person
Acca Larentia
Larentia
also: Larentiae, Acca Larentia, Lupa
Acca Larentia, a semi-mythical Roman woman honoured as a benefactress of the Roman people; variously identified as the nurse of Romulus and Remus or as a wealthy courtesan who left her estate to Rome. The pontifices offered annual sacrifice at her altar in the Velabrum on the Larentalia (23 December).
Reading notes
- Ad M. Brutum 1.15 §8 the woman Larentia, at whose altar in the Velabrum you pontiffs are accustomed to offer sacrifice
Acca Larentia was a semi-mythical Roman woman (wife of the shepherd Faustulus in one tradition, a wealthy courtesan in another) who left her estate to the Roman people; the pontiffs performed a sacrifice at her altar in the Velabrum, the low district between the Capitoline and Palatine hills, each year on 23 December (the Larentalia).