god

Mercurius

Mercury

also: Mercuri, Mercury

The Roman god Mercury, patron of commerce and gain; in Fam. 7.23 Cicero quips he would rather a Mercury had been among the statues, as the god of trade might have helped settle the bill with Avianius on better terms. Distinct from the specific Mercurius Tyndaritanus of the Verrines.

Reading notes

Ad Atticum 1.1 §5 Your Hermathena
A composite herm combining Hermes (Mercury) and Athena (Minerva), procured by Atticus for the gymnasium-and-library Cicero called his 'Academy' at his Tusculan villa. Hermes suited any gymnasium; Athena/Minerva was the special patron of Cicero's.
Ad Familiares 7.23 §2 I should rather there had been some Mercury
Mercury was the god of commerce and gain, so Cicero jokes that a Mercury among the statues might have helped him strike a more favourable bargain with the dealer Avianius.
Aratea (Translation of Aratus' Phaenomena) §The Lyre (Lyra) the Lyre
Lyra, the constellation of the lyre that Mercury (Hermes) is said to have fashioned in his cradle from a tortoise-shell; it lies near the Kneeler and the Swan.
On the Nature of the Gods §3.56 the Egyptians call Theyt
Theyt (Thoth), the Egyptian god of writing whom the Greeks identified with the fifth Mercury, the slayer of Argus who fled to Egypt and gave the Egyptians their laws and letters. The first month of the Egyptian year was named after him.