Silvanus (/sɪlˈveɪnəs/;[1] meaning "of the woods" in Latin) was a Roman tutelary deity of woods and uncultivated lands. As protector of the forest (sylvestris deus), he especially presided over plantations and delighted in trees growing wild.[2][3][4][5] He is also described as a god watching over the fields and husbandmen, protecting in particular the boundaries of fields.[6] The similarly named Etruscan deity Selvans may be a borrowing of Silvanus,[7] or not even related in origin.[8]
Silvanus is described as the divinity protecting the flocks of cattle, warding off wolves, and promoting their fertility.[2][9][10][11] Dolabella, a rural engineer of whom only a few pages are known, states that Silvanus was the first to set up stones to mark the limits of fields, and that every estate had three Silvani:[12]
a Silvanus domesticus (in inscriptions called Silvanus Larum and Silvanus sanctus sacer Larum)
a Silvanus agrestis (also called salutaris, literally "of the fields" or "saviour"), who was worshipped by shepherds, and
a Silvanus orientalis, literally "of the east", that is, the god presiding over the point at which an estate begins.
Hence Silvani were often referred to in the plural.
