dii Novensiles

In ancient Roman religion, the dii Novensiles (also di Novensiles or Novensides) are collective deities of obscure significance found in inscriptions, prayer formularies, and both ancient and early-Christian literary texts. The 19th-century scholar Georg Wissowa thought that the novensiles or novensides were deities the Romans regarded as imported, that is, not indigenous like the di Indigetes. Some ancient sources say the novensiles are nine in number, leading to both ancient and modern identifications with other divine collectives numbering nine, such as the nine Etruscan deities empowered to wield thunder or with the Muses.