Jupiter
Jupiter (Iuppiter),sovereign god of the Romans, bears a name referring to the ‘luminous sky’ (Dyew-pater), the first member of which is etymologically identical with that of Zeus. He was known to all Italic peoples.
Even if associated with the sky, storms, and lightning, Jupiter was not just a god of natural phenomena. These expressed and articulated, in fact, his function as sovereign divinity. Jupiter was sovereign by virtue of his supreme rank and by the patronage derived from exercise of the supreme power. His supreme rank was signified by the fact that the god or his priest was always mentioned at the head of lists of gods or priests, and that the climactic point of the month, before the waning of the moon, was sacred to him in particular (Macrobius Saturnalia 1. 15. 14). In addition, the Roman symbol of power, the sceptre (sceptrum), belonged to him and functioned as his symbol (Festus 81 Lindsay)....
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