After her immigration to Rome she is said to have received the name Gaia Caecilia.
The oracle at Delphi was asserted by tradition to have existed before the introduction of the Apolline worship and to have belonged to the goddess Earth (Ge or Gaia).
Tanaquil and Gaia Caecilia are, however, really distinct personalities.
The anecdotes told of Gaia Caecilia are aetiological myths intended to explain certain usages at Roman marriages.
Thus Apollo has to fight the oracle serpent of Gaia, and it has been observed that where Apollo prevailed in Greek religion the serpent became a monster to be slain.
