Silvanus
Silvanus, an old Italic divinity. The etymology of the name denotes a sylvan god, but descriptions of the qualities and doings of Silvanus indicate that he symbolized the life giving forces of nature generally. He was the god of arable fields as well as of the forests, and in that character watched over the boundaries of fields and presided over their fruitfulness. The law of the agrimensori (a collection of various instructions relating to the surveying of land) even requires that every landed property should possess three Silvani. The forest, however, would seem always to have been the peculiar domain of Silvanus. His loud resounding voice would be heard to issue from the wood like that of Pan, with whom he was often confounded; and sacrifices of corn, pigs, meat, and wine were there presented to him in order to invoke his favorable interference with the welfare of the herds of cattle. Pigs which devastated cultivated fields were also offered to him in sacrifice. See Smith. Dict. of Mythol. s.v.; Vollmer, Worterb. d. Mythol. s.v.
