The Strange History of a Flamen Dialis
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Vestal Virgins and Their Families
Vestal Virgins and Their Families Andrew B. Gallia* I. INTRODUCTION There is perhaps no more shining example of the extent to which the field of Roman studies has been enriched by a renewed engagement with anthropology and other cognate disciplines than the efflorescence of interest in the Vestal virgins that has followed Mary Beard’s path-breaking article regarding these priestesses’ “sexual status.”1 No longer content to treat the privileges and ritual obligations of this priesthood as the vestiges of some original position (whether as wives or daughters) in the household of the early Roman kings, scholars now interrogate these features as part of the broader frameworks of social and cultural meaning through which Roman concepts of family, * Published in Classical Antiquity 34.1 (2015). Early versions of this article were inflicted upon audiences in Berkeley and Minneapolis. I wish to thank the participants of those colloquia for helpful and judicious feedback, especially Ruth Karras, Darcy Krasne, Carlos Noreña, J. B. Shank, and Barbara Welke. I am also indebted to George Sheets, who read a penultimate draft, and to Alain Gowing and the anonymous readers for CA, who prompted additional improvements. None of the above should be held accountable for the views expressed or any errors that remain. 1 Beard 1980, cited approvingly by, e.g., Hopkins 1983: 18, Hallett 1984: x, Brown 1988: 8, Schultz 2012: 122. Critiques: Gardner 1986: 24-25, Beard 1995. 1 gender, and religion were produced.2 This shift, from a quasi-diachronic perspective, which seeks explanations for recorded phenomena in the conditions of an imagined past, to a more synchronic approach, in which contemporary contexts are emphasized, represents a welcome methodological advance. -
Magic in Private and Public Lives of the Ancient Romans
COLLECTANEA PHILOLOGICA XXIII, 2020: 53–72 http://dx.doi.org/10.18778/1733-0319.23.04 Idaliana KACZOR Uniwersytet Łódzki MAGIC IN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC LIVES OF THE ANCIENT ROMANS The Romans practiced magic in their private and public life. Besides magical practices against the property and lives of people, the Romans also used generally known and used protective and healing magic. Sometimes magical practices were used in official religious ceremonies for the safety of the civil and sacral community of the Romans. Keywords: ancient magic practice, homeopathic magic, black magic, ancient Roman religion, Roman religious festivals MAGIE IM PRIVATEN UND ÖFFENTLICHEN LEBEN DER ALTEN RÖMER Die Römer praktizierten Magie in ihrem privaten und öffentlichen Leben. Neben magische Praktik- en gegen das Eigentum und das Leben von Menschen, verwendeten die Römer auch allgemein bekannte und verwendete Schutz- und Heilmagie. Manchmal wurden magische Praktiken in offiziellen religiösen Zeremonien zur Sicherheit der bürgerlichen und sakralen Gemeinschaft der Römer angewendet. Schlüsselwörter: alte magische Praxis, homöopathische Magie, schwarze Magie, alte römi- sche Religion, Römische religiöse Feste Magic, despite our sustained efforts at defining this term, remains a slippery and obscure concept. It is uncertain how magic has been understood and practised in differ- ent cultural contexts and what the difference is (if any) between magical and religious praxis. Similarly, no satisfactory and all-encompassing definition of ‘magic’ exists. It appears that no singular concept of ‘magic’ has ever existed: instead, this polyvalent notion emerged at the crossroads of local custom, religious praxis, superstition, and politics of the day. Individual scholars of magic, positioning themselves as ostensi- bly objective observers (an etic perspective), mostly defined magic in opposition to religion and overemphasised intercultural parallels over differences1. -
PÉROTIN and the ARS ANTIQUA the Hilliard Ensemble
CORO hilliard live CORO hilliard live 1 The Hilliard Ensemble For more than three decades now The Hilliard Ensemble has been active in the realms of both early and contemporary music. As well as recording and performing music by composers such as Pérotin, Dufay, Josquin and Bach the ensemble has been involved in the creation of a large number of new works. James PÉROTIN MacMillan, Heinz Holliger, Arvo Pärt, Steven Hartke and many other composers have written both large and the and small-scale pieces for them. The ensemble’s performances ARS frequently include collaborations with other musicians such as the saxophonist Jan Garbarek, violinist ANTIQUA Christoph Poppen, violist Kim Kashkashian and orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra. John Potter’s contribution was crucial to getting the Hilliard Live project under way. John has since left to take up a post in the Music Department of York University. His place in the group has been filled by Steven Harrold. www.hilliardensemble.demon.co.uk the hilliard ensemble To find out more about CORO and to buy CDs, visit www.thesixteen.com cor16046 The hilliard live series of recordings came about for various reasons. 1 Vetus abit littera Anon. (C13th) 3:47 At the time self-published recordings were a fairly new and increasingly David James Rogers Covey-Crump John Potter Gordon Jones common phenomenon in popular music and we were keen to see if 2 Deus misertus hominis Anon. (C13th) 5:00 we could make the process work for us in the context of a series of David James Rogers Covey-Crump John Potter Gordon Jones public concerts. -
Roman Religion
4 Roman Religion 1. “By pietas and fides the Romans Reached TheiR PResent eminence” the strength of Rome rested on a number of foundations. Among these were its extraordinarily vital political culture and its capacity to sustain warfare for extended periods of time. Previous chapters have emphasized these features, but in this chapter and the next, focus shifts to less obvious sources of Rome’s strength, namely the special character of its society whose dual foundations were the household and the civic religion of the city. Roman Religiosity during the period of the Republic, outsiders were struck by the religiosity of the Romans. In the second century b.c., Polybius, a Greek statesman and historian who lived much of his adult life in Rome, claimed that it was “scrupulous fear of the gods that kept the Roman commonwealth together” (6.56). A century or so later another expatriate Greek, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, was also impressed by the concern of Romans for religion. Writing about the second king of Rome, dionysius noted that as a result of Numa’s activities, Rome possessed more religious observances than any other city “Greek or non-Greek, even among those who thought of themselves as most god- fearing” (2.63). Needless to say, Romans themselves promoted the belief that fidelity to their oaths and treaties and their general reverence for the gods explained their imperial success. “the gods look kindly on these qualities, for it was by pietas and fides that Romans reached their present eminence” declared the consul Q. Marcius Philippus in 169 b.c. -
Mercury (Mythology) 1 Mercury (Mythology)
Mercury (mythology) 1 Mercury (mythology) Silver statuette of Mercury, a Berthouville treasure. Ancient Roman religion Practices and beliefs Imperial cult · festivals · ludi mystery religions · funerals temples · auspice · sacrifice votum · libation · lectisternium Priesthoods College of Pontiffs · Augur Vestal Virgins · Flamen · Fetial Epulones · Arval Brethren Quindecimviri sacris faciundis Dii Consentes Jupiter · Juno · Neptune · Minerva Mars · Venus · Apollo · Diana Vulcan · Vesta · Mercury · Ceres Mercury (mythology) 2 Other deities Janus · Quirinus · Saturn · Hercules · Faunus · Priapus Liber · Bona Dea · Ops Chthonic deities: Proserpina · Dis Pater · Orcus · Di Manes Domestic and local deities: Lares · Di Penates · Genius Hellenistic deities: Sol Invictus · Magna Mater · Isis · Mithras Deified emperors: Divus Julius · Divus Augustus See also List of Roman deities Related topics Roman mythology Glossary of ancient Roman religion Religion in ancient Greece Etruscan religion Gallo-Roman religion Decline of Hellenistic polytheism Mercury ( /ˈmɜrkjʉri/; Latin: Mercurius listen) was a messenger,[1] and a god of trade, the son of Maia Maiestas and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is related to the Latin word merx ("merchandise"; compare merchant, commerce, etc.), mercari (to trade), and merces (wages).[2] In his earliest forms, he appears to have been related to the Etruscan deity Turms, but most of his characteristics and mythology were borrowed from the analogous Greek deity, Hermes. Latin writers rewrote Hermes' myths and substituted his name with that of Mercury. However, there are at least two myths that involve Mercury that are Roman in origin. In Virgil's Aeneid, Mercury reminds Aeneas of his mission to found the city of Rome. In Ovid's Fasti, Mercury is assigned to escort the nymph Larunda to the underworld. -
The Spear As the Symbol of Property and Power in Ancient Rome
1216-2574 / USD 20.00 ACTA JURIDICA HUNGARICA © 2007 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest 48, No 3, pp. 231–257 (2007) DOI: 10.1556/AJur.47.2007.3.2 TAMÁS NÓTÁRI* The Spear as the Symbol of Property and Power in Ancient Rome Abstract. In his well-known description of legis actio sacramento in rem, Gaius remarks that the rod was used in the procedure instead of the spear as the sign of lawful property since what the Romans considered truly their own was the goods taken from the enemy: ”Festuca autem utebantur quasi hastae loco, signo quodam iusti dominii; quod maxime sua esse credebant quae ex hostibus cepissent.” In harmony with Gaius’s view Verrius Festus states that the spear is the symbol, incarnation of supreme power: “Hasta summa armorum et imperii est.” Setting out from these two testimonia, in the present study we intend to examine the content of the hasta and the festuca as symbols of power to support the interpretation of the ritual of legis actio sacramento in rem as duellum sacrum. First, we shall give a brief account of the occurrences of the spear as the symbol of imperium, of subhastatio related thereto and the function of the supreme commander’s spear; also, we shall touch on the stick of augures and certain Greek prefigurations and parallels of the symbolic nature of the spear and the rod. (I.) After that, we shall make some statements concerning the spear of the god Mars and the Mars cult, and the relation of Quirinus and Quirites to the symbolism of the spear. -
The Argei: Sex, War, and Crucifixion in Rome
THE ARGEI: SEX, WAR, AND CRUCIFIXION IN ROME AND THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST Kristan Foust Ewin, B.A. Thesis Prepared for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS May 2012 APPROVED: Christopher J. Fuhrmann, Major Professor Ken Johnson, Committee Member Walt Roberts, Committee Member Richard B. McCaslin, Chair of the Department of History James D. Meernik, Acting Dean of the Toulouse Graduate School Ewin, Kristan Foust. The Argei: Sex, War, and Crucifixion in Rome and the Ancient Near East. Master of Arts (History), May 2012, 119 pp., 2 tables, 18 illustrations, bibliography, 150 titles. The purpose of the Roman Argei ceremony, during which the Vestal Virgins harvested made and paraded rush puppets only to throw them into the Tiber, is widely debated. Modern historians supply three main reasons for the purpose of the Argei: an agrarian act, a scapegoat, and finally as an offering averting deceased spirits or Lares. I suggest that the ceremony also related to war and the spectacle of displaying war casualties. I compare the ancient Near East and Rome and connect the element of war and husbandry and claim that the Argei paralleled the sacred marriage. In addition to an agricultural and purification rite, these rituals may have served as sympathetic magic for pre- and inter-war periods. As of yet, no author has proposed the Argei as a ceremony related to war. By looking at the Argei holistically I open the door for a new direction of inquiry on the Argei ceremony, fertility cults in the Near East and in Rome, and on the execution of war criminals. -
Julius Caesar
Working Paper CEsA CSG 168/2018 ANCIENT ROMAN POLITICS – JULIUS CAESAR Maria SOUSA GALITO Abstract Julius Caesar (JC) survived two civil wars: first, leaded by Cornelius Sulla and Gaius Marius; and second by himself and Pompeius Magnus. Until he was stabbed to death, at a senate session, in the Ides of March of 44 BC. JC has always been loved or hated, since he was alive and throughout History. He was a war hero, as many others. He was a patrician, among many. He was a roman Dictator, but not the only one. So what did he do exactly to get all this attention? Why did he stand out so much from the crowd? What did he represent? JC was a front-runner of his time, not a modern leader of the XXI century; and there are things not accepted today that were considered courageous or even extraordinary achievements back then. This text tries to explain why it’s important to focus on the man; on his life achievements before becoming the most powerful man in Rome; and why he stood out from every other man. Keywords Caesar, Politics, Military, Religion, Assassination. Sumário Júlio César (JC) sobreviveu a duas guerras civis: primeiro, lideradas por Cornélio Sula e Caio Mário; e depois por ele e Pompeius Magnus. Até ser esfaqueado numa sessão do senado nos Idos de Março de 44 AC. JC foi sempre amado ou odiado, quando ainda era vivo e ao longo da História. Ele foi um herói de guerra, como outros. Ele era um patrício, entre muitos. Ele foi um ditador romano, mas não o único. -
6 the God Liber and the Republican Notions of Libertas in the Late Roman Republic
6 The god Liber and the Republican Notions of Libertas in the late Roman Republic I This essay focuses on the Roman god Liber and its relation with the notion of libertas in the first century BC. A very powerful, and prima facie convincing, explanation of this relation is, in the words of one of the most authoritative scholars in the field, that ‘by name and by nature, Liber is the god of freedom … Though many explanations were offered by ancient sources to account for his name, the simplest and most obvious was an ideological one: Liber a libertate. Political freedom, libertas, was the defining quality of the Roman Republic, achieved by the expulsion of Tarquin and under threat ever after,’ and which found its divinisation in Liber.1 a notable exception Raaflaub 2000 in Hansen birthday, 257. Il punto non e’ sbagliato, ma richiede revision. Non si tratat della political liberty di provocatio. However, when analysing the evidence at our disposal, it is possible to observe that Liber is conceived as enacting different forms of liberation: Liber frees the individual from worries and fears, frees the soul from the constraints of a mortal body, and frees the semen, both male and female, in sexual union.2 As Anthony Corbeill brilliantly put it, Liber was conceived as fulfilling the role of both the Realiser and the Liberator.3 Building on recent works that move away from a linear development of Liber in Rome as an Italic deity of subversive traits, gradually tamed in the third and second century BC through a process of Hellenisation, and considering -
Vox Tua Nempe Mea Est. Dialogues with the Dead in Roman Funerary Commemoration
This is a repository copy of Vox tua nempe mea est. Dialogues with the dead in Roman funerary commemoration. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/167118/ Article: Carroll, Maureen (2008) Vox tua nempe mea est. Dialogues with the dead in Roman funerary commemoration. Accordia Research Papers. pp. 37-80. Reuse Items deposited in White Rose Research Online are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved unless indicated otherwise. They may be downloaded and/or printed for private study, or other acts as permitted by national copyright laws. The publisher or other rights holders may allow further reproduction and re-use of the full text version. This is indicated by the licence information on the White Rose Research Online record for the item. Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. [email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ ‘Vox tua nempe mea est’ Dialogues with the dead in Roman funerary commemoration Maureen Carroll I, who speak without a voice by means of the inscribed marble, was born in wonderful Tralles, travelled often from Asia via all the houses of Baiae for the hot springs and the joys of the sea. This honourable and unforgotten life of mine was commemorated with this monument by my heir with 50,000, according to my wishes, setting up the last temple to my Manes, for my ashes and for the obsequies. -
The Imperial Cult During the Reign of Domitian
MASARYKOVA UNIVERZITA Filosofická fakulta Katedra archeologie a muzeologie Klasická archeologie Bc. Barbora Chabrečková Cisársky kult v období vlády Domitiána Magisterská diplomová práca Vedúca práce: Mgr. Dagmar Vachůtová, Ph.D. Brno 2017 MASARYK UNIVERSITY Faculty of Arts Department of Archaeology and Museology Classical Archaeology Bc. Barbora Chabrečková The Imperial Cult During the Reign of Domitian Master's Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Mgr. Dagmar Vachůtová, Ph.D. Brno 2017 2 I hereby declare that this thesis is my own work, created with use of primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. ……………………………… Bc. Barbora Chabrečková In Brno, June 2017 3 Acknowledgement I would like to thank to my supervisor, Mgr. Dagmar Vachůtová, Ph.D., for her guidance and encouragement that she granted me throughout the entire creative process of this thesis, to my consulting advisor, Mgr. Ing. Monika Koróniová, who showed me the possibilities this topic has to offer, and to my friends and parents, for their care and support. 4 Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 7 Methodology .............................................................................................................................. 8 I) Definition, Origin, and Pre-Imperial History of the Imperial Cult ................................... 10 1.) Origin in the Private Cult & the Term Genius ........................................................... 10 -
Pietschmann, C. (2017); 'Imperial Priestesses
Pietschmann, C. (2017); ‘Imperial Priestesses, Roman Models: Kinship Ties and Elite Identity in the Western Provinces’ Rosetta 21: 35 - 49 http://www.rosetta.bham.ac.uk/issue21/Pietschmann.pdf Imperial Priestesses, Roman Models: Kinship Ties and Elite Identity in the Western Provinces Constantin Pietschmann Introduction At the end of the second century CE, Nahania Victoria, flaminica perpetua of Thugga, donated 70,000 sesterces for the erection of a temple to Mercury. This included statues, porticoes, and a market, which was to be built adjacent to the temple and was dedicated to the wellbeing of the emperor.1 The donation, which she offered together with her husband, a flamen perpetuus, and augur of Carthage, constituted the fulfilment of their pollicitae summae, in addition to a sum ob honorem flamonii perpetui, offered on top of the required amount;2 this was further increased by an additional 50,000 sesterces left behind by their son. This generous donation, offered pago patr[i]ae, was primarily meant to benefit the community through the modification of the urban religious and commercial landscape, but was further qualified by her husband’s separate donation of 25,000 sesterces to provide sportulae and games to the decuriones and the entire population. The image presented by Nahania Victoria, a woman of local origin, whose public munificence not only transformed the topography of her home town, but, through the office of her husband, also linked it explicitly to the administrative centre at Carthage, was one of wife, mother, and benefactress.3 Moreover, she was a public figure, a priestess of the imperial cult, whose embeddedness within the civic framework of her pagus was put prominently on display, alongside that of her immediate family.