Did address influence whether gods answered prayers? Preliminary overview of Vulgar Latin names of deities in the Roman Empire

Abstract

This paper offers a preliminary linguistic analysis of votive texts with particular reference to their use of and variation in Latin. The aim of the linguistic analysis is to identify variation in the context of votive texts. In those votive inscriptions which contained a request, precise wording was considered crucial for the request to reach the gods. Therefore, schematic, formulaic wording is common. The epigraphic corpus under study shows various Vulgar Latin traits. The incorporation of ‘non-Roman’ or pre-Roman cults into Latin caused the greatest problems, with most variations occurring in the names of such gods. Since the names of these gods are not included in literary sources, our primary sources for these cults are inscriptions and they show characteristics of Vulgar Latin.