Vulcan
Vulcan (Volcanus, Volkanus, Vulcanus),an ancient Roman god of destructive, devouring fire, in both the human environment and in nature: e.g. in volcanoes (see Strabo 5. 246 for his worship at the Solfatare of Puteoli, and Pliny (the Elder) Naturalis historia 2. 240 for fire coming out of the ground near Mutina), which explains why his temple should always stand outside a city (Vitruvius 1. 7. 1), on the authority of the Etruscan haruspices (diviners). He was associated with Maia (Aulus Gellius Noctes Atticae 13. 23. 2 ‘Maiam Volcani’), the goddess of the irrepressible development of the fire, and was worshipped at Rome from the earliest-known times, having a flamen (see priests) and a festival, the Volcanalia, on 23 August. His shrine, the Volcanal, stood in the Area Volcani in the forum Romanum at the foot of the Capitol; it may therefore go...
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