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LAVERNA

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Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 293 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LAVERNA , an old See also:

Italian divinity, originally one of the See also:spirits of the underworld. A See also:cup found in an See also:Etruscan See also:tomb bears the inscription " Lavernai Pocolom," and in a fragment of Septimius See also:Serenus Laverna is expressly mentioned in connexion with the di inferi. By an easy transition, she came to be regarded as the protectress of thieves, whose operations were associated with darkness. She had an See also:altar on the Aventine See also:hill, near the See also:gate called after her Lavernalis, and a See also:grove on the Via See also:Salaria. Her aid was invoked by thieves to enable them to carry out their plans successfully without forfeiting their reputation for piety and honesty (See also:Horace, Ep. i. 16, 6o). Many explanations have been given of the name : (1) from latere (Schol. on Horace, who gives laternio as another See also:form of lavernio or robber); (2) from lavare (See also:Acron on Horace, according to whom thieves were called lavatores, perhaps referring to See also:bath thieves); (3) from levare (cf. See also:shop-lifters). See also:Modern etymologists connect it with lu-cruet, and explain it as meaning the goddess of gain.

End of Article: LAVERNA

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