Almo (god)

Almo was in ancient Roman religion the eponymous god of the small river Almo, a tributary of the Tiber in the vicinity of Rome.^[1]

According to Hesiods Theogony as one of the 3,000 river gods Almo was the son of the Titans Oceanus and Thetis and their sisters were the Oceanids.

Later Almo was integrated into the Roman religion and like Tiberinus and others, he was prayed to by the augurs of Rome.

In the water of Almo the aniconic stone embodying the mother of the gods, Cybele, used to be washed anually.^[2][3]

Further information: Glossary of ancient Roman religion

A small building called the Tempio Dio Redicolo [Englis: Temple of the ridicilous god] was historically thought to have been consecrated as a temple to the river god but was originally constructed as a funeral tomb for the Roman noblewoman Appia Annia Regilla.

Almo had a naiad daughter named Larunda.

In stories, Almo was usually considered heroic or fatherly. In Ovid’s Fasti, Almo is said to be giving advice to his loqaucious daughter Lara to not gossip around what she hears. Lara disobeyed her fathers admonishment and revealed Jupiters affair with Juturna to his wife Juno for which she was punished by muteness.

Through his daughters relationship with the god Meecury Almo was the grand-father of the household deities the Lares Praestites.

Not much is known about the small river god, but his appearance in several texts described him as handsome.

References

1. Schmitz, Leonhard (1867). "Almo". In William Smith (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. p. 132.
2. Cicero, De Natura Deorum iii. 20
3. comp. Varro De lingua latina v. 71, ed. Müller

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Almo". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.