Iupiter (Jupiter) is the Sky Father of the Italic peoples, which of course includes the Romans. His name derives from the Proto-Italic *Djous patēr ('Sky Father'). Along with the Greek Ζεύς πατήρ (Zeus pater) and the Sanskrit Dyaus‑pitṛ́, it is one of the clearest reflexes of the PIE *Dyēus‑ph₂tēr.
Reflexes of the Italic Sky Father
The Roman Sky Father
Iupiter/Iuppiter/Jupiter/Juppiter is of course the best attested source, and for preference I use the term Iupiter in this series of essays as I consider it the most accurate form of His name. It should be noted by those who may not be familiar with Latin that the initial 'I' or 'J in Iupiter/Jupiter is pronounced as a 'Y'.
Like the Greek Zeus, Iupiter was both the supreme god and the deity associated with thunder, along with law, oaths, sovereignty, and His cult was situated on the Capitoline Hill in Rome, in the Temple of Jupiter (Iupiter Optimus Maximus). According to tradition, the temple was dedicated in 509 BCE at the beginning of the Republic. This was the ritual centre of the Roman state, where consuls took office, oaths and treaties were sworn, triumphs ended and the generals took the spoils of war.
The Chief Priest, flamen Dialis of Iupiter was chosen in childhood and was regarded as the living representative in the god's cult. He performed daily sacrifices to Iupiter and presided over oaths, treaties and the protection of the Roman state. Like many Indo-European priests there were manifold taboos which he had to live by, such as not riding a horse, not touching metal, not naming certain objects, et cetera. The flamen Dialis was the Roman continuation of the Indo-European Sky Father priesthood in parallel to the Umbrian priests of Iupater Fisius, the Greek priests of Zeus Polieus and the Vedic hotṛ priests of Dyaus Pitar.
The other two flamen were the flamen Martialis (the priest of Mars) and the flamen Quirinalis (the priest of Quirinus). Together with the flamen Dialis they made up the three flamines maiores (the 'greater priests') and signify the tripartite structure of Indo-European religion:
flamen Dialis
Iupiter: sovereignty, law, oaths. A highly sacred priest, heavily restricted by many taboos.
flamen Martialis
Mars: war. A priest less restricted than the flamen Dialis.
flamen Quirinalis
Quirinus: agriculture, fertility, community. A priest less restricted than the flamen Dialis.
The speculated etymology of flamen is quite instructive: 'one who burns'/'attends the sacred fire'. This activity links the flamen with:
. Vedic brāhman (priest)
. Germanic blót (sacrifice)
. Old Norse blóta (to sacrifice)
The root meaning of the above three terms is 'to swell, to burn, to offer by fire'. Again, this is an ancient Indo-European concept, the worship of the gods with the element of fire. Thus, the full interpretation of flamen maiores would be 'the greater fire-priests'.
The Umbrian Sky Father
Iupater/Iupater Fisius
The epithet fisius means 'of the hearth', thus the full interpretation of Iupater Fisius is Sky Father of the Sacred Hearth. This is the direct cognate of the Roman Iupiter. The sacred hearth was the hearth of the entire community and He was its divine protector. The Umbrian Iguvine Tablets describe fire rituals related to this god. His cultic role according to the tablets centred around major state sacrifices, the purification of the city and army, and sacred lustration rituals.
The Iguvine Tablets consist of seven bronze tablets written in the Umbrian language, which is closely related to Latin, and they date back to the 3rd to 4th centuries BCE. The ancient city of Iguvium (modern Gubbio) was the pre-Roman administrative, religious and cultic centre of the Umbrian people. Apart from the Latin sources, these tablets are the most important source for Italic pre-Christian religion. They provide details about ceremonial processions, sacrifices, prayers, rituals and invocations. The Iguvine priesthood were the Atiedian Brothers (fratres Atiedii), a hereditary fraternity responsible for carrying out rituals and making offerings to the major Umbrian deities. The strict rules and fixed formulas demonstrate that Umbrian religion was a highly formalised one, not primitive in nature and showed a continuity with Indo-European ritual structure. In addition to carrying out highly complex and exact rites, the priesthood was also responsible for the interpretation of omens from the gods. Unlike the Capitoline Hill in Rome, there was no single monumental temple: instead the priesthood carried out the rites in a sacred precinct, a ritual enclosure on the slope of Mount Ingino.
The Oscan Sky Father
Diuve / Díuveí
His name preserves the old PIE root *dyew‑ ('bright sky'). He is thus the 'Sky God'/'Heavenly One'. The Oscan reflex of the Indo-European Sky Father is the least well preserved and only fragmentary information survives. Oscan inscriptions of the reflex appear in southern Italy (Samnium, Campania, Lucania). The clearest forms of the reflex are:
. Dívei Patrei ('to Father Sky')
. Dípatres ('Sky Father')
. Díveís ('to Iupiter')
All of these forms are cognates of:
. Latin Iupiter
. Umbrian Iupater
. Greek Zeus Patēr
. Vedic Dyáus Pitā́
Oscan inscriptions indicate that He was associated with mountain sanctuaries, storms, oaths and treaties. Although the priestly titles have not been preserved, we do know that there was a state-level formal priesthood and a sacred enclosure from the inscriptions at the Samnite sanctuary in Pietrabbondante: Díveís Patereís ('to Iupiter the Father') and Díveís sakaraklú ('to Iupiter of the sacred enclosure').
The Sabine Reflex
Diespiter ('Day-Sky Father')
He is a cognate of Iupiter and His areas of responsibility are the sky, daylight and oaths. This deity was later merged with the Underworld God, Dispater ('Underworld Father') but originally the two deities and their names were distinct. The Sabine form of the Sky Father is preserved in Latin sources as Dius Fidius (the 'Sky Father of Oaths'). His name is related to:
. Latin Diovis/Iovis (Iupiter)
. Umbrian Iupater
. Oscan Dívei Patrei
. Greek Zeus Patēr
. Vedic Dyáus Pitā́
His name is the pure Indo-European form of Iupiter and appears in archaic prayers and formulas involving the sky, daylight, oaths and cosmic order. Oaths invoking Him must be sworn in daylight under the open sky, which acts as a witness. This a classic Indo-European feature. As a pre-Roman form of Iupiter, He preserves the oldest layer of that god's identity. His archaic attributes and functions are:
. The father of gods and men
. The Sky Father
. The Shining Sky
. The guarantor of cosmic order
. A witness to oaths
. The bringer of daylight
. The bringer of storms
Due to the great antiquity of this deity, and the fact that he is is a 'linguistic fossil', we have no surviving evidence of a dedicated priesthood but it is highly unlikely that He did not have one.
The Faliscan Reflex
Iopater/Iupater/Iupater Faliscus
In other words He is Iupater of the Faliscans. It is known that they had a state priesthood but it cannot be proven that this was the same as the Roman flamen Dialis. They had sacred fire cults and oath taking rituals. Like the other Italic reflexes, Iupater was a god of sovereignty, the sky, daylight, oaths and sacred fire, and was a very archaic form of the deity, close to the Umbrian and early Latin variants. The evidence for Iupater Faliscus comes from inscriptions from the 7th to the 3rd century BCE. In early Italic society, such as the Faliscans, there was often little in the way of monumental architecture, which indicates that the gods were worshipped in open-air sanctuaries, on hilltops and with fire altars. This matches the pattern of the Umbrians and Oscans.
Comparison of the Italic Sky Father with the Greek
Similarities
Both names share the same linguistic root and descend from the PIE *Dyēus‑ph₂tēr, 'Sky Father'.
Iupiter < Diēus‑pater
Zeus Patēr < Dyēus‑pater
Both deities are sky and daylight gods, governing storms and granting weather omens. They are supreme gods in their respective religions and oversee oaths, treaties, legal agreements and truthfulness in general. This is reflected in their by-names: Zeus Horkios (Zeus of Oaths) and Iupiter Fidius (Iupiter of Trust).
Both gods are intimately associated with kingship and authority. They share thunderbolt symbolism and have many localised epithets. Each god is also invoked in war and peace.
Differences
While Zeus is a mythic personality, Iupiter is abstract and personal, represented more by symbols than by stories. Zeus did not have a universal priesthood as each city had its own priests. Iupiter had a single and highly regulated priesthood, the flamen Dialis. Greek worship was more temple-centred while Iupiter was more likely to be worshipped in the open air. Unlike Zeus, Iupiter was central to the Roman state.
Greek Influences on the Roman
From the 4th century BCE in Roman iconography, Iupiter began to be depicted as a bearded, muscular man, seated on a throne, holding a thunderbolt and accompanied by an eagle. Originally, the Italic peoples symbolised the god by a stone, the Iupiter lapis. This stone was kept in the Temple of Iupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill. The most solemn of oaths were sworn on it, 'per Iovem lapidem!', 'by Iupiter's stone!' The stone has not survived and no classical author has given a full description of it, but it is likely to have had the following features:
. smooth and rounded
. oval or egg-shaped
. unworked (not carved)
. kept on a pedestal or stored in a chest
. dark in colour
. small enough to be held
Some scholars consider that the stone may have been a meteorite and this is also my assumption, for there had to be something symbolically significant about this stone for it to be held in such reverence. Indeed, it was considered to be the very embodiment of Iupiter Himself. In addition to this stone, the early Iupiter was also symbolised by lightning, fire and the sky.
Early Rome had no myths concerning Iupiter, and thus they adopted and adapted those of Zeus from the Greeks. Some of Iupiter's epithets and cult titles were influenced by the Greeks, such as Iupiter Tonans (Iupiter the Thunderer) from Zeus Keraunios, Iupiter Olympius from Zeus Olympios and Iupiter Panhellenios from Zeus Panhellenios.
Early Iupiter temples were Italic in design, but later ones copied heavily from Greek architecture and the adoption of statues in the Greek style. Roman intellectuals became influenced by Greek philosophy, adopting ideas such as Zeus/Iupiter as cosmic reason, Iupiter as the world-soul and as the stoic god. It is important to remember though, that despite the influence of Greek architecture, mythology and philosophy, Iupiter remained Roman, as the god of the state, laws and oaths, rather than a mythic and divine king. His priesthood remained strictly Italic, the festivals remained Roman and he never became as fully 'human' as Zeus.
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