Is this Sabine name of Flora accurate?

Question

Being a Sabine derived goddess of Rome, it's not odd to think that there is a linguistic equivalent of Flora in Sabine. I keep seeing claims that Flora was called by the Sabines as Flusia, and that July in the Sabine calendar was called Flusalia (which is allegedly related to Floralia).

Some places claim that the Oscans called her this name and that July was Flusalia to them. I can't find any citations for the Flusia claim, but that there was a month on the Sabine calendar is cited from "Momms, Chron., 219" but I don't know what "Momms" or "Chron." stands for, and I can't seem to find what they are abbreviations of.

So are either of these claims true? If so, are there any reliable sources to justify them?

Answer 1

That claim according to which there was a Sabine month called Flusalis can be found in a footnote of William Warde Fowler's The Roman festivals of the period of the Republic; an introduction to the study of the religion of the Romans (p.92). Here is the complete footnote:

Steuding in Myth. Lex. s. v. Flora. There was a Sabine month Flusalis (Momms. Chron. 219) = Floralis, and answering to July. Varro considered Flora a sabine deity (L. L. 5. 74).

The abbreviation "Momms." refers to Theodor Mommsen, a XIXth century historian specialised in ancient Rome (and 1902 Nobel Prize in Literature, incidentally).

And indeed he wrote 'Die römische Chronologie bis auf Caesar' and the relevant part of page 219 is reproduced here as best as I can:

II. Sabellische Kalender.
a. von Cures Sabinorum
vierter Monat Martius (Ovid. fast. 3, 94)
b. der Herniker
sechster Monat Martius (Ovid. fast. 3, 90)
c. von Ferentinum, erwähnt bei Censorinus 20, 1.
d. der Aequiculer
zehnter Monat Martius (Ovid. fast. 3, 93)
e. der Paeligner
vierter Monat Martius (Ovid. fast. 3, 95)
f. der Vestiner
Monat Flusaris d. i. Floralis, entsprechend dem römischen Juli (Inschrift von Furfo I. N. 6011 = Orelli 2488; vgl. unterital. Dial. S. 340).
g. oskischer (samnitischer)
Monat Maesius d. i. der römische Maius (Fest. ep. p. 136).

So it seems that the name of the Sabine Month was in fact Flusaris and that the source for it is an inscription in Furfo.

This inscription can be found in Voigt (1860) and start with the following two lines:

L. Aienus L. f., Q. Baebatius Sex. f. aedem dedicarunt
Jovis Liberi Furfone a(nte) d(iem) III. idus Quinctileis L. Pisone A. Gabinio cos., mense Flusare
[...]

Another inscription is mentioned by Mommsen in his essay on italic languages (Die unteritalischen Dialekte), p. 343:

Die vierte Inschrift endlich ist gleich der vorigen eine Dedication; zu Anfang fehlt der Name des Dedicanten und vielleicht mehrere Götternamen. Die esten Worte 'mesene flusare poimunie' werden erklärt durch das mense flusare = mense Florali einer verwandten Inschrift (S. 340); 'flusare' gehört danach sicher der dritten Decl. an und ist floralis, nicht florarius. Die Flora ist auch unter den Gottheiten, denen Tatius in Rom die Altären weihte die Sabinam linguam olent (Varro V. 74). 'poimunie' ist wohl die (oder der?) umbrische Puemunis [...].

Here the word 'flusare' is mentioned along another ombrian god/goddess Puemunis (= Pomona?).

The fact that the god/goddess being associated to this month is the equivalent of Flora however seems to be only Mommsen interpretation, as I haven't found any other sources.