Agenoria is the Roman Goddess of activity and drive. She is especially linked to the energy and activity of young children as a mark of healthy growth.

She is mentioned solely by Aurelius ‘Saint’ Augustine in his City of God, written in the 5th century CE (full title: On the City of God Against the Pagans), who lists Her with other Deities relating to a child’s development. That there were so many different Goddesses and Gods to watch over a child’s development seems to be proof to Augustine that Roman religion was ridiculous and illogical (as compared, of course, to his shiny, exclusive, one and only Christian God). But birth, infancy, and childhood are treacherous times—even now, ‘failure to thrive’, where an infant isn’t putting on the weight it ought to be, can be an issue—never mind how precarious a child’s life was in ancient Rome, where the infant mortality rate was greater than one in four.

Given that, I imagine that the sheer number of Deities assigned with helping infants and children be healthy was, in essence, akin to having a team of (spiritual) doctors at the ready, each specializing in a distinct issue. With so many places where something could go very, very, wrong, it was sensible to be cautious.

Agenoria’s name is related to the Latin word ago, meaning ‘to drive’ or ‘to act’. From that word comes our word agency, meaning ‘the capacity to act or exert power’ or ‘the state of being in action or of exerting power’. Agenoria then was in charge of making sure an infant or child had that power, that energy and drive to be active in body and mind. In the physical sense, Agenoria gave a child the power to move, thus strengthening muscles and improving coordination; and in the cognitive sense, the power to grow and thrive in the world.