1.
Lituus
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The word lituus originally meant a curved augural staff, or a curved war-trumpet in the ancient Latin language. This Latin word continued in use through the 18th century as an alternative to the names of various musical instruments. The lituus was a crooked wand used as an instrument in ancient Roman religion by augurs to mark out a ritual space in the sky. The passage of birds through this templum indicated divine favor or disfavor for a given undertaking, the lituus was also used as a symbol of office for the college of the augurs to mark them out as a priestly group. The ancient lituus was an Etruscan high-pitched brass instrument, which was straight but bent at the end, in the shape of a letter J and it was later used by the Romans, especially for processional music and as a signalling horn in the army. For the Roman military it may have been particular to the cavalry, unlike the Roman litui, the Etruscan instruments had detachable mouthpieces and in general appear to have been longer. The name lituus is Latin, thought to have derived from an Etruscan cultic word describing a soothsayers wand modelled on a shepherds crook and associated with sacrifice. Earlier Roman and Etruscan depictions show the instrument used in processions, players of the lituus were called liticines, though the name of the instrument appears to have been loosely used to describe other military brass instruments, such as the tuba or the buccina. In 17th-century Germany a variant of the bent ancient lituus was still used as a signalling horn by nightwatchmen, however, it is impossible to determine just what sort of instrument might have been meant, and it is unlikely there litui were the same as the Etrusco-Roman instrument. In the early 15th century, Jean de Gerson listed the lituus among those string instruments that were sounded by beating or striking, either with the fingernails, other instruments Gerson names in this category are the cythara, guiterna, psalterium, timpanum, and campanula. The crumhorn was especially associated with the lituus because of the similarity of its shape, the equation of the crumhorn with the lituus was especially strong among German writers. A study made of Swedish dictionaries found that during the seventeenth century lituus was variously translated as sinka, krumhorn, krum trometa, claret, or horn. In 1738, the horn player Anton Joseph Hampel served as a godfather at the baptism of a daughter of the renowned Dresden lutenist Silvius Leopold Weiss. In the baptismal register he was described as Lituista Regius—royal lituus player, in the second half of the 18th century the lituus was described in one source as a Latin name for the trumpet or horn. The only known Baroque composition specifying an instrument by the Latin name lituus is Bachs motet O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht. Scientists from Edinburgh University tried to recreate the lituus in May 2009, in the form of a wooden trumpet. Descriptio Montis Fracti iuxta Lvcernam, et primum Chorographica, praefertim quod ad paludem Pilati in eo memorabilem, lugdunensis, Pilati Montis in Gallia descriptio, Io Rhellicani Stockhornias, qua Stockhornus mons altissimus in Bernensium Heluetiorum agro, versibus heroicis describitur, 45–67. Tigvri, Apud Andream Gesnerum F. & Iacobvm Gesnerum, frates, Roman Military Instruments and the Lituus
2.
Ancient Rome
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In its many centuries of existence, the Roman state evolved from a monarchy to a classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate the Mediterranean region and then Western Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa and it is often grouped into classical antiquity together with ancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Roman civilisation has contributed to modern government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language and society. Rome professionalised and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France. By the end of the Republic, Rome had conquered the lands around the Mediterranean and beyond, its domain extended from the Atlantic to Arabia, the Roman Empire emerged with the end of the Republic and the dictatorship of Augustus Caesar. 721 years of Roman-Persian Wars started in 92 BC with their first war against Parthia and it would become the longest conflict in human history, and have major lasting effects and consequences for both empires. Under Trajan, the Empire reached its territorial peak, Republican mores and traditions started to decline during the imperial period, with civil wars becoming a prelude common to the rise of a new emperor. Splinter states, such as the Palmyrene Empire, would divide the Empire during the crisis of the 3rd century. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the part of the empire broke up into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. This splintering is a landmark historians use to divide the ancient period of history from the pre-medieval Dark Ages of Europe. King Numitor was deposed from his throne by his brother, Amulius, while Numitors daughter, Rhea Silvia, because Rhea Silvia was raped and impregnated by Mars, the Roman god of war, the twins were considered half-divine. The new king, Amulius, feared Romulus and Remus would take back the throne, a she-wolf saved and raised them, and when they were old enough, they returned the throne of Alba Longa to Numitor. Romulus became the source of the citys name, in order to attract people to the city, Rome became a sanctuary for the indigent, exiled, and unwanted. This caused a problem for Rome, which had a large workforce but was bereft of women, Romulus traveled to the neighboring towns and tribes and attempted to secure marriage rights, but as Rome was so full of undesirables they all refused. Legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins, after a long time in rough seas, they landed at the banks of the Tiber River. Not long after they landed, the men wanted to take to the sea again, one woman, named Roma, suggested that the women burn the ships out at sea to prevent them from leaving. At first, the men were angry with Roma, but they realized that they were in the ideal place to settle. They named the settlement after the woman who torched their ships, the Roman poet Virgil recounted this legend in his classical epic poem the Aeneid
3.
Augury
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Augury is the practice from ancient Roman religion of interpreting omens from the observed flight of birds. When the individual, known as the augur, interpreted these signs, augur and auspices are from the Latin auspicium and auspex, literally one who looks at birds. Depending upon the birds, the auspices from the gods could be favorable or unfavorable, sometimes bribed or politically motivated augures would fabricate unfavorable auspices in order to delay certain state functions, such as elections. Pliny the Elder attributes the invention of auspicy to Tiresias the seer of Thebes, plato notes that hepatoscopy held greater prestige than augury by means of birds. One of the most famous auspices is the one which is connected with the founding of Rome, once the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, arrived at the Palatine Hill, the two argued over where the exact position of the city should be. Romulus was set on building the city upon the Palatine, but Remus wanted to build the city on the strategic, the two agreed to settle their argument by testing their abilities as augures and by the will of the gods. Each took a seat on the ground apart from one another, according to unanimous testimony from ancient sources the use of auspices as a means to decipher the will of the gods was more ancient than Rome itself. The use of the word is associated with Latins as well as the earliest Roman citizens. Stoics, for instance, maintained that if there are gods, they care for men, in ancient Rome, the appointment and inauguration of any magistrate, decisions made within the people’s assembly and the advancement of any campaign always required a positive auspicium. Unlike in Greece where oracles played the role of messenger of the gods, Auspices showed Romans what they were to do, or not to do, giving no explanation for the decision made except that it was the will of the gods. It would be difficult to execute any public act without consulting the auspices, elections, the passing of laws, and initiation of wars were all put on hold until the people were assured the gods agreed with their actions. The men who interpreted these signs, revealing the will of the gods were called augures, the magistrates were also expected to understand the basic interpretations as they were often expected to take the auspices whenever they undertook any public business. Until 300 BC only patricians could become augures, plebeian assemblies were forbidden to take augury and hence had no input as to whether a certain law, war or festival should occur. Cicero, an augur himself, accounts how the monopoly of the created a useful barrier to the encroachment of the populares. With this new power it was not only possible for plebeians to determine the gods will in their favor, there were five different types of auspices. Of these, the last three formed no part of the ancient auspices, ex caelo This auspice involved the observation of thunder and lightning and was often seen as the most important auspice. Whenever an augur reported that Jupiter had sent down thunder and lightning, ex avibus Though auspices were typically bird signs, not all birds in the sky were seen as symbols of the will of the Gods. There were two classes of birds, Oscines, who gave auspices via their singing, and Alites, the Oscines included ravens, crows, owls and hens, each offering either a favorable omen or an unfavorable depending on which side of the Augurs designated area they appeared on
4.
Bird
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Birds, a subgroup of Reptiles, are the last living examples of Dinosaurs. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the 5 cm bee hummingbird to the 2.75 m ostrich. They rank as the class of tetrapods with the most living species, at ten thousand. Birds are the closest living relatives of crocodilians, the fossil record indicates that birds evolved from feathered ancestors within the theropod group of saurischian dinosaurs. True birds first appeared during the Cretaceous period, around 100 million years ago, Birds, especially those in the southern continents, survived this event and then migrated to other parts of the world while diversifying during periods of global cooling. Primitive bird-like dinosaurs that lie outside class Aves proper, in the broader group Avialae, have been found dating back to the mid-Jurassic period, around 170 million years ago. Birds have wings which are more or less developed depending on the species, the digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have evolved for swimming. Many species annually migrate great distances, Birds are social, communicating with visual signals, calls, and bird songs, and participating in such social behaviours as cooperative breeding and hunting, flocking, and mobbing of predators. The vast majority of species are socially monogamous, usually for one breeding season at a time, sometimes for years. Other species have breeding systems that are polygynous or, rarely, Birds produce offspring by laying eggs which are fertilised through sexual reproduction. They are usually laid in a nest and incubated by the parents, most birds have an extended period of parental care after hatching. Some birds, such as hens, lay eggs even when not fertilised, songbirds, parrots, and other species are popular as pets. Guano is harvested for use as a fertiliser, Birds prominently figure throughout human culture. About 120–130 species have become extinct due to human activity since the 17th century, human activity threatens about 1,200 bird species with extinction, though efforts are underway to protect them. Recreational birdwatching is an important part of the ecotourism industry, the first classification of birds was developed by Francis Willughby and John Ray in their 1676 volume Ornithologiae. Carl Linnaeus modified that work in 1758 to devise the taxonomic classification system currently in use, Birds are categorised as the biological class Aves in Linnaean taxonomy. Phylogenetic taxonomy places Aves in the dinosaur clade Theropoda, Aves and a sister group, the clade Crocodilia, contain the only living representatives of the reptile clade Archosauria
5.
Religion in ancient Rome
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The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, and attributed their success as a world power to their collective piety in maintaining good relations with the gods. According to legends, most of Romes religious institutions could be traced to its founders, particularly Numa Pompilius, the Sabine second king of Rome, who negotiated directly with the gods. This archaic religion was the foundation of the mos maiorum, the way of the ancestors or simply tradition, as Rome came into contact with foreign cultures, and conquered them, foreign religions increasingly attracted devotees among Romans, who increasingly had ancestry from elsewhere in the Empire. The emperors promoted the Imperial cult around the empire, and this, ultimately, Roman polytheism was brought to an end with the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the empire. The priesthoods of public religion were held by members of the elite classes, there was no principle analogous to separation of church and state in ancient Rome. During the Roman Republic, the men who were elected public officials might also serve as augurs. Priests married, raised families, and led politically active lives, Julius Caesar became pontifex maximus before he was elected consul. The augurs read the will of the gods and supervised the marking of boundaries as a reflection of universal order, Roman religion was thus practical and contractual, based on the principle of do ut des, I give that you might give. Even the most skeptical among Romes intellectual elite such as Cicero, for ordinary Romans, religion was a part of daily life. Each home had a shrine at which prayers and libations to the familys domestic deities were offered. Neighborhood shrines and sacred such as springs and groves dotted the city. The Roman calendar was structured around religious observances, women, slaves, and children all participated in a range of religious activities. The Romans are known for the number of deities they honored. The Romans looked for common ground between their major gods and those of the Greeks, adapting Greek myths and iconography for Latin literature, etruscan religion was also a major influence, particularly on the practice of augury. The mysteries, however, involved exclusive oaths and secrecy, conditions that conservative Romans viewed with suspicion as characteristic of magic, conspiratorial, or subversive activity. Sporadic and sometimes brutal attempts were made to suppress religionists who seemed to threaten traditional morality and unity, one way that Rome incorporated diverse peoples was by supporting their religious heritage, building temples to local deities that framed their theology within the hierarchy of Roman religion. Inscriptions throughout the Empire record the worship of local and Roman deities. Because Romans had never been obligated to one god or one cult only
6.
Latin
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Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin was originally spoken in Latium, in the Italian Peninsula. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language, Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Latin, Italian and French have contributed many words to the English language, Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, biology, and medicine. By the late Roman Republic, Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. Late Latin is the language from the 3rd century. Later, Early Modern Latin and Modern Latin evolved, Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Today, many students, scholars and members of the Catholic clergy speak Latin fluently and it is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. The language has been passed down through various forms, some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same, volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance, the reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part and they are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissners Latin Phrasebook. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed inkhorn terms, as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch, Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole
7.
Flamen
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In ancient Roman religion, a flamen was a priest assigned to one of fifteen deities with official cults during the Roman Republic. The most important three were the flamines maiores, who served the three chief Roman gods of the Archaic Triad, the remaining twelve were the flamines minores. Two of the minores cultivated deities whose names are now unknown, during the Imperial era, the cult of a deified emperor also had a flamen. The fifteen Republican flamens were part of the Pontifical College which administered state-sponsored religion, when the office of flamen was vacant, a pontifex could serve as a temporary replacement, although only the Pontifex Maximus is known to have substituted for the Flamen Dialis. The official costume of a flamen, of great antiquity, was a hat called an apex, the laena was a double-thick wool cloak with a fringed edge, and was worn over the flamens toga with a clasp holding it around his throat. The apex was a leather skull-cap with a chin-strap and a point of olive wood on its top, like a spindle, with a little fluff of wool at the base of the spindle. By the time of the reformation of Augustus, the origins and functions of many of the long-neglected gods resident in Rome was confusing even to the Romans themselves. The obscurity of some of the deities assigned a flamen suggests that the office dated back to Archaic Rome, many scholars assume that the flamines existed at least from the time of the early Roman kings, before the establishment of the Republic. The Romans themselves credited the foundation of the priesthood to Numa Pompilius, according to Livy, Numa created the offices of the three flamines maiores and assigned them each a fine robe of office and a curule chair. The flamines were circumscribed by many taboos, the origin of the word flamen is as obscure as are some of the assigned gods. Sophus Bugge suggested in 1879 that flamen is from an older *flădmen, both would be derived from a Proto-Indo-European word *bhlādmen. Indo-Europeanist Georges Dumézil attempted to link it to the Sanskrit word brahman, the three flamines maiores were required to be patricians, The Flamen Dialis oversaw the cult of Jupiter, the sky deity and ruler of the gods. The Flamen Martialis oversaw the cult of Mars, the god of war, the sacred spears of Mars were ritually shaken by the Flamen Martialis when the legions were preparing for war. The Flamen Quirinalis oversaw the cult of Quirinus, who presided over organized Roman social life and was related to the aspect of Mars. The Flamen Quirinalis led public rites on the sacred to Quirinus. A fourth flamen maior was dedicated to Julius Caesar as a divinity of the Roman state, thereafter, any deceased emperor could be made divus by vote of the senate and consent of his successor, and as a divus he would be served by a flamen. The flamens role in relation to living emperors is uncertain, no living emperor is known to have received official divine worship, a flamen could also be represented by a proflamen, or by a member without that title who could act as a substitute for the flamen. The twelve flamines minores could be plebeians, the flamines minores seem mostly connected to agriculture or local cults
8.
Collegium (ancient Rome)
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A collegium was any association in ancient Rome with a legal personality. The organization of a collegium was often modeled on that of governing bodies. The meeting hall was known as the curia, the same term as that applied to that of the Roman Senate. By law, only three people were required in order to create a legal collegium, the exception was the college of consuls. There were four religious colleges of Roman priests, in descending order of importance, Pontifices, headed by the Pontifex Maximus, Augures, Quindecimviri. College of Aesculapius and Hygia List of Ancient Roman Collegia Media related to Ancient Roman collegia at Wikimedia Commons
9.
College of Pontiffs
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The College of Pontiffs was a body of the ancient Roman state whose members were the highest-ranking priests of the state religion. The college consisted of the Pontifex Maximus and the pontifices, the Rex Sacrorum, the fifteen flamens. The College of Pontiffs was one of the four major priestly colleges, the others being of the augurs, the quindecimviri sacris faciundis, and the Epulones. The title pontifex comes from the Latin for bridge builder, an allusion to a very early role in placating the gods and spirits associated with the Tiber River. Also, Varro cites this position as meaning able to do, the pontifex maximus was the most important member of the college. Until 104 BC, the pontifex maximus held the power in appointing members to the other priesthoods in the college. The flamens were priests in charge of fifteen official cults of Roman religion, the three major flamens were the Flamen Dialis, the high priest of Jupiter, the Flamen Martialis, who cultivated Mars, and the Flamen Quirinalis, devoted to Quirinus. The deities cultivated by the flamines minores were Carmenta, Ceres, Falacer, Flora, Furrina, Palatua, Pomona, Portunes, Volcanus, Volturnus. The Vestal Virgins were the female members of the college. They were in charge of guarding Romes sacred hearth, keeping the flame burning inside the Temple of Vesta, around age 6 to 10, girls were chosen for this position and were obligated to perform the rites and obligations, including remaining chaste, for 30 years. Membership in the colleges of priests, including the College of Pontiffs, was usually an honor offered to members of politically powerful or wealthy families. Membership was for life, except for the Vestal Virgins whose term was 30 years, in the early Republic, only patricians could become priests. However, the Lex Ogulnia in 300 BC opened up college to plebeians, until the 3rd century BC, the college elected the pontifex maximus from their own number. The right of the college to elect their own pontifex maximus was returned and this changed again after Sulla, when in response to his reforms, the election of the pontifex maximus was once again placed in the hands of an assembly of seventeen of the twenty-five tribes. However, the college still controlled which candidates the assembly voted on, during the Empire, the office was publicly elected from the candidates of existing pontiffs, until the Emperors began to automatically assume the title, following Julius Caesar’s example. The pontifex maximus was a political position to hold and the candidates for office were often very active political members of the college. Many, such as Julius Caesar, went on to hold consulships during their time as pontifex maximus, one of their most important duties was their guardianship of the libri pontificales. Among these were the acta, indigitamenta, ritualia, commentarii, fasti and these items were under the sole possession of the college of pontiffs and only they were allowed to consult these items when necessary
10.
Epulones
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The epulones formed one of the four great religious corporations of ancient Roman priests. The two most important colleges were the College of Pontiffs and the augurs, the fourth was the quindecimviri sacris faciundis, the epulones arranged feasts and public banquets at festivals and games, duties that had originally belonged to the pontiffs. Initially there were three epulones, but later their number was increased to seven, hence they were known as the septemviri epulonum. Julius Caesar temporarily expanded the college to ten, but after his death and their college was founded in 196 BC, long after reforms had opened the magistracies and most priesthoods to plebeians, who were thus eligible from the beginning. The necessity for such a college arose as the increasingly elaborate festivals required experts to oversee their organization, the patera was the sacred bowl used by the epulones. It was shallow with a raised center so that when held in the palm, the patera was the special emblem of the epulones. The paten used today by Roman Catholic priests, omits the raised center, lacus Curtius website, Epulones from William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, John Murray, London,1875. Roman Magistrates religio Romana, Patera Epulones
11.
Quindecimviri sacris faciundis
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In ancient Rome, the quindecimviri sacris faciundis were the fifteen members of a college with priestly duties. Most notably they guarded the Sibylline Books, scriptures which they consulted and interpreted at the request of the Senate and this collegium also oversaw the worship of any foreign gods which were introduced to Rome. Originally these duties had been performed by duumviri, two men of patrician status and their number was increased to ten by a Licinio-Sextian law in 367 BC, which also required for half of the priests to be plebs. During the Middle Republic, members of the college were admitted through co-option, at some point in the third century BC, several priesthoods, probably including the quindecimviri, began to be elected through the voting tribes. Decemviri Sacris Faciundis in Smiths Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities at LacusCurtius
12.
Glossary of ancient Roman religion
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The vocabulary of ancient Roman religion was highly specialized. Its study affords important information about the religion, traditions and beliefs of the ancient Romans and this legacy is conspicuous in European cultural history in its influence on later juridical and religious vocabulary in Europe, particularly of the Western Church. For theonyms, or the names and epithets of gods, see List of Roman deities, for public religious holidays, see Roman festivals. For temples see the List of Ancient Roman temples, individual landmarks of religious topography in ancient Rome are not included in this list, see Roman temple. The verb abominari was a term of augury for an action that rejects or averts an unfavourable omen indicated by a signum, the noun is abominatio, from which English abomination derives. At the taking of formally solicited auspices, the observer was required to acknowledge any potentially bad sign occurring within the templum he was observing, regardless of the interpretation. He might, however, take actions in order to ignore the signa, including avoiding the sight of them. The latter tactic required promptness, wit and skill based on discipline, thus the omen had no validity apart from the observation of it. The aedes was the place of a god. It was thus a structure that housed the image, distinguished from the templum or sacred district. Aedes is one of several Latin words that can be translated as shrine or temple, for instance, the Temple of Vesta, as it is called in English, was in Latin an aedes. See also the diminutive aedicula, a small shrine, in his work On Architecture, Vitruvius always uses the word templum in the technical sense of a space defined through augury, with aedes the usual word for the building itself. The design of an aedes, he writes, should be appropriate to the characteristics of the deity. Thus in theory, though not always in practice, architectural aesthetics had a theological dimension, the word aedilis, a public official, is related by etymology, among the duties of the aediles was the overseeing of public works, including the building and maintenance of temples. The temple of Flora, for instance, was built in 241 BC by two aediles acting on Sibylline oracles, the plebeian aediles had their headquarters at the aedes of Ceres. In religious usage, ager was terrestrial space defined for the purposes of augury in relation to auspicia, there were five kinds of ager, Romanus, Gabinus, peregrinus, hosticus and incertus. The ager Romanus originally included the space outside the pomerium. According to Varro, the ager Gabinus pertained to the circumstances of the oppidum of Gabii
13.
Fetial
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A fetial was a type of priest in Ancient Rome. They formed a collegium devoted to Jupiter as the patron of good faith, the duties of the fetials included advising the senate on foreign affairs and international treaties, making formal proclamations of peace and of war, and confirming treaties. They also carried out the functions of traveling heralds or ambassadors, the first mention of the fetials by Livy occurs in the context of the war between Alba Longa and Rome, during which the Roman king Tullus Hostilius appointed M. Valerius as a fetial and Sp. Fusius as pater patratus, for the purpose of binding Rome, according to Livy, the ritual by which the fetials were to declare war, the ritual of rerum repetitio, was introduced to Rome by Ancus Marcius, borrowing on the traditions of the Aequicolae. However he had described the ritual actions of the fetials when recording the wars of Tullus Hostilius. Thus some scholars think the mentions of the Aequi may be a due to a folk etymology connecting Aequi to aequus. On the other ancient sources support the tradition that the priesthood was created under the influence of Aequian king Ferter Resus. The ritual of rerum repetitio, a request of restitution or reparations, if the demands are not met, the pater patratus declares war within 33 days and returns to Rome to await the resolution of the Roman king and senate. Once they have resolved to go to war, a returns to the enemy frontier carrying a javelin with a steel or burnt tip. He declares war on the enemy, and throws the javelin into their territory, the fetial is connected to matters of law and not directly to war, hence in his formulae he never invokes Mars, but Jupiter, Juno and Quirinius. The religious relevance of the collegium or sodalitas lay in ensuring that Rome enjoyed the protection of gods in its relationships with foreign states and this collegium was probably common to other Latin cities as Livy makes reference to the fetials of Alba. According to some scholars, the name derives from the noun root *feti- and it is allied to the basic religious concept of fas, both being rooted in IE *dhs, originally meaning to set, setting. This root has given the verb facere, to do, make by a semantic shift, both fetial and fas preserve the original sense of foundation here, as in Vedic dhaman, dhatu in its religious sense. The implications of this etymology would hint to the fact that outside their own ager Romans felt the need for a religious, a need was felt to go beyond the sphere of human law or right. While juridical justification was acknowledged as necessary Romans wanted to ensure the approval of what founds right and makes it possible and we know the ceremonies and formulae of two circumstances, conclusion of a treaty and request of reparations and declaration of war. Oaths were made by Jupiter Lapis, the flintstone was believed to be a seat of Jupiters because if struck it emitted sparks, thus being analogous to lightning. The ceremony has two known variants, when Rome asked for reparations for an offense or damage, the fetials were sent as ambassadors to the foreign country concerned. The fetials were an institution of the Latins and of other Italic people
14.
Arval Brethren
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In ancient Roman religion, the Arval Brethren or Arval Brothers were a body of priests who offered annual sacrifices to the Lares and gods to guarantee good harvests. Inscriptions provide evidence of their oaths, rituals and sacrifices, Roman legend held that the priestly college was originated by Romulus, who took the place of a dead son of his nurse Acca Laurentia, and formed the priesthood with the remaining eleven sons. They were also connected originally with the Sabine priesthood of Sodales Titii who were originally their counterpart among the Sabines. Their task was the worship of Dea Dia, an old fertility goddess, on the three days of her May festival, they offered sacrifices and chanted secretly inside the temple of the goddess at her lucus the Carmen Arvale. The magister of the selected the exact three days of the celebration by an unknown method. The celebration began in Rome on the first day, was transferred to a sacred grove outside the city wall on the second day, Arval Brethren formed a college of twelve priests, although archaeologists have found only up to nine names at a time in the inscriptions. They were appointed for life and did not lose their status even in exile, according to Pliny the Elder, their sign was a white band with the chaplet of sheaves of grain. The Brethren assembled in the Regia and their duties included ritual propitiations or thanksgivings as the Ambarvalia, the sacrifices done at the borders of Rome at the fifth mile of the Via Campana or Salaria. Archaic traits of the rituals included the prohibition of the use of iron, the importance of Arval Brethren apparently dwindled during the Roman Republic, but emperor Augustus revived their practices to enforce his own authority. After Augustus time emperors and senators frequented the festivities, at least two emperors, Marcus Aurelius and Elagabalus, were formally accepted as members of the Brethren. The first full descriptions of their rituals also originate from this time, the last inscriptions about the Arval Brethren date from about 325 AD. They were abolished along with Romes other traditional priesthoods by 400 AD
15.
Salii
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In ancient Roman religion, the Saliī were the leaping priests of Mars supposed to have been introduced by King Numa Pompilius. They were twelve patrician youths, dressed as warriors, an embroidered tunic, a breastplate, a short red cloak, a sword. They were charged with the twelve bronze shields called ancīlia, which, like the Mycenaean shield, each year in March the Salii made a procession round the city, dancing and singing the Carmen Saliare. Ovid, who relates the story of Numa and the heavenly ancīle in his Fasti, found the hymn, during the Principate, by decree of the Senate, Augustus name was inserted into the song. They ended the day by banqueting, saliaris cena became proverbial for a sumptuous feast. King Tullus Hostilius is said to have established another collegium of Salii in fulfilment of a vow which he made in the war with Fidenae. These Salii were also twelve in number, chosen from the patricians and they were called the Saliī collīnī, Agonales, or Agonenses. It is unclear whether the aim of the ritual was to protect Romes army. In addition to the myth of the ancile, several explanations are offered in Greek. An origin among the Etruscans is attributed to a founding by Morrius, georges Dumézil interpreted the rituals of the Salii as marking the opening and the closing of the yearly war season. The opening would coincide with the day of the Agonium Martiale on March 19, the first date was also referred to as ancilia movere, to move the ancilia, and the second as ancilia condere, to store the ancilia. Dumezil views the two groups of Salii — one representing Mars and the other Quirinus — as a dialectic relationship showing the interdependency of the military and economic functions in Roman society. Classical philologist Georg Wissowa maintained that the ritual of the Salii is a war dance or a sword dance, with their costumes clearly indicating their military origin. On the Ides of March, a man named as Mamurius Veturius was beaten with long white sticks in the sacrum Mamurii. Mamurius was the blacksmith who forged eleven replicas of the original divine shield that had dropped from the sky. According to Usener and Ludwig Preller Mars would be a god of war, Mars is himself a dancer, and the head of the Salian dancers, patrician young men whose parents were both living. Wissowa compares the Salii with the youth who dance the Lusus Troiae. The ritual dance of the Salii would thus be a coalescence of a initiation into adulthood, other 19th-century scholars have compared the rituals of the Salii with the Vedic myths of Indra and the Maruts
16.
Titii
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The Titii was a college of Roman priests. There are two versions of how the college was established, the other says that Romulus created it in honour of king Tatius, who after his death was worshipped as a god. During the Republic the Titii are no longer mentioned, as the cults of all Italic tribes became gradually united into Roman religion, the Titii were restored under the Empire, but their functions were changed to conduct the worship of an emperor, like those of Sodales Augustales
17.
Pontifex Maximus
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The Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome. This was the most important position in the ancient Roman religion, open only to patricians until 254 BC, a distinctly religious office under the early Roman Republic, it gradually became politicized until, beginning with Augustus, it was subsumed into the Imperial office. Its last use with reference to the emperors is in inscriptions of Gratian who, however, although the most influential office within Roman priesthood, the pontifex maximus was ranked the fifth in the ranking of the highest Roman priests, behind the rex sacrorum and the flamines maiores. It is not included in the Popes official titles, but appears on buildings, monuments and coins of popes of Renaissance, according to the usual interpretation, the term pontifex literally means bridge-builder, maximus literally means greatest. However, it was understood in its symbolic sense as well. The last derivation is mentioned also by Varro, who rejected it, others have held that the word was originally pompifex. The word pons originally meant way and pontifex would thus mean maker of roads, another opinion is that the word is a corruption of a similar-sounding but etymologically unrelated Etruscan word for priest. Yet another hypothesis considers the word as a loan from the Sabine language, in which it would mean a member of a college of five, from Osco-Umbrian ponte, the pontifex would thence be a member of a sacrificial college known as pomperia. The term ἀρχιερεύς is used in the Septuagint text of the Old Testament, the Collegium Pontificum was the most important priesthood of ancient Rome. The foundation of this college and the office of Pontifex Maximus is attributed to the second king of Rome. Much of what is known about the Regal period in Roman history is semi-legendary or mythical, the Collegium presumably acted as advisers to the rex in religious matters. The collegium was headed by the pontifex maximus, and all the pontifices held their office for life, Numa is said to have founded Roman religion after dedicating an altar on the Aventine Hill to Jupiter Elicius and consulting the gods by means of augury. Numa wrote down and sealed these religious instructions, and gave them to the first Pontifex Maximus, in the Roman Republic, the Pontifex Maximus was the highest office in the state religion of ancient Rome and directed the College of Pontiffs. The rex sacrorum was explicitly deprived of military and political power, the official residence of the Pontifex Maximus was the Domus Publica which stood between the House of the Vestal Virgins and the Via Sacra, close to the Regia, in the Roman Forum. His religious duties were carried out from the Regia, unless the pontifex maximus was also a magistrate at the same time, he was not allowed to wear the toga praetexta, i. e. toga with the purple border. The Pontifex was not simply a priest and he had both political and religious authority. It is not clear which of the two came first or had the most importance, in practice, particularly during the late Republic, the office of Pontifex Maximus was generally held by a member of a politically prominent family. It was a position mainly for the great prestige it conferred on the holder, Julius Caesar became pontifex in 73 BC
18.
Flamen Dialis
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In ancient Roman religion, the Flamen Dialis was the high priest of Jupiter. There were 15 flamines, of three were flamines maiores, serving the three gods of the Archaic Triad. According to tradition the flamines were forbidden to touch metal, ride a horse, the Flamen Dialis enjoyed many peculiar honours. From that time forward he was emancipated from the control of his father, and became sui juris. He alone of all priests wore the apex, he had a right to a lictor, to the toga praetexta, the Sella Curulis and this last privilege, after having been suffered to fall into disuse for a long period, was asserted by C. Valerius Flaccus, the claim allowed however, says Livy, more in deference to his personal character than from a conviction of the justice of the demand. Thus, it was impossible for him to undertake the government of a province and he might not mount or even touch a horse, touch iron, or look at an army marshalled outside the pomerium, or be elected to the consulship. Indeed, it would seem that originally he was precluded from seeking or accepting any civil magistracy. The Flamen Dialis was required to wear certain unusual garments, such as the apex, a hat, and a laena. The origins of the following superstitions are not so clear, but there is speculation in Plutarch, Festus, and Pliny the Elder. He might not touch flour, nor leaven, nor leavened bread, nor a dead body, he not enter a burial place. He was forbidden either to touch or to name a dog, none but a free man might cut his hair, the clippings of which, together with the parings of his nails, were buried beneath a felix arbor. No one might sleep in his bed, the legs of which were smeared with fine clay, and it was unlawful to place a box containing sacrificial cakes in contact with the bedstead. In the view of Dumézil, these mark the Flamen Dialis as serving a heavenly god, with his attributes of absolute purity and freedom. Within his scope of action there are the domains of power and right, but not battle. His solidarity with the king is reflected in that of his earthly counterpart, such a partnership has parallels in other Indo-European cultures, such as that of the Vedic rajan and his purohita and the ancient Irish rig and the chief druid. The Flaminica Dialis was the wife of the Flamen Dialis and she was required to be a virgin at the time of their wedding, which had to be conducted according to the ceremonies of confarreatio, the traditional form of marriage for patricians. The couple were not permitted to divorce, and if the flaminica died the Dialis was obliged to resign, the assistance of the flaminica was essential in the performance of certain rituals
19.
Flamen Quirinalis
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In ancient Roman religion, the Flamen Quirinalis was the flamen devoted to the cult of god Quirinus. He was one of the three flamines maiores, third in order of importance after the Flamen Dialis and the Flamen Martialis, as the other ones he had to reside in Rome and was not allowed to leave the city for any reason. The theology of Quirinus is complex and difficult to interpret, from early times, he was identified with the deified Romulus, who originally seems to have shared some common theological and mythological elements with Quirinus. The flamen Quirinalis presided over at least three festivals, the Consualia Aestiva on August 21, Robigalia on April 25, and Larentalia on December 23. These festivals were all devoted to the cult of deities of remarkable antiquity, robigus was an evil spirit that could cause mildew and thus damage growing wheat. Larenta was a figure connected to the primordial legendary times of Rome or to the founding of the city itself, during the Consualia Aestiva the flamen Quirinalis and the Vestals offered a sacrifice at Consuss underground altar in the Circus Maximus. Four days later the Vestals took part in the rites of the festival of Ops, goddess of agricultural plenty, the Opiconsivia. This occasion was related to Consus too and was performed in the Regia of the forum, where Ops had a sacred chapel, open only to the pontifex maximus. The Robigalia of April 25 required the offering of blood and entrails from a puppy. The rite took place near the fifth milestone of the Via Claudia, ovid talks of a lucus on the site and reports a long prayer he says was pronounced by the flamen Quirinalis. While the prayer may contain elements from an actual formulation, Ovids text is a poetic recreation, the Larentalia of December 23 were a parentatio, an act of funerary cult in memory of Larunda or Larentia. A sacrifice was offered at the site of her supposed tomb on the Velabrum. She was not a goddess but a sort of heroine, with two conflicting legends, in the first Larentia is a courtesan who had become rich after spending a night in the sanctuary of Heracles. Later she had bestowed her fortune on the Roman people on the condition that a named after her were held yearly. In the second she is Romulus and Remuss wet nurse, also considered the mother of the Fratres Arvales, Gellius in a detailed passage on Larentia makes a specific reference to the flamen Quirinalis. Macrobius makes reference to the presence of a flamen, per flaminem. This flamen could neither be the Dialis nor the Martialis, let alone the minores, beside these festivals that of Quirinus himself, the Quirinalia, would logically and probably require the participation of the flamen Quirinalis. The Quirinalia were held on February 17 and must be among the oldest Roman yearly festivals, the Quirinalia occurred on February 17 in the Roman calendar
20.
Rex Nemorensis
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The rex Nemorensis was a priest of the goddess Diana at Aricia in Italy, by the shores of Lake Nemi, where she was known as Diana Nemorensis. The priesthood played a role in the mythography of James George Frazer in The Golden Bough. The tale of the rex Nemorensis appears in a number of ancient sources, the Latin name of the priesthood is given by Suetonius, He caused the rex Nemorensis, who had held his priesthood for many years, to be supplanted by a stronger adversary. That same passage indicates that by the time of the early Principate, a possible allusion to the origins of the priesthood at Nemi is contained in Vergils Aeneid, as Virgil places Hippolytus at the grove of Aricia. An alternative story has the worship of Diana at Nemi instituted by Orestes, surviving lore concerning the rex Nemorensis indicates that this priest or king held a very uneasy position. Macaulays quatrain on the institution of the rex Nemorensis states, Those trees in whose dim shadow The ghastly priest doth reign The priest who slew the slayer, And shall himself be slain. However, a candidate had first to test his mettle by plucking a golden bough from one of the trees in the sacred grove. The human sacrifice conducted at Nemi was thought to be highly unusual by the ancients, Suetonius mentions it as an example of the moral failings of Caligula. Strabo calls it Scythian, implying that he found it barbaric, the violent character of this singular institution could barely be justified by reference to its great antiquity and mythological sanctity. The ancient sources appear to concur that an escaped slave who seeks refuge in this uneasy office is likely to be a desperate man. While later anthropology is sceptical of Frazers broad hypothesis, it had an extensive influence, in 1990, a radio programme entitled The Priest of Nemi was produced by Michael Bakewell and broadcast on BBC Radio 3. This programme was based on the 1990 book The Making of the Golden Bough by Robert Fraser, the novel Nemorensis, by Simon Spurrier, is based on the legend. The Making of the Golden Bough, The Origins and Growth of An Argument Macmillan,1990, ISBN 0-333-49631-0 Frazer, Sir James G. The Golden Bough Macmillan,1950, abridged edition
21.
Curio maximus
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The curio maximus was an obscure priesthood in ancient Rome that had oversight of the curiae, groups of citizens loosely affiliated within what was originally a tribe. Each curia was led by a curio, who was admitted only after the age of 50 and held his office for life. The curiones were required to be in health and without physical defect, and could not hold any other civil or military office. In the early Republic, the curio maximus was always a patrician, the earliest curio maximus identified as such is Servius Sulpicius, who held the office in 463. The first plebeian to hold the office was elected in 209 BC, when the patricians objected to the candidacy of C. Mamilius Atellus, the tribunes of the plebs, who withheld themselves from religious affairs, were called in. They followed procedure by referring the matter to the senate, who tossed it back to them. Political jockeying no longer discernible in the record was perhaps in play. Mamilius was duly elected, and held the office until he died of plague in 175 BC and his successor, also a plebeian, was C. Scribonius Curio, whose new cognomen passed to his descendants, most notably the father, the electoral procedure for the office of curio maximus probably resembled that of pontifex maximus, that is, election through the tribes. Others known to have held the office include C, calvisius Sabinus, the consul of 39 BC. The curio maximus presided over the Quirinalia, and also the agricultural festivals of the such as the Fordicidia, when pregnant cows were sacrificed. The Fornacalia had no fixed date, and though each curia might celebrate the festival separately, although the curio was a kind of priest, he had the power to convene meetings for political purposes, and each curia also had a flamen curialis whose duties were specifically religious. Another duty of the curio maximus was collecting religious contributions from the curiae
22.
Vestal Virgin
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In ancient Rome, the Vestals or Vestal Virgins were priestesses of Vesta, goddess of the hearth. The College of the Vestals and its well-being were regarded as fundamental to the continuance and they cultivated the sacred fire that was not allowed to go out. Livy, Plutarch, and Aulus Gellius attribute the creation of the Vestals as a state-supported priestesshood to king Numa Pompilius, according to Livy, Numa introduced the Vestals and assigned them salaries from the public treasury. Livy also says that the priestesshood of Vesta had its origins at Alba Longa, the 2nd century antiquarian Aulus Gellius writes that the first Vestal taken from her parents was led away in hand by Numa. Plutarch attributes the founding of the Temple of Vesta to Numa, ambrose alludes to a seventh in late antiquity. Numa also appointed the pontifex maximus to watch over the Vestals, the first Vestals, according to Varro, were named Gegania, Veneneia, Canuleia, and Tarpeia. In myth, Tarpeia, daughter of Spurius Tarpeius, was portrayed as traitorous, the Vestals became a powerful and influential force in the Roman state. When Sulla included the young Julius Caesar in his proscriptions, the Vestals interceded on Caesars behalf, augustus included the Vestals in all major dedications and ceremonies. They were held in awe, and attributed certain magical powers and this gift was preserved inviolate till the time of the degenerate moneychangers, who diverted the maintenance of sacred chastity into a fund for the payment of base porters. A public famine ensued on this act, and a bad harvest disappointed the hopes of all the provinces and it was sacrilege which rendered the year barren, for it was necessary that all should lose that which they had denied to religion. The College of the Vestals was disbanded and the fire extinguished in 394. Zosimus records how the Christian noblewoman Serena, niece of Theodosius, entered the temple and took from the statue of the goddess a necklace and placed it on her own neck. An old woman appeared, the last of the Vestals, who proceeded to rebuke Serena, according to Zosimus, Serena was then subject to dreadful dreams predicting her own untimely death. The chief Vestal oversaw the efforts of the Vestals, and was present in the College of Pontiffs, the Vestalis Maxima Occia presided over the Vestals for 57 years, according to Tacitus. The last known chief vestal was Coelia Concordia, who stepped down in 394 with the disbanding of the College of the Vestals, the Vestalium Maxima was the most important of Romes high priestesses. The Flaminica Dialis and the regina sacrorum each held unique responsibility for religious rites. According to Plutarch, there were only two Vestal Virgins when Numa began the College of the Vestals and this number later increased to four, and then to six. It has been suggested by some authorities that a seventh was added later, the Vestals were committed to the priestesshood before puberty and sworn to celibacy for a period of 30 years
23.
Regina sacrorum
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In ancient Roman religion, the rex sacrorum was a senatorial priesthood reserved for patricians. The rex was based in the Regia, during the Roman Republic, the rex sacrorum was chosen by the pontifex maximus from a list of patricians submitted by the College of Pontiffs. A further requirement was that he be born from parents married through the ritual of confarreatio and his wife, the regina sacrorum, also performed religious duties specific to her role. Marriage was thus such a part of the priesthood that if the regina died. The rex sacrorum wore a toga, the undecorated soft shoeboot, the rex held a sacrifice on the Kalends of each month. On the Nones, he announced the dates of festivals for the month, on March 24 and May 24, he held a sacrifice in the Comitium. The rex sacrorum was a feature of Italic religion and possibly also Etruscan, the title is found in Latin cities such as Lanuvium, Tusculum, and Velitrae. At Rome the priesthood was deliberately depoliticized, the rex sacrorum was not elected, and his inauguration was witnessed by a comitia calata. Like the flamen Dialis but in contrast to the pontiffs and augurs and it is a matter of scholarly debate as to whether the rex sacrorum was created during the formation of the Republic, as Arnaldo Momigliano argued, or had existed in the Regal period. Another Roman priest given the king was the rex Nemorensis. As the wife of the rex sacrorum, the regina sacrorum was a priestess who carried out ritual duties only she could perform. On the Kalends of every month, the regina presided at the sacrifice of a sow or female lamb to Juno, unlike the Vestals, however, the regina sacrorum and the flaminica Dialis were complements to a male partner, these two priesthoods were gender-balanced and had shared duties. While performing her rituals, the regina wore a headdress called the arculum, inscriptions record the names of a few reginae sacrorum, including Sergia Paullina, the wife of Cn. Pinarius Cornelius Severus, shortly before 112 AD, and Manlia Fadilla around the 2nd/3rd century AD, the office of rex sacrorum was not a highly coveted position among the patricians for although the rex sacrorum was technically superior to the pontiffs the rank conferred no real political gain. Because of this there would be some years without a rex sacrorum at all, the King of Sacrifices by John Maddox Roberts appears in The Mammoth Book of Historical Detectives, edited by Michael Ashley
24.
Imperial cult (ancient Rome)
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The Imperial cult of ancient Rome identified emperors and some members of their families with the divinely sanctioned authority of the Roman State. Augustuss reforms transformed Romes Republican system of government to a de facto monarchy, couched in traditional Roman practices, the princeps was expected to balance the interests of the Roman military, Senate and people, and to maintain peace, security and prosperity throughout an ethnically diverse empire. A deceased emperor held worthy of the honor could be voted a state divinity by the Senate, in the development of Imperial rule from Principate to Dominate, the role of the Senate was increasingly marginalised and military loyalty became the key to Imperial authority. The Imperial cult was inseparable from that of Romes official deities, whose cult was essential to Romes survival, Traditional cult was a focus of Imperial revivalist legislation under Decius and Diocletian. Christian apologists and martyrologists saw the cult of the Emperor as a particularly offensive instrument of pagan impiety and it therefore became a focus of theological and political debate during the ascendancy of Christianity under Constantine I. The emperor Julian failed to reverse the declining support for Romes official religious practices, Romes traditional gods and Imperial cult were officially abandoned. However, many of the rites, practices and status distinctions that characterized the cult to emperors were perpetuated in the theology, for five centuries, the Roman Republic did not give worship to any historic figure, or any living man, although surrounded by divine and semi-divine monarchies. Romes legendary kings had been its masters, with their removal, Republican Romans could identify Romulus, similarly, Aeneas was worshipped as Jupiter Indiges. The aristocrats who held almost all Roman magistracies, and thereby occupied almost all of the Senate, among the highest of honors was the triumph. The triumphator rode in a chariot, bearing divine emblems, in a supposed to be inherited from the ancient kings of Rome. Whatever his personal ambitions, his victory and his triumph alike served the Roman Senate, people, in private life, however, tradition required that some human beings be treated as more or less divine, cult was due from familial inferiors to their superiors. A client could call his patron Jupiter on earth, the dead, collectively and individually, were gods of the underworld or afterlife. A prominent clan might claim divine influence and quasi-divine honors for its leader, death masks were made for all notable Romans and were displayed in the atria of their houses, they were used to represent their ghostly presence at family funerals. The mask of Scipio Africanus, Cornelias father and victor over Hannibal, was stored in the temple of Jupiter, a tradition arose in the centuries after his death that Africanus had been inspired by prophetic dreams, and was himself the son of Jupiter. There are several cases of unofficial cult directed at men viewed as saviors and this celebration, in Spain, featured a lavish banquet with local and imported delicacies, and a mechanical statue of Victory to crown Metellus, who wore a triumphators toga picta for the occasion. These festivities were organized by the quaestor Gaius Urbinus, but were not acts of the state, Metellus liked all this, but his older and pious contemporaries thought it arrogant and intolerable. After Gaius Marius defeated the Teutones, private citizens would offer food and drink to him alongside their household gods, when the Romans began to dominate large parts of the Greek world, Romes senior representatives there were given the same divine honours as were Hellenistic rulers. There were similar instances of divine cult to humans in the century, although some rulers, like Agesilaus
25.
Gallo-Roman religion
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It was the result of selective acculturation. In some cases, Gaulish deity names were used as epithets for Roman deities, in other cases, Roman gods were given Gaulish female partners – for example, Mercury was paired with Rosmerta and Sirona was partnered with Apollo. In at least one case – that of the equine goddess Epona – a native Celtic goddess was also adopted by Romans. The Jupiter Column was a type of religious monument from Roman Gaul and Germania. Eastern mystery religions penetrated Gaul early on and these included the cults of Orpheus, Mithras, Cybele, and Isis. The imperial cult, centred primarily on the numen of Augustus, came to play a prominent role in the religion of Gaul. This gave rise to a characteristic Gallo-Roman fanum, identifiable in archaeology from its concentric shape, Roman Gaul Gallo-Roman culture Interpretatio romana Celtic mythology Burnand, Y. Notes sur le vocabulaire épigraphique de la de la divinité en Gaule romaine in Signa deorum. Debal, J. Vienne-en-Val, divinités et sanctuaires, bulletin de la Société Archéologique et Historique de lOrléanais,42 Deyts, S. A la rencontre des Dieux gaulois, un défi à César, faudet, I. Les temples de tradition celtique en Gaule Romaine. ISBN 2-87772-074-8 Green, M. Gods of the Celts, jufer, N. Luginbühl, T. Répertoire des dieux gaulois. ISBN 2-87772-200-7 Weisgerber, G. Das Pilgerheiligtum des Apollo und der Sirona von Hochscheid im Hunsruck, woolf, G. Becoming Roman, the origins of provincial civilization in Gaul
26.
Haruspex
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The reading of omens specifically from the liver is also known by the Greek term hepatoscopy. The Roman concept is derived from Etruscan religion, as one of the three branches of the disciplina Etrusca. Such methods continued to be used into the Middle Ages, with Thomas Becket apparently consulting both an aruspex and a prior to a royal expedition against Brittany. The Latin terms haruspex, haruspicina are from an archaic word haru entrails, intestines and from the root spec- to watch, the Greek ἡπατοσκοπία hēpatoskōpia is from hēpar liver and skop- to examine. The Babylonians were famous for hepatoscopy, the Nineveh library texts name more than a dozen liver-related terms. The liver was considered the source of the blood and hence the basis of life itself, from this belief, the Babylonians thought they could discover the will of the gods by examining the livers of carefully selected sheep. A priest known as a bārû was specially trained to interpret the signs of the liver, the liver was divided into sections, with each section representing a particular deity. One Babylonian clay model of a liver, dated between 1900 and 1600 BC, is conserved in the British Museum. The model was used for divination, which was important to Mesopotamian medicine and this practice was conducted by priests and seers who looked for signs in the stars, or in the organs of sacrificed animals, to tell them things about a patient’s illness. Wooden pegs were placed in the holes of the tablet to record features found in a sacrificed animals liver. The seer then used these features to predict the course of a patients illness, haruspicy was part of a larger study of organs for the sake of divination, called extispicy, paying particular attention to the positioning of the organs and their shape. There are many records of different peoples using the liver and spleen of various domestic, the Assyro-Babylonian tradition was also adopted in Hittite religion. At least thirty-six liver-models have been excavated at Hattusa, the Etruscans were also well known for the practice of divining by the entrails of sheep. A bronze sculpture of a known as the Liver of Piacenza. It is marked with the name of regions assigned to various deities of Etruscan religion, from as early as 1900, Ludwig Stieda sought to compare the Etruscan with the Babylonian artefacts. Further evidence has found of haruspices in Bath, England where the base of a statue dedicated by a haruspex named Memor. Anthropomancy Augur Auspice Haruspices, article in Smiths Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities Figurine of Haruspex, vatican Museums Online, Gregorian Etruscan Museum, Room III l. Chapters 1 and 2 of the bārûtu
27.
Livy
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Livy and Augustuss wife, Livia, were from the same clan in different locations, although not related by blood. Livy was born as Titus Livius in Patavium in northern Italy, there is a debate about the year of Titus Livius birth,64 BC or more likely 59 BC. At the time of his birth, his city of Patavium was the second wealthiest on the Italian peninsula. Patavium was a part of the province of Cisalpine Gaul at the time, in his works, Livy often expressed his deep affection and pride for Patavium, and the city was well known for its conservative values in morality and politics. Livy’s teen years were during the 40s BC, a time that coincided with the wars that were occurring throughout the Roman world. The governor of Cisalpine Gaul at the time, a man called Asinius Pollio, had tried to bring Patavium into the camp of Marcus Antonius, the wealthier citizens of Patavium refused to contribute money and arms to Asinius Pollio, and went into hiding. Therefore, Livy and the residents of Patavium did not end up supporting Marcus Antonius in his campaign for control over Rome. Later on, Asinius Pollio made a jibe at Livys patavinity and his jibe at Livy and his patavinity, however, may have been said because the city of Patavium had rejected Asinius Pollio, and he still harboured harsh feelings toward the city as a whole. Titus Livius probably went to Rome in the 30s BC, and it is likely that he spent an amount of time in the city after this. During his time in Rome, he was never a senator nor held any other governmental position and his elementary mistakes in military matters show that he was never a soldier. However, he was educated in philosophy and rhetoric and it seems that Livy had the financial resources and means to live an independent life. He devoted a part of his life to his writings. Livy was known to give recitations to small audiences, but he was not heard of to engage in declamation and he was familiar with the emperor Augustus, formerly Octavian, and the imperial family. Octavian was one of the three men fighting for the control of Rome during the Civil Wars in the 40s BC, Octavian gained power after defeating Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra, and was later given the honorary name of Augustus. Considering that Augustus came to be known as the greatest Roman emperor in the eyes of the Romans and it is said that Livy was the one who encouraged the future emperor Claudius, who was born in 10 BC, to explore the writing of history during his childhood. Livy himself was married and had at least one daughter and one son, Livy’s most famous work was his history of Rome. In it he explains the history of the city of Rome. Because he was writing under the emperor Augustus, Livy’s history emphasizes the great triumphs of Rome and he wrote his history with embellished accounts of Roman heroism in order to promote the new type of government implemented by Augustus when he became emperor
28.
Roman Kingdom
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The Roman Kingdom was the period of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a monarchical form of government of the city of Rome and its territories. The site of the founding of the Roman Kingdom and eventual Republic, the Palatine Hill and hills surrounding it presented easily defensible positions in the wide fertile plain surrounding them. All of these contributed to the success of the city. The Gauls destroyed much of Romes historical records when they sacked the city after the Battle of the Allia in 390 BC, with no contemporary records of the kingdom existing, all accounts of the kings must be carefully questioned. The insignia of the kings of Rome were twelve lictors wielding the fasces bearing axes, the right to sit upon a Curule chair, the purple Toga Picta, red shoes, of all these insignia, the most important was the purple toga. The imperium of the king was held for life and protected him from ever being brought to trial for his actions. As being the owner of imperium in Rome at the time. Also, the laws that kept citizens safe from magistrates misuse of imperium did not exist during the monarchical period, another power of the king was the power to either appoint or nominate all officials to offices. The king would appoint a tribunus celerum to serve as both the tribune of Ramnes tribe in Rome and as the commander of the personal bodyguard. The king was required to appoint the tribune upon entering office, the tribune was second in rank to the king and also possessed the power to convene the Curiate Assembly and lay legislation before it. Another officer appointed by the king was the praefectus urbi, who acted as the warden of the city. When the king was absent from the city, the prefect held all of the powers and abilities. The king even received the right to be the person to appoint patricians to the Senate. The people knew the king as a mediator between them and the gods and thus viewed the king with religious awe and this made the king the head of the national religion and its chief executive. Having the power to control the Roman calendar, he conducted all religious ceremonies and appointed lower religious offices and it is said that Romulus himself instituted the augurs and was believed to have been the best augur of all. Likewise, King Numa Pompilius instituted the pontiffs and through them developed the foundations of the dogma of Rome. They could only be called together by the king and could discuss the matters the king laid before them. While the Curiate Assembly did have the power to pass laws that had submitted by the king
29.
Sulla
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Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix, known commonly as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He had the distinction of holding the office of consul twice, Sulla was a skillful general, achieving numerous successes in wars against different opponents, both foreign and Roman. He was awarded a crown, the most prestigious Roman military honor. Sullas dictatorship came during a point in the struggle between optimates and populares, the former seeking to maintain the Senates oligarchy, and the latter espousing populism. In a dispute over the army command Sulla unconstitutionally marched his armies into Rome. Sullas ascension was also marked by purges in proscriptions. After seeking election to and holding a second consulship, he retired to private life, later leaders like Julius Caesar would follow his precedent in attaining political power through force. In Plutarchs Parallel Lives Sulla is paired with the Spartan general, in older sources, his name may be found as Sylla. This is a Hellenism, like sylva for classical Latin silva, lacking ready money, Sulla spent his youth amongst Rome’s comics, actors, lute-players, and dancers. It seems certain that Sulla received a good education, sallust declares him well-read and intelligent, and he was fluent in Greek, which was a sign of education in Rome. Rome declared war on Jugurtha in 111 BC, but for five years Roman legions under Quintus Caecilius Metellus were unsuccessful, Gaius Marius, a lieutenant of Metellus, saw an opportunity to usurp his commander and fed rumors of incompetence and delay to the publicani in the region. These machinations caused calls for Metelluss removal, despite delaying tactics by Metellus, Marius was elected consul and took over the campaign while Sulla was nominated quaestor to him. He had persuaded Jugurthas father-in-law, King Bocchus I of Mauretania and it was a dangerous operation from the first, with King Bocchus weighing up the advantages of handing Jugurtha over to Sulla or Sulla over to Jugurtha. The publicity attracted by this feat boosted Sullas political career, a gilded equestrian statue of Sulla donated by King Bocchus was erected in the Forum to commemorate his accomplishment. Although Sulla had engineered this move, as Sulla was serving under Marius at the time, in 104 BC, the migrating Germanic-Celtic alliance headed by the Cimbri and the Teutones seemed to be heading for Italy. As Marius was the best general Rome had, the Senate allowed him to lead the campaign against them, Sulla served on Marius staff as tribunus militum during the first half of this campaign. Finally, with those of his colleague, proconsul Quintus Lutatius Catulus, Marius forces faced the enemy tribes at the Battle of Vercellae in 101 BC. Sulla had by this time transferred to the army of Catulus to serve as his legatus, victorious at Vercellae, Marius and Catulus were both granted triumphs as the co-commanding generals
30.
Principate
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This reflects the principate emperors assertion that they were merely first among equals among the citizens of Rome. The title itself derived from the position of the princeps senatus, although dynastic pretences crept in from the start, formalizing this in a monarchic style remained politically unthinkable. Afterwards, Imperial rule in the Empire is designated as the dominate, initially, the theory implied the first citizen had to earn his extraordinary position by merit in the style that Augustus himself had gained the position of auctoritas. Large distributions of food for the public and charitable institutions were also means that served as popularity boosters while the construction of public works provided employment for the poor. With the fall of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, the principate was redefined in formal terms under the Emperor Vespasian, the position of princeps became a distinct entity within the broader – formally still republican – Roman constitution. Under the Antonine dynasty, it was the norm for the Emperor to appoint a successful, in modern historical analysis, this is treated by many authors as an ideal situation, the individual who was most capable was promoted to the position of princeps. Of the Antonine dynasty, Edward Gibbon famously wrote that this was the happiest and most productive period in human history and this first phase was to be followed by, or rather evolved into, the so-called dominate. Richard Alston, Aspects of Roman History, henning Börm, Wolfgang Havener, Octavians Rechtsstellung im Januar 27 v. Chr. und das Problem der „Übertragung“ der res publica. Gedanken zur Periodisierung der römischen Kaiserzeit, kurt A. Raaflaub, Mark Toher, Between Republic and Empire, Interpretations of Augustus and his Principate. Berkeley / Los Angeles / Oxford 1990
31.
Roman consul
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A consul was the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic, and the consulship was considered the highest level of the cursus honorum. Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term, the consuls alternated in holding imperium each month, and a consuls imperium extended over Rome, Italy, and the provinces. Originally, consuls were called praetors, referring to their duties as the military commanders. By at least 300 BC the title of Consul was being used, in Greek, the title was originally rendered as στρατηγός ὕπατος, strategos hypatos, and later simply as ὕπατος. The consul was believed by the Romans to date back to the establishment of the Republic in 509 BC. These remained in place until the office was abolished in 367/366 BC, consuls had extensive powers in peacetime, and in wartime often held the highest military command. Additional religious duties included certain rites which, as a sign of their formal importance, consuls also read auguries, an essential step before leading armies into the field. Two consuls were elected each year, serving together, each with power over the others actions. It is thought that only patricians were eligible for the consulship. Consuls were elected by the Comitia Centuriata, which had a bias in its voting structure which only increased over the years from its foundation. If a consul died during his term or was removed from office, a consul elected to start the year - called a consul ordinarius - held more prestige than a suffect consul, partly because the year would be named for ordinary consuls. The first plebeian consul, Lucius Sextius, was elected the following year and it is possible that only the chronology has been distorted, but it seems that one of the first consuls, Lucius Junius Brutus, came from a plebeian family. Another possible explanation is that during the 5th century social struggles, during times of war, the primary qualification for consul was military skill and reputation, but at all times the selection was politically charged. With the passage of time, the became the normal endpoint of the cursus honorum. When Lucius Cornelius Sulla regulated the cursus by law, the age of election to consul became. Beginning in the late Republic, after finishing a year, a former consul would usually serve a lucrative term as a proconsul. The most commonly chosen province for the proconsulship was Cisalpine Gaul, throughout the early years of the Principate although the consuls were still formally elected by the Comitia Centuriata, they were in fact nominated by the princeps. It was a post that would be occupied by a man halfway through his career, in his early thirties for a patrician, emperors frequently appointed themselves, or their protégés or relatives, consuls, even without regard to the age requirements
32.
Roman censor
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The censor was an officer in ancient Rome who was responsible for maintaining the census, supervising public morality, and overseeing certain aspects of the governments finances. The censors regulation of morality is the origin of the modern meaning of the words censor. The census was first instituted by Servius Tullius, sixth king of Rome, after the abolition of the monarchy and the founding of the Republic, the consuls had responsibility for the census until 443 BC. It would not be uncommon for the patrician consulars of the republic to intersperse public office with agricultural labour. In Cicero’s words, in agris erant tum senatores, id est senes, ‘In those days senators—that is and this practice was obsolete by the 2nd century. The magistracy continued to be controlled by patricians until 351 BC, twelve years later, in 339 BC, one of the Publilian laws required that one censor had to be a plebeian. Despite this, no plebeian censor performed the solemn purification of the people until 280 BC, in 131 BC, for the first time, both censors were plebeians. The reason for having two censors was that the two consuls had previously taken the census together, if one of the censors died during his term of office, another was chosen to replace him, just as with consuls. This happened only once, in 393 BC, however, the Gauls captured Rome in that lustrum, and the Romans thereafter regarded such replacement as an offense against religion. From then on, if one of the died, his colleague resigned. The censors were elected in the Centuriate Assembly, which met under the presidency of a consul, as a general principle, the only ones eligible for the office of censor were those who had previously been consuls, but there were a few exceptions. At first, there was no law to prevent a person being censor twice, in that year, he originated a law stating that no one could be elected censor twice. In consequence of this, he received the cognomen of Censorinus, the censorship differed from all other Roman magistracies in the length of office. The censors were also unique with respect to rank and dignity and they had no imperium, and accordingly no lictors. Their rank was granted to them by the Centuriate Assembly, and not by the curiae, and in that respect they were inferior in power to the consuls and praetors. Notwithstanding this, the censorship was regarded as the highest dignity in the state, with the exception of the dictatorship, it was a sacred magistracy, to which the deepest reverence was due. In the exercise of power, they were regulated solely by their own views of duty. The censors possessed the official called a curule chair
33.
Roman triumph
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He rode in a four-horse chariot through the streets of Rome in unarmed procession with his army, captives, and the spoils of his war. At Jupiters temple on the Capitoline Hill, he offered sacrifice, inevitably, the triumph offered extraordinary opportunities for self-publicity, besides its religious and military dimensions. From the Principate onwards, the reflected the Imperial order. The triumph was consciously imitated by medieval and later states in the royal entry, in Republican Rome, truly exceptional military achievement merited the highest possible honours, which connected the vir triumphalis to Romes mythical and semi-mythical past. In effect, the general was close to being king for a day and he was drawn in procession through the city in a four-horse chariot, under the gaze of his peers and an applauding crowd, to the temple of Capitoline Jupiter. The spoils and captives of his victory led the way, his armies followed behind, once at the Capitoline temple, he sacrificed two white oxen to Jupiter and laid tokens of his victory at Jupiters feet, dedicating his victory to the Roman Senate, people, and gods. Triumphs were tied to no particular day, season, or religious festival of the Roman calendar, most seem to have been celebrated at the earliest practicable opportunity, probably on days that were deemed auspicious for the occasion. Tradition required that, for the duration of a triumph, every temple was open, the ceremony was thus, in some sense, shared by the whole community of Roman gods, but overlaps were inevitable with specific festivals and anniversaries. Some may have been coincidental, others were designed, Pompey postponed his third and most magnificent triumph for several months to make it coincide with his own dies natalis. Religious dimensions aside, the focus of the triumph was the general himself, the ceremony promoted him – however temporarily – above every mortal Roman. This was an opportunity granted to very few, from the time of Scipio Africanus, the triumphal general was linked to Alexander and the demi-god Hercules, who had laboured selflessly for the benefit of all mankind. His sumptuous triumphal chariot was bedecked with charms against the possible envy, in some accounts, a companion or public slave would remind him from time to time of his own mortality. This is probably so for the earliest legendary and later semi-legendary triumphs of Romes regal era, as Romes population, power, influence, and territory increased, so did the scale, length, variety, and extravagance of its triumphal processions. The procession mustered in the space of the Campus Martius probably well before first light. Triumphal processions were notoriously long and slow, the longest could last for two or three days, and possibly more, and some may have been of greater length than the route itself, some ancient and modern sources suggest a fairly standard processional order. First came the captive leaders, allies, and soldiers walking in chains. Next in line, all on foot, came Romes senators and magistrates, followed by the generals lictors in their red war-robes, their fasces wreathed in laurel, then the general in his four-horse chariot. A companion, or a slave, might share the chariot with him or, in some cases
34.
Ludi
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Ludi were public games held for the benefit and entertainment of the Roman people. Ludi were held in conjunction with, or sometimes as the feature of, Roman religious festivals. The earliest ludi were horse races in the circus, animal exhibitions with mock hunts and theatrical performances also became part of the festivals. The singular form ludus, game, sport or play has several meanings in Latin, the plural is used for games in a sense analogous to the Greek festivals of games, such as the Panhellenic Games. The late-antique scholar Isidore of Seville, however, classifies the forms of ludus as gymnicus, circensis, the relation of gladiatorial games to the ludi is complex, see Gladiator. Originally, all seem to have been votive offerings, staged as the fulfillment of a vow to a deity whose favor had been sought. In 366 BC, the Ludi Romani became the first games to be placed on the calendar as an annual event sponsored by the state as a whole. Games in the circus were preceded by a parade featuring the competitors, mounted youths of the Roman nobility, armed dancers, musicians, a satyr chorus, as the product of military victory, ludi were often connected to triumphs. The first recorded venatio was presented in 186 BC by M. Fulvius Nobilior as part of his ludi votivi, for which he paid with booty displayed at his triumph. Although public money was allocated for the staging of ludi, the presiding official increasingly came to augment the splendor of his games from personal funds as a form of public relations. The sponsor was able to advertise his wealth, while declaring that he intended to share it for public benefit, the religious festivals to which the ludi were attached also occasioned public banquets, and often public works such as the refurbishing or building of temples. It was during these ludi, which served as funeral games. In the late Republic, performances were held at the intersections of neighborhoods throughout the city on the same day. During the civil wars of the 80s, these gave rise to often unruly plebeian political expression by the neighborhood organizations. Freedmen played a role, and even slaves participated in the festivities. In 67 BC, the Compitalia had been disrupted by a riot at the ludi, along with some forms of occupational guilds and neighborhood associations, the ludi compitalicii were consequently banned by the senate in 64 BC. An unnamed tribune of the plebs supported efforts to stage the ludi for 61 BC, the consul Calpurnius Piso, father-in-law of Caesar, permitted the games, even though the organizations that ran them were still outlawed. Caesar banned the collegia and ludi again in 46 BC, in 7 BC, Augustus reorganized Rome for administrative purposes into 265 districts which replaced but which were still called vici
35.
Roman Republic
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It was during this period that Romes control expanded from the citys immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world. During the first two centuries of its existence, the Roman Republic expanded through a combination of conquest and alliance, by the following century, it included North Africa, most of the Iberian Peninsula, and what is now southern France. Two centuries after that, towards the end of the 1st century BC, it included the rest of modern France, Greece, and much of the eastern Mediterranean. By this time, internal tensions led to a series of wars, culminating with the assassination of Julius Caesar. The exact date of transition can be a matter of interpretation, Roman government was headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and advised by a senate composed of appointed magistrates. Over time, the laws that gave exclusive rights to Romes highest offices were repealed or weakened. The leaders of the Republic developed a tradition and morality requiring public service and patronage in peace and war, making military. Many of Romes legal and legislative structures can still be observed throughout Europe and much of the world in modern nation states, the exact causes and motivations for Romes military conflicts and expansions during the republic are subject to wide debate. While they can be seen as motivated by outright aggression and imperialism and they argue that Romes expansion was driven by short-term defensive and inter-state factors, and the new contingencies that these decisions created. In its early history, as Rome successfully defended itself against foreign threats in central and then northern Italy, with some important exceptions, successful wars in early republican Rome generally led not to annexation or military occupation, but to the restoration of the way things were. But the defeated city would be weakened and thus able to resist Romanizing influences. It was also able to defend itself against its non-Roman enemies. It was, therefore, more likely to seek an alliance of protection with Rome and this growing coalition expanded the potential enemies that Rome might face, and moved Rome closer to confrontation with major powers. The result was more alliance-seeking, on the part of both the Roman confederacy and city-states seeking membership within that confederacy. While there were exceptions to this, it was not until after the Second Punic War that these alliances started to harden into something more like an empire and this shift mainly took place in parts of the west, such as the southern Italian towns that sided with Hannibal. In contrast, Roman expansion into Spain and Gaul occurred as a mix of alliance-seeking, in the 2nd century BC, Roman involvement in the Greek east remained a matter of alliance-seeking, but this time in the face of major powers that could rival Rome. This had some important similarities to the events in Italy centuries earlier, with some major exceptions of outright military rule, the Roman Republic remained an alliance of independent city-states and kingdoms until it transitioned into the Roman Empire. It was not until the time of the Roman Empire that the entire Roman world was organized into provinces under explicit Roman control
36.
Common Era
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Common Era or Current Era is a year-numbering system for the Julian and Gregorian calendars that refers to the years since the start of this era, i. e. since AD1. The preceding era is referred to as before the Common or Current Era, the Current Era notation system can be used as a secular alternative to the Dionysian era system, which distinguishes eras as AD and BC. The two notation systems are equivalent, thus 2017 CE corresponds to AD2017 and 400 BCE corresponds to 400 BC. The year-numbering system for the Gregorian calendar is the most widespread civil calendar used in the world today. For decades, it has been the standard, recognized by international institutions such as the United Nations. The expression has been traced back to Latin usage to 1615, as vulgaris aerae, the term Common Era can be found in English as early as 1708, and became more widely used in the mid-19th century by Jewish academics. He attempted to number years from a reference date, an event he referred to as the Incarnation of Jesus. Dionysius labeled the column of the table in which he introduced the new era as Anni Domini Nostri Jesu Christi, numbering years in this manner became more widespread in Europe with its usage by Bede in England in 731. Bede also introduced the practice of dating years before what he supposed was the year of birth of Jesus, in 1422, Portugal became the last Western European country to switch to the system begun by Dionysius. The first use of the Latin term vulgaris aerae discovered so far was in a 1615 book by Johannes Kepler, Kepler uses it again in a 1616 table of ephemerides, and again in 1617. A1635 English edition of that book has the title page in English – so far, a 1701 book edited by John LeClerc includes Before Christ according to the Vulgar Æra,6. A1716 book in English by Dean Humphrey Prideaux says, before the beginning of the vulgar æra, a 1796 book uses the term vulgar era of the nativity. The first so-far-discovered usage of Christian Era is as the Latin phrase aerae christianae on the page of a 1584 theology book. In 1649, the Latin phrase æræ Christianæ appeared in the title of an English almanac, a 1652 ephemeris is the first instance so-far-found for English usage of Christian Era. The English phrase common Era appears at least as early as 1708, a 1759 history book uses common æra in a generic sense, to refer to the common era of the Jews. The first-so-far found usage of the phrase before the era is in a 1770 work that also uses common era and vulgar era as synonyms. The 1797 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica uses the terms vulgar era, the Catholic Encyclopedia in at least one article reports all three terms being commonly understood by the early 20th century. Thus, the era of the Jews, the common era of the Mahometans, common era of the world
37.
Plebs
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In ancient Rome, the plebs was the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census. From the 4th century BC or earlier, they were known as commoners, literary references to the plebs, however, usually mean the ordinary citizens of Rome as a whole, as distinguished from the elite—a sense retained by plebeian in English. In the very earliest days of Rome, plebeians were any tribe or clan without advisers to the King, in time, the word – which is related to the Greek word for crowd, plethos – came to mean the common people. In Latin the word plebs is a collective noun. The 19th-century historian Barthold Georg Niebuhr held that plebeians began to appear at Rome during the reign of Ancus Marcius and were possibly foreigners settling in Rome as naturalized citizens. In any case, at the outset of the Roman Republic, Plebeians were excluded from magistracies and religious colleges, and they were not permitted to know the laws by which they were governed. Plebeians served in the army, but rarely became military leaders, from the mid-4th century to the early 3rd century BC, several plebeian–patrician tickets for the consulship repeated joint terms, suggesting a deliberate political strategy of cooperation. Although nobilitas was not a social rank during the Republican era. Such a man was a homo, a new man or self-made noble and his sons. Marius and Cicero are notable examples of novi homines in the late Republic, when many of Romes richest and most powerful men—such as Lucullus, Crassus, and Pompeius—were plebeian nobles. Some or perhaps many noble plebeians, including Cicero and Lucullus, by contrast, the populares or peoples party, which sought to champion the plebs in the sense of common people, were sometimes led by patricians such as Julius Caesar and Clodius Pulcher. In the U. S. military, Plebes are freshmen at the U. S, Military Academy, U. S. Naval Academy, Valley Forge Military Academy, the Marine Military Academy, the U. S. Merchant Marine Academy, Georgia Military College, California Maritime Academy, the term is also used for new cadets at the Philippine Military Academy. Early public schools in the United Kingdom would enroll pupils as plebeians as opposed to sons of gentry, vulgarism Bread and circuses Capite censi Plebeian Council Plebgate – a scandal in the United Kingdom in 2012 Proletariat Roman Republic Jackson J. Spielvogel. Smiths Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, article Plebs Livius. org, Plebs Texts on Wikisource, Plebeians
38.
Co-option
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Two common uses of co-option are, to recruit members who have specific skills or abilities needed by the group which are not available among existing members. To fill vacancies which could not be filled by the usual process, co-opted members may or may not have the same rights as the elected members of a group, depending on the rules of the group. In this case, vacancies may be filled via a mechanism specified in its rules, examples are, geographical constituencies constituencies of adherents to a political party, known as proportional representation ethnic groups any other affinity group. Sociologist Philip Selznick, in the context of the Tennessee Valley Authority and this is arguably a derivation from the first sense
39.
Pontifices
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A pontiff was, in Roman antiquity, a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs. The term pontiff was later applied to any high or chief priest and, in Roman Catholic ecclesiastical usage, to a bishop and more particularly to the Bishop of Rome, the Pope or Roman Pontiff. The English term derives through Old French pontif from Latin pontifex, a commonly held to come from the Latin root words pons + facere. This may be only a folk etymology, but it may also recall antique tasks, there were four chief colleges of priests in ancient Rome, the most illustrious of which was that of the pontifices. The others were those of the augures, the quindecimviri sacris faciundis, the same person could be a member of more than one of these groups. Including the pontifex maximus, who was president of the college, by the third century B. C. the pontiffs had assumed control of the state religious system. The word pontiff, though now most often used in relation to a Pope, the phrase Roman Pontiff is not tautological, but means Bishop of Rome, as Alexandrian Pontiff means Bishop of Alexandria. In the same way, the adjective pontifical does not refer exclusively to the Pope, from the adjective have been formed the nouns the Pontifical and pontificals. The word has been employed in English also for caliphs and swamis and jagadgurus
40.
Cursus honorum
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The cursus honorum was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in both the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank, the cursus honorum comprised a mixture of military and political administration posts. Each office had an age for election. There were minimum intervals between holding successive offices and laws forbade repeating an office and these rules were altered and flagrantly ignored in the course of the last century of the Republic. For example, Gaius Marius held consulships for five years in a row between 104 BC and 100 BC, officially presented as opportunities for public service, the offices often became mere opportunities for self-aggrandizement. The reforms of Lucius Cornelius Sulla required a period between holding another term in the same office. To have held office at the youngest possible age was considered a great political success. Cicero expressed extreme pride not only in being a novus homo who became consul even though none of his ancestors had served as a consul. The cursus honorum began with ten years of duty in the Roman cavalry or in the staff of a general who was a relative or a friend of the family. The ten years of service were intended to be mandatory in order to qualify for office, but in practice. A more prestigious position was that of a military tribune, in the early Roman Republic,24 men at the age of around 20 were elected by the Tribal Assembly to serve as a commander in the legions, with six tribunes to each and command rotating among them. Tribunes could also be appointed by the consuls or by military commanders in the field as necessary. After the reforms of Gaius Marius in 107 BC, the six tribunes acted as officers for the legionary Legatus and were appointed tasks. The following steps of the cursus honorum were achieved by direct election every year, the first official post was that of quaestor. Candidates had to be at least 30 years old, however, men of patrician rank could subtract two years from this and other minimum age requirements. Twenty quaestors served in the administration at Rome or as second-in-command to a governor in the provinces. They could also serve as the paymaster for a legion, a young man who obtained this job was expected to become a very important official. An additional task of all quaestors was the supervision of public games, as a quaestor, an official was allowed to wear the toga praetexta, but was not escorted by lictors, nor did he possess imperium
41.
Augustus
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Augustus was the founder of the Roman Principate and considered the first Roman emperor, controlling the Roman Empire from 27 BC until his death in AD14. He was born Gaius Octavius into an old and wealthy equestrian branch of the plebeian gens Octavia and his maternal great-uncle Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC, and Octavius was named in Caesars will as his adopted son and heir, then known as Octavianus. He, Mark Antony, and Marcus Lepidus formed the Second Triumvirate to defeat the assassins of Caesar, following their victory at the Battle of Philippi, the Triumvirate divided the Roman Republic among themselves and ruled as military dictators. The Triumvate was eventually torn apart by the ambitions of its members. Lepidus was driven into exile and stripped of his position, in reality, however, he retained his autocratic power over the Republic as a military dictator. By law, Augustus held a collection of powers granted to him for life by the Senate, including supreme military command, and it took several years for Augustus to develop the framework within which a formally republican state could be led under his sole rule. He rejected monarchical titles, and instead called himself Princeps Civitatis, the resulting constitutional framework became known as the Principate, the first phase of the Roman Empire. The reign of Augustus initiated an era of peace known as the Pax Romana. Augustus dramatically enlarged the Empire, annexing Egypt, Dalmatia, Pannonia, Noricum, and Raetia, expanding possessions in Africa, expanding into Germania, beyond the frontiers, he secured the Empire with a buffer region of client states and made peace with the Parthian Empire through diplomacy. Augustus died in AD14 at the age of 75 and he probably died from natural causes, although there were unconfirmed rumors that his wife Livia poisoned him. He was succeeded as Emperor by his adopted son Tiberius, Augustus was known by many names throughout his life, At birth, he was named Gaius Octavius after his biological father. Historians typically refer to him simply as Octavius between his birth in 63 until his adoption by Julius Caesar in 44 BC, upon his adoption, he took Caesars name and became Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus in accordance with Roman adoption naming standards. He quickly dropped Octavianus from his name, and his contemporaries referred to him as Caesar during this period, historians. In 27 BC, following his defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra and it is the events of 27 BC from which he obtained his traditional name of Augustus, which historians use in reference to him from 27 BC until his death in AD14. While his paternal family was from the town of Velletri, approximately 40 kilometres from Rome and he was born at Ox Head, a small property on the Palatine Hill, very close to the Roman Forum. He was given the name Gaius Octavius Thurinus, his cognomen possibly commemorating his fathers victory at Thurii over a band of slaves. Due to the nature of Rome at the time, Octavius was taken to his fathers home village at Velletri to be raised. Octavius only mentions his fathers equestrian family briefly in his memoirs and his paternal great-grandfather Gaius Octavius was a military tribune in Sicily during the Second Punic War
42.
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir)
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Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, was a Roman patrician who was triumvir with Octavian and Mark Antony, and the last Pontifex Maximus of the Roman Republic. Lepidus had previously been an ally of Julius Caesar. Though he was a military commander and proved a useful partisan of Caesar. He typically appears as a figure in depictions of the events of the era. While some scholars have endorsed this view, others argue that the evidence is insufficient to discount the distorting effects of propaganda by his opponents, principally Cicero and, later, Augustus. Lepidus was the son of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, his mother may have been a daughter of Lucius Appuleius Saturninus and his brother was Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus. His father was the first leader of the populares faction after the death of Sulla. Lepidus married Junia Secunda, sister of Marcus Junius Brutus and Junia Tertia, Lepidus and Junia Secunda had at least one child, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus the Younger. Lepidus joined the College of Pontiffs as a child and he started his cursus honorum as triumvir monetalis, overseeing the minting of coins, from c. Lepidus soon became one of Julius Caesars greatest supporters and he was appointed as a praetor in 49 BC, being placed in charge of Rome while Caesar defeated Pompey in Greece. He secured Caesars appointment as dictator, a position Caesar used to get elected as Consul. Lepidus was rewarded with the position of Proconsul in the Spanish province of Hispania Citerior, while in Spain Lepidus was called upon to act to quell a rebellion against Quintus Cassius Longinus, governor of neighbouring Hispania Ulterior. Lepidus refused to support Cassius, who had created opposition to Caesars regime by his corruption and he negotiated a deal with the rebel leader, quaestor Marcellus, and helped defeat an attack by the Mauretanian king Bogud. Cassius and his supporters were allowed to leave and order was restored, Caesar and the Senate were sufficiently impressed by Lepdiuss judicial mixture of negotiation and surgical military action that they granted him a Triumph. Lepidus was rewarded with the consulship in 46 BC after the defeat of the Pompeians in the East, Caesar also made Lepidus magister equitum, effectively his deputy. Caesar appears to have had confidence in Lepidus than in Mark Antony to keep order in Rome. Lepidus appears to have been shocked when Antony provocatively offered Caesar a crown at the Lupercalia festival. When in February 44 BC Caesar was elected dictator for life by the senate, the brief alliance in power of Caesar and Lepidus came to a sudden end when Caesar was assassinated on March 1544 BC
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Augurs". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 903–904.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "