a Roman divinity of commerce and gain, probably one of the dii lucrii.
The character of the god is clear from his name, which is connected with merx and mercari. (Paul. Diac. p. 124, ed. Müller; Schol. ad Pers. Sat. 5.112.) A temple was built to him as early as Reg. Urb. xi.); and an altar of the god existed near the Porta
Capena, by the side of a well; and in later times a temple seems to have been built on the
same spot. (Reg.
Urb. i.) Under the name of the ill-willed (malevolus), he had a
statue in what was called the vices sobrius, or the sober street, in
which no shops were allowed to be kept, and milk was offered to him there instead of wine.
(Fest. pp. 161, 297, ed. Miller.) This statue had a purse in its hand, to indicate his
functions. (Schol. ad Pers. l.c.) His festival was celebrated on the 25th
of May, and chiefly by merchants, who also visited the well near the Porta Capena, to which
magic powers were ascribed; and with water from that well they used to sprinkle themselves and
their merchandise, that they might be purified, and yield a large profit. (Ov. Fast. v. 670 &c.; Fest. p. 148, ed. Müller.)
The Romans of later times identified Mercurius, the patron of merchants and tradespeople,
with the Greek Hermes, and transferred all the attributes and myths of the latter to the
former (caduceus used a sacred branch
as the emblem of peace. The resemblance between Mercurius and Hermes is indeed very slight;
and their identification is a proof of the thoughtless manner in which the Romans acted in
this respect. [Comp. HERMES.]