[37] Priusquam
consules proficiscerentur nouendiale sacrum fuit quia Ueiis de caelo
lapidauerat. sub unius prodigii, ut fit, mentionem alia quoque nuntiata:
Minturnis aedem Iouis et lucum Maricae, item Atellae murum et portam de caelo
tactam; Minturnenses, terribilius quod esset, adiciebant sanguinis riuum in
porta fluxisse; et Capuae lupus nocte portam ingressus uigilem laniauerat. haec
procurata hostiis maioribus prodigia et supplicatio diem unum fuit ex decreto
pontificum. inde iterum nouendiale instauratum quod in Armilustro lapidibus
uisum pluere. liberatas religione mentes turbauit rursus nuntiatum Frusinone
natum esse infantem quadrimo parem nec magnitudine tam mirandum quam quod is
quoque, ut Sinuessae biennio ante, incertus mas an femina esset natus erat. id
uero haruspices ex Etruria acciti foedum ac turpe prodigium dicere: extorrem
agro Romano, procul terrae contactu, alto mergendum. uiuum in arcam condidere
prouectumque in mare proiecerunt. decreuere item pontifices ut uirgines ter
nouenae per urbem euntes carmen canerent. id cum in Iouis Statoris aede
discerent conditum ab Liuio poeta carmen, tacta de caelo aedis in Auentino
Iunonis reginae; prodigiumque id ad matronas pertinere haruspices cum
respondissent donoque diuam placandam esse, aedilium curulium edicto in
Capitolium conuocatae quibus in urbe Romana intraque decimum lapidem ab urbe
domicilia essent, ipsae inter se quinque et uiginti delegerunt ad quas ex
dotibus stipem conferrent; inde donum peluis aurea facta lataque in Auentinum,
pureque et caste a matronis sacrificatum. confestim ad aliud sacrificium eidem
diuae ab decemuiris edicta dies, cuius ordo talis fuit. ab aede Apollinis boues
feminae albae duae porta Carmentali in urbem ductae; post eas duo signa
cupressea Iunonis reginae portabantur; tum septem et uiginti uirgines, longam
indutae uestem, carmen in Iunonem reginam canentes ibant, illa tempestate
forsitan laudabile rudibus ingeniis, nunc abhorrens et inconditum si referatur;
uirginum ordinem sequebantur decemuiri coronati laurea praetextatique. a porta
Iugario uico in forum uenere; in foro pompa constitit et per manus reste data
uirgines sonum uocis pulsu pedum modulantes incesserunt. inde uico Tusco
Uelabroque per bouarium forum in cliuum Publicium atque aedem Iunonis reginae
perrectum. ibi duae hostiae ab decemuiris immolatae et simulacra cupressea in
aedem inlata.
--Livy, Ab Urbe Condita XXVII.37
Before the consuls set out for war, they offered public
sacrifices for nine days, since it rained stones in Veii. Once that bad omen
occurred, others were soon announced: lightning struck the temple of Jupiter in
Minturnae, as well as the sacred grove of Marcia and both the city walls and
gate of Atella. At Minturnae, they added another terrifying omen: a river of
blood flowed into their city gate. At Capua, a wolf entered the city at night
and mauled a guardsman. The consuls expiated these bad omens with more
sacrifices, and another public day of prayer was decreed by the head priests.
Another nine days of public sacrifices were ordered when it seemed to rain
stones in Armilustrum. As soon as the public’s minds were put to ease by the
expiation, they were terrified yet again by the announcement that in Frusio,
that there was a child [infantem] born the size of a four-year old. But the
child’s size wasn’t the miraculous part, but rather the similarity to what had
happened in Sinuessa two years prior: the child was indistinguishably male or
female (incertus mas an femina). The religious specialists summoned from Etruria
declared that the omen was foul and wretched: they declared that the child must
be banished from Roman territory, drowned in the sea far from the sight of
land. The child was locked in a coffin and thrown into the sea. The priests
also decreed that three groups of nine maidens (virgines) should travel
throughout the city, singing a hymn composed by the poet Livius. While they
were memorizing this hymn in the temple of Jupiter Stator, lightning struck the
temple of Juno on the Aventine Hill. The soothsayers said that this omen was the women’s (matronas) fault,
and that Juno should be appeased with a gift. An edict from the curule aediles
in the Capitolium decreed that all women who lived within ten miles of Rome
should assemble, and that twenty five of them to gather the offering, using
money from their dowries. They melted down the gold to create an offering
basin, and presented it to the goddess in her temple on the Aventine Hill in a
pure and chaste manner by the matrons.
Immediately the decemvirs decreed another day of
sacrifice to the same goddess, in the following ceremony: two white cows would be led from the temple of Apollo through the Carmental gate into the city; two
cult statues of Juno made of cypress wood would be carried behind them. Then
twenty seven young women (virgines), wearing long tunics, would follow singing
hymns to Juno. [At the time, these songs were praise-worthy to rustic minds,
but now the words are no longer appropriate.] The decemvirs, wearing toga
praetexta and crowns, would follow the troop of maidens. They would travel from
the Carmental gate along the Street of Yoke Makers into the Forum. The parade
would end at the Forum, and the maidens, all holding a rope would sing a song
using the rhythm of their stomping feet to keep time. From there they continued
through the Tuscan Street and Velabrum Street through the Farmer’s Market onto
the Clivus Publicius and then reach the Temple of Juno. Once there, the
decemvirs would sacrifice the two cows and the wooden cult statues would be offered
to the goddess.
LIVY
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MAP:
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Name: Titus Livius
Date: 60 BCE – 15 CE
Works: Ab Urbe
Condita*
Periochae
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REGION 1
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BIO:
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Timeline:
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Livy was born in Patavium (Cisalpine Gaul, located in northern Italy)
and lived during the tumultuous transition of Roman government from republic
to monarchy. Unlike other peers in his social class, Livy was no statesman. Although
he was in the same political network of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he never
participated in politics. Instead, he devoted his life to his magnum opus,
a 142-volume history of Rome called the Ab Urbe Condita. As its title
suggests, this book contains nearly eight hundred years of history, spanning
from Aeneas’ mythical flight from Troy to contemporary events during the reign
of the emperor Augustus. Unfortunately, only thirty-five of these books remain;
the remaining volumes only exist in summary forms (called Periochae). Although his histories were not sponsored by
Augustus or the Roman government, Livy nevertheless wrote his history with a
didactic purpose, intending for his book to reinforce gender roles and
virtues, as well as showcase the glory of the Roman past.
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GOLDEN AGE ROME
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