the name which the Romans gave to the twelve superior gods, the Dii majorum gentium. The word has the same signification as consentientes, and indicates the gods who consented to the deliberations of Jupiter's council. These were twelve in number, and their names have been briefly expressed by Ennius in these well-known lines:

Juno, Vesta, Minerva, Ceres, Diana, Venus, Mars, Mercurius, Jove, Neptunus, Vulcanus, Apollo.