Vagitanus
In ancient Roman religion, Vagitanus or Vaticanus was one of a number of childbirth deities who influenced or guided some aspect of parturition, in this instance the newborn's crying. The name is related to the Latin noun vagitus, "crying, squalling, wailing," particularly by a baby or an animal, and the verb vagio, vagire. Vagitanus has thus been described as the god "who presided over the beginning of human speech," but a distinction should be made between the first cry and the first instance of articulate speech, in regard to which Fabulinus (fari, "to speak"; cf. fabula) was the deity to invoke. Vagitanus has been connected to a remark by Pliny that only a human being is thrown naked onto the naked earth on his day of birth for immediate wails (vagitus) and weeping.
These "divine functionaries" (German Sondergötter) whose names express their sphere of influence are considered characteristic of Indo-European religions. The name Vaticanus in connection to vagitus is discussed by Aulus Gellius and Augustine of Hippo. Gellius quotes Varro, who is generally acknowledged also as Augustine's main source on ancient Roman theology:
