LAVERNA

laverna, an old italian divinity, originally one of the spirits of the underworld. a cup found in an etruscan tomb bears the inscription "lavernai pocolom," and in a fragment of septimius serenus laverna is expressly mentioned in connexion with the _di inferi_. by an easy transition, she came to be regarded as the protectress of thieves, whose operations were associated with darkness. she had an altar on the aventine hill, near the gate called after her lavernalis, and a grove on the via salaria. her aid was invoked by thieves to enable them to carry out their plans successfully without forfeiting their reputation for piety and honesty (horace, _ep._ i. 16, 60). many explanations have been given of the name: (1) from _latere_ (schol. on horace, who gives _laternio_ as another form of _lavernio_ or robber); (2) from _lavare_ (acron on horace, according to whom thieves were called _lavatores_, perhaps referring to bath thieves); (3) from _levare_ (cf. shop-lifters). modern etymologists connect it with _lu-crum_, and explain it as meaning the goddess of gain.