Kolb Ettenger Livy and the Spolia Opima [email protected] 9/15/2010

A. Religious and Cultural Significance of the Spolia Opima ‘Iuppiter Feretri’ inquit, ‘haec tibi victor Romulus rex regia arma fero, templumque his regionibus quas modo animo metatus sum dedico, sedem opimis spoliis quae regibus ducibusque hostium caesis me auctorem sequentes posteri ferent.’ Haec templi est origo quod primum omnium Romae sacratum est. (Livy 1.10.6)

“’Jupiter Feretrius,’ he said, ‘I, king Romulus, the victor, bring these regal arms to you, and I, in those places which I have drawn out with my mind, dedicate a temple, a home for the spolia opima which posterity, following me as the founder, will bring after kings and leaders have been slain.’ This was the origin of the temple which of all was consecrated first in Rome.”

B. The Cult of Jupiter Feretrius Feretrum – the cart for the spoils Ferre –bearing of pacem, spolia Ferire – striking of foedus

C. The Evolution of the Dedication Ceremony Aulus Cornelius Cossus Marcus Claudius Marcellus Marcus Licinius Crassus?

D. Cossus Slays Tolumnius and Dedicates the Spolia Opima Erat tum inter equites tribunus militum A. Cornelius Cossus. (Livy 4.19.1)

“Aulus Cornelius Cossus was military tribune then among the cavalry.”

Omnibus locis re bene gesta, dictator senatus consulto iussuque populi triumphans in urbem rediit. Longe maximum triumphi spectaculum fuit Cossus, spolia opima regis interfecti gerens; in eum milites carmina incondita aequantes eum Romulo canere. Spolia in aede Iouis Feretri prope Romuli spolia quae, prima opima appellata, sola ea tempestate erant, cum sollemni dedicatione dono fixit. (Livy 4.20.1–3)

“With the matter having been conducted successfully in all places, the dictator returned to the city, parading in triumph by the decree of the senate and by the will of the people. The greatest spectacle of the triumph by far was Cossus, carrying the spolia opima of the slain king. The soldiers sang crude songs against him, placing him on a par with Romulus. He set the spoils as a gift with a ceremonial dedication in the temple of Jupiter Feretrius near to the spoils of Romulus which, called the prima opima, were the only ones at that time.”

E. Cossus: Tribune or Consul? Omnes ante me auctores secutus, A. Cornelium Cossum tribunum militum secunda spolia opima Iouis Feretri templo intulisse exposui; ceterum, praeterquam quod ea rite opima spolia habentur, quae dux duci detraxit nec ducem novimus nisi cuius auspicio bellum geritur, titulus ipse spoliis inscriptus illos meque arguit consulem ea Cossum cepisse. Hoc ego cum Augustum Caesarem, templorum omnium conditorem aut restitutorem, ingressum aedem Feretri Iouis quam vetustate dilapsam refecit, se ipsum in thorace linteo scriptum legisse audissem, prope sacrilegium ratus sum Cosso spoliorum suorum Caesarem, ipsius templi auctorem, subtrahere testem. (Livy 4.20.5–7)

“Having followed all the sources before me, I stated that Aulus Cornelius Cossus was a military tribune when he brought the secunda spolia opima to the temple of Jupiter Feretrius. But, apart from the fact that the spolia opima are only considered proper in those instances where a commander took them from another commander, and we do not recognize a commander unless the war is waged under his auspices, the written inscription on the spoils, however, shows me and those other sources that Cossus captured the spoils as consul. When I had heard that when Augustus Caesar, builder, or at least restorer of all the temples, having entered the temple of Jupiter Feretrius, which was decaying with age, and which he repaired, had himself read the inscription itself on a linen breastplate. I thought it was almost sacrilege to take the testimony about the spoils made by Caesar, who rebuilt that very temple, away from Cossus.”

F. Livy Weighs Historical Evidence Qui si ea in re sit error quod tam veteres annales quodque magistratuum libri, quos linteos in aede repositos Monetae Macer Licinius citat identidem auctores, septimo post demum anno cum T. Quinctio Poeno A. Cornelium Cossum consulem habeant, existimatio communis omnibus est. Nam etiam illud accedit, ne tam clara pugna in eum annum transferri posset, quod imbelle triennium ferme pestilentia inopiaque frugum circa A. Cornelium consulem fuit, adeo ut quidam annales velut funesti nihil praeter nomina consulum suggerant. (Livy 4.20.8–9

“Whether the error, if there is one in this matter, is due to the old age of the annals and the books of the magistrates, the linen ones, which having been left in the temple of Juno Moneta, Macer Licinius cites repeatedly as sources, have Aulus Cornelius Cossus as consul seven years later along with Titus Quinctius Poenus, it is a judgment call for all. For even if one accepts this, one cannot move this so famous a battle to that year because the three year period, around which Aulus Cornelius was consul, that period was altogether unfit for war on account of pestilence and scarcity of agriculture, so that some annals produce nothing but the names of the consuls as it they were lists of the dead.”

G. Does Livy Believe Either Story? “Ea libera coniectura est. Sed, ut ego arbitror, uana versare in omnes opiniones licet, cum auctor pugnae, recentibus spoliis in sacra sede positis, Iovem prope ipsum, cui uota erant, Romulumque intuens, haud spernendos falsi tituli testes, se A. Cornelium Cossum consulem scripserit.” (Livy 4.20.11)

“In this case, conjecture is welcome. But, as I see it, one is allowed to turn these tenuous matters towards every and each opinion, when the author of the battle, with the spoils just now placed in the sacred shrine near Jupiter himself, to whom the spoils were dedicated, and looking upon Romulus, witnesses not at all to be rebuffed for false inscriptions, wrote that he, Aulus Cornelius Cossus, was consul.”

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