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Marica, a MythSource painting
Roman

Marica

The Minturnian Nymph · Mother of Latinus · Wife of Faunus

01Identity

Marica in Roman tradition

Marica’s identity is tied to the marshes, lakes and sacred groves of Minturnae. She is a local Roman deity or nymph, worshipped at Minturnae and linked with a temple, local waters and the ancestry of Latinus. Unlike Latinus, the king of the aboriginal inhabitants, Marica is a female water figure and is named as his mother and Faunus’s wife.

Top questions

The quick answers

  • Who is Marica?

    Marica is a Roman deity associated with marshes and wetlands; local waters; sacred groves; Minturnae and its local cult; and the ancestry of Latinus.
    Source

    Source

    • for a falcon
    • Dictionary of Mythology
    • The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion
    • Essential Visual History of World Mythology
    • The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)
    • Belief and Cult
    • The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World

  • What is Marica the goddess of?

    Marica is associated with marshes and wetlands; local waters; sacred groves; Minturnae and its local cult; and the ancestry of Latinus.
    Source

    Source

    • for a falcon
    • Dictionary of Mythology
    • The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion
    • Essential Visual History of World Mythology
    • The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)

  • What family links are recorded for Marica?

    1 child.
02Family

Marica’s family, at a glance

Marica
Latinus
03The names

The names Marica answers to

Marica of Minturnae

The local deity or nymph worshipped at Minturnae

SourceBelief and Cult

Marica of the Sacred Grove

Marica associated with the sacred grove at Minturnae

SourceThe Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion

Marica of the Marshes

Marica associated with the marshlands and waters of Minturnae

SourceThe Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World

04The myths

The myths of Marica

1 myth, with sources recorded for each.

Marica and the Birth of Latinus

Marica bore Latinus after she became Faunus’s consort. Faunus was named as Latinus’s father in the Roman tradition. The child’s birth joined Marica and Faunus to the royal line that later ruled Latium. Latinus grew into the ancestral king of the region. He ruled the aboriginal inhabitants of central Italy, who lived there before Rome was founded.

During Latinus’s reign, Aeneas arrived in Italy. Latinus was then king of Latium. He belonged to the generation of rulers who held power before Rome existed, and his kingdom formed part of the land that Aeneas entered. Aeneas’s arrival therefore joined Latinus’s family descent to the later history of Latium.

Latinus remained a central king in the Roman account of Italy’s first rulers. His mother was Marica, and his father was Faunus. Through them, he stood among the ancestors of Latium. His rule linked the older inhabitants of central Italy with the events that followed Aeneas’s arrival. The story carried Latinus from his birth as Marica’s son to his position as king when Aeneas reached Italy. His reign marked the point at which the ancestral line of Latium met the arrival of Aeneas.

Marica and the Birth of Latinus, a MythSource painting of the scene

3 sources· checked 2026-08-24

  1. 1The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)T1
  2. 2Apollodorus, The LibraryT1

    Quote

    “Marica bore Latinus to Faunus, who was named as his father, and Latinus became king of the aboriginal people of Italy.”

    Apollodorus, The Library

  3. 3Greek and Roman NecromancyT1

Also mentioned in

Stories elsewhere on MythSource that mention Marica, each on that figure’s page.