> In ancient Rome, who was the king of the gods?And the answer: Jupiter. Photo credit: Biser Todorov [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Biso].Themain god and goddesses in ancient Roman culture were Jupiter, his wife Juno, andhis daughter Minerva. Jupiter was the god of the sky and oversaw all aspects oflife. The Romans regarded Jupiter as the equivalent of the Greek god Zeus.Although the Romans appropriated many of the Greek deities into Romanequivalents, the origins and story of their mythology has become more uniqueover time. Jupiter, for one, while identical in many aspects to Greek Zeus, wasconsidered to be the patron deity of the Roman state. Jupiter was responsiblefor social order in Rome, and the worship of him has had a lasting impact on theWestern world. For example, the English adjective "jovial" comes from one ofJupiter's names: Jove. And, of course, Jupiter was adopted as the name for thefifth planet from our sun (though, it's no coincidence that Jupiter's name wasgiven to the largest planet in our solar system). In Roman mythology, Jupiter usurped the throne of his father, Saturn, heeding aprophecy that one of Saturn's own sons would overthrow him. Much like the talefrom Greek mythology [https://www.askqotd.com/the-father-of-zeus/], fear of theprophecy led Saturn to consume each of his offspring at the moment of theirbirth – yet Juno kept Jupiter alive by giving Saturn a stone wrapped in ablanket instead. Once the prophecy was fulfilled, Jupiter took his place on thethrone as leader of the cosmos. Learn more about Roman mythology below.