ANGERONA  , or ANGEROrr1A, an old

Roman goddess, whose name and functions are variously explained . According to ancient authorities, she was a goddess who relieved men from pain and sorrow, or delivered the Romans and their flocks from angina (quinsy); or she was the protecting goddess of Rome and the keeper of the sacred name of the city, which might not be pronounced lest it should be revealed to her enemies; it was even thought that Angerona itself was' this name . Modern scholars regard her as a goddess akin to Ops, Acca Larentia and Dea Dia; or as the goddess of the new year and the returning sun (according to Mommsen, ab angerendo = &Tro nobs avackpeoOat Tov Xtov) . Her festival, called Divalia or Angeronalia, was celebrated on the 21st of December . The priests offered sacrifice in the temple of Volupia, the goddess of pleasure, in which stood a statue of Angerona, with a finger on her mouth, which was bound and closed (Macrobius i . 1o; Pliny, Nat . His'. iii . 9; Varro, L . L. vi . 23) . She was worshipped as Ancharia at Faesulae, where an altar belonging to her has been recently discovered .