Ruminus

Latin

Etymology

Seemingly from rū̆ma (“teat, nipple, breast”) +‎ -īnus; compare Rū̆mīna.

Adjective

Rū̆mī̆nus (feminine Rū̆mī̆na, neuter Rū̆mī̆num); first/second-declension adjective

1. (Roman mythology) an epithet of Jupiter
   • Augustine of Hippo, De Civitate Dei 7.11:

     Dixerunt eum Victorem, Inuictum, Opitulum, Inpulsorem, Statorem, Centumpedam, Supinalem, Tigillum, Almum, Ruminum et alia quae persequi longum est. Haec autem cognomina inposuerunt uni deo propter causas potestatesque diuersas, non tamen propter tot res etiam tot deos eum esse coegerunt: quod omnia uinceret, quod a nemine uinceretur, quod opem indigentibus ferret, quod haberet inpellendi, statuendi, stabiliendi, resupinandi potestatem, quod tamquam tigillus mundum contineret ac sustineret, quod aleret omnia, quod ruma, id est mamma, aleret animalia. In his, ut aduertimus, quaedam magna sunt, quaedam exigua; et tamen unus utraque facere perhibetur. Puto inter se propinquiora esse causas rerum atque primordia, propter quas res unum mundum duos deos esse uoluerunt, Iouem atque Ianum, quam continere mundum et mammam dare animalibus; nec tamen propter haec opera duo tam longe inter se ui et dignitate diuersa duo dii esse compulsi sunt; sed unus Iuppiter propter illud Tigillus, propter illud Ruminus appellatus est. Nolo dicere, quod animalibus mammam praebere sugentibus magis Iunonem potuit decere quam Iouem, praesertim cum esset etiam diua Rumina, quae in hoc opus adiutorium illi famulatumue praeberet. Cogito enim posse responderi, et ipsam Iunonem nihil aliud esse quam Iouem, secundum illos Valerii Sorani uersus, ubi dictum est: Iuppiter omnipotens regum rerumque deumque Progenitor genetrixque deum. Quare ergo dictus est et Ruminus, cum diligentius fortasse quaerentibus ipse inueniatur esse etiam illa diua Rumina? Si enim maiestate deorum recte uidebatur indignum, ut in una spica alter ad curam geniculi, altera ad folliculi pertineret: quanto est indignius unam rem infimam, id est ut mammis alantur animalia, duorum deorum potestate curari, quorum sit unus Iuppiter, rex ipse cunctorum, et hoc agat non saltem cum coniuge sua, sed cum ignobili nescio qua Rumina, nisi quia ipse est etiam ipsa Rumina; Ruminus fortasse pro sugentibus maribus, Rumina pro feminis. Dicerem quippe noluisse illos Ioui femininum nomen inponere, nisi et in illis uersibus "progenitor genetrixque" diceretur, et inter eius alia cognomina legerem, quod etiam Pecunia uocaretur, quam deam inter illos minuscularios inuenimus et in quarto libro commemorauimus. Sed cum et mares et feminae habeant pecuniam, cur non et Pecunia et Pecunius appellatus sit, sicut Rumina et Ruminus, ipsi uiderint.

     • 1963 translation by William M. Green

       The pagans have called Jupiter by the titles Victor, Invictus, Opitulus, Impulsor, Stator, Centumpeda, Supinalis, Tigillus, Almus, Ruminus, and still others which it would be tedious to enumerate. They have applied all these names to one god for various reasons and because of his various powers. But they have not, though there are so many functions, compelled him to become as many different gods. The functions are that he is victor over all, and invincible, and brings help to the needy, and has the power of impelling, of causing to stand, of stabilizing, and of laying flat; because he maintains and sustains the world like a beam; because he nourishes all things, and nourishes all animals by the breast (ruma). Among these functions, as we observe, some are important and some unimportant, yet one god is supposed to perform both kinds. In my judgement there is a closer relation between the causes of things and their beginnings, for which they would have one universe identical with two gods, Jupiter and Janus, than there is between maintaining the world and giving the breast to animals. However, there was no necessity for having two gods even for two tasks so different from each other in display of power and dignity; the one god Jupiter was called Tigillus for the one task and Ruminus for the other. I will not say that it would have been more appropriate for Juno than for Jupiter to furnish the breast to sucking animals, especially since there was also a goddess Rumina to furnish her help and service for this work. For I think the reply can be made that Juno herself is none other than Jupiter, according to these verses of Valerius Soranus, where it is said: 'Jupiter, mighty Father of kings and of gods and / of all things, / Mother as well of the gods . . .' Why then was he also called Ruminus, when, if perhaps we were to inquire more carefully, we might find that he is also identical with the goddess Rumina? If there was good reason for supposing it unsuitable to the dignity of the gods, in the case of one stalk of wheat, that one god should have the care of the knots, another that of the sheath, how much more unworthy is it that one low task, namely, to see that animals get nourishment from the breast, should require the power of two deities. One of them was Jupiter, himself king of all things, and he performed this task not along with his wife, but with some unknown Rumina. Unless he is himself Rumina—Ruminus perhaps for suckling males and Rumina for females. Of course I might say that they were unwilling to give Jupiter a woman’s name, except that it was said of him in those verses I quoted, “Father and Mother as well,” and except that among his other names I have read that he was also called Pecunia. I found this goddess among those petty gods, and have mentioned her in the fourth book. But since both males and females have money, why was Jupiter not called both Pecunia and Pecunius, as he is called Rumina and Ruminus? I leave the answer to them.

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	Clītumnus	Clītumna	Clītumnum		Clītumnī	Clītumnae	Clītumna
Genitive	Clītumnī	Clītumnae	Clītumnī		Clītumnōrum	Clītumnārum	Clītumnōrum
Dative	Clītumnō		Clītumnō		Clītumnīs
Accusative	Clītumnum	Clītumnam	Clītumnum		Clītumnōs	Clītumnās	Clītumna
Ablative	Clītumnō	Clītumnā	Clītumnō		Clītumnīs
Vocative	Clītumne	Clītumna	Clītumnum		Clītumnī	Clītumnae	Clītumna

References

• “Ruminus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Ruminus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.