Saturn was the Roman god of agriculture and time, after whom Saturday is named.
Saturn was associated with farming, sowing, wealth, abundance, liberation, and the passage of time. Romans connected him with the Greek Titan Cronus, although Roman worship developed its own traditions. His wife was Ops, a goddess linked with harvest and prosperity, and his children included Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, Juno, Ceres, and Vesta.
Saturn’s major festival was Saturnalia, held in December. It featured feasting, gift-giving, public celebration, and temporary reversals of social roles. His temple at the foot of Rome’s Capitoline Hill also housed the state treasury, making him important to Roman public life as well as religion.
Saturday comes from the Latin dies Saturni, meaning “day of Saturn.” A common mix-up is confusing this deity with the Greek Cronus’s separate association with time: the identification became stronger after Roman and Greek traditions were blended.