What did the ancient Romans think about tornadoes?
Sep 01, 2010
in
Tornado Questions
Since tornadoes occasionally happen in Europe some ancient Roman somewhere in all that time must have seen a tornado or funnel cloud touch down to the ground and rip things apart so I was wondering what they thought about them and what they were. Like was there a Roman God of the wind? Thanks.
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5 comments
Naz F on September 1, 2010 at 11:48 pm
Folgora and Sommanus were the gods of lightning and thunderstorms. That’s the closest thing to a god of the wind, or weather.
http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_gregory_gods.htm
Susan on September 1, 2010 at 11:48 pm
Yes, there was a Roman god of the wind, so I suppose it is very possible that the Romans thought a tornado might be a sign of the god’s anger or, at the least, an omen auguring a difficult future… as in it’s an ill wind that bloweth.
Lemony on September 1, 2010 at 11:48 pm
There are no tornadoes in Europe.
/question
JosF on September 1, 2010 at 11:48 pm
They wouldn’t know what a tornado is, as they happen extremely seldom in Europe.
But they would pray to Tempestas, god of storms, to stop this horror.
Greg C on September 1, 2010 at 11:48 pm
Something more general to think about. Is the swastika–one of the oldest symbols–found all over the world–actually a symbol for a tornado–and the fact it is found turning both ways a symbol of which way one turns depending on the hemisphere–north or south? Have never seen a reference to this. Just my theory.