Juno was one of the major public deities of Rome, but she originated amongst the Latins of central Italy. The Romans adopted her because her powers of fertility made her vital to the growth and protection of the Roman state. Juno’s importance was such that the Roman’s even named the month of June after her.

Or did they?

Juno’s Name

The origin of Juno’s name is uncertain.  Historians once supposed that the goddess derived her name from the female equivalent of the Roman male genius, (a higher aspect of the personality), which was known as the Iuno. 

However, experts now think this is unlikely, as the Iuno was a later invention than genius. Instead, they now accept that Juno’s name probably had its roots in the word iuventas or “youth”.

 Juno’s Italic Origins

Cults of Juno were established in the Italic states surrounding Rome from antiquity. The goddess was the principal deity of many towns, representing rulership and strength.

In Lanuvium, Juno was Juno Sospita or ‘Sospitia Mater Regina.’ She was the chief deity of the town, and the residents portrayed her carrying a shield, spear and wearing a goatskin. These accessories revealed Juno’s threefold role as a goddess of rulership, fertility and war. It was a common theme repeated in Juno’s other cities.

The Juno Regina of Veii was a strong, principle diety very similar to Juno Sospita — as were the Junos of Falerii, Tiber and Beneventum.  Falerii — one of the twelve chief Etruscan towns — knew their Juno as Juno Quiritis or Curritis and priests worshipped the goddess in her sacred grove.

In Tiber, (modern Tivoli), the goddess was known as Juno Curitis and in Campania at Beneventum as Juno Quiritis. In antiquity, these names were linked to the Latin currus or “chariot” or curis,  “spear.” But the etymology is by no means certain.

Rome Acquires Juno

Rome adopted many of these italic cults of Juno after the conquest of their original cities. This adoption occurred because of a Roman practice known as evocatio. Evocatio involved petitioning the diety of an enemy city to abandon its original host and transfer its allegiance to Rome. Often, the Romans promised temples and cults to the god as an incentive.

In Juno’s case, it worked. Dionysus of Halicarnassus describes how, as early as the time of Romulus, the King’s Sabine ally, Titus Tatius, brought the Cult of Juno Quiritis to Rome. In 396 BC, the followers of Juno Regina established the goddess on Rome’s Aventine Hill after the goddess abandoned her original home in Veii. Juno Sospita followed in 338BC.

Juno — Goddess of Mints and Mothers

Once in Rome, Juno’s character began to develop. The temple of Juno Moneta was reputedly established on the Arx of the Capitoline on the first of June 344BC. The new temple occupied the site of the house of Manlius Capitolinus in fulfilment of a vow to the goddess following a victory over the Aurunci.

The name “moneta” comes from monere “to warn”, but because the first mint in Rome was later located near Juno’s temple, moneta became associated with coinage — hence the derivative term “money.”

Juno was also widely connected with women’s issues.   In Latium and Rome, she was the goddess of childbirth in her guise of Juno Lucina. To Ovid, the name “Lucina” is derived from lux or in the plural form luces, the Latin for “light”— particularly daylight. 

Cicero, however, associated “Lucina” with the term lucere — “to shine” — with specific regards to the moon at night. He attributed this name to Juno because of the connection between the moon and the length of pregnancy.

Greek and Carthaginian Associations

As Rome’s conquests spread, the Romans discovered other goddesses who they could affiliate with Juno. They included the Carthaginian Tanit and the Goddess Hera — who resembled the Juno who ascended to the Capitoline Triad.

June —The Month of Juno?

As Rome’s Queen of the Gods, Juno’s transformation was complete. “I love no nation more,” says the Juno of Ovid’s Fasti.

But did the Romans love their chief goddess enough to name the month of June after her?

Ovid’s Juno certainly believed this was the case. “Why call me Regina  “queen” and princeps goddess, why place the golden sceptre in my hand? Shall days or luces make a month and title me “Lucina” and I draw no month’s name?” says the goddess.

But in the Fasti, other deities appear to argue against Juno’s belief. The goddess Juventas claims that June is named – like Juno herself – from the iuventas, the young people, one of the two age-specific groups Romulus divided the Roman people into. The Goddess Concordia similarly disputes Juno’s claim, attributing June’s name to the iunctus or joining of the Roman and Sabine communities.

But there is other support for June as Juno’s month. According to Macrobius’s Saturnalia (1.12.30), the month of June was known as Junonius or “of Juno” by the Latins of Aricia and Praeneste — suggesting the Romans may have inherited the name of the month along with the goddess.

June, Juno, Junonius — Roman and Italic Origins

The jury is out on whether the Romans named June after their queen of the gods. But she is certainly the goddess we most associate with the month today.