Queen of the gods and protector of the Roman state. Goddess of marriage, women, and childbirth. Wife and sister of Jupiter, patron of married women and the Roman matrons.
Juno is queen of the Roman gods and the protector of married women, but she is also a civic goddess. As Juno Regina she sat on the Capitol with Jupiter and Minerva. As Juno Moneta she kept a temple on the Arx whose name still sits inside the word "money," because the mint later worked nearby. As Juno Sospita she came from Lanuvium in goatskin and armed, a savior as much as a wife.
Marriage and the state
The Matronalia on March 1 honored her as guardian of Roman wives. Myth makes her sister and spouse of Jupiter, jealous in the Greek manner when poets want that color. Cult practice is cooler and more public: women, colonies, and the city's own well-being all fall inside her brief.
Not Hera in Latin
She shares myths with Hera, including the difficult marriage to the sky king. She also has Latin faces Hera never wore. Lucina at childbirth, Curitis with the spear, the warning geese of her temple during the Gallic sack: these are Roman stories attached to Juno, not footnotes to Olympus.
Origin Story
Juno is the Roman equivalent of Hera, daughter of Saturn and Ops. She became Jupiter's consort and queen of heaven, fiercely protective of marriage and legitimate children.
Primary Sources
Historical texts and references
“But I, who walk in awful state above, the majesty of heav'n, the sister wife of Jove, for length of years my fruitless force employ against the thin remains of ruin'd Troy!”
Worship & Cult
How Juno was venerated in ancient times
Sacred Temples
•Temple of Juno Moneta on the Arx of the Capitoline
•Temple of Juno Regina on the Aventine (evocatio from Veii)
•Capitoline triad cella beside Jupiter and Minerva
Juno is the Kalends as Jupiter is the Ides. Matrons offered at the Matronalia. The geese of Juno on the Capitol were remembered as having saved the hill from the Gauls. The flaminica Dialis served her beside the flamen of Jupiter.
