Altar of Consus

Last updated

Location of the Altar of Consus in the city of Rome. The altar is highlighted in red. AraConsi planrome.png
Location of the Altar of Consus in the city of Rome. The altar is highlighted in red.

The Altar of Consus (Latin : Ara Consi) was an ancient Roman altar dedicated to the gods Consus and Mars, as well as the lares , which were ancient Roman household guardians. It was located beneath the Circus Maximus. [1] [2] The altar may have also served as the first turning post of the Circus Maximus. [3] [4] [5] It is possible the subterranean location of this altar is connected to the Roman practice of storing wheat underground [6] [7] and specifically paralleled by the ancient mundus of Ceres supposedly instituted by Romulus at the founding of the city. [8] This is in turn associated with the modern interpretation of Consus as an agrarian deity. [9] Dionysus of Halicarnassus wrote that some ancient Romans believed the altar was located underground because they thought that the god Consus corresponded to Poseidon, who was also a god of earthquakes. He also claims that other Romans believed that the altar was dedicated to an unamenable god who presided over hidden councils. [9] [10] [11] This explanation is associated with the ancient connections between Consus and secrecy and hidden councils. [9] [12] Tacitus mentions the altar as a landmark of his conjectural reconstruction of the pomerium, [13] the sacred border of the city of Rome proper, as originally established by Romulus's sulcus primigenius . [14] [15]

The site was covered for most of the year, although it was uncovered during religious occasions for sacrifices and rituals. [16] [10] [17] Roman author Tertullian stated that public priests made sacrifices at the altar on 7 July during the Caprotinia . [15] He also wrote that the Flamen Quirinalis and a group of virgins, potentially the Vestal Virgins, made sacrifices at the altar on 21 August. [18] [19] [20] This was in celebration of the Consualia , [21] a Roman holiday which honored Consus. As part of this holiday, [22] games commemorating the Rape of the Sabine Women were held at this altar. [23] [24] [25]

Tertullian wrote that it bore an inscription which read: [26] [27]

Consus consilio, Mars duello, Lares coillo potentes

This translates to:

Consus is mighty in counsel, Mars in war, the Lares in coillo

This inscription may not be authentically archaic. Many modern scholars are critical of the potential etymological link between Consus and consilium, the Latin word for counsel. [28] [29] The German classical philologist Georg Wissowa argued that in a genuine ancient inscription from this time period the names of the gods would be expected to be in the dative case, not in the nominative, which is the case used in the inscription. [9] Theodor Mommsen, a German classical scholar, believed that Tertullian may have incorrectly transcribed the Latin words coitu or cubiclo when he utilized the word coillo. [29] Alternatively, it may have been a transcription of the Greek word for the Lacus Curtius. [30] Coillo could possibly be a synonym of Compito. [27] The Latin word compito means crossroads, and the Lares were frequently worshipped at these crossroads. Similarly, consilio has been theorized to be a misreading of consivio, meaning "gathering of the harvest." This theory has been criticized for being unsupported by Tertullian, who appears to have directly derived the word consilio from his source. [31]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Classics</span> Study of the culture of (mainly) Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome

Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek and Roman literature and their original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics may also include as secondary subjects Greco-Roman philosophy, history, archaeology, anthropology, art, mythology, and society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lupercalia</span> Ancient pastoral annual festival celebrated in the city of Rome on February 15th

Lupercalia, also known as Lupercal, was a pastoral festival of Ancient Rome observed annually on February 15 to purify the city, promoting health and fertility. Lupercalia was also known as dies Februatus, after the purification instruments called februa, the basis for the month named Februarius.

<i>Pontifex maximus</i> Chief high priest in ancient Rome

The pontifex maximus was the chief 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, when a plebeian first held this position. Although in fact the most powerful office in the Roman priesthood, the pontifex maximus was officially ranked fifth in the ranking of the highest Roman priests, behind the Rex Sacrorum and the flamines maiores.

In ancient Roman religion, the god Consus was the protector of grains. He was represented by a grain seed. His altar (ara) was located at the first meta of the Circus Maximus. It was either underground, or according to other sources, covered with earth, which was swept off during the two Consualia, his festivals on August 21, December 15, and on July 7 when the pontiffs held a sacrifice there. He was thus a chthonic god.

In ancient Roman religion, the Manes or Di Manes are chthonic deities sometimes thought to represent souls of deceased loved ones. They were associated with the Lares, Lemures, Genii, and Di Penates as deities (di) that pertained to domestic, local, and personal cult. They belonged broadly to the category of di inferi, "those who dwell below", the undifferentiated collective of divine dead. The Manes were honored during the Parentalia and Feralia in February.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quirinus</span> Roman deity

In Roman mythology and religion, Quirinus is an early god of the Roman state. In Augustan Rome, Quirinus was also an epithet of Janus, as Janus Quirinus.

A saeculum is a length of time roughly equal to the potential lifetime of a person or, equivalently, the complete renewal of a human population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neptune (mythology)</span> Roman god of freshwater and the sea

Neptune is the god of freshwater and the sea in the Roman religion. He is the counterpart of the Greek god Poseidon. In the Greek-inspired tradition, he is a brother of Jupiter and Pluto, with whom he presides over the realms of heaven, the earthly world, and the seas. Salacia is his wife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salii</span> Ancient Roman priestly order

The Salii, Salians, or Salian priests were the "leaping priests" of Mars in ancient Roman religion, supposed to have been introduced by King Numa Pompilius. They were twelve patrician youths dressed as archaic warriors with an embroidered tunic, a breastplate, a short red cloak, a sword, and a spiked headdress called an apex. They were charged with the twelve bronze shields called ancilia, which—like those of the Mycenaeans—resembled a figure eight. One of the shields was said to have fallen from heaven in the reign of King Numa and eleven copies were made to protect the identity of the sacred shield on the advice of the nymph Egeria, consort of Numa, who prophesied that wherever that shield was preserved, the people would be the dominant people of the earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">College of Pontiffs</span> High priests of ancient Rome

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 other pontifices, the rex sacrorum, the fifteen flamens, and the Vestals. The College of Pontiffs was one of the four major priestly colleges; originally their responsibility was limited to supervising both public and private sacrifices, but as time passed their responsibilities increased. The other colleges were the augures, the quindecimviri sacris faciundis , and the epulones.

The Consualia or Consuales Ludi was the name of two ancient Roman festivals in honor of Consus, a tutelary deity of the harvest and stored grain. Consuales Ludi harvest festivals were held on August 21, and again on December 15, in connection with grain storage. The shrine of Consus was underground, it was covered with earth all year and was only uncovered for this one day. Mars, the god of war, as a protector of the harvest, was also honored on this day, as were the Lares, the household gods that individual families held sacred.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Praeneste fibula</span> 7th-century BC Old Latin inscription

The Praeneste fibula is a golden fibula or brooch, today housed in the Pigorini National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography in Rome. The fibula bears an inscription in Old Latin, claiming craftsmanship by one Manios and ownership by one Numazios. At the time of its discovery in the late nineteenth century, it was accepted as the earliest known specimen of the Latin language. The authenticity of the inscription has since been disputed, repeatedly rejected and affirmed, with one assertion of antiquity dating to the first half of the seventh century BC.

The Roman festival of Larentalia was held on 23 December but was ordered to be observed twice a year by Augustus; by some supposed to be in honour of the Lares, a kind of domestic genii, or divinities, worshipped in houses, and esteemed the guardians and protectors of families, supposed to reside in chimney-corners. Others have attributed this feast in honour of Acca Larentia, the nurse of Romulus and Remus, and wife of Faustulus. During this festival, offerings were made to the dead, usually at altars dedicated to Acca Larentia. A sacrifice was typically offered in the Velabrum, the spot where Acca Larentia is buried. Larentalia was part of a series of ancient Roman festivals and holidays celebrating the end of the old year and the start of the new.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lares</span> Guardian deities in ancient Roman religion

Lares were guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an amalgam of these.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of ancient Rome</span>

The music of ancient Rome was a part of Roman culture from the earliest of times. Songs (carmen) were an integral part of almost every social occasion. The Secular Ode of Horace, for instance, was commissioned by Augustus and performed by a mixed children's choir at the Secular Games in 17 BC. Music was customary at funerals, and the tibia, a woodwind instrument, was played at sacrifices to ward off ill influences. Under the influence of ancient Greek theory, music was thought to reflect the orderliness of the cosmos, and was associated particularly with mathematics and knowledge.

A bustuarius was a kind of gladiator in Ancient Rome, who fought about the funeral pyre of the deceased at a Roman funeral.

Actia was a festival of Apollo Actius, celebrated at Nicopolis in Epirus, with wrestling, musical contests, horse racing, and sea battles. It was reestablished by Augustus, in commemoration of his victory over Mark Antony off Actium in 31 BC; that it was probably the revival of an ancient festival is suggested by the celebrated temple of Apollo at Actium, which is mentioned by Thucydides, and Strabo, and which was enlarged by Augustus. The games instituted by Augustus were celebrated every five years ; they received the title of a sacred agon and were also called Olympia, and ranked next after the four great games of Greece.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sol (Roman mythology)</span> Roman god of the Sun

Sol is the personification of the Sun and a god in ancient Roman religion. It was long thought that Rome actually had two different, consecutive sun gods: The first, Sol Indiges, was thought to have been unimportant, disappearing altogether at an early period. Only in the late Roman Empire, scholars argued, did the solar cult re-appear with the arrival in Rome of the Syrian Sol Invictus, perhaps under the influence of the Mithraic mysteries. Publications from the mid-1990s have challenged the notion of two different sun gods in Rome, pointing to the abundant evidence for the continuity of the cult of Sol, and the lack of any clear differentiation – either in name or depiction – between the "early" and "late" Roman sun god.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flamen Quirinalis</span> High priest of Quirinus in ancient Rome

In ancient Roman religion, the Flamen Quirinalis was the flamen or high priest of the god Quirinus. He was one of the three flamines maiores, third in order of importance after the Flamen Dialis and the Flamen Martialis. Like the other two high priests, he was subject to numerous ritual taboos, such as not being allowed to touch metal, ride a horse, or spend the night outside Rome. His wife functioned as an assistant priestess with the title Flaminicia Quirinalis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puticuli</span> Ancient Roman mass burial

Puticuli were open pits used as mass graves for the poor in ancient Rome. According to Varro, a Roman scholar, puticuli were located outside of towns. He claims that the name originates from the Latin word for wells and pits, putei. Varro also describes an alternative etymology proposed by his mentor Aelius Stilo. Aelius believed that since the bodies were thrown into the puticuli to rot, the name originated from the Latin verb, putescebant, meaning "used to rot." Varro also cites another Roman writer named Afranius, who calls the puticuli "pit-lights." Afranius referred to the puticuli with these terms since the bodies that were thrown into the grave looked up at the light from the pit. Puticuli were also filled with waste, animal carcasses, and rubbish; they are sometimes seen as an example of waste management in ancient Rome. Another issue for classicists is the importance of these gravesites to Roman society. It has been argued that the ordered arrangement of graves found in this site implies the Roman government was involved in their creation and regulation. Furthermore, the limited size of the gravesites indicates they were intended for temporary use and were not a commonplace means of burial and disposal.

References

  1. ↑ Daly, Kathleen N.; Rengel, Marian (1 January 2004). Greek & Roman Mythology A-Z. Infobase Publishing. p. 32. ISBN   978-1-4381-1992-2.
  2. ↑ Saunders, Catharine (1913). "The Site of Dramatic Performances at Rome in the Times of Plautus and Terence" (PDF). Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association. 44: 87–97. doi:10.2307/282545. ISSN   0065-9711. JSTOR   282545. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 November 2023.
  3. ↑ Mahoney, Anne (1 January 2001). Roman Sports and Spectacles: A Sourcebook. Hackett Publishing. pp. 7–8. ISBN   978-1-58510-606-6.
  4. ↑ Christesen, Paul; Stocking, Charles H. (31 August 2022). A Cultural History of Sport in Antiquity. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 58. ISBN   978-1-350-28295-7.
  5. ↑ Holden, Antonia (1 January 2008). "The Abduction of the Sabine Women in Context: The Iconography on Late Antique Contorniate Medallions". American Journal of Archaeology. 112 (1): 121–142. doi:10.3764/aja.112.1.121. ISSN   0002-9114. S2CID   162253485.
  6. ↑ Phillips, C. Robert (22 December 2015), "Consus", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.1798, ISBN   978-0-19-938113-5 , retrieved 23 November 2023
  7. ↑ Georg Wissowa (1912). Religion und Kultus der Römer (in German) (2nd ed.). pp. 201–204.
  8. ↑ Fowler, W. Warde (1912). "Mundus Patet. 24th August, 5th October, 8th November". The Journal of Roman Studies. 2: 25–33. doi:10.2307/295939. ISSN   1753-528X. JSTOR   295939. S2CID   163222877.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Miano, Daniele (2015). "The Goddess Ops in Archaic Rome" (PDF). Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies. 58 (1): 98–127. doi:10.1111/j.2041-5370.2015.12005.x. ISSN   0076-0730. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 April 2022.
  10. 1 2 Dionysus. Roman Antiquities. II. 31
  11. ↑ Lee-Stecum, Parshia (1 January 2010), "Mendacia Maiorum: Tales Of Deceit In Pre-Republican Rome", Private and Public Lies, Brill, pp. 254–257, ISBN   978-90-04-18883-9 , retrieved 23 November 2023
  12. ↑ Maurus Servius Honoratus. In Vergilii Aeneidem commentarii[Commentary on Virgil's Aeneid ]. 8.636. Consus autem deus est consiliorum.
  13. ↑ Tacitus. Annals . XII. 24
  14. ↑ Orlin, Eric M. (2002). "Foreign Cults in Republican Rome: Rethinking the Pomerial Rule". Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome. 47: 10. doi:10.2307/4238789. ISSN   0065-6801. JSTOR   4238789 – via JSTOR.
  15. 1 2 Flower, Harriet I. (26 September 2017). The Dancing Lares and the Serpent in the Garden: Religion at the Roman Street Corner. Princeton University Press. pp. 112–114. ISBN   978-1-4008-8801-6.
  16. ↑ Platner, Samuel Ball (21 May 2015). A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Cambridge University Press. p. 140. ISBN   978-1-108-08324-9.
  17. ↑ Zaleski, John (11 November 2013), Christesen, Paul; Kyle, Donald G. (eds.), "Religion and Roman Spectacle", A Companion to Sport and Spectacle in Greek and Roman Antiquity (1 ed.), Wiley, p. 596, doi:10.1002/9781118609965.ch40, ISBN   978-1-4443-3952-9 , retrieved 23 November 2023
  18. ↑ DiLuzio, Meghan J. (28 April 2020). A Place at the Altar: Priestesses in Republican Rome. Princeton University Press. pp. 60–62. ISBN   978-0-691-20232-7.
  19. ↑ Michels, Agnes K. (1990). "ROMAN FESTIVALS: July - September". The Classical Outlook. 67 (4): 115. ISSN   0009-8361. JSTOR   43936677 – via JSTOR.
  20. ↑ Michels, Agnes K. (1990). "ROMAN FESTIVALS: October—December". The Classical Outlook. 68 (1): 11–12. ISSN   0009-8361. JSTOR   43919166 – via JSTOR.
  21. ↑ Belayche, Nicole (1 January 2004), "Pagan Festivals in Fourth-Century Gaza", Christian Gaza in Late Antiquity, Brill, pp. 10–11, ISBN   978-90-474-0541-2 , retrieved 23 November 2023
  22. ↑ Middleton, John Henry (1892). The Remains of Ancient Rome. A. and C. Black. p. 41.
  23. ↑ Ovid (5 March 2015). Fastorum libri sex [The Fasti of Ovid: Commentary on Books 3 and 4] (in Latin). Vol. 3. Translated by Frazer, James. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-1-108-08248-8.
  24. ↑ Hölscher, Tonio (22 June 2018). Visual Power in Ancient Greece and Rome: Between Art and Social Reality. University of California Press. p. 127. ISBN   978-0-520-96788-5.
  25. ↑ Varro, Marcus (1938). De Lingua Latina [On the Latin language] (in Latin). Translated by Kent, Roland Grubb. London : W. Heinemann. LCCN   38021516. OCLC   848014271. OL   6373636M.
  26. ↑ Tertullian (1931). De spectaculis [On the Spectacles] (in Latin). Translated by Glover, Terrot; Rendall, Gerald. London Heinemann. p. 246. OCLC   1040001141. OL   23278382M.
  27. 1 2 Liddel, Peter Philip; Low, Polly (26 September 2013). Inscriptions and Their Uses in Greek and Latin Literature. OUP Oxford. p. 181. ISBN   978-0-19-966574-7.
  28. ↑ Noonan, J. D. (1990). "Livy 1.9.6: The Rape at the Consualia" . The Classical World. 83 (6): 496. doi:10.2307/4350674. ISSN   0009-8418. JSTOR   4350674 – via JSTOR.
  29. 1 2 Johnson, Van L. (1967). "Agonia, Indigetes, and the Breeding of Sheep and Goats". Latomus. 26 (2): 335. ISSN   0023-8856. JSTOR   41525221 – via JSTOR.
  30. ↑ Dušanić, Slobodan; Petković, Žarko (2002). "The Flamen Quirinalis at the Consualia and the Horseman of the Lacus Curtius". Aevum. 76 (1): 64. ISSN   0001-9593. JSTOR   20861291 – via JSTOR.
  31. ↑ Tertullian (2010). Disciplinary, Moral, and Ascetical Works. CUA Press. p. 61. ISBN   978-0-8132-1140-4.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.