Statina, or Dea Statina, is the Roman Goddess Who helps an infant to stand straight and strong.

Aurelius ‘Saint’ Augustine, who really was just insufferable, mentions a male God, Statilinus, as one of the minor Gods (like Abeona, Adiona, Cunina, and Rumina, Whom he also mentions) invoked to help the child with its physical needs, in this case to stand upright. As usual, he was ridiculing the ‘absurd’ number of Deities charged with overlooking what to him are pathetically minor matters, as contrasted with his One And Only God, who does all these things and more; and again, I’d argue that given the times, when infant and maternal mortality was a very real concern, it was really no surprise that mothers and their families would want all the possible divine help they could get. Also, it seems to me it could have been quite comforting to know that if a child was having a specific problem, there was a specific Deity to call on, much like how many modern doctors are specialists in one specific area.

Another reference occurs in a work by Tertullian, or to give him his full name, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus. Tertullian was a Carthaginian (or maybe Berber) from northern Africa who lived in the second and third centuries CE. He was another of the so-called ‘Church Fathers’, early writers defending the new religion of Christianity, mostly by mocking the old Pagan ways (also known as ‘the competition’). In a work called De Anima (‘On the Soul’), in a chapter titled The Evil Spirit Has Marred the Purity of the Soul from the Very Birth (and damn, he must have been fun at parties), he speaks disparagingly of the many Deities invoked in childbirth by the Romans. After mentioning Lucina and Diana, as well as Juno (Who he says has a table laid for Her for a whole week after a birth), he says, ‘and then the infant’s first step on the ground is sacred to the [G]oddess Statina’.

There does seem to be some confusion as to whether this Deity was male or female; perhaps this was one of those Deities who were thought of as either (like Pales), or maybe Statina and Statulinus were considered a pair, like Domiduca and Domiducus.

I would guess that Statina’s name comes from the Latin verb stare, meaning ‘to stand’, ‘stand still’, or ‘stand firm’; there is also a (I assume) related noun statina, meaning ‘position’, ‘rank’, ‘standing’, or ‘status’. Either it seems could apply, especially if Statina had something to do with the birth rituals of the Romans.

One of the many, many rituals that the ancient Romans had around birth was that after the child was born, the head of the household would have to accept it as his own, with the inherent promise that he would provide for and bring the child up well. Once the midwife had dealt with the birth, determined the child was healthy, and, one assumes, cleaned the baby up a bit, she placed it on the floor or ground. The head of household would then pick it up as a sign that he accepted it to raise as his own, conferring his status or standing on the child. Tertullian’s account (which was after Varro, the great Roman author, from a book now lost), is a bit ambiguous though—he may be referring to a toddler’s first steps (which would take place at about a year old), or to the very first time the infant made contact with the ground or earth as part of the acceptance ritual, the floor or ground likely being symbolic of the outside world, to which the infant is a newcomer.

At any rate Statina was the Goddess Who could assure that the developing child met the milestone of being able to stand up strong; and on a more symbolic level, perhaps She also could guarantee the child would be accepted, and share in the family’s standing or status.

Statina may very well be linked with Juno, as one of Her aspects; certainly many other Goddesses Who were concerned with childbirth and healthy children were, though I could not find any reference to such a link.