the name which the Romans gave to the 12 superior gods, the Dii majorum gentium. The word signifies as much as consentientes; that is, who consented to the deliberations of Jupiter's council. They were twelve in number, whose name Ennius has briefly expressed in these lines,
Juno, Vesta, Minerva, Cerer, Diana, Venus, Mars, Mercurius, Jovis, Neptunus, Vulcanus, Apollo.