Asclepius and the Etruscan god Vejovis
Romans believed that the Etruscan god Vejovis was one of the first gods to be born. He was a god of healing, and became associated with the Greek Asclepius after the Romans assimilated Greek deities into their religious practices in the 2nd century BCE. Vejovis was mostly worshipped in Rome and Bovillae in Latium. On the Capitoline Hill and on the Tiber Island, temples were erected in his honor. In his temple between the two peaks of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, his statue carried a bundle of arrows and stood next to a statue of a she-goat. Vejovis had three festivals in the Roman Calendar: on 1 January, 7 March, and 21 May. In spring, multiple goats were sacrificed to him to avert plagues. The College of Aesculapius and Hygia was an association (collegium) that served as a burial society and dining club that also participated in the Imperial cult. After Vejovis assumed the healer's mantle of Asclepius, his origin story changed to his heritage as the son...