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romandeitiesroman-state-cultapotheosisromulus

Quirinus

Roman god of the archaic triad with Jupiter and Mars, served by his own flamen from Numa's reign and invoked as "Janus Quirinus" in the fetial formula; Ovid makes him the deified Romulus, given "the shape divine of Quirinus clad in the trabea", with Hersilia as his consort Hora. Livy tells the apotheosis without using the name.

Why this wins its question: Separates the cult god Livy knows (flamen, "Janus Quirinus") from the deified Romulus Ovid narrates, and points to the exact line where Ovid makes the identification and where Livy declines to.

Key takeaways

  • The identification Romulus = Quirinus is Ovid's in so many words; Livy narrates the ascension but keeps the name Quirinus for the cult (flamen, fetial formula).
  • Quirinus has no Greek original; he is defined by Roman institutions — the third flamen, the Quirinal grove, the trabea.
  • Livy's etymology of Quirites is Cures, not Quirinus.

Claims

Every assertion below is bound to registered sources and carries its own confidence. Weight them; do not treat the page as uniformly authoritative.

  1. Ovid narrates the apotheosis: Mars reminds Jupiter of his promise to lift Romulus "to the blue of heaven", Jupiter thunders his assent, Mars carries the king off the Palatine, "His mortal flesh dissolved into thin air" and "A nobler shape was given him … the shape divine of Quirinus clad in the trabea" (Met. 14.772).

    confidence 0.95Ovid, Metamorphoses — tr. Brookes More (1922), Perseus TEI edition · primary

  2. Livy tells the same disappearance — a thunderstorm at the Caprae Palus, the senators' claim that he was "snatched away to heaven by a whirlwind", the people hailing him "a god, the son of a god" — but never names him Quirinus, and records the rival rumour that the senators tore him to pieces (Livy 1.16.1–5).

    confidence 0.92Livy, Ab Urbe Condita, Books 1–10 — tr. Rev. Canon Roberts (1912), Perseus TEI edition · primary

  3. Quirinus is one of the three gods with a flamen: Numa "appointed a Flamen as perpetual priest to Jupiter … He appointed two additional Flamens, one for Mars, the other for Quirinus" (Livy 1.20.2).

    confidence 0.95Livy, Ab Urbe Condita, Books 1–10 — tr. Rev. Canon Roberts (1912), Perseus TEI edition · primary

  4. The fetial's declaration of war invokes "Jupiter, and thou Janus Quirinus, and all ye heavenly gods" (Livy 1.32.9) — the name is paired with Janus in the oldest formula Livy quotes.

    confidence 0.9Livy, Ab Urbe Condita, Books 1–10 — tr. Rev. Canon Roberts (1912), Perseus TEI edition · primary

  5. Ovid gives Quirinus a consort: Juno sends Iris to Hersilia, Romulus's widow, to lead her to "a grove that crowns the hill of Quirinus"; a star carries her up, and Romulus "changed her old time form and with the form her name. He called her Hora and let her become a goddess, now the mate of Quirinus" (Met. 14.772).

    confidence 0.93Ovid, Metamorphoses — tr. Brookes More (1922), Perseus TEI edition · primary

  6. Ovid's closing prayer names the god's parentage and office: "Father Quirinus — patron of Rome, and you Gradivus too — the sire of Quirinus the invincible" (Met. 15.745); and the Romans who name the deified Aeneas Indiges are called "the throng of the Quirini" (Met. 14.581).

    confidence 0.9Ovid, Metamorphoses — tr. Brookes More (1922), Perseus TEI edition · primary

  7. Livy derives the citizens' name Quirites not from Quirinus but from the Sabine town: after the union with Tatius "a concession was made to the Sabines in the new appellation of Quirites, from their old capital of Cures" (Livy 1.13.5).

    confidence 0.9Livy, Ab Urbe Condita, Books 1–10 — tr. Rev. Canon Roberts (1912), Perseus TEI edition · primary

Questions answered

How did Romulus become the god Quirinus?
Ovid narrates the apotheosis: Mars reminds Jupiter of his promise to lift Romulus "to the blue of heaven", Jupiter thunders his assent, Mars carries the king off the Palatine, "His mortal flesh dissolved into thin air" and "A nobler shape was given him … the shape divine of Quirinus clad in the trabea" (Met. 14.772). source
Is Quirinus the same as Romulus?
Livy tells the same disappearance — a thunderstorm at the Caprae Palus, the senators' claim that he was "snatched away to heaven by a whirlwind", the people hailing him "a god, the son of a god" — but never names him Quirinus, and records the rival rumour that the senators tore him to pieces (Livy 1.16.1–5). source
Who were the three flamens appointed by Numa?
Quirinus is one of the three gods with a flamen: Numa "appointed a Flamen as perpetual priest to Jupiter … He appointed two additional Flamens, one for Mars, the other for Quirinus" (Livy 1.20.2). source
Who is Hora in Ovid?
Ovid gives Quirinus a consort: Juno sends Iris to Hersilia, Romulus's widow, to lead her to "a grove that crowns the hill of Quirinus"; a star carries her up, and Romulus "changed her old time form and with the form her name. He called her Hora and let her become a goddess, now the mate of Quirinus" (Met. 14.772). source
Why were Roman citizens called Quirites?
Livy derives the citizens' name Quirites not from Quirinus but from the Sabine town: after the union with Tatius "a concession was made to the Sabines in the new appellation of Quirites, from their old capital of Cures" (Livy 1.13.5). source