Laverna T-Shirt

Laverna is the Roman Goddess of thieves, who hears the prayers of robbers. The Porta Lavernalis (Lavernal Gate) on the Aventine Hill was named for Her, and She had an altar nearby. She also had a sacred grove on the Via Saleria, a famous ancient highway that went crosswise across the calf of the boot of Italy, beginning in Rome, following the River Tiber for a ways, then crossing the Apennine Mountains to the Adriatic Sea. Perhaps originally an Underworld Goddess of the Etruscans, Laverna became Goddess of thieves because thieves operate in darkness. Her name is said to derive either from the Latin latere ("to lurk"), or levare ("to relieve, lessen or lighten", something pickpockets certainly do) and levator ("a thief").