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RITES AND RITUAL ACTS
AS PRESCRIBED BY
THE ROMAN RELIGION
. ACCORDING TO
THE COMMENTARY OF SERVIUS ON VERGIL'S AENEID
JUSTUS F. HOLSTEIN.
... Morem ritusque sacrorum
adiciam ...
Verg. Aen. XII : 836, 837.
-
0-
“This thesis has been accepted by the Graduate
School of New York University, in partial fulfilment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, 1915."
1916.
Bibliography.
Sources:
Servii Grammatici qui feruntur in Vergilii Carmina Commentarii.
Teubner Text.
Vol. I. Aeneidos Librorum 1-5 Commentarii. Thilo. 1881.
Vol. II. Aeneidos Librorum 6-12 Commentarii. Thilo. 1884.
Authorities :
Wissowa: Religion und Kultus der Roemer. Muenchen. 1902.
Preller: Roemische Mythologie. Berlin. Dritte Auflage von H.
Jordan. I. Band 1881. II. Band 1883.
Luebker: Reallexikon des Klassischen Altertums. Leipzig. 1882.
6. Auflage von Dr. Max Erler.
307131
A
Synopsis
• Introduction :
Vergil, the Bible of the Romans. Servius' commentary on Vergil.
Servius brevior and plenior. Abundance of Roman rites and
ritual acts especially in the commentary on the Aeneid.
Theme:
RITES AND RITUAL ACTS,
AS PRESCRIBED BY THE ROMAN RELIGION,
ACCORDING TO
THE COMMENTARY OF SERVIUS ON VERGIL'S AENEID.
I. In private life.
PAGE
1.) At weddings.
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Auguria, auspicia nuptiarum...
Marriage through confarreatio and coemptio.............
A wedding procession .................
Nuptial sacrifices and unpropitious omens.....
at a do
2.) In married or domestic life.
# 20
Jupiter Herceus. Penates. A meal in the atrium. Lares.. 4
Deities of matrimony contra and pro.......
Matronalia. ..
Fortuna Muliebris. ....
Pilumnus and Pitumnus...
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3.) In certain universal cases.
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illness. .........................................
7
4.)
For several expressly stated trades,
professions, etc.
Peasants. .......................................
Sailors..... ....................................
Bakers and all tradesmen who use water at their trade ....
Merchants and physicians.....
Freedmen. ............
CO O OO
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5.) In cases of death
PAGE
Suicides by hanging left unburied, otherwise interment uni-
versal. Iniectio terrae and XEYOTOQCOV .......
The deceased lay in state in the house for 1 days. Twig of
cypress at the door. Pollinctor. Conclamatio ............ 9
Funus and exequiae. Humatio. . Crematio ....................10
Sepulture on the 9th day. Novendiale. Ludi funebres. Gladi-
atores. Bustuarii. ..................... ......... 12
Manes, Lares, Larvae, Lemures, Genii....................... 12
II. In public life.
The common rituals in connection with
sacrificia, sacra, ludi, sacerdotes. . .
1.) Sacrificiai
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What is sacrificium? What litatio?......
Unbloody sacrifices. .......
Bloody sacrifices. Human sacrifices? :.
Animal sacrifices. Hostiae. Victimae .....
Certain animals for certain deities or certain occasions....
Quality of victims......
How was a sacrifice performed?....
Piaculum. : ..................................
Sacrificia indictiva and anniversaria or sollemnia.
A Roman public sacrifice. .....
Visceratio. Holocaustum. ......................
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16
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2.)
Sacra.
Mysteries of Liber, of Juno Caelestis, of Hecate, of Isis.... 18
Sacra gentilicia. Sacra gentilicia publica: The Potitii and
Pinarii and Hercules; the gens Nautia and Minerva; the gens
Julia and Apollo................................... 19
3.) Ludi.
Consualia. Ludi Apollinares, theatrales, Compitalicii, fune-
bres, Taurei. ..................................... 20
4.) Sacerdotes.
.
Characteristics in general. Official garb, etc. ............ 21
III
B.) The special ritual acts of those who
were authorized to perform them by
virtue of their official position.
1.) The Pontifices and the Pontif e x Ma x i mus.
Namé. Duties. Indigitamenta. .....
What was forbidden them?....
Lapis manalis, etc.........
Pontifex Maximus and the Annales.
2.) The Rex Sacrorum and the Regina.
When instituted? Rank of position. Kalendae and Idus.....
Regina and her covering for the head.........
3.) The Flamines.
................
24
Flamines maiores and minores.........
Flamen Dialis and Flaminica. Confarreatio. ............
Secespita. Camilli and Camillae............
Their covering for the head. Hence their name. Official garb. 24
Their restrictions in contrast to the other Flamines ........ 25
4.) The Vestales Virgines.
Who and where were they?..........
Their service. ................................
Caca. ....
..............................
The penates of Aeneas and the so-called Magni Dei..........
5.) The Augures and Auspices.
........
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.........
...
Their introduction. Dress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Augurium and auspicium. .
Signa ex caelo et ex avibus. Position of the augur at these. .
Signa ex tripudiis, etc.......
Signa ex diris .......
........ 29
The augurs and magistrates. Auguria oblativa et inpetrativa 29
Auspicia and war...
30
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IV
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6.) Thé Quindecimviri sacris faciundis.
PAGE .
Their function and number.......................... 30
Sibylla. The Sibylline books. Emblems of the Quindecimviri. 30
7.) The Haruspices.
· Originally Etruscan. Tages and his books, besides others... 31
Inspection of entrails. Doctrine of lightning. Prodigia,
Manubiae and divisions of the sky..................... 31
· Kinds of lightning. Its triple power................... 32
8.) The Feti ales and Pater patratus.
Their symbols. Pater patratus. Dress.........
Foedus with fire and water. .................
Clarigatio. Declaration of war.......
9.)
The Salie.
Derivation of the name. The several collegia.............
The ancilia. Mamurius and the Mamuralia .............. 34
10.) The Luperci.
Their name. . . . . . .
I a C . . . . . . .
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Lupercalia. .....
Hirpi Sorani. ....
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11.) The Magistratus, especially the Magi-
stratus 'maiores.
Magistrate in general. Imperatores. Consules. Praetores.
Dictator. ................................
Census and Censores.....
The Praetor urbanus at the ara maxima............
Conclusion:
......... 36
General concluding remarks .........
Ritualism of Romans no matter of the soul..............
Laudatory remarks for Servius. Value of his commentary. . 36
V
71
As Homer was for the Greeks, so Vergil was for the Romans
in a certain measure their Bible. Even in the last days of
passing paganism, when Christianity had long been made
state religion by Constantine the Great, and the Council of
Nicaea (325) had long taken place, certain classes or circles
stubbornly adhered to the "old belief.” What pains they did
take to save of it, what perhaps still might be saved; how they
did cling to Vergil, the Bible of their ancestors! There were,
for instance, Symmachus, Macrobius, Servius, who in the
Testimonium Animae (Dr. E. G. Sihler) pg. 360 are very
properly called the “old believers, the clover-leaf of the dusk
of the gods,” — Symmachus, who under Theodosius the Great
in 384 held the office of praefectus urbis and in 391 that of
consul, and who even as a public official plainly and mani-
festly worked with great zeal for the restoration of the ancient
deities, who even requested his Christian emperor by all
means to retain the altar of Victory in the senate-hall, since
he, Theodosius, owed so much to Victory; Macrobius, in whose
"Saturnalia” eminent men and deep scholars express their
opinion about the “old belief'' etc., mainly in connection with
Vergil; Servius, who is mentioned in the “Saturnalia” as one
of the participants of the conversation, a modest young man,
but of profound erudition (Macrob. Sat. 1, 2, 15; 7, 11, 2),
and an authority in questions pertaining to Vergil (Macrob.
Sat. 6, 6, 1), as we see from his commentary on Vergil, which
is still extant to-day, although perhaps not in its original form.
The problem of Servius plenior and brevior we will not discuss
at this point, in fact we could say nothing new about it. For
our work we shall make use of both, since both are set forth
in the edition of Thilo, to which we refer, of course, clearly
distinguished from each other by printing. And from this
so-called Commentary of Servius, Servii Grammatici qui
feruntur in Vergilii Carmina Commentarii, or rather, in order
to define more closely the boundaries which we have drawn,
from the so-called commentary of Servius ón Vergil's Aeneid,
we shall gather and group whatever is found in it about Rites
and Ritual Acts, as prescribed by the Roman Religion, in
private life and in public life; for from the very mutilated
-
2
—
definition of ritus (Servius Aen. XII: 836), we learn at least
that by ritus are not only to be understood "usages in
religious cult, but also usages in private life, inasmuch as they
have any religious relation and consecration."
Rites and Ritual Acts,
as prescribed by the Roman Religion.
I. In private life.
.
Gladly would we have shown here at the beginning of the
first part of our work, how the whole life of the Roman citizen,
from the cradle to the grave, was influenced by ritualism and
was not only overshadowed, but also regulated by it;
unfortunately, however, nothing at all can be found in the
commentary of Servius on the Aeneid, which refers to rites
for childhood and early youth. Therefore, let us begin our
discussion with weddings.
1.) At weddings.
How beautiful and significant is the quotation of Servius
(I: 346): Romani nihil nisi captatis faciebant auguriis, et
praecipue nuptias! A similar quotation we find in IV:45:
nuptiae fiebant captatis auguriis. About these auguria
nuptiarum, to be sure, very little is known; even Servius
says little or nothing about it. He mentions, it is true, (IV:45)
auspices nuptiarum and (IV:166) auspicia nuptiarum, but
that is all. Wissowa (Religion und Kultus der Roemer, pg.
324, 1) says: “In private worship the auspicatio gradually
waned. The private auspices still exist, i. e. in name, in the
nuptiarum auspices, which represent the rest of former
auspicia nuptiarum.”
The forms of marriage which Servius mentions are the
confarreatio and the coemptio (IV: 103). The confarreatio
(from farreum=sacrificial wheat-cake) was evidently the
oldest and most dignified form, since the Flamen Dialis and
the Flaminica could be married by confarreatio only,
Coemptio, as the word implies, was a mutual buying of bride
and bridegroom. The bride thereby passed out of the parental
-
-
3
120
VA
potestas into the power of her husband (conventio in manus).
She took, it is true, upon herself in a certain measure a “libera
servitus," yet she was rewarded (XI: 581) with the honorable
name of materfamilias. Her dowry (dos) likewise became
property of her husband.-
The solemn procession to the house of the husband took
place by torchlight, and at the procession a boy who was a
descendant of a “still blooming and blessed marriage” (puer
felicissimus) or a girl of equal descent carried a basin filled
with water from a pure fountain (IV:167). The bride
herself carried wool, in order to indicate that in married life
she would spin and weave. (Minerva est dea lanificii (VII:
808; lana in tutela Minervae est VIII: 128.) Upon her
arrival at the threshold of the house the bride decorated the
doorposts with woolen fillets as a token of her purity; then
she anointed the posts with oil (uxor = uncor from ungere)
or sometimes with the fat of a wolf, either because the latter
was said to be a remedy for many things, or because Romulus
and Remus were reared by a she-wolf (IV:458). She was
by no means allowed to step on the threshold of the house
(II: 469), for the threshold, - limen, often identical with
vestibulum. — is consecrated to Vesta, and here at the thres-
hold she who thus arrived with fire and water, was received
by the bridegroom who likewise appeared with fire and water,
the two most important elements which are indispensable
in every household (IV:103, 167, 339). Upon entering the
house the cry “Thalassio” was raised (I: 651). Wedding
songs were sung (Hymenaeus signifying not only god of
matrimony I: 651, but also wedding song IV:127); the harsh
versus Fescennini too (VII:695) could not be omitted. The
cry "Thalassio” is said to date back to the time of the rape of
the Sabine virgins. A plebeian (1:651), who was afraid that
he would be deprived of his exceptionally handsome maiden,
is said to have shouted again and again: “She is Thalassio's,
the chief's,” and thereby he kept her for himself. Of the
· various legends about Hymenaeus the following at least,
which has a certain resemblance to the Thalassio legend may
be mentioned: There was a handsome Athenian youth,
Hymenaeus, as charming as a girl; moreover, he loved a
virgin of an aristocratic family, but could not marry her,
because he was poor. One day he followed her to Eleusis, to
the festival of Demeter, but pirates came and led him with
.
—
—4—
his sweetheart and the other maidens over the wide, wide
sea to a deserted region. The pirates fell asleep, Hymenaeus
slew them, returned to Athens and promised to bring back
the captured virgins on condition that his sweetheart be
given to him in marriage. This was granted and ever since
then they connected his name with every wedding in song
(IV:99). —
The bride sacrificed to Tellus before and after her journey
to the house of her husband (IV:166). Juno above all was
the goddess of matrimony, whence her name Juno iugalis
(IV:16) or generally pronuba — divine brides-maid (IV:45,
59, 166). According to the Etrusca disciplina earthquakes
and thunderstorms are not at all 'fitting to a wedding
(IV:166), lightning is an evil omen (IV : 167) and thunder
makes void the confarreatio (IV: 399).
2.) In married or domestic life.
Quite analogous to Zejc 'Epxɛcoc of the Greeks, the .
Romans had their Jupiter Herceus as the protecting deity
of house and home. The maceries (quae ambit domum
II: 469) was sacred to him, but the kitchen (culina) was
sacred to the penates. By penates Servius understands in
general omnes dei, qui domi coluntur (II: 514; cf. also V: 64),
i. e. the gods of the house, protecting deities of the inner
household; for the word "penates” is connected with penitus,
meaning inner, inside, or with penetralis, i. e. belonging to
the interior, or it is perhaps best derived from penus, meaning
supply of provision or its place of storage. Sacrifices were
made to the penates “in focis” (I: 704; III: 178), and focus,
related to fovere (III: 134), is even called ara penatium (XI:
211).
The atrium, the spacious hall blackened with smoke (atrum
ex fumo, for there the kitchen was located), was the real
family room of the Romans. Here the paterfamilias kept
his money-chest, and here the daily meals consisting of two
courses were served, as Cato attests (I: 726; IX: 645). After
the first course (sublatis primis mensis), whatever food and
wine had been set apart for the gods, — and to the gods
who were worshipped in the house, there belonged according
to VI: 152 besides the penates also the lares familiares —
was carried to the hearth and given over to the flames. All
this was done in silence, until the servant said: “Dii propitia”.
21
-- 5
-
(I: 730). The same devout silence was likewise observed,
after the light had been lit. At the libatio the Romans used
to adorn the cups with wreaths (I: 724). Furthermore, they
had special tables which they used at the libatio and which
were often called bread tables, mensae paniceae (I: 736;
VII: 111); these tables were usually round (III: 257). —
Servius IV:58 proposes a general rule, to sacrifice to the
propitious gods that they may lend their help, and to the
unpropitious that they may do no harm (cf. also III: 120).
This rule, very likely, also applied to women in their married
life, for III: 139 Servius mentions Venus as the goddess of
matrimony and Ceres as the goddess of divorce; Juno as the
goddess of matrimonial blessings and Saturnus and Luna as
deities of sterility. No traces are found in Servius that Venus
in particular and under special rites was honored by women.
Nor does Servius explain why sterility is attributed to
Saturnus and Luna, (by conjecture Lua; thus also Preller,
Roemische Mythologie II: 22,3 and Wissowa pg. 172). But
we are told VIII: 343 that at the Lupercalia women submit-
ted themselves to be beaten with a strap made of the skin
of a he-goat, ut careant sterilitate et sint fecundae. Regarding
Ceres as the goddess of divorce, Servius at least refers to the
fact that Ceres cursed matrimony, because Jupiter who pre-
ferred Juno to her, had rejected her as his wife, or because
her daughter had been kidnapped. Furthermore Servius says
that at her festival in Rome not even the name of the father
or of the daughter was allowed to be mentioned (IV:58),
and that women on certain days of the festival imitated the
lamentation of Ceres at cross-roads (IV: 609). —
The chief goddess of matrimony, however, was and remained
Juno. At Tibur she was invoked by prayer: “Oh Juno, in
thy chariot sublime, preserve in good health with thy chariot
and thy shield the young issue of my curia (1:17).” She was
worshipped by the women as Lucina, the goddess of birth
(quae praeest partibus I:8), and whosoever was approaching
her temple on the Esquiliae, was not permitted to have about
herself a knot which might perhaps prevent giving easy birth
(IV: 518). An easy or quick birth brought luck to the
children also (VIII: 139). In honor of Juno the Roman
matronae i. e. "the married, honorable women” (Wissowa),
"mothers of ancient Roman descent" (Preller), celebrated
with sacrifice and prayer on the first of March the so-called
-
-
6
Matronalia, a festival, which dated back even to the time of
Romulus and Remus and the rape of the Sabine virgins
(VIII:638). In domestic circles, too, this festival was cele-
brated in a pleasant and happy manner; else why, I wonder,
the reference of Servius to the tragicomic question of the
old bachelor Horace (Od. III:8) Martiis caelebs quid agam
Kalendis? —
Servius mentions still another festival for women, namely
one which women celebrated in the temple of Fortuna
Muliebris, at the same place where once Coriolanus, moved
by the prayers of the women and of his mother and his wife,
agreed to turn back. Only women who lived in their first
state of matrimony, could adorn the statue of Fortuna
Muliebris, bis nuptae a sacerdotio repellebantur (IV:19.) —
And now, in the conclusion of this chapter, two more deities
may be mentioned, who, especially in the country, were of
great importance in the life of a mother; these deities are
Pilumnus and Pitumnus. For these gods a “lectus" was
prepared in the atrium, near the young mother (puerpera),
until it was ascertained whether the child was fit to live.
Varro calls them deities of infants, and Piso connects the
name Pilumnus with pello, "quia pellat mala infantiae”
(X:76).
huu
3). In certain universal cases.
Not much, of course, can be mentioned here, yet simply
to pass over what little there is, would not be proper. Regard-
ing cases of need and danger, Servius first refers to the
asylum at Rome which Romulus had instituted as an imitation
of that which the sons of Hercules had founded at Athens.
An asylum is, as the word itself indicates ( a privativum
and ovdãodai), an inviolable place under the protection of
the deity, where the persecuted found protection (II: 761;
VIII: 342; VIII:635). Originally such places of protec-
tion were sacred groves or districts; cf. also II: 512, where
Servius quotes from the sixth book of Varro's Res Divinae :
"such loca sacra had to be in the cities, in order that a
possible fire should not sweep entire rows of houses (continua
aedificia), and that there should be something where one in
need or danger could take refuge with his family.” Later,
real temples i.e. edifices were included to have the privileges
of the asylum; hence ibidem (II: 512) “Those in danger
-
7
TYS
flee to the altars for protection.” The temple of Juno, for
example, (II: 761) had the privileges of an asylum, yet
Servius expressly adds: “Not all temples had this privilege,
but only those to which it was granted by the lex consecra-
tionis." Furthermore, whenever one who was condemned
to a flogging was led away and succeeded on his way thither
to embrace the feet or knees of the Flamen Dialis, in such
a case no punishment could be inflicted on him (III: 607).
Those who had been put in fetters were soon freed from
them, if they were fortunate enough to be able to enter the
house of the Flamen Dialis; the fetters then were carried
through the court-yard to the roof and from there were cast
down to the street (II: 57).-
Juturna, furthermore, was a Roman fountain nymph
(XII: 139), and great power of healing was attributed to
the water of her fountain, near the rivulet Numicus. This
power of healing the very name of the nymph implies,
Juturna, quae laborantes (those who are ill) iuvare consuevit;
therefore the water of this fountain was certainly highly
esteemed by invalid persons.
4.) For several expressly stated trades,
professions, etc.
“Without sacrifices no field can be tilled” (III: 136), a
testimony which speaks well for the peasants. Saturnus is
the ancient Italian deity of the crop, the author of agriculture
and the blessings arising from it (VIII: 319). Originally he
was king of Crete, but, dethroned by his son Jupiter, he
found under Janus in Latium a domicile and kingdom. The
knowledge of cultivating the vine, the use of sickle and scythe,
the “human’ way of living, all this they owed to him. His
wife is called Ops = Terra (XI: 532). At the Saturnalia,
not a festival for the peasantry alone, but rather a uni-
versal festival for all people, pleasant and delightful memories
were cherished of the dear old days under the regime of
Saturn. Even slaves were at this festival treated as freemen
and entertained accordingly (VIII: 319). Furthermore,
Ceres is mentioned as the goddess of the peasantry (II: 713);
Faunus who is identical with the Greek deity Ilár, is
Inuus (ab ineundo), the deity of fecundation of the herds
(VI: 775), the protector against wolves (VIII: 343).
Silvanus is the deity of cattle and fields (VIII: 601); and as
-
8
.
..
the god who had taught them the fertilization of fields, the
peasants celebrated Pitumnus (IX:4), who consequently
received the surname Sterculinius. —
Sailors also had their special deities. Of Neptune and his
worship Servius . only mentions this one thing (II: 220;
III: 118) that only a bull could be sacrificed to him.
Portunus, the deity of harbors, who was identified with the
Greek Palaemon (V: 241), as well as Phorcus, who accord-
ing to Varro was originally king of Sardinia and Corsica,
but after his defeat by Atlas was changed into a sea-god
(V: 824; X:388), are mentioned only "en passant.” Of the
Palici in Sicily, whom Varro counts among the dei nautici
(IX:581), it is related that at first they demanded human
sacrifices (humanae hostiae), but later satisfied themselves
with other sacrifices which were substituted in their stead.
(Their name is usually derived from táiler {xelr as "those
who had returned from out of the earth.”') Also III: 275
may be referred to, where allusion is made to the old rite
of immolating a sailor to Apollo at the promontory of
Leucata. Those surviving from shipwreck paid their vows
to the twin brothers Castor and Pollux. Servius, to be sure,
confirms this rite only regarding Samothrace, where there
were two big statues of Castor and Pollux; still Castor and
Pollux also had a temple at Ardea in Latium (1:44). -
The god of the bakers is Pilumnus who had taught them
the grinding of corn, and after whom they called the pestle
pilum (IX:4; X:76). All those tradesmen who used water
at their work (qui artificium aqua exercent (XII: 139),
celebrated the Juturnalia in honor of the fountain nymph
Juturna. -
The merchants worshipped Mercury, quod mercibus praeest
(IV: 638), and the physicians worshipped Aesculapius, the
god of medicine, which science, however, his father Apollo
had invented (X:316; XII:405). - .
Perhaps another rite concerning freedmen, liberti, might
be mentioned. They worshipped the goddess Feronia (VIII:
564). In her temple, their hair closely clipped, they received
the pilleus, the token of liberty. Moreover, in this temple
of Feronia at Tarracina, the ancient Anxur, there was a stone
seat bearing the inscription : "bene meriti servi sedeant,
surgant liberi."
- 9 —
5.) In cases of death.
Jupiter is not the author of death, yet through his power
he can decree to mortals a blessed or base death (XII: 851).
The corpses of those, who had ended their life by hanging,
were cast away unburied; thus the libri pontificales decreed.
Cassius Hemina says that many of those, whom Tarquinius
Superbus had forced to work at building sewers, had com-
mitted suicide by hanging on account of the disgrace they
received. Thereupon Tarquinius is said to have issued orders
that their corpses be crucified, and since that time suicide,
or perhaps rather this kind of suicide was considered disgrace-
ful. Varro adds, that at the parentalia the "little pictures”
of those who had ended their life with the rope, were
“hanging" (suspensis oscillis parentatur eis), in order to
express what kind of death they had died (XII: 603). In
all other cases, generally speaking, all are entitled to a proper
burial, for a proper burial means "peace for the deceased”
(XI: 106 and 107). Even those who have written about the
various kinds of pietas, agree in this that at burials pietas
should have the first place (VI: 176). Those too, for example,
who were slain in battle, were buried, of course, as far as
it was possible to do so (XI:372). It was a general rule
to bring the deceased, wherever he may have died, as soon
as possible into his house and to lay him out (V: 64). Even
those, whose bodies could not be obtained, for example those,
who had lost their life by shipwreck or the like, could receive
under certain rites in absentia the iniectio terrae (VI: 356);
or a xerotágior, an empty grave of honor, could be made
for them (VI:378), and such a sepultura inanis was con-
sidered just the same as a sepultura plena (VI: 325). —
After these introductory remarks we shall state that which
pertained to a Roman funeral carried out rite. As soon as
death had visited a house — and there the deceased was laid
out for seven days (V:64) -- a twig of cypress was fastened
to the door. Cypress was used, first, because cypress xat'ěto-
rny is the tree, of death; for a twig of cypress loses all its
vital faculty as soon as it is cut off (numquam revirescit,
renasci non solet, non repullat) ; and secondly, in order that
a priest might be warned against entering the house, whereby
he would become impure, funestus, funestatus; for anything
deceased makes impure (III:64; IV: 507; VI: 216; VI:8).
—10—
Then came the pollinctor who washed the deceased and
rubbed his face with mealdust, pollen, — whence his name ,
in order that the bluish color of death should not be apparent
(IX:485). The conclamatio, the loud, lamenting calling of
the deceased by name began and, as soon as another mourner
came, the lamentation, which perhaps had ceased for a time,
was again renewed (XI: 36). Pliny in his naturalis historia
says that the washing of the body with hot water, the con-
clamatio and the fact that the body was laid out for seven
days, served the one purpose of ascertaining absolute death,
for once, as it is said, a man became conscious on the burning
funeral pyre and had raised himself, but all help for him
then was too late (VI: 218). —
Funeral processions formerly, i.e. in the ancient days, took
place with the sound of trumpets (ad tubam V:138; XI:192)
and with torch lights (cum faculis, ad faces, ad funalia) and
very likely at night, in order to avoid meeting a magistrate
or a priest on the street. Evening or nighttime also is
indicated by the name of the pall bearers, vespillones, in the
older form vesperones (XI: 142, 143). Even funus, in its
original broader sense the same as our “funeral,” is derived
from funale; and funale is a rope (funis) covered with wax,
consequently a torch. (Compare also 1:727). Others again
derive funus from fungor, mortui equal to vita functi.
Children, especially of public officials (magistratus), were
borne out (efferebantur) at night, in order that the house
should not be impure. Generally, a regular funus was not
necessary for children, because they were still under their
father's potestas, and in this respect they were on the same
level with the slaves. Thus also Varro and Verrius Flaccus
say that nobody was invited to the funeral of a filius familias
(XI: 142, 143). Later, the funeral procession, exequiae,
(dum corpus portatur exequias dicimus II: 539), no doubt,
took place at day time, namely on the eighth day after
death (V:64). The immediate family, the relatives and
friends, dressed in mourning, the women also heavily veiled
(II: 92, III:64), followed, bearing olive branches in their
hands (XI:101). Thus the procession continued across the
forum, where the funeral oration, epitaphium, was held,
(XI: 24), and then out of the city; for since the enactment
of the lex Duilia in 449 B. C., nobody was allowed to be
interred in the city. This law, however, did not apply to
M
1
-11 —
generals and Vestal virgins; in fact, for the unchaste Vestal
virgin the campus sceleratus in the city was designated,
where she was buried alive (XI: 206). The saying that in
very ancient times the deceased was buried in his own house
(V:64; VI: 152), Preller (II: 103, 1) justly, perhaps con-
siders a conjecture, wherewith the worship of the penates
and lares in the house should be explained. In ancient times
humatio i.e. interment was in use among the Romans, and
generally a piece of honey-cake was placed in the grave with
the body (cum melle plerumque obruuntur VI: 420). After
they had placed on the tomb an offering-meal, called sili-
cernium V:92, for the lar, i. e. for the spirit of the deceased,
they departed from the grave (tumulus) calling vale, vale,
vale! (VI: 231); cf. also I: 219; II: 644; XI: 97). Later
cremation of corpses was introduced (III:68), which was
simply called funus; for funus est ardens or incensum cada-
ver (II: 539; III:62). From VI: 224 "per noctem autem
. urebantur, unde et permansit, ut mortuos faces antecedant"
the conclusion may, perhaps, be drawn that at the time of
Servius the Romans had returned to interment, probably upon
orders from the government; else why the imperfect tense
urebantur and above all the perfect tense permansit -
“whence has remained the custom” etc.? At the funeral of
a king in ancient times horses, slaves and even his favorite
spouse were slain at the funeral pyre and burned with him
(V:95), as it was generally customary to burn with the
deceased, what was dear to him in life (X: 827). In the
antiquae disciplinae the principle was established: “What
decorations and prizes one had acquired through one's
bravery, should adorn one also in death” (XI: 80). Thus,
for example, in case the deceased was a soldier, according to
the militaris disciplina even his war-horse was led to the
sepulcrum; for, says Pliny, a horse alone besides a man can
weep, feel and understand sorrow. The armor of the deceased;
too, was carried along "perversa” (cf. also „XI:93); for
"whatever was dear to one in life, should not be taken from
one in death” (XI: 89). The burning funeral pyre — and
the sad privilege of kindling it was in the hands of closer
relatives (VI: 223) --- was, according to Varro, surrounded by
cypress wood, in order that the people attending the funeral
should not be annoyed by the unpleasant odor. For the
people stood about and responded to the lamentation led by
-12-
1
the praefica, and they remained until the fire had died out
and the ashes had been collected; in fact, until they were
finally dismissed with the word ilicet (VI: 216). Immediately
preceding these verba novissima (ilicet = ire licet), a puri-
fication of all who attended the funeral took place, consisting
of sprinkling with water and fumigating with laurel and
sulphur (IV: 635; VI: 229ss). -
On the ninth day the remains were deposited (cadaver
crematum reliquias dicimus, conditum iam sepulcrum (II:
539), and an expiatory sacrifice took place in the family,
followed by a funeral repast, still on the ninth day, hence
called novendiale. Games (ludi funèbres or ludi novendi-
ales), which the wealthy celebrated in honor of their deceased,
likewise, took place on that day (V: 64). In most cases
gladiatorial games were celebrated, which date back to the
year 264 B. C., when many families (gentes) sent captives
to the funeral of Junius Brutus, which captives his grandson
ordered to fight in pairs (III: 67). The sentiment, the belief
that blood must flow at the grave, and not only blood of the
victimae, but even human blood, was deeply rooted in the
hearts of the Romans. As a matter of fact, in ancient times,
there were human sacrifices, for example, of captives, slaves
etc. But since human sacrifices were expensive and cruel,
they began — at least so as to retain the color of blood —
to place red clothes or covers and red flowers on the deceased
(III: 67). At another place (X: 519) Servius says: “After
it had been considered cruel to kill captives at the grave, it
seemed fit to have gladiatores fight there, who “a bustis"
were called bustuarii.” Still elsewhere (XII: 606) we read:
“When, perhaps, there were no captives or gladiatores, rela-
tives of the deceased lacerated their cheeks, in order that
. blood should flow.” This, however, was prohibited by the
laws of the Twelve Tables in these words: "mulier faciem
ne carpito." But with this prohibition it by no means seems
to have ended, for in V: 78 and III: 67 Servius refers to it,
quoting Varro in the present tense. —
Perhaps a word might be said here about the manes and
all that is connected with them. According to III:63 manes
are souls at that time, when they have left the human body
and have not yet entered into another body. Others call the
manes simply di inferi, quod ad inferos manent i. e. abeant
IV: 490; still others consider them to be night-deities in the
13 —
space between heaven and earth, unde defluunt, i. e. manant
(III:63). General explanation connects manes with the old
word manum = bonum. Thus, however, they are only called
xatà årtigpacir, for they are not good (1:139), but even
noxiae (III: 63). The manes of Remus, to be sure, had caused
a pestilentia (I: 276), and so had those of Palinurus (VI:
378); but to Remus and Palinurus great injury and injustice
had been done; no wonder, that their manes had to be
pacified and reconciled! Later the manes were confused with
lares and larvae and lemures and genii. Servius (III: 302)
calls the manes piorum “lares viales.”' and (VI:152) the
umbrae "larvas a laribus," and in VI: 743 he identifies the
manes with the genii. Similar is the theory of Apuleius
(de deo Socratis, chapter 15, and given by Servius in the
annotations to III:63), according to which theory the manes
are animae melioris meriti, called genü in the body; lemures
are spirits in general, ghosts are called larvae, and the propi-
tious and friendly. ones are the lares familiares. Yet to
enter into such deep speculation or to express an opinion
about philosophical theories — as, for example, the purifica-
tion and expiation of the soul, which is mentioned in VI: 340
-- lies, perhaps, outside of the sphere of this dissertation.
Servius himself is satisfied with a mere reference in that
direction:
II.
In public life.
At the beginnig of this second main division, which treats
of the rites and ritual acts in public life, there are set forth:
A.) The common rituals which should be grouped
in connection with “sacrificia, sacra,
ludi and sacerdotes."
1.) Sarificia.
By sacrificium is meant any voluntary gift offered to a
deity, whereby one acknowledges dependence and hopes to
render the deity propitious. Servius defines sacrificare as
veniam petere to seek mercy or favor (IV:50). "To obtain
the aim connected with offering the Roman expresses by
litare; for litare is sacrificiis deos placare (II:119) or
propitiare et votum impetrare (IV:50). -
- 14-
2.
TULAR
GU
About unbloody sacrifices very little indeed is found in
Servius. He mentions in VII: 109 that cakes of flour, honey
and oil are proper sacrificial gifts; and in II: 116 he tells us
that the deities, when it was difficult to obtain the proper
animal for sacrifice, had to be satisfied with an imitation
made of bread or wax (simulata pro veris accipiuntur). At
Delos, furthermore, and in many other places, Servius says —
and he expressly refers to Varro regarding this — were altars
of Apollo, on which no victims were slain; the god was
worshipped only by prayer. When, therefore, later a bull
was sacrificed to Apollo (and Neptune), it was undoubtedly
done at altars elsewhere. Nor did the goddess of Love and
Beauty demand bloody sacrifices; for according to I: 335
sacrifices to Venus Paphia consisted only of frankincense and
flowers. Of the libatio at daily meals and of purgatory and
expiatory sacrifices at funerals, which, of course, must be
numbered among unbloody sacrifices, mention has been made
before (Part I:2 and 5).
Under the head of bloody sacrifices we cannot entirely pass
over human sacrifices. A comparison also may be made with
what has already been stated (Part I:4) under Palici and
(Part I:5) under gladiatorial games. . The devotio, self-
sacrifice, whereby a man dedicates himself, for the state's .
welfare, to the inferi or delivers up another to them by curses,
does not come under this topic; and the one special case,
which Servius III: 57 mentions, has, as Wissowa pg. 322, 7,
remarks quite correctly, nothing to do with the old Roman
'devotio'. According to the story which Servius (III: 57)
mentions, a poor man at the time of the pestilence in Massilia
had declared himself ready to take upon himself the blame
of the whole state and to give up his life for it, after they
should have supported him for one year splendidly and from
public funds. The so-called ver sacrum, a sacrifice vowed in
times of great need, consisting of all living things that should
be born the following spring, originally the firstlings of both
men and cattle, but afterwards of cattle alone, since the
children were sent as sacri across the boundary, as soon as
they had grown to manhood (VII: 796), may also be men-
tioned. Especially cruel were the rites of Diana at Aricia,
where a fugitive slave, after breaking off a twig from the
forbidden tree in the grove, by a bloody duel with him who
occupied the position at that time, could become rex nemo-
-
15-
10
rensis in his stead (VI: 136); and even though Servius in
connection with this (II: 116) says quamquam servi immola-
rentur, slaves are also human beings. —
Let us now pass on to the animal offerings. By hostiae, as
the name implies, originally are understood animals, which
were sacrificed at an expedition against the foe; by victimae
are understood those that were sacrificed after victory was
gained (1:334). Later, however, no such exact lines of
distinction were drawn. In II: 156 Servius even derives
hostiae from hostire — to reconcile, propitiate. A hostia,
which on the way to the altar succeeded in freeing itself and
escaping, was called effugia, and the animal substituted for
it was called succidanea. If the animal had been pregnant,
it was called forda, and if barren, taurea (II: 140). In con-
trast to hostiae animales, in which taking the life -- anima —
of the animals was the primary purpose, they called such
animals, by which through inspection of their entrails —
exta — the will of the deity was to be revealed, hostiae con-
sultatoriae (II: 119; III: 231; IV:56; V:483). —:
The proper victim for Apollo and Neptune was a bull,
taurus (II: 202; III:118), the same also for Hercules
(VIII:183). The victim for Jupiter, however, was not a
taurus, (III: 21), but a young bullock, iuvencus, not consider-
ing the so-called suovetaurilia (sus-ovis-taurus), because
there, besides Jupiter, other gods also were taken into con-
sideration (IX: 624). A sow, sus (VIII:43), was sacrificed
to Juno, a young pig, porcus, to Ceres (III: 118), a he-goat,
hircus, to Liber (III:118); to Faunus or Pan, likewise, a
he-goat, caper, was sacrificed (VIII: 343), because these
animals were hostile to these deities and consequently hated
by them. To Proserpina a barren cow (vacca sterilis VI: 251)
was sacrificed, because Proserpina herself had never given
birth. At an ovatio, they sacrificed sheep, oves, but at a
triumphus, bulls, tauri (IV: 543) were sacrificed. For the
celestial gods, superi, white animals were preferred, for the
gods of the lower world, inferi, black or dark ones were used
(III: 118). –
The qualities of victims, too, were well considered. Bulls,
for example, had to be intacti, i. e. they were not permitted
to have been under the yoke, beasts of burden; sheep should
not have the tail full of thorns, nor a black tongue nor their
ears split, and by all means had to have the two projecting
- 16 —
teeth, which usually appear in the second year; hence called
bidentes = biennes (VI:38, 39; IV:57). At all sacrifices
the female victim was preferred to the male. If, in sacrific-
ing a male victim, no success (litatio) was obtained, then a
female succidanea was tried. If that, too, failed, no second
succidanea could be substituted (VIII: 641).-
Sacrifices to all gods were made with covered heads, so
that nothing should distract their devotion. In sacrificing.
to Saturn and Hercules, however, they did not cover their .
heads, because both these gods were represented with their
head covered and imitation should be avoided (III: 407;
VIII: 288). When offering to Fides, even the right arm was
covered with a white band, to show, that faithfulness must be
kept and preserved conscientiously (I: 292). To Terminus
they sacrificed only under the open sky, sub divo. Even
over his sacred stone in the temple of Jupiter at the capi-
tolium there was a place in the roof, which was uncovered and
free; and in this temple which was built by Tarquinius, they
had to include the stone of Terminus without moving it, ..
because Terminus simply refused to yield, while the other
gods whose sacella were likewise in the way, willingly followed
the evocatio (IX: 446). Parsimony at the sacrifices was a
duty in those good old days, when parsimony was still a
virtue (VIII:105). The altars were covered with green turf,
caespites, especially when sacrifices were made to Mars; for
turf was sacred to Mars, because, as Pliny says in his naturalis
historia (XII: 119), it springs from human blood. --
All rites pertaining to a sacrifice had to be observed with
painful exactness, to avoid a piaculum, i. e, a transgression,
sin, whereby a piaculum, i. e. expiatory sacrifice, or at least
a repetition of the entire rite would be necessary. It was
· considered a piaculum to choose the wrong victim for a deity,
for example, to sacrifice a taurus to Jupiter (III: 279). It
was a piaculum, if anything at the sacrifice was bound; there-
fore the victim itself was not bound in such a way that it could
not free itself, or it was led entirely free and without fetters
(II: 134; IV:518). It was a piaculum not to slay an effugia
(II: 104), wherever it might be found. It was a piaculum to
interrupt a rite or a ritual act. How delighted were the
Romans, for example, when, being called away from the ludi
circenses into battle against Hannibal, on their return they
still found an old man dancing in the circus, who could assure
-- 17 —
nn
m
them that no interruption had taken place! Hence the
proverb: “Salva est res, saltat senex" (VIII:110) or
"Omnia secunda, saltat senex" (III: 279). In short, the
least transgression against that which was prescribed for
a rite (IV: 646), was a piaculum. —
Sacrificia indictiva were those for which the date always
had to be set, or which were announced for special occasions
(I: 632). The sacrificia anniversaria or sollemnia, i. e. the
fixed and regular annual sacrifices could not be postponed,
because they could not be repeated; the kalendaria, on the
other hand, were sacrifices which occurred monthly and could.
be repeated. A postponement, if necessary, or temporary omis-
sion of these was not considered a piaculum (VIII: 173). —
And now that we are about to describe briefly a public
sacrifice of the Romans, it must be expressly understood, that
this description cannot be complete in all its details, because
we must adhere to what Servius says about it; yet the main
points of it, to be sure, will be apparent. The solemn proces-
sion advances to the place of sacrifice. The victims are
adorned with ribbons and garlands (II:133), the horns of
the cattle are even gilded (IX:624). Alongside the altar the
indispensable hearth is placed, for without a focus no private
or public sacrifice is permitted (III: 134). The herald,
praeco, demanding attention, says: “Favete linguis, favete
vocibus," i. e. “Hush, or let only auspicious words be spoken”
(V:71; VIII:173). When praying they touch the altar,
otherwise the sacrifice is not acceptable to the gods (IV: 219).
He who sacrifices, be he the pontifex or a magistratus, in the
cinctus Gabinus, i. e. the toga rolled up in a peculiar fashion
and drawn over the head (V: 755; VII: 612), pours water
and wine upon the forehead of the victim, in order to test
it thereby. If it is frightened and shudders, it is not fit for
sacrifice (VI: 244). Besides wine he also uses frankincense,
with these words: “mactus est taurus vino vel ture"
(IX: 641); hence the word mactare = magis augere. Then
he sprinkles over the victim, the hearth and the offering-knife
horna mola salsa, i. e. flour-mixed salt, hence immolatio,
immolare (II: 133; IV:57; X: 541); furthermore, he makes
a certain gesture with the offering-knife along the back of
the animal, from head to tail (XII:173) and delivers the
victim to the attendant, who kills it; cultruni supponere is
the euphemistic expression (VI: 248). When the exta, i. e.
1
.
11
— 18 —
heart, liver, lungs etc., after a thorough investigation, are
found to be acceptable, they are carefully prepared and
offered to the gods. The rest of the animal, the roasted meat,
simply called viscera (1:211; VI: 253), belongs to the priests,
who then close the solemn act with a feast (III: 231). —
At private sacrifices the meat belongs to those who make the
sacrifice and to their friends. Formerly after the sacrifice at
the ara maxima of Hercules a so-called visceratio, i. e. a public
distribution of meat to the people, was made, at which nothing
of the bull should be left over (VIII:183). At the same place
Servius says (in contradiction to the statement just made?)
that the meat of the victim was sold there at a high price, and
that for the money obtained in this way another victim was
bought etc.; Wissowa (pg. 226, 7) calls this an “invention,
made to explain Vergil's words perpetui tergo bovis."
Servius also mentions (VI: 253) the so-called holocaustum,
a sacrifice at which the entire animal was burned; Wissowa
(pg. 352, 6) maintains that such a sacrifice was unknown to
the old Roman rite. So much may be said about sacrificia,
in which, of course, sacra are included, as far as they coincide
wholly or nearly so with sacrificia.
2.) Sacra.
1
In the sense of mysteries, secret worship, the following
sacra may be mentioned. First, there are the sacra Liberi,
which were renewed every third year, and at which unbridled
and wild and, in fact, immoral orgies were the order of the
day (IV: 302; X:41). But one must not confuse the
Bacchanalia which were later forbidden by law, with those
harmless festivals at the time of vintage. Then, there were
the sacra Junonis, i.e. Junonis Caelestis, who during the
second Punic war had been solemnly entreated to leave
(exorata) and who at the time of the third Punic war was
transferred by Scipio from Carthage to Rome, together with
her obscene worship (XII: 841). Furthermore, there were
the sacra Hecates, which were celebrated in the darkness of
night at triple cross-roads, and at which worship the roaring
of thunder was imitated (IV: 510; IV: 609). Then there were
the sacra matris deum, of the Phrygian Cybele, also called
Berecynthia, which were celebrated by frantic dances and
under deafening tunes of music. The priest and worshippers
of Cybele, called Archigalli, even severed their private parts
— 19 —
min
(VI: 784; XII: 836; IX:115). Finally, the sacra Isidis, at
which sprinkling with water of the Nile was prescribed
(II:116) and lamentation over Osiris, the husband of Isis,
was raised; Osiris, according to tradition, had been cut to
pieces by his brother Typhon (IV: 609). At the time of
Augustus these Aegyptia sacra did not yet exist in Rome,
most likely on account of Cleopatra who wished to be identified
with Isis (VIII: 696, 698).-
At the sacra gentilicia the expenses, of course, were paid by
the gens which was concerned in it; yet there are some gentes
which enjoyed a special position, one, we should say of
preference, since the state had taken the expenses on itself,
but had made the public priesthood even hereditary for them.
Servius mentions at least three of these sacra gentilicia
publica. The Potitii and Pinarii to whose ancestors the god
himself is said to have shown, how they should sacrifice to
him in the morning and at night, had the worship of Hercules
at the ara maxima, the Potitii occupying the presidency and
holding the priestly privileges, and the Pinarii attending to
the work. Thus Hercules himself had decreed, because
Pinarius had not arrived early enough at the time when the
sacra were instituted. Lateron, though no slaves or freed-
men (VIII:179) were admitted to the sacra of Hercules, in
fact no “strangers” to any sacra (VIII:172), the Potitii,
whom Appius Claudius had bribed with money, were per-
suaded to instruct public slaves in the worship of Hercules ;
the consequence was that Appius Claudius became blind, the
gens Potitia died out entirely within a year and the state
itself took over these sacra and attended to them through the
Praetor urbanus, with the aid of public slaves (VIII: 269,
270, 271, 276). The gens Nautia had the worship of Minerva,
because through their ancestor, according to tradition, the
palladium of the Trojan Pallas (Minerva) had come to Rome.
Diomedes who together with Ulises had stolen it, moved by
remorse, desired to return it to Aeneas, but since he had found
Aeneas sacrificing, with his head averted, Nautes had taken it
into his care. Servius mentions still other traditions regard-
ing the palladium Mineryae, — some speak of two, some even
of many palladia — yet we cannot dwell too long on this point
(II: 166; III: 407; V: 704). The gens Julia "retinebat,''
i. e. had and retained for itself the sacra Apollinis, because
the first of the family of the Caesars was born exsecto or
.
TI
— 20–
caeso matris ventre, just as Aesculapius, the son of Apollo;
and all such were consecrated to Apollo (VII: 761; X:316).
3.) Ludi.
LO
The ludi also, i. e. games of the Romans, cannot be passed
over entirely, and even if personal pleasure at these games
was the most important factor, yet they were celebrated in
honor of various deities; in fact, in III: 279 Servius says that
games were celebrated when a piaculum had been committed.
At the games all those present, children and adults (omnis
aetas V:71) were adorned with garlands. The Consualia had
been instituted by Romulus in honor of Consus, the god of
counsel, even at the time of the rape of the Sabine virgins
i. e. in the month of March. Since Consus was identical with
Neptunus Eques, these games were also simply called cir-
censes. The name, circenses, is derived from circuitus or from
circa enses; "for where now are obelisks, at one time there
were placed two swords (enses), around which the chariot-
racers had to drive.” On account of the small number of
horses at that time any other kind of animals was used at the
chariot-races (VIII: 636). The ludi Apollinares were insti-
tuted in the second Punic war or at the time of Sulla, in
consequence of an oracle of the Marcii fratres (VI: 70). Other
ludi Apollinares, the so-called ludi Actiaci, were instituted
by Augustus after his victory over Antonius; but they were
celebrated at Nicopolis opposite Actium (III: 274). They
were also called agonales (III: 280). Ludi theatrales were
celebrated in the very earliest times in honor of Liber pater
only (XI: 737). Ludi Compitalicii, i. e. festivals of the lares
(VIII: 717) are merely mentioned. The ludi funebres have
been spoken of previously. At the ludi funebres which
Augustus gave for his father Caesar, a bright star appeared
in the northern sky for three days, and the people came to
the belief that Caesar was raised among the celestial gods
(VI: 790; VIII: 681; 1: 286). Very little is known about
the ludi Taurei which undoubtedly were vowed to and cele-
brated in honor of the gods of the lower world. Servius says
that, according to the libri fatales, they were instituted by
Tarquinius Superbus, quod omnis partus mulierum male
cedebat, i. e. because the women could not give birth, and,
therefore, were taureae. According to other traditions the
ludi Taurei were established by the Sabines at the time of
11
- 21 —
a pestilence, in order that the epidemic should pass to the
hostide taureae, the barren (II: 140).
1
4.) Sacerdotes. .
A sacerdos is forbidden to enter a house of mourning before
the fifth day after a burial (1:329). Only a sacerdos is
allowed to enter (II: 115) the innermost and holiest part of a
temple (adytum) and, according to II: 404 only a religious
sacerdos. Only a sacerdos is permitted to see the penates
Aeneae (III: 12). Priests were exempt from military service
(VII: 442). Their official dress was a white robe (X: 539),
which, of course, for different priests was different by design.
About this as well as about the headdress of the priests
(II:683), more will be said elsewhere. The sacrificial robe,
however, at all times had to be pura, not only externally, but
also especially in the religious sense, i. e. inpolluta (XII: 169).
At length we shall now speak about
B.) the special ritual acts of those who
were authorized to perform them by virtue
of their official position.
The following are mentioned by Servius :
1.) The Pontifices and the Pontif e x M a x i -
mus.
They had been instituted by Numa and had their name,
as also the songs ’of the Salii tell (II: 166), from the
wooden bridge (pons sublicius), which they had built across
the Tiber, that they might do their duty on both banks of the
river. There were Pontifices not only at Rome, but also at
Praeneste (VII: 678). They had charge of the entire Roman
religion and especially of rites and ritual acts and it was
their duty to see that these were carried out in the prescribed
manner — rite — and at the proper time, and that they by
no means should be neglected (III:104; XII:192). The
ius pontificum prohibited the calling of the Roman deities at
public prayer by their own names. Hence the Pontifices
invoked the gods with the quite general addition: “Whoso-
ever you are, or by whatever name you desire to be invoked.”
On the capitolium was a shield, a sacred shield, with the
inscription : "To the Genius of the city of Rome, whether he
be male or female," a proof that the Romans wished to con-
.— 22-
DIA
I
ceal, under which deity's protection their city was (II: 351).
Not even the "true" name of the city could be pronounced
at the sacra. Valerius Soranus, the tribunus plebei, according
to Varro and others, did this once and had to give up his life
for it (I: 277). In fact, the ritual demanded that, to what-
ever deity one sacrificed or prayed, after that deity the other
gods in general should be invoked (VIII:103), especially
Janus and Vesta (I: 292). Why then this generalization and
why this secrecy? Because the Romans reasoned quite
correctly that even a public worship for a special deity really
concerned all the gods in corpore, and because they did not
wish to incur the enmity of any one; then, too, fearing that
their own rite of evocatio, i. e. the solemn act of calling out
the deities of a besieged city and offering them new domiciles
at Rome, might be imitated by the enemy and thus be used
as a weapon against themselves. About the so-called indigi-
tamenta (from the old word indigeto = precor or invoco
XII: 794); i. e. certain prayers for certain deities, which
prayers were prescribed by the Pontifices in their litany,
Servius has very little that is worth mentioning, unless one
desires to call attention to the following correct invocations,
for Jupiter: "Jupiter optime maxime” (II: 351), or for
Tiberinus: “Adesto, Tiberine, cum tuis undis” (VIII: 72).
Although at public invocations the way of expression was
very important, still we search in vain for an instance in
Servius, which would show that the Pontifices dictated word
for word to those sacrificing, as, for example, to the Censores,
who then would repeat these words exactly. We find, how-
ever, that the Pontifex took part in the lustrum inasmuch as
he (or the Censor) received with his hands the lustralia, in
order to place them upon the altar (VIII: 183).-
It was a nefas for a Pontifex to see a deceased, a still greater
nefas, however, to leave him unburied or to deny him the
iniectio pulveris (VI:176). The so-called agnoscere funus, i. e.
to receive news of a death (in the family) and to lament, to
grieve over it, likewise, made him impure and therefore unfit
for a public sacrifice. But when a Pontifex who is just about
to begin a sacred offering, is notified of a death, what then?
In such a case the precedent of Horatius Pulvius (509 B. C.)
is observed, to whom during his prayer his enemies, in order
to make it impossible for him to proceed with the consecration
of the temple at the Capitol, reported the death of his son,
-- 23 -
but he did not permit himself to be disturbed, simply said
“cadaver sit," and finished the act of consecration, before he
acknowledged his son's death (VI: 8; XI : 2). —
In times of drought the Pontifices dragged the so-called
lapis manalis through the city at the votive procession of the
aquaelicium (III:175). Finally, the Pontifices were not
allowed to swear "per liberos,” but only "per deos”
(IX: 298). — .
The Pontifex Maximus, the president of the council and in
general the executive of resolutions, hence often simply called
Pontifex, had to take special care of the annales, i. e. he had
to record accurately for every day of the year the most im-
portant occurrences both at home and abroad, on land and
at sea, giving both the names of the consuls and of other
magistrates. Later there were eighty books of these annales
maximi (1:373). The official residence of the Pontifex Maxi-
mus was the old Regia (VIII: 363).
2.) The Rex Sacrorum and the Regina .
These were instituted immediately after the expulsion of the
kings. The Rex Sacrorum, likewise called Rex Sacrificus or
Sacrificulus, took care of all those sacra, which formerly had
been in the hands of the kings. In rank the Rex Sacrorum
was above all (II:2), but in relation to service he was sub-
ordinate to the Pontifex Maximus. At the curia Calabra he
had to announce every month in the presence of the people
who were called together (calare = vocare) the Kalendae
and the Idus, in order that they should know on what day
they were, and that they should, furthermore, know before-
hand the days for games and sacrifices; for a calendar, fasti,
was not then known (VIII:654). This is all that Servius
relates about the duties of the Rex Sacrorum. —
Concerning the wife of the Rex Sacrorum, who was called
Regina Sacrorum, only this much is mentioned, that at certain
ritual acts she wore an arculum on her head, i. e. a twig of
pomegranate-tree (malus Punica), which was wound into a
garland and was tied together at both ends with a white
woolen thread (IV:137). Servius does not go into details
concerning sacrifices which the Regina had to offer as well as
the Rex Sacrorum.
-- 24 -
3.) The Flamines; especially the Flamen
Dialis and the Flaminica.
/
MUU
.
Thus were called at Rome the priests of some particular
deity. The Flamines are divided into two classes, Flamines
maiores and Flamines minores. The Flamines maiores were
three in number, namely, Flamen Dialis, Flamen Martialis,
Flamen Quirinalis, who dated back to Numa. The Flamines
minores, twelve in number, were instituted in later times. The
latter Servius does not mention at all, and when he means the
Flamen Martialis or Quirinalis, he adds the explanatory ad-
jective. In all other cases, especially when he speaks of
Flamen in the singular, the Flamen Dialis is meant, who is the
most important of all. If beside Flamen also Flaminica is
mentioned, then the reference always refers to the Flamen
Dialis; for only his wife had that name. -
The Flamen Dialis and the Flaminica, whose official
residence was the Flaminia (II: 57; VIII: 363), could only
marry under the old rules of the confarreatio (cf. Part I:1)
and had to be descendants of such a marriage (IV:103, 339).
At the wedding, with their heads covered, they sat on chairs,
over which was spread the fleece of the sheep that had been
sacrificed (IV: 374). Their marriage could not be dissolved,
unless through death. This is, perhaps, what Servius means
when he says that she was only allowed to have one husband
and he only one wife; yet the Flamen Dialis could marry
again after the death of the Flaminica (IV: 29). Whether
he, however, had to resign his office as soon as his wife had
died, Servius does not mention. —
At the sacrifices (the Flamen Dialis had to sacrifice daily,
VIII: 552) the Flamen Dialis and the Flaminica used the
so-called secespita, an oblong knife of iron with a round
handle of massive ivory, decorated with silver and gold and
fastened with brass nails (IV: 262). The boys and girls who
assisted the Flamen Dialis and the Flaminica at the ritual
acts were called Camilli and Camillae. But they had to be
children of free-born parents (XI: 543, 558). —
As a covering for the head the Flamines wore the pilleum,
i. e. a conical fur cap, to which as apex a small rod topped
with something woolen was attached. The word apex (from
apere =religare) was often used to signify the entire cover-
ing for the head. The name Flamines = filamines is said to
m
.
DV
- 25 ----
A
2012
LUU
be derived from filum, the woolen thread whereby the apex
was fastened to the pilleum; or, perhaps, from filum, i. e.
ribbon of wool, which the Flamines wore around the fore-
head, when it was very hot or when they were perchance at
leisure; for entirely bareheaded a Flamen should never be,
especially a Flamen Dialis (cf. also I: 305). At Laurolavini-
um they wore an especially long virga on their pilleum, in
order to keep away thereby the birds which were eager to
steal from the meat of the sacrifice (II: 683; VIII: 664;
X:270). The dress of the Flamen Dialis was the praetexta,
the purple-broidered toga, of double wool, hence also called
laena, which had to be woven by the Flaminica herself (IV:
262). Hence when Servius (VII: 190) attributes the trabea,
the purple-striped official attire, to the augures and also to
the Flamen Dialis and Flamen Martialis, this, perhaps, may
not be quite correct in regard to the Flamen Dialis, at least
not in earlier times. The Flaminica wore a purple dress,
which was fastened by the fibula, a buckle. Her head-cover-
ing; the rica, a certain kind of veil, was likewise purple; at
every sacrifice, however, she had to wear as head-gear the
arculum, which we have already described in connection with
the Regina Sacrorum (IV:137). —
Flamen Dialis and Flaminica, moreover, in spite of all their
privileges were also subjected to many restrictions, through
which in the end their purity and holiness should be extolled
only the more. The Flaminica was allowed to wear neither
shoes nor sandals of the leather of an animal which had died a
natural death (morticina) ; she was never allowed to gird
herself above the knees (IV:518) nor to ascend any stairs
higher than three steps, except if they were the so-called
Greek stairs, of which the boards were fastened together in
such a way, that there was no opening (IV: 646). The Fla-
men Dialis was not permitted to touch leaven (farina
fermentata) (1:179). Neither his beard nor his hair was to
be cut with anything else but a brass knife (I: 448). No
empty table was allowed to be placed before him (I: 707), that
means, perhaps, that all food and drink for him had to be
on the table when it was set before him. He was allowed to
touch only one deceased (XI:76), nor was he allowed to ride
on horse-back etc. Servius, it is true, says in VIII: 552,
pontificibus non licet equo vehi, but he evidently confuses
pontifices with Flamen Dialis. For the Flamen Martialis
TY
VIVA
- 26 -
and the Flamen Quirinalis the limitations were not so strict
as for the Flamen Dialis. They were, for instance, not bound
to their residence by daily sacrifices (VIII: 552), but they
could even go to the province, cross the boundary lines, mount
a horse etc. They were not compelled to wear the praetexta
at all times, and could take off the apex, except when sacri-
ficing
4.) The Vestales Virgines.
GUIL
Thus were called the virgin priestesses of Vesta, the protect-
ing goddess of the Roman hearth, in whose temple perpetual
fire was burning (II: 296, 297). This institution is generally
ascribed to Numa; but how about Romulus, whose mother
is said to have been a Vestal Virgin (I: 273)? There were
Vestal Virgins at Lavinium (III:12) and, of course, at Rome,
where Vesta had a temple at the foot of the Palatine hill. It
was no real temple in the narrower sense of the word, accord-
ing to the principle of Varro, that a temple has to be a four
cornered edifice (II:512); for the temple of Vesta was round.
Nor was it consecrated by the augurs, so that, for example,
the senate could not meet there. The “monasterial” residence
of the Vestales was the Atrium Vestae, situated close by
(VII: 153). —
Of the Vestal service at Lavinium tradition tells that
there once a Vestal Virgin was struck by lightning, because
she had been unchaste, and that the other Vestal Virgin who
slept beside her had noticed nothing at all of the accident
(III:12). All water which was necessary at sacrificial ser-
vices in Lavinium, had to be taken from the Numicus river
(VII: 150); at any rate, it had to be spring water (hausta)
which was carried to the place of sacrifice in jars which could
not be set on the ground without pouring out the contents;
hence called vasa futtilia (XI: 339). On a certain day the
Vestal Virgins went to the Rex Sacrorum and said: "vigi-
lasne rex? vigila!” (X: 228), a rite, about which nothing
further is known. This is all we can gather from Servius
about the functions of the Vestals. —
The goddess Caca, too, who very early passed into oblivion,
had a chapel at Rome where she was worshipped by Virgines
Vestae (VIII: 190). Preller (II. pg. 287) and Wissowa (pg.
144, 145) follow the reading of the Codex Floriacensis: “a
f
-27
chapel where she (Caca) was worshipped like Vesta, with
perpetual fire.” —
In connection with Vesta and Lavinium penates are also
mentioned, and these by no means can we pass over. About
penates as deities of the house we have already spoken (Part
I:2). Since however the Roman state was considered one
house, o ne family, naturally there also existed penates of the
state, and these will be considered here. In general, originally
the penates of Aeneas were understood by these, and the
Romans were satisfied with the thought that they were the
deities which Aeneas had brought with him to Lavinium
and for Lavinium; for twice, tradition tells, had the Romans
tried to transfer them to Rome, but every time they had
returned to their place in Lavinium (III: 12). Later an
attempt was made to find out which deities were meant,
whether Vesta was one of the penátes or not etc. (II: 296). It
is Cassius Hemina the annalist, who introduces the theory
that the penates were the so-called magni dei from Samothrace
(I: 378). Varro, who otherwise speaks of the penates Aeneae
as being little statues of wood or stone (1:378; III: 148),
was not strictly opposed to the theory of Cassius Hemina; on
the contrary, he was rather conciliatory toward that theory,
and even conjectured about Castor and Pollux, whose big
statues were at Samothrace (III:12). Still he maintained
that Dardanus had brought these penates from Samothrace
to Phrygia, and Aeneas from Phrygia to Italy, i. e. to Lavi-
nium. Nigidius and Labeo mention Neptune and Apollo as
these penates (I: 378; III: 119.); others mention Caelum ac
Terra = Jupiter and Juno, or Jupiter, Minerva, Mercurius,
or Juno, Jupiter, Minerva and Mercurius (II: 296; VIII:
679); and still others simply mention “youths armed with
the spear” (II: 325). The Etruscans, even, mention Ceres,
Pales and Fortuna as the penates (II: 325). The question
might perhaps justly be raised: All these speculations, cui
bono? One of the reasons which Servius (III:12) enu-
merates, why it is, perhaps, that these penates were called
magni dei, is, “because nobody knows their names;" there-
fore we also may do well in letting the speculation rest.
5.) The Augures and Auspices.
The establishment of the augures or auspices as they were
called in ancient time, (a class of officials, who had to read
--- 28
LALU
11
Mim
LUTUUVITU
the will of the gods from the flight or twittering of birds
and from other signs) is generally attributed to Numa,
although, indeed, Romulus and Remus were the first Roman
auspices (I: 273). They wore the trabea, the purple and
scarlet-striped public garb (VII: 188). —
The difference between augurium (avigerium) and auspi-
cium (avispicium) is this, that the augurium is sought for
and is given by certain birds, while the auspicium is given
by any birds and is not sought. Accordingly, an auspicium
may be considered a species of the augurium (I: 398; III: 20).
It was not sufficient, however, to see a single augurium; it
had to be confirmed ex simili (II: 691 ; III: 515). —
The signa ex caelo are to be treated later under haruspices;
about the signa ex avibus the following may be mentioned
here. Birds were grouped into two classes, the alites, those
that were significant by flight, and the oscines, those that were
significant by their voice. When propitious, they were called
praepetes, when unpropitious, inebrae (I:393; III : 246, 361).
Those birds who às alites gave propitious omens, were
as oscines unpropitious and vice versa (IV:462). Doves give
an augurium only to a king, swans only to navigators (I: 393).
In other respects, too, there is a certain regulation of rank
among birds. An eagle, for example, is valued more highly
than a dove (II: 691) or an owl or a wood-pecker (III: 374).
When observing the signa ex caelo, especially those ex avibus,
the augur after prayer limited with his lituus the space,
templum, of the sky and on earth, within which space he
wished to take the augurium (VII: 187). Immovably he sat
(IX: 4) or stood there (VI:197) and looked towards the East,
and accordingly he had the North at his left, the South at
his right and the West at his back; thus Servius (II: 693)
expressly states, while others maintain that the augur was
looking toward the South and that, consequently, the East
was at his left, the West at his right, and the North at his
back. Wissowa (pg. 452, 453) conjectures that “the way
of placing himself was left entirely to the augur, only in his
invocation he had to indicate exactly, what he considered
front, left, right or back, in order that there could be no
doubt about the interpretation of the omens; and this really
is meant by legum dictio (III: 89).” The omens which came
from the left, were, according to Roman interpretation,
propitious, those from the right, unpropitious (II: 693). —
- 29
.
no
II
2
im
moim
CU
The so-called signa ex tripudiis, omens observed from the
manner in which the sacred chickens devoured the food,
Servius mentions (VI: 198) as pertaining to comitia and war,
because they are short and convenient. In III: 90 he also
mentions a tripudium sonivium, i. e. a sono, such as, for
example, when a tree tumbles over with its roots or the earth
quakes. An augurium, too, which is called iugetis, quod ex
iunctis iumentis fiat, is mentioned (III: 537).-
Of the dira, the evil, ill-forboding omens there are many.
A screech-owl that screeches upon a building, forebodes death;
however, when it does not screech, it brings luck. When a
screech owl carries to a roof a little twig from a funeral pyre,
a fire is to be expected (IV:462). The grues, cranes, bring a
storm (X: 266). To see a burning funeral pyre brings mis-
fortune to sailors (V:7). When a pine-tree is struck by
lightning, the lady of the house, the mistress, is soon to die
(II:16). Thunder makes void the auspicia (IV:161) and
crossing a river the auguria (IX: 24). It is considered an
evil omen, when before a battle the military emblems in the
camp are only with great difficulty lifted out of the ground,
and a disaster is sure to follow. Crassus and his son in the
war against Orodes, and Flaminius in the battle at the lacus
Trasumenus (XI: 19) are proof of this etc. etc. —
For the auspicatio of a magistrate, too, which was under
his direction of judgment, the augur had to limit and define
the place (locus effatus), in order that the public act could
be there performed “auspicato.” Such "templum” did not
have to be limited by walls and partitions; it was sufficient
if the four corners and boundaries were exactly and clearly
defined and if there was but one entrance. The same was
true of the tabernaculum, whence the magistrate could per-
form his auspices, and which was fenced in by pales and
spears, linen canvas etc. The tabernaculum, too, had only one
entrance or one exit respectively (IV:200; II: 178). The
same is true also of larger districts, for example, of the ager
post pomoeria, where auguria, too, were taken (VI: 197).
Whether he wished to take notice or not of the so-called
auguria oblativa, unsought omens, which perhaps might
disturb the auguria inpetrativa, was in the power of the
magistrate (XII: 259); yet the decision whether thereby a
vitium, an error was committed or not, certainly rested with
the augur. —
Inn
~
30 -
No war could be begun without auspicia (VII: 606).
When no good results in the war would appear, the
general returned to Rome to obtain new auguria. Later,
however, especially when war was waged outside of Italy,
the general was freed from the trouble of undertaking such
a journey, which sometimes kept him away from his army
for a long time, by instituting a so-called ager Romanus in
that province; and to this ager Romanus the general went,
when the auspicia had to be renewed (II:78).
0
6.) The Quindecimviri sacris faciundis.
The Sibylline books were entrusted to the care of the
Quindecimviri; hence they were called Sibylline priests (III:
332). At first there were two of them, then ten, then fifteen
to the time of Sulla, lateron still more, even sixty; yet the
name was confined to the number fifteen, whence Quin-
decimviri (VI: 73). -
Sibylla, dioũ (coû). Bovan, i. e. the voice or will of God
(III: 445; VI: 12), especially vates Apollinis, i. e. proph-
etess of Apollo (III: 332), is really a generic term.
Vergil mentions à Sibylla of Cumae, Varro the one
of Erythrae (VI:36); Varro even wrote a book about
the number of Sibyls (III: 445). The replies of the Sibyls
were oral or more frequently written. According to Varro
they were even written on palm leaves, sometimes consisting
only of certain notes (notae), in fact of single letters (notae
litterarum), sometimes in connected words (sermones) and
then always in verse form (III: 444, 445; VI: 74). According
to tradition the Romans came into possession of the Sibylline
books in this way: One time a woman, named Amalthea,
offered to king Tarquinius for a high price nine books con-
taining the decrees of the destiny of the Romans and the
appropriate remedies, oracles in the Greek language; but
the price of the books was too high for the king. Then she
burned three books and demanded the same price for the rest.
Again the price being refused, a second time she again burned
three books and for the books that were left, she received the
price which she originally asked for all, because the king was
amazed by the fact that the price still remained the same.
These books were preserved in the temple of Apollo, together
with those of the Marciï fratres and of the nymph Begoë
(VI: 72). They were later destroyed by a fire in the temple
- 31 —
(D
of Apollo, but they were replaced by a new collection, especi-
ally from Erythrae (VI: 321). Servius apparently confuses
the temple of Apollo with the Capitolinum which burnt
down in 83 B. C. The new collection of the Sibylline books
came into the temple of Apollo only under the reign of
Augustus. The Sibylline books, as we mentioned above, were
entrusted to the care of the Quindecimviri, who consulted
them for the state in dangerous and critical times. Servius,
however, does not mention a special case or rather a descrip-
tion of such a case; yet he indicates (III: 332), that tripod
and dolphin, the symbols of Apollo, played an important part
in the service of the Quindecimviri.
7.) The Haruspices.
Thus the Romans called the soothsayers who exercised the
haruspicina. The haruspicina did not rest upon inspiration,
as the oracles of the Sibyl did, but upon skill and a skilful
system (III: 359). It originated with the Etruscans, also
called Tusci (årò toù DÚELY ); Tages is said to have invented this
art (II: 781) and to have set it forth in the libri Haruspicinae
and the sacra Acheruntia (VIII: 398). Besides, there are
mentioned the libri reconditi (I: 398; II. 649); furthermore,
the Etrusci libri de fulguratura (1:42) and the ars fulguri-
tarum, which was written by the nymph Begoë (VI: 72). —
Thereby it is indicated that haruspicina refers not only
to the inspection of the entrails, but also to the interpreta-
tion of lightning. To these a third matter may be added, the
interpretation of prodigia, phenomena contrary to nature.
Servius seems to have dealt little with prodigia. About the
extispicina, inspection of entrails, nothing more can be added
to what has been mentioned on various occasions under
"sacrificia.” Still we have to speak of the little we find
regarding the interpretation of lightning. “Interpretation of
lightning” we said, interpretation is really all; for means of
atonement are not furnished by the Haruspices. In the libri
Etrusci lightning is called manubiae, and Jupiter, Juno,
Minerva and Vulcan are called hurlers of lightning (1:42).
Elsewhere (VIII: 429) Servius points to the twelve months
of the year, divides the year into the four seasons and
attributes the manubiae of the winter to Jupiter, those of the
spring to Juno, those of the summer to Mars and those of
the autumn to Auster. The Physici, the natural philosophers
- 32-
(VIII:427), divided the sky into sixteen districts whence
lightning comes. —
Three kinds of lightning are mentioned (II:649), fulmen
quod adflat, quod incendit, quod findit. When lightning has
touched (adflavit) a nobleman or a king and he remains alive,
then his posterity could be assured of perpetual renown and
highest honors, as in the case of Anchises and his decendants.
Similar is the triplex potestas fulminis in VIII: 429; there
is a fulmen ostentatorium, i. e. lightning which causes fear
and fright, a fulmien peremptorium, i. e. one which destroys,
and, finally, a fulmen praesagun, i. e. one which forbodes or
prophesies. Evidently the Etruscans had acquired their disci-
plina by experience and exercise of many years, and the
Romans took great care that their skill of interpreting the
divine will should be perpetuated through education. The
Haruspices were not public priests in the strict sense,
although, especially in later times, they were of great im-
portance, since they had the function of inspecting the
entrails.
8.) The F etiales and the Pater Patratus.
This was the name of the collegium of priests which was
instituted by Numa or Ancus Marcius and which under
certain rites performed and consecrated treaties, declarations
of war etc. (1:62; IV: 243; VII: 623; XII: 120). The
symbols, — silex, flint stone (VIII: 641) and sceptre (XII:
206) — whereby they proved that they were guardians and
representatives of international law and also representatives
of Jupiter, they took from the temple of Jupiter, whenever
they wished to conclude a treaty or declare war. Another
symbol they had was a garland of verbenae, sacred grass,
which grew at a consecrated place on the Capitol (XII: 120).
The iura fetialia the Romans had received from the Falisci
in Etruria (VII: 695.). Pater patratus was called the con-
stituent - princeps, according to Servius (IX:52) — who
in every case was chosen from their number. The Fetiales
and Pater patratus were not allowed to wear linen clothing
(XII: 120).-
The word foedus is said to have its origin in the fact that
the victim - a pig, porcus — prescribed for a foedus (treaty),
was killed “foede” with the sacred flint (silex) and not with
a knife or a sword (I: 62; VIII: 641, X: 154). Water and
w
- 33 -
fire were indispensable in concluding a treaty; as also in
regard to him whom they banished from their community,
the Romans used the expression: aqua et igni ei interdicimus
(XII:119). According to ancient tradition the fire had to
be obtained from heaven by invocation of Jupiter who
consecrates treaties with his lightning. Gleaming - corus-
catio — a faint lightning sufficed (XII: 200). —
If the Roman people thought that they had been insulted
in any way by another people, and that there was a sufficient
and just reason for war, the Pater patratus with a few
Fetiales was at first sent to the border to demand satisfaction
in clear and unmistakable language (hence called clarigatio);
he, furthermore, demanded reason for such behavior on the
part of the people in question, otherwise a declaration of
war would be inevitable. If no satisfaction was given, they
(the Pater patratus and the Fetiales) returned after thirty
days and, invoking Jupiter and Janus (XII: 198; 200), the
Pater patratus threw a spear into the hostile country, whereby
war was officially declared. But since in later years, on
account of the expansion of the Roman empire, all this could
not be done at the boundary of the hostile country, this rite
took place at the little square before the temple .of Bellona
near the city. In the war against Pyrrhus this small piece
of land was bought by a captive and declared to be the
enemy's country. There, consequently, the Pater patratus
from that time on hurled the spear over the columna, the
pillar marking the boundary of the so-called enemy's country
(IX: 52).
9.) The Salii.
The name Saliï is perhaps best derived from salio - to
dance —, since they danced around the altars and since
armed dances were connected with their processions through
the city (VIII: 285, 663). Another derivation is the one from
a certain Salius, a companion of Aeneas (VIII: 663); a third
one is from Halesus (áls = sal), the son of Neptune (VIII:
285). According to a fourth derivation the Romans made
“Saliż” out of the word “Sai,” by which name at Samothrace
the priests of the penates were said to have been called
(II: 325). The assertion of Servius that Numa had instituted
the Salic Collini et Quirinales, but Hostilius the Pavonii et
Pallorii (VIII: 285), is not supported by others. Generally
10
- 34 -
the Salii Palatini are attributed to Numa and the Salii Collini
atque Quirinales to Hostilius. All were consecrated to Jupi-
ter, Mars and Quirinus (VIII: 663). At Tusculum, too, there
were Salii who were even said to be older than those at
Rome, also at Tibur, where they worshipped Hercules (VIII:
285).-
To the armor of the Sali belonged above all the
ancilia, small shields, which for their processions and armed
dances they fetched from the temple of Mars, where they
were generally preserved. Originally there was only one
small shield which, according to tradition, had fallen from
heaven. Connected with this shield was the prophecy that,
wherever this shield was, there also would be the empire of
the world. Consequently, in order that the enemy should not
be able to recognize and take away the shield, Mamurius the
artisan is said to have made many similar shields for Numa,
which were classed among the precious things of the Roman
empire. In remembrance the Romans celebrated in March
the Mamuralia, with which festival the peculiar rite was
connected that the Saliż "lashed a fleece,” i. e., most likely,
a man covered with fleece, ad artis similitudinem, since a
smith, too, is constantly hammering and beating (VII: 188;
VIII: 664). This is all the information we can derive from
Servius about the Salii.
10.) The. Lupérci.
<
<
The Luperci are priests “of him who wards off wolves;'
for Lupercus is the name of the Lycaean Pan, and Pan, as
said above, is identical with Faunus, the god of sheep and
shepherds. —
Even Romulus and Remus, according to tradition, celebrated
the Lupercalia before the founding of the city. Accordingly,
this is the oldest Roman festival. The story goes that at a
certain time word was brought to them that robbers had
driven away their cattle, but that they, Romulus and Remus,
even leaving behind their toga, had pursued the robbers and
had taken the cattle away from them. Hence the explanation
that later the Luperci appeared stripped at the festival, i. e.
perhaps only clad in the fleece of the victim. The festival
began with the sacrifice of a ram in the Lupercal at the foot
of the Palatine, where the she-wolf had nursed Romulus and
Remus. Then the Luperci, nudi, as explained above, hurried
LL
- 35 -
through the city, and married women willingly submitted
to be lashed, with straps (Part I:2), because this was said
to bring fecundity, as well as purification and expiation
(VIII: 343, 663). —
For the worship of Apollo Soranus at Soracte Servius men-
tions also Luperci, the so-called hirpi Sorani, (hirpus is the
Sabine word for wolf). Whether they were in any way
connected with or related to the Roman Luperci, does not
appear in the quotation from Servius (XI: 785).
.
YU
11.) The Magistratus, especially the Magis-
tratus maio ques.
The common robe of the Magistratus was the praetexta, the
purple-broidered toga (XII:169). The. Imperatores had a
right to the sella curulis (as. the curulian magistrates in
general) and to the trabea, i. e. the purple-striped public garb
(XI: 334). When at the founding of a city a magistrate
marked out the walls of the new city with the plough, he wore
the toga in the so-called cinctus Gabinus (cf. Part II, A:1 at
the public sacrificia). Of the team of cattle, the bull was on
the right side, the outside, the cow on the left, the inside.
The plough had to be handled in such a way that the clods
fell inside ; where there was to be a gate, the plough was raised
and the furrow interrupted (IV: 212; V: 755). The Consules,
Praetores and even the Dictator were accustomed to sacrifice
to the penates at Lavinium and to Vesta, whenever they
began their term of office or ended it. The Imperatores, too,
sacrificed to the penates, when they departed for their
provinces (II: 296; III:12). Whoever undertook the com-
mand of war, first went into the temple of Mars, moved the
ancilia and hasta, and said: “Mars vigila!” (VIII:3;
VII:603). —
The census, i. e. estimating the possessions of a Roman citi-.
zen and assigning him as a tax payer to a certain class, was
taken, as the name implies, by the Censores, and such a census
was supposed to take place every fifth year. It ended with
the lustrum, the expiation of the entire populace, on the
Campus Martius. At this lustrum the Censor, or according
to the expressed statement of Servius, both censors (hence
ambilustrum) had to sacrifice a pig, a sheep and a bull, called
Suovetaurilia (I: 283; VIII: 183). -
inn
O
-- 36 —
Ever since the sacra Herculis (which were discussed else-
where in this dissertation) became a public affair, the Praetor
urbanus had to offer the sacrifice annually at the ara maxima.
He as well as the people around, for this occasion, was adorned
with garlands of laurel, according to Greek ritual. The liba-
tion of wine was performed from the large cup of Hercules
which was kept tight by pitch, and which Hercules himself
is said to have brought to Italy (VIII: 276, 278). —
This is about all that can be said about Rites and Ritual
Acts, as prescribed by the Roman Religion, according to the
commentary of Servius on Vergil's Aeneid. Perhaps one or
the other of my readers may look in vain for this or that,
which he expected to find. But to him we would say: "It is
not to be found in Servius." We do not lay claim to absolute
correctness, yet the assurance may be given that the 1300 or
more pages of the commentary have been read carefully and
studied through twice and in most cases even three times;
and an index-volume has not yet been published. Another
of my readers may think: “But what is cited from Servius
does not always agree with what I have found elsewhere."
That is a question which may be settled with Servius and the
other sources. Our aim and intention was to cling to Servius,
although occasionally we found it necessary to discuss differ-
ences too great to be passed over without comment. —
From all that has been said, it appears at least, that Roman
ritualism, extremely complicated as it was, comprised almost
everything to the minutest details, and that it must have been
(who knows how) troublesome and difficult to live up to all
that was prescribed. And taken as a whole, with all this
formalism, how little sincerity was there! —
In conclusion let us say a word of praise in honor of
Servius: In his whole commentary there is not a single
attack or side-cut upon Christianity, which most gladly he
would have extirpated. In fact, he does not mention Christian
ideas, but treats his pagan notions simply from an objective
point of view, and leaves it to the option of the reader to
make inferences himself. But through this we have come into
possession of a commentary to Vergil, which no one who
claims to understand Vergil thoroughly, can easily pass over.
Not only Roman religion, but also philosophy, mythology,
natural science, old Latin, usage of words, ordo, i. e. correct
sequence of words for the translation of difficult passages, -
- 37-
all this is properly treated. The commentary is especially valu-
able to us on account of the very many quotations, both short
and long, from works which have not been entirely preserved
for us. Of the works of Varro, for example, only two are
extant, and the one of them incomplete. To whom, however,
are we indebted for whatever else we have or know of the
works of Varro? Of course, not entirely, but certainly to a
great extent — to. Servius.
APR 14 1917

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