Juno Sospita: Foreign Goddess through Roman eyes

This chapter sheds light on the incorporation and 'exotic' status of Juno Sospita of Lanuvium. It examines the position of Juno Sospita in the Roman pantheon and study the relation between the cult centres in Lanuvium and in Rome. While she was recognized as a local or foreign Goddess, the analysis of the literary discourse, the collection of prodigia demonstrate that Juno Sospita was linked to her cult in Lanuvium. Author relates the literary discourse on Juno Sospita's nature and arrival in Rome to her place in the religious landscape, the material remains of her cult and her iconographic representation. He considers both the literary and material sources as expressions of the same desire of the Romans to categorize and define the complex religious reality that surrounded them. He aims at exposing and understanding the multi-layered perception of foreign elements and 'foreignness' in the cult of Juno Sospita.