The Greek equivalent is theos, which the Romans translated with deus. [157] The coincidence of birthdays and anniversaries could have a positive or negative significance: news of Decimus Brutus's victory at Mutina was announced at Rome on his birthday, while Caesar's assassin Cassius suffered defeat at Philippi on his birthday and committed suicide. [214] Inscriptions indicate that a person making a dedication might label himself fanaticus, in the neutral sense of "devotee". [483], Roman practices of adoption, including so-called "testamentary adoption" when an adult heir was declared in a will, were aimed at perpetuating the sacra gentilicia as well as preserving the family name and property. Milk and honey, water, and oil were also used. [103], Mommsen thought the calendar abbreviation QRCF, given once as Q. Rex C. F.[104] and taken as Quando Rex Comitiavit Fas, designated a day when it was religiously permissible for the rex to "call" for a comitium, hence the comitia calata. The commentarii survive only through quotation or references in ancient authors. Compare ostentum and portentum, signs denoting an extraordinary inanimate phenomenon, and monstrum and miraculum, an unnatural feature in humans. [257] See also piaculum and votum. [526] Roman Pythagoreans such as Nigidius Figulus formed sodalicia,[527] with which Ammianus Marcellinus compared the fellowship (sodalicia consortia) of the druids in Gallo-Roman culture. 89; Christopher John Smith, Macrobius I 12. These "new signs" are omens or portents not previously observed, or not observed under the particular set of circumstances at hand. [325] The mola was so fundamental to sacrifice that "to put on the mola" (Latin immolare) came to mean "to sacrifice." The ill-fated departure of Marcus Crassus for the invasion of Parthia was notably attended by dirae (see Ateius Capito). The hostia praecidanea was an "anticipatory offering" made the day before a sacrifice. [342], Livy records that the patricians opposed legislation that would allow a plebeian to hold the office of consul on the grounds that it was nefas: a plebeian, they claimed, would lack the arcane knowledge of religious matters that by tradition was a patrician prerogative. The older Latin form is. The indigitamenta were lists of gods maintained by the College of Pontiffs to assure that the correct divine names were invoked for public prayers. Wagenvoort thought that caerimonia derived from caerus, "dark" in the sense of "hidden", hence meaning "darknesses, secrets. Silence was generally required in the performance of every religious ritual. [26], Augurium (plural auguria) is an abstract noun that pertains to the augur. The sacrarium of a private home lent itself to Christian transformation, as a 4th-century poem by Ausonius demonstrates;[502] in contemporary Christian usage, the sacrarium is a "special sink used for the reverent disposal of sacred substances" (see piscina).[503]. It is connected to the name of the Umbrian or Sabine founder-deity Sancus (in Umbrian Sancius) whose most noted function was the ratifying and protecting of compacts (foedera). For another votum that might be made in the field by a general, see evocatio. [517] The original spatial connotation of the word is still reflected in its use as an epithet of the river Tiber and of god Terminus that was certainly ancient: borders are sancti by definition and rivers used to mark borders. It thus represented one of the most ancient Roman cults. These objects were made of lead or cloth and, in wealthier homes, gold . The fifteen flamines formed part of the College of Pontiffs. The ceremony involves them removing their bulla and the tunic they wore through childhood and put on a man’s toga while accompanied by their fathers and other relatives. [54] In matters pertaining to the family or individual, both lightning[55] and exta (entrails)[56] might yield signs for privati, private citizens not authorized to take official auspices. A passage was selected at random and its relevance to the current situation was a matter of expert interpretation. The latter tactic required promptness, wit and skill based on discipline and learning. Observances resembled those on January 3, which had replaced the traditional vows made for the salus of the republic after the transition to one-man rule under Augustus. The "Brothers of the Field" were a college of priests whose duties were concerned with agriculture and farming. Similar conditions attached to sacrifices in archaic Rome. Ancient authors derive the word flamen from the custom of covering the head with the filamen, but it may be cognate to Vedic bhraman. [424], The expiatory burial of living human victims in the Forum Boarium followed Rome's defeat at Cannae in the same wars. [508] Some think it is a derivation from the theonym Sancus, the god of the ratification of foedera and protection of good faith, from the root sancu- plus suffix -io as inquio>incio. tr. An adjective, "choice, select," used to denote the high quality required of sacrificial victims: "Victims (hostiae) are called 'select' (eximiae) because they are selected (eximantur) from the herd and designated for sacrifice, or because they are chosen on account of their choice (eximia) appearance as offerings to divine entities (numinibus). 43–44. Roman men, however, were free to engage in same-sex relations without a perceived loss of masculinity only as long as they took the penetrative role and their partner was a social inferior such as a slave or male prostitute: the paradigm of “correct” male sexuality was one of conquest and domination. Linderski, "The Augural Law", pp. [385] In Latin and other Italic languages, the word seems to have meant "that which is in accord with divine law." Paludatus (masculine singular, plural paludati) is an adjective meaning "wearing the paludamentum,"[371] the distinctive attire of the Roman military commander. A suplicatio can also be a thanksgiving after the receipt of aid. [531] See also Sodales Augustales. [570] Using a rope, he led the pig, sheep, or bovine that was to serve as the victim to the altar. By the Augustan period, fanum, aedes, templum, and delubrum are scarcely distinguishable in usage,[227] but fanum was a more inclusive and general term. [249] It is rooted in Indo-European *dhe(i)l, meaning "happy, fruitful, productive, full of nourishment." [438] See Religion in ancient Rome. [480] The Fabian sacra were performed in Gabine dress by a member of the gens who was possibly named a flamen. [75] Fragments from two archaic priestly hymns are preserved, the Carmen Arvale of the Arval Brethren and the Carmina Saliaria of the Salii. In the Regal period, inauguratio concerned the king and the major sacerdotes. Hal. Varro and Verrius Flaccus give explanations that seem contradictory, the former defining a sacellum in its entirety as equivalent to a cella,[456] which is specifically an enclosed space, and the latter insisting that a sacellum had no roof. When a Roman Boy became a Man (at 16-years), he was to remove his Bulla. Religious error (vitium) and impiety led to divine disharmony and ira deorum (the anger of the gods). He was killed on campaign. [391] Pontifex in this case would be the "opener of the way" corresponding to the Vedic adharvayu, the only active and moving sacerdos in the sacrificial group who takes his title from the figurative designation of liturgy as a way. Bulla. [261] It was an advance atonement "to implore divine indulgence" should an error be committed on the day of the formal sacrifice. A signum is a "sign, token or indication". The Arval Brethren used the term exta reddere, "to return the entrails," that is, to render unto the deity what has already been given as due. ‡. Color was also a criterion: white for the upper deities, dark for chthonic, red for Vulcan and at the Robigalia. The most famous person to serve as a lupercus was Mark Antony. [13] The ager peregrinus[14] was other territory that had been brought under treaty (pacatus). The ager Romanus could not be extended outside Italy (terra Italia). [265] Compare piaculum, an expiatory offering. "Taking the auspices" was an important part of all major official business, including inaugurations, senatorial debates, legislation, elections and war, and was held to be an ancient prerogative of Regal and patrician magistrates. Establishing fines was an important part of a magistrate's duties. [544] By the early 2nd century AD, religions of other peoples that were perceived as resistant to religious assimilation began to be labeled by some Latin authors as superstitio, including druidism, Judaism, and Christianity. Robert Schilling, "The Decline and Survival of Roman Religion", Ulrike Egelhaaf-Gaiser, "Roman Cult Sites: A Pragmatic Approach," in, These are the modern English identifications of Robert A. Kaster in his translation of the, Linderski, "The Augural Law," p. 2196, especially note 177, citing Servius, note to. Originally only patrician magistrates and augurs were entitled to practice spectio, which carried with it the power to regulate assemblies and other aspects of public life, depending on whether the omens were good or bad. [6] Aedes is one of several Latin words that can be translated as "shrine" or "temple"; see also delubrum and fanum. Henceforth a censor fixed the nail at the end of his term.[96]. These trees either were located in and marked a fanum or were themselves considered a fanum. [91], The importance of this ritual is lost in obscurity, but in the early Republic it is associated with the appointment of a dictator clavi figendi causa, "dictator for the purpose of driving the nail,"[92] one of whom was appointed for the years 363, 331, 313, and 263 BC. If unfavourable auspices were observed, the business at hand was stopped by the official observer, who declared alio die ("on another day"). [105], The Commentaries of the Augurs were written collections probably of the decreta and responsa of the college of augurs. The formation and original meaning of the verb are debated. [152] Because of the rate of infant mortality, perhaps as high as 40 percent,[153] the newborn in its first few days of life was held as in a liminal phase, vulnerable to malignant forces (see List of Roman birth and childhood deities). The votum is thus an aspect of the contractual nature of Roman religion, a bargaining expressed by do ut des, "I give that you might give. Some days, however, were not festi and yet might not be permissible as business days (fasti) for other reasons. Roman writers record elements of ritus graecus in the cult to Hercules at Rome's Ara Maxima, which according to tradition was established by the Greek king Evander even before the city of Rome was founded at the site. [239], Fas is a central concept in Roman religion. She would also give away all her dolls and toys as she would no longer be a child but a woman. "[166] One calendar, the Fasti Verulani (c. 17–37 AD), explains the designation by noting it was the dies natalis of Mark Antony, which the Greek historian and Roman senator Cassius Dio says had been declared ἡμέρα μιαρά (hēmera miara) (= dies vitiosus) by Augustus. Impetrative signs, or those sought by standard augural procedure, were interpreted according to observatio; the observer had little or no latitude in how they might be interpreted. Cicero used caerimonia at least 40 times, in three or four different senses: "inviolability" or "sanctity", a usage also of Tacitus; "punctilious veneration", in company with cura (carefulness, concern); more commonly in the plural caerimoniae, to mean "ritual prescriptions" or "ritual acts." They officiated at ceremonies with their head covered by a velum and always wore a filamen, thread, in contrast to public rituals conducted by Greek rite (ritus graecus) which were established later. [132] Compare responsum. [248] See also Fasti and nefas. The word was used alone in a general sense or qualified by an adjective to mean a specific type of record. A passage in Cicero states that the augur was entitled to report on the signs observed before or during an assembly and that the magistrates had the right to watch for signs (spectio) as well as make the announcement (nuntiatio) prior to the conducting of public business, but the exact significance of Cicero's distinction is a matter of scholarly debate. • Aediles M. Aurelius Cotta Iovius and P. Annaeus Constantinus Placidus have conducted the LUDI ROMANI with a real Epulum Iovis ceremony. [223] A fanum may be a traditional sacred space such as the grove (lucus) of Diana Nemorensis, or a sacred space or structure for non-Roman religions, such as an Iseum (temple of Isis) or Mithraeum. [146] The English word "devotion" derives from the Latin. Bad omens (portentaque prodigiaque mala) are to be burnt, using trees that are in the tutelage of underworld or "averting" gods (see arbores infelices above). 238, 247, and, Veit Rosenberger, in "Religious Actors in Daily Life: Practices and Related Beliefs," in, Hendrik Wagenvoort, "Augustus and Vesta", in, Katja Moede, "Reliefs, Public and Private", in. The modern practice of the Roman religion, the Cultus Deorum Romanorum is our attempt to reconstruct the religion of the ancient Romans as closely as possible. [452], For Latin words meaning "ritual" or "rite", see sacra, caerimoniae, and religiones.[453]. [551] In most cases, signs to the augur's left (north) showed divine approval and signs to his right (south), disapproval. The days on which profane activities were permitted are profesti. "Religiosity" in its pejorative sense may be a better translation than "superstition", the English word derived from the Latin. Ancient sources record three auguria: the augurium salutis in which every year the gods were asked whether it was fas (permissible, right) to ask for the safety of the Roman people (August 5); the augurium canarium, a dog sacrifice to promote the maturation of grain crops, held in the presence of the pontiffs as well as the augurs;[37] and the vernisera auguria mentioned by Festus, which should have been a springtime propitiary rite held at the time of the harvest (auguria messalia). [287] Recognition of the ius divinum was fundamental to maintaining right relations between human beings and their deities. It was customary in patrician families to take the auspices for any matter of consequence such as marriages, travel, and important business. The oak was sacred to Jupiter, and twigs of oak were used by the Vestals to ignite the sacred fire in March every year. Mueller) sacrum sanciti) could fall into the category of those to be declared sacri. Little is known of the ritual procedure, but the child must have received its name on that day; funerary inscriptions for infants who died before their dies lustricus are nameless. [373] As the commander crossed from the sacred boundary of Rome (pomerium), he was paludatus, adorned with the attire he would wear to lead a battle and for official business. "[541] Seneca wrote an entire treatise on superstitio, known to St. Augustine but no longer extant. A Roman girl did not have a ceremony signifying her ascent to adulthood. The plebeian aediles had their headquarters at the aedes of Ceres. At that time the bulla would be dedicated to the Lares, or family spirits, and carefully preserved. A ceremony was held, where he went to the forum [an open space at the center of Roman towns, used for markets and trade] with his family and friends. Examples of priestly sodalitates are the Luperci, fetiales, Arval brothers and Titii; these are also called collegia, but that they were a kind of confraternity is suggested by the distinctive convivial song associated with some. [17] An altar that received food offerings might also be called a mensa, "table."[18]. The incorporation of Gabinian traditions indicates their special status under treaty with Rome. delubrum p. 64 M; G. Colonna "Sacred Architecture and the Religion of the Etruscans" in N. Thomas De Grummond. Technical translation is one part of specialised translation; institutional translation, the area of politics, commerce, finance, government etc, is the other. Fear, panic, and agitation in the animal were bad omens. [155], A dies natalis was a birthday ("natal day"; see also dies lustricus above) or more generally the anniversary of a founding event. A Roman girl did not have a ceremony signifying her ascent to adulthood. Nothing new was to be started, and no religious acts (res divinae) performed. A priest or officiant wearing it wore his toga bound around the waist in a way that left both hands free to perform ritual tasks, as the wearing of the toga usually did not. [479] During the Gallic siege of Rome, a member of the gens Fabia risked his life to carry out the sacra of his clan on the Quirinal Hill; the Gauls were so impressed by his courageous piety that they allowed him to pass through their lines. [252] Most scholars regard the finis as having been defined physically by ropes, trees, stones, or other markers, as were fields and property boundaries in general. [525] An association of sodales might also form a burial society, or make religious dedications as a group; inscriptions record donations made by women for the benefit of sodales. In Rome, the senior magistrate[89] on the Ides of September drove a nail called the clavus annalis ("year-nail")[90] into the wall of the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. [41] In official state augury at Rome, only the auspicia ex caelo and ex avibus were employed. [350] The announcement was made before an assembly. Its interpretation is problematic; it was normally sealed, and was ritually opened only on three occasions during the year. [68], The calatores were assistants who carried out day-to-day business on behalf of the senior priests of the state such as the flamines maiores. Originally they were the prerogative of the patricians,[38] but the college of augurs was opened to plebeians in 300 BC. By the Late Republic, three collegia wielded greater authority than the others, with a fourth coming to prominence during the reign of Augustus. "[74], In classical Latin, carmen usually means "song, poem, ode." See also nefas, fasti and fas. [420], The number of confirmed prodigies rose in troubled times. [60] Because war could bring about religious pollution, it was in itself nefas, "wrong," and could incur the wrath of gods unless iustum, "just". The major event each year is the Conventus Novae Romae in Europa, but there are other events, programs and activities throughout the year, like the Floralia Aquincensia Nova Romana or the performances of our Legio XXI Rapax. [78], Castus is an adjective meaning morally pure or guiltless (English "chaste"), hence pious or ritually pure in a religious sense. The Etruscan texts on the disciplina that were known to the Romans are of three kinds: the libri haruspicini (on haruspicy), the libri fulgurales (lightning), and the libri rituales (ritual). It was one of the three parts of the ceremony inaugurating a templum (sacred space), preceded by the consulting of signs and the liberatio which "freed" the space from malign or competing spiritual influences and human effects. The rex sacrorum was a senatorial priesthood[448] reserved for patricians. [357] Bad omens could be more actively dealt with, by countersigns or spoken formulae. The Cultus Deorum Romanorum, cannot be approached by inserting Roman deity names into Greek religion or any other system, for it is a unique product of the culture that created it. The Carmen Saeculare of Horace, though self-consciously literary in technique, was also a hymn, performed by a chorus at the Saecular Games of 17 BC and expressing the Apollonian ideology of Augustus. The fata are both "fate" as known and determined by the gods, or the expression of the divine will in the form of verbal oracles. 2,700-year-old clay sealing from a stamp from the Israelite King Jeroboam II in the 8th century BCE. [102] They took no active role and were only present to observe as witnesses. [3] Thus the omen had no validity apart from the observation of it.[4]. Later it was used to designate actions respectful of divine law and even people who acted with respect towards gods and godly rules. This kind of word composition based on an etymological figure has parallels in other IE languages in archaic constructions. This could happen when the girl was as young as 12. Quin. When plebeians began to be admitted, the size of the colleges was expanded. First proposed by F. Ribezzo in "Pontifices 'quinionalis sacrificii effectores', For a review of the proposed hypotheses cfr. On Roman coins, the lituus is frequently accompanied by a ritual jug or pitcher to indicate that either the moneyer or person honored on the obverse was an augur. [474] The establishment of the sacra publica is ascribed to king Numa Pompilius, but many are thought to be of earlier origin, even predating the founding of Rome. The nail-driving ceremony, however, took place in a templum devoted to Minerva, on the right side of the aedes of Jupiter, because the concept of "number" was invented by Minerva and the ritual predated the common use of written letters. But the practice may have originated as a kind of "dodge," since a praetor was liable to religious penalties if he used certa verba for legal actions on days marked nefastus on the calendar. [263] The hostia praecidanea was offered to Ceres a day in advance of a religious festival (sacrum, before the beginning of the harvest) in expiation for negligences in the duties of piety towards the deceased. Nicole Belayche, in Rüpke, Jörg (Editor), Jack N. Lightstone, "Roman Diaspora Judaism," in, Adelaide D. Simpson, "Epicureans, Christians, Atheists in the Second Century,", Warde Fowler considers a possible origin for, Varro. [359] Licinius Crassus took ship for Syria despite an ominous call of "Cauneas!" nefastus publicus [NP] Ops, Consus. [201] Removing a god from the premises required the correct ceremonial invocations. II 106; Plut. The verb calare, originally meaning "to call," was a technical term of pontifical usage, found also in calendae (Calends) and calator. January 14 is the only day to be marked annually and officially by decree of the Roman senate (senatus consultum) as vitiosus. A feria on the Roman calendar is a "free day", that is, a day in which no work was done. It was connected with the god Terminus and his cult.[253]. It was also part of Etruscan priestly dress. [370] The ordo sacerdotum observed and preserved ritual distinctions between divine and human power. In its religious sense, felix means "blessed, under the protection or favour of the gods; happy." The Roman dies natalis was connected with the cult owed to the Genius. Castitas is the abstract noun. • The Ludi Plebeii are celebrated on our forum with games: read the announements. At the Circus Maximus, the couches and images of the gods were placed on an elevated pulvinar to "watch" the games. ", A templum was the sacred space defined by an augur for ritual purposes, most importantly the taking of the auspices, a place "cut off" as sacred: compare Greek temenos, from temnein to cut. [139] The ritual procedure of detestatio sacrorum was enacted before a calate assembly.[140]. Opiconsivia festival (from consivia “to sow”) to Ops, the ancient Roman earth-mother goddess of fertility and plenty. Cf. [471] The sacerdos was one who held the title usually in relation to a specific deity or temple. Nemus, plural nemora, was one of four Latin words that meant "forest, woodland, woods." Boys of Roman citizens went though a ceremony when they were 16 or 17, depending upon how close their birthday was to March 17th, and at that time became citizens of Rome with full benefits. [395] Both exta porricere and exta dare referred to the process by which the entrails were cooked, cut into pieces, and burnt on the altar. Most altars throughout the city of Rome and in the countryside would have been simple, open-air structures; they may have been located within a sacred precinct (templum), but often without an aedes housing a cult image. Individuals had sacra on dates peculiar to them, such as birthdays, the dies lustricus, and at other times of their life such as funerals and expiations, for instance of fulgurations. In Oscan, related forms are sakoro, "sacred," and sakrim, "sacrificial victim". Its meaning is not necessarily distinct from collegium in ancient sources, and is found also in sodalicium, "fraternity. Prodigies confirmed as genuine were referred to the pontiffs and augurs for ritual expiation. The stages of life the Roman state took note of were birth and coming of age for males, and death. Rom. NOVA ROMADedicated to the restoration of classical Roman religion, culture and virtues, Home| Latíné | Deutsch | Español | Français | Italiano | Magyar | Português | Română | Русский | English, Hodié a.d. XI Kal. The archaic nature of the flamens is indicated by their presence among Latin tribes. These were regarded as necessary and imperishable, and the desire to perpetuate the family's sacra was among the reasons for adoption in adulthood. Helps you prepare job interviews and practice interview skills and techniques. [403] Portentum offers an example of an ancient Roman religious term modified for Christian usage; in the Christian theology of miracles, a portentum occurring by the will of the Christian God could not be regarded as contrary to nature (contra naturam), thus Augustine specified that if such a sign appeared to be unnatural, it was only because it was contrary to nature as known (nota) by human beings.