{"database": "deitydb", "table": "entities", "rows": [["ENT_ITA_SILVANUS", "Silvanus", null, "Italic/Sabine", "deity / guardian of forests and boundaries", "deity", "forests; wildlands; boundaries; uncultivated land; property limits; woodcutters; herdsmen; di indigetes", null, null, null, "A", null, null, null, null, null, "Silvanus (\"Of the Forest,\" from silva) is the Roman-Italic god of forests, uncultivated land, and the boundaries that separate the cultivated from the wild. He guards the edges of fields (the silvester locus \u2014 the wooded margin), the boundary stones (termini) of property, and the liminal zones between human settlement and wild nature. Cato the Elder (De Agricultura 83) gives the oldest extended ritual prescription for Silvanus: a farmer should propitiate Silvanus with offerings of wine, pork, meal, and grain when working woodland that borders cultivated fields \u2014 a purely functional, contractual religion of the boundary. Unlike Faunus (who is prophetic and liminal) or Fauna (the female companion/sister), Silvanus is primarily protective and territorial: he guards the specific boundary of THIS field, not the wild in general. Plautus, Pliny, and Ovid all emphasize his forest and boundary role. In social terms, Silvanus was one of the few major Roman deities whose cult was primarily associated with slaves and freedmen (CIL inscriptions show Silvanus collegii \u2014 clubs of Silvanus worshippers \u2014 heavily populated by slaves): this may reflect his role as protector of those who work the boundary lands and forests outside the ordered civic space. The structural parallel with Pan (both are goat-legged, boundary-guarding, rural deities) was noted in antiquity, and Virgil in the Eclogues places Silvanus and Pan in equivalent roles. Wissowa (1912) pp. 213-216; North, J.A. (2000), Roman Religion, pp. 60-62.", "deity"]], "columns": ["entity_id", "canonical_name", "greek_name", "tradition", "entity_type", "category", "primary_domains", "tags", "cult_scope", "primary_period", "evidence_confidence", "review_status", "inclusion_basis", "earth_association_score", "chthonic_flag", "serpent_flag", "short_note", "entity_class"], "primary_keys": ["entity_id"], "primary_key_values": ["ENT_ITA_SILVANUS"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 82.48252900011721, "source": "jebboone/deitydb", "source_url": "https://github.com/jebboone/deitydb", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT"}