been introduced elsewhere....
 were added to the sacrifices made on the Vulcanalia, at least in that region of the city.

In addition to the Volcanalia on August 23, the date May 23, which was the second of the two annual Tubilustria
Tubilustrium

In Ancient Rome the month of March was the traditional start of the campaign season, and the Tubilustrium was a ceremony to make the army fit for war....
 or ceremonies for the purification of trumpets, was sacred to Vulcan.

Mythology

Through his identification with the Hephaestus
Hephaestus

Hephaestus was a Greek god whose Roman equivalent was Vulcan . He was the god of technology, blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculpture, metals, metallurgy, Fire and volcanoes....
 of Greek mythology
Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
, he came to be considered as the manufacturer of art, arms, iron
Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron is a Group 8 element and period 4 element. Iron is lustrous and silvery in color....
, jewellery and armor for various gods and heroes, including the thunderbolts of Jupiter. He was the son of Jupiter
Jupiter (mythology)

In Roman mythology, Jupiter or Jove was the king of the gods,and the god of sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
 and Juno
Juno (mythology)

File:Juno sospita pushkin.jpgJuno was an Roman religion, the protector and special counselor of the state. She is a daughter of Saturn and sister of the chief god Jupiter and the mother of Juventas, Mars , and Vulcan ....
, and husband of Maia
Maia (mythology)

Maia in Greek mythology, was the eldest of the Pleiades , the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione . She and her sisters, born on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia, are sometimes called mountain goddesses, oreads, for Simonides of Ceos sang of "mountain Maia" "of the lively black eyes"....
 and Venus
Venus (mythology)

Venus was a major Roman mythology goddess principally associated with love, beauty and sexual reproduction, the equivalent of the Greek mythology Aphrodite....
. His smithy
Forge

A forge is the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith. A forge is sometimes referred to as a smithy.The basic smithy contains a forge, also known as a hearth, for heating metals....
 was believed to be situated underneath Mount Etna
Mount Etna

Mount Etna is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, close to Messina, Italy and Catania. Its Arabic name was Jebel Utlamat ....
 in Sicily
Sicily

Sicily is an Autonomous regions with special statute of Italy. Of all the regions of Italy, Sicily covers the largest land area at 25,708 km? and currently has just over five million inhabitants....
.

As the son of Jupiter, the king of the gods, and Juno, the queen of the gods, Vulcan should have been quite handsome, but, baby Vulcan was small and ugly with a red, bawling face. Juno was so horrified that she hurled the tiny baby off the top of Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus

Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece at 2,919 metres high . Since its base is located at sea level, it is one of the highest mountains in Europe in terms of topographic prominence, the relative altitude from base to top....
.

Vulcan fell down for a day and a night, landing in the sea. Unfortunately, one of his legs broke as he hit the water, and never developed properly. From the surface, Vulcan sunk like a pebble to the cool blue depths where the sea-nymph, Thetis
Thetis

Silver-footed Thetis , disposer or "placer" , is encountered in Greek mythology mostly as a sea nymph, one of the fifty Nereids, daughters of the ancient one of the seas with shape-shifting abilities who survives in the historical vestiges of most later Greek myths as Proteus ....
, found him and took him to her underwater grotto, and raised him as her own son.

Vulcan had a happy childhood with dolphins as his playmates and pearls as his toys. Late in his childhood, he found the remains of a fisherman's fire on the beach and became fascinated with an unextinguished coal, still red-hot and glowing.

Vulcan carefully shut this precious coal in a clamshell and took it back to his underwater grotto and made a fire with it. On the first day after, Vulcan stared at this fire for hours on end. On the second day, he discovered that when he made the fire hotter with bellows, certain stones sweated iron, silver or gold. On the third day he beat the cooled metal into shapes: bracelets, chains, swords and shields. Vulcan made pearl-handled knives and spoons for his foster mother, he made a silver chariot for himself, and bridles so that seahorses could transport him quickly. He even made slave-girls of gold to wait on him and do his bidding.

Later, Thetis left her underwater grotto to attend a dinner party on Mount Olympus wearing a beautiful necklace of silver and sapphires, which Vulcan had made for her. Juno admired the necklace and asked as to where she could get one. Thetis became flustered causing Juno to become suspicious and, at last, the queen god discovered the truth: the baby she had once rejected had grown into a talented blacksmith
Blacksmith

A blacksmith is a person who processess iron or steel by forging the metal; i.e., by using tools to hammer, bend, cut, and otherwise shape it in its non-liquid form....
.

Diego Velasquez, the Forge of Vulcan
Juno was furious and demanded that Vulcan return home, a demand that he refused. However he did send Juno a beautifully constructed chair made of silver and gold, inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Juno was delighted with this gift but, as soon as she sat in it her weight triggered hidden springs and metal bands sprung forth to hold her fast. The more she shrieked and struggled the more firmly the mechanical throne gripped her; the chair was a cleverly designed trap.

For three days Juno sat fuming, still trapped in Vulcan's chair, she couldn't sleep, she couldn't stretch, she couldn't eat. It was Jupiter
Jupiter (mythology)

In Roman mythology, Jupiter or Jove was the king of the gods,and the god of sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
 who finally saved the day, he promised that if Vulcan released Juno he would give him a wife, Venus
Venus (mythology)

Venus was a major Roman mythology goddess principally associated with love, beauty and sexual reproduction, the equivalent of the Greek mythology Aphrodite....
 the goddess of love and beauty. Vulcan agreed and married Venus. He later built a smithy under Mount Etna
Mount Etna

Mount Etna is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, close to Messina, Italy and Catania. Its Arabic name was Jebel Utlamat ....
 on the island of Sicily
Sicily

Sicily is an Autonomous regions with special statute of Italy. Of all the regions of Italy, Sicily covers the largest land area at 25,708 km? and currently has just over five million inhabitants....
. It was said that whenever Venus is unfaithful, Vulcan grows angry and beats the red-hot metal with such a force that sparks and smoke rise up from the top of the mountain, to create a volcanic eruption.

According to Virgil
Virgil

Publius Vergilius Maro was a classical Roman poet, best known for three major works?the Bucolics , the Georgics and the Aeneid?although several Appendix Vergiliana are also attributed to him....
, Vulcan was the father of Caeculus
Caeculus

In Roman mythology, Caeculus was a son of Vulcan . He founded Praeneste . He had a brother, Cacus, and lived by plunder.King Caeculus appears in Book VII of Virgil's Aeneid as an ally of Turnus against Aeneas and the Troy....
.

To punish mankind for stealing the secrets of fire, Jupiter ordered the other gods to make a poisoned gift for man. Vulcan's contribution to the beautiful and foolish Pandora
Pandora

[Image:Pandora.jpg|right|thumb|300px|"The Creation of "[A]NESIDORA" on a white-ground kylix by the Tarquinia Painter, ca 460 BC In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman....
 was to mould her from clay and to give her form. He also made the thrones for the other gods on Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus

Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece at 2,919 metres high . Since its base is located at sea level, it is one of the highest mountains in Europe in terms of topographic prominence, the relative altitude from base to top....
.

Reception

A statue of Vulcan
Vulcan statue

The Vulcan statue is the largest cast iron statue in the world, and is the city symbol of Birmingham, Alabama, reflecting its roots in the iron and steel industry....
 located in Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in the United States state of Alabama and is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama. It also includes part of Shelby County, Alabama....
 is the largest cast iron
Cast iron

Cast iron usually refers to Gray iron, but also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys, which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy....
 statue in the world.

External links