Voltumna, also known as Veltune or Veltha,Tranquil Sergius, "The Religion of the Etruscans, according to Massimo Pallottino" is a chthonic deity of uncertain gender in Etruscan religion, who became"A typical example of the process of the individualization and the transformation of a local earth spirit, pertaining to a territory of southern Etruria, into a superior divinity." (Pallottino). the supreme god of the Etruscan pantheon, the deus Etruriae princeps, according to Varro.Varro, De lingua Latina V.46.
Voltumna's cult was centered in Volsinii (modern-day Bolsena), a city of the Etruscan civilization of central Italy. Voltumna is shown with contrasting characteristics, such as a maleficent monster, a chthonic vegetation god of uncertain sex, or a mighty war god.“Androgynous Gods in Archaic Rome.” Sexing the World: Grammatical Gender and Biological Sex in Ancient Rome, by Anthony Corbeill, Princeton University Press, Princeton; Oxford, 2015, pp. 104–142. The volcanic activity of Lake Bolsena were believed to be caused by Voltumna's destructive aspects.
The bond of the twelve Etruscan populi was renewed annually at the sacred grove of Fanum Voltumnae, the sanctuary of Voltumnus sited near Volsinii, which was mentioned by Livy.Livy, iv 23, 25 and 61; v 17, vi 2. During this assembly, a long nail would be ritually driven into a cell of the temple, in order to fix the passage of time for the Etruscan's sacred calendar. At the Fanum Voltumnae ludi were held, though whether they were athletic or artistic in nature is unknown.
In the Roman Forum, near the Temple of Castor and Pollux stood a shrine dedicated to Voltumna in the Vicus Tuscus.A. Alföldi, "Die Etrusker in Latium und Rom", Gymnasium 70 (1963), p 204.
They were associated with the Roman Fortuna and were eventually adopted into Rome as Vertumnus.
See also Tinia
Notes
References Briquel, Dominique 2003 "Le Fanum Voltumnae: remarques sur le culte fédéral des cités étrusques", in Dieux, fêtes, sacré dans la Grèce et la Rome antiques, edited by André Motte and Charles Ternes: 133–59. (Brepols, Turnhout). The last ten pages of this paper contain a highly technical discussion of the identity of the Etruscan god Voltumna in relation to the Latin gods Vertumnus and Janus. Fontana Elboj, Gonzalo, 1992. Ager: estudio etimológico y functional sobre Marte y Voltumna (University of Zaragoza) (Spanish) Hederich, Benjamin. (1770) 1996. Gründliches Mythologisches Lexikon (Darmstadt) Pliny 8, 20. Vollmer,Mythologie aller Völker, (Stuttgart) 1874. L. Niebuhr, Römische Geschichte 2, 216. Wissowa, Religion und Cultus des Römer, 243, 3. Müller-Deecke, Die Etrusker, 1, 329 skk. Theodor Mommsen, Römisches Staatsrecht, 3, 666 Pallottino, Massimo. "The Religion of the Etruscans"