ABSTRACT
A source of Roman power in all periods was the Roman army, and the Roman army had long been addicted to Jupiter.1 Indeed, if inscriptions are a useful guide Jupiter Optimus Maximus was in Valerius’ day a formidable presence throughout Roman society:
A survey of the epigraphical evidence, by far our best source for popular piety in this period, reveals a vitality, among all elements of society, of the worship of traditional godheads such as Jupiter Optimus Maximus. No less important is the community of conceptual forms and beliefs between ‘official’ religion and popular piety. A keynote for both in the imperial epoch was the notion of power.2
