Dea Viriplaca

Dea Viriplaca ("Husband-Pleasing Goddess") was an ancient Roman goddess who mediated in troubled marriages. Married couples went to her shrine to seek reconciliation.^[1]

Amy Richlin characterized this goddess's religious service as "a sort of couples counseling – one-sided, judging by her name."^[2] The husband and wife took turns speaking about what conflict had been bothering them. Once they had unburdened themselves, they could return to a more agreeable state of mind.^[1] Dea Viriplaca's functions are thus comparable to Fortuna Virilis in her man-pleasing aspect,^[3] and to Venus Obsequens and Venus Verticordia as goddesses who encouraged good marital relations.^[4] Unlike many other marriage-promoting rites for women only, but like the Matronalia, the services of Dea Viriplaca required the participation of men.^[3]

The shrine (sacellum) was located on the Palatine Hill.^[1] Valerius Maximus writes of it as existing in his own time but considers it among the instituta antiqua, an institution of the old days.^[1]

• Denzey, Nicola (2007). The Bone Gatherers: The Lost Worlds of Early Christian Women. Beacon.
• Dolansky, Fanny (2011). "Reconsidering the Matronalia and Women's Rites". Classical World. 104 (2): 191–209. JSTOR 25799995.

• Richardson Jr., Lawrence (1992). A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 9780801843006.

• Richlin, Amy (2014). Arguments with Silence: Writing the History of Roman Women. University of Michigan Press.