Vertumnus - Encyclopedia

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

VERTUMNUS (or Vortumnus, "turning," "changing"), in Roman mythology, the god of the changing year with its seasons, flowers and fruits, probably of Italian origin. Like Proteus, he had the power of assuming any shape he pleased, which enabled him to win the love of Pomona. His shrine and statue (see the well-known description in Propertius iv. 2) were in the Vicus Tuscus, and from his connexion with this busy street he was regarded as having a special interest in trade and barter. At another sanctuary on the slope of the Aventine, sacrifice was offered to him every year on the 13th of August. It is probable that he was of Etruscan origin (see Wissowa, Religion and Kultus der Romer, 1902, p. 233).