But it may be that the original Portunus had no immediate connexion either with river or harbour. We find a curious but mutilated note in the Veronese commentary on Virgil[860]: ‘Portunus, ut Varro ait, deus port[uum porta]rumque praeses. Quare huius dies festus Portunalia, qua apud veteres claves in focum add ... mare institutum.’ Huschke[861] here conjectured ‘addere et infumare,’ and inferred that we should see in Portunus the god of the gates and keys which secured the stock of corn, &c., in storehouses. Wild as this writer’s conjectures usually are, in this case it seems to me possible that he has hit the mark. If the words ‘claves in focum’ are genuine, as they seem to be, we can hardly avoid the conclusion that something was done to keys on this day; perhaps the old keys of very hard wood were held in the fire to harden them afresh[862]. It is worth noting that according to Verrius[863] Portunus was supposed ‘clavim manu tenere et deus esse portarum.’ This would suit very well with harvest-time, when barns and storehouses would be repaired and their gates and fastenings looked to—more especially as it is not unlikely that the word _portus_ originally meant a safe place of any kind, and only as civilization advanced became specially appropriated to harbours[864]. This appropriation may have come about through the medium of storehouses near the Tiber; and it was long ago suggested by Jordan that these were under the particular care of Portunus[865]. If Portunus were really a god of keys and doors and storehouses, it would be natural to look for some close relation between him and Janus. But what can be adduced in favour of such a relation does not amount to much[866]; and it may have been merely by accident that this was the dedication-day of a temple of Janus ‘ad theatrum Marcelli’[867]. XIV KAL. SEPT. (AUG. 19). FP. (MAFF. AMIT.) F. (ANT. ALLIF.) NP. (VALL.[868]) VIN[ALIA]. (MAFF. VALL. AMIT. ETC.) FERIAE IOVI. (ALLIF.) VENERI AD CIRCUM MAXIMUM. (VALL.) The ‘Aedes Veneris ad Circum Maximum’ alluded to in the _Fasti Vallenses_ was dedicated in 295 B.C., and the building was begun at the expense of certain matrons who were fined for adultery[869]. As has been already explained, no early connexion can be proved between Venus and wine or the vintage[870]; though both August 19 and April 23, the days of the two Vinalia, were dedication-days of temples of the goddess.