Everyone has heard of Mount Soracte, white with shining snow, the peak
whose distant cold gave zest to the blazing logs on the hearth of Horace.
Within sight of his windows was practised, by men calling themselves
'wolves' (Hirpi), a rite of extreme antiquity and enigmatic character. On
a peak of Soracte, now Monte di Silvestre, stood the ancient temple of
Soranus, a Sabine sun-god. {148a} Virgil {148b} identifies Soranus with
Apollo. At the foot of the cliff was the precinct of Feronia, a Sabine
goddess. Mr. Max Muller says that Feronia corresponds to the Vedic
Bhuranyu, a name of Agni, the Vedic fire-god (ii. 800). Mannhardt
prefers, of course, a derivation from _far_ (grain), as in confarreatio,
the ancient Roman bride-cake form of marriage. Feronia Mater=Sanskrit
bharsani mata, Getreide Mutter. {149a} It is a pity that philologists so
rarely agree in their etymologies. In Greek the goddess is called
Anthephorus, Philostephanus, and even Persephone--probably the Persephone
of flowers and garlands. {149b}