In ancient Roman religion and myth , the Parcae (singular, Parca ) were the female personifications of destiny who directed the lives (and deaths) of humans and gods. They are often called the Fates in English, and their Greek equivalent were the Moirai . They did not control a person's actions except when they are born, when they die, and how much they suffer.
101-404: The Parcae recorded the metaphorical thread of life of every mortal and immortal from birth to death. Even the gods feared them, and by some sources Jupiter was also subject to their power. Nona was supposed to determine a person's lifespan on the dies lustricus , that is, the day on which the name of the child was chosen, which occurred on the ninth day from birth for a male and the eighth for
202-486: A "kingly" drink with the power to inebriate and exhilarate, analogous to the Vedic Soma . Three Roman festivals were connected with viniculture and wine. The rustic Vinalia altera on 19 August asked for good weather for ripening the grapes before harvest. When the grapes were ripe, a sheep was sacrificed to Jupiter and the flamen Dialis cut the first of the grape harvest. The Meditrinalia on 11 October marked
303-447: A book by Numa recording a secret rite on how to evoke Iuppiter Elicius . The king attempted to perform it, but since he executed the rite improperly the god threw a lightning bolt which burned down the king's house and killed Tullus. When approaching Rome (where Tarquin was heading to try his luck in politics after unsuccessful attempts in his native Tarquinii ), an eagle swooped down, removed his hat, flew screaming in circles, replaced
404-634: A chariot with a team of four white horses ( quadriga ) —an honour reserved for Jupiter himself. When Marcus Manlius , whose defense of the Capitol against the invading Gauls had earned him the name Capitolinus , was accused of regal pretensions, he was executed as a traitor by being cast from the Tarpeian Rock . His house on the Capitoline Hill was razed, and it was decreed that no patrician should ever be allowed to live there. Capitoline Jupiter represented
505-512: A child. Faced by a period of bad weather endangering the harvest during one early spring, King Numa resorted to the scheme of asking the advice of the god by evoking his presence. He succeeded through the help of Picus and Faunus, whom he had imprisoned by making them drunk. The two gods (with a charm) evoked Jupiter, who was forced to come down to earth at the Aventine (hence named Iuppiter Elicius , according to Ovid). After Numa skilfully avoided
606-439: A clap of thunder (Jupiter's distinctive instrument), she was prohibited from carrying on with her normal routine until she placated the god. Some privileges of the flamen of Jupiter may reflect the regal nature of Jupiter: he had the use of the curule chair , and was the only priest ( sacerdos ) who was preceded by a lictor and had a seat in the senate . Other regulations concern his ritual purity and his separation from
707-469: A clear sky, Jupiter sent down from heaven a shield. Since this shield had no angles, Numa named it ancile ; because in it resided the fate of the imperium , he had many copies made of it to disguise the real one. He asked the smith Mamurius Veturius to make the copies, and gave them to the Salii . As his only reward, Mamurius expressed the wish that his name be sung in the last of their carmina . Plutarch gives
808-566: A continuity of royal power from the Regal period , and conferred power to the magistrates who paid their respects to him. During the Conflict of the Orders , Rome's plebeians demanded the right to hold political and religious office. During their first secessio (similar to a general strike ), they withdrew from the city and threatened to found their own. When they agreed to come back to Rome they vowed
909-556: A cow being sacrificed to Minerva among the many sacrifices made as a part of the New Year vows. In Fasti III, Ovid called her the "goddess of a thousand works" due to all of the things she was associated with. Minerva was worshipped throughout Italy, and when she eventually became equated with the Greek goddess Athena, she also became a goddess of battle. Unlike Mars, god of war, she was sometimes portrayed with sword lowered, in sympathy for
1010-501: A female. The recurrence of the nundinae was also considered a dies festus and as such nefas by some Roman scholars as Julius Caesar and Cornelius Labeo , because on it the flaminica dialis offered the sacrifice of a goat to Jupiter in the Regia . According to some treatments, the Parcae seem to be more powerful than many, or perhaps even all, of the gods: "The power of the Parcae
1111-455: A greater amount of protection from the goddess of crafts. Some women would also have images of her on accessories such as hairpins or jewellery. She was even featured on some funerary art on coffins and signet rings. During Roman rule, Minerva became equated with the Celtic goddess Sulis , to the degree where their names were used both together and interchangeably. She was believed to preside over
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#17328449247381212-622: A phoney race which must be won by the king in order to allow him to drink a cup of madhu , i. e. soma . The feasting lasted for at least four days, possibly six according to Niebuhr , one day for each of the six Latin and Alban decuriae . According to different records 47 or 53 boroughs took part in the festival (the listed names too differ in Pliny Naturalis historia III 69 and Dionysius of Halicarnassus AR V 61). The Latiar became an important feature of Roman political life as they were feriae conceptivae , i. e. their date varied each year:
1313-585: A slave of his creditor. The plebs argued the debts had become unsustainable because of the expenses of the wars wanted by the patricians. As the senate did not accede to the proposal of a total debt remission advanced by dictator and augur Manius Valerius Maximus the plebs retired on the Mount Sacer, a hill located three Roman miles to the North-northeast of Rome, past the Nomentan bridge on river Anio . The place
1414-626: A slightly different version of the story, writing that the cause of the miraculous drop of the shield was a plague and not linking it with the Roman imperium . Throughout his reign, King Tullus had a scornful attitude towards religion. His temperament was warlike, and he disregarded religious rites and piety. After conquering the Albans with the duel between the Horatii and Curiatii , Tullus destroyed Alba Longa and deported its inhabitants to Rome. As Livy tells
1515-507: A web would forever be a reminder to Arachne of her actions that offended the gods. This story also acted as a warning to mortals not to challenge the gods. Medusa was once a beautiful human girl with magnificent hair, she was also a priestess of Minerva. Neptune was obsessed with her and lusted after her. One day Neptune was watching her pray in the Temple of Minerva and decided to act upon his lustful obsession. He forced himself on Medusa but she
1616-420: Is a virgin goddess. Her domain includes music, poetry , medicine , wisdom , commerce , weaving , and the crafts . Minerva is often depicted with her sacred creature, an owl usually named the " owl of Minerva ". which symbolised her association with wisdom and knowledge, as well as, less frequently, the snake and the olive tree . Minerva is commonly depicted as tall with an athletic and muscular build. She
1717-503: Is also from Praeneste, however, says that Fortuna Primigenia was Jupiter's first-born child. Jacqueline Champeaux sees this contradiction as the result of successive different cultural and religious phases, in which a wave of influence coming from the Hellenic world made Fortuna the daughter of Jupiter. The childhood of Zeus is an important theme in Greek religion, art and literature, but there are only rare (or dubious) depictions of Jupiter as
1818-455: Is archaeological evidence to suggest that Minerva was worshipped not only in a formal civic fashion, but also by individuals on a more personal level. Minerva is featured on the coinage of different Roman emperors . She often is represented on the reverse side of a coin holding an owl and a spear among her attributes. During the Roman occupation of Britain , it was common for carpenters to own tools ornamented with images of Minerva to invoke
1919-546: Is furious with Aglauros. She seeks the assistance of Envy , who fills Aglauros with so much envy for the good fortune of others that she turns to stone . Mercury fails to seduce Herse. Minerva assisted the hero Hercules . In Hyginus ' Fabulae she is said to have helped him kill the Hydra (30.3). Minerva assisted the hero Ulysses . Hyginus describes in his work Fabulae that Minerva changes Odysseus' appearance in order to protect and assist him multiple times (126). Minerva
2020-456: Is often wearing armour and carrying a spear. As an important Roman goddess, she is highly revered, honored, and respected. Marcus Terentius Varro considered her to be ideal and the plan for the universe personified. The name Minerva stems from Proto-Italic * meneswo ("intelligent, understanding"), and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European (PIE) * menos ("thought"). Helmut Rix (1981) and Gerhard Meiser (1998) have proposed
2121-594: Is the Roman goddess of wisdom , justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars . Beginning in the second century BC, the Romans equated her with the Greek goddess Athena . Minerva is one of the three Roman deities in the Capitoline Triad , along with Jupiter and Juno . Minerva
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#17328449247382222-541: Is the god of the sky and thunder , and king of the gods in ancient Roman religion and mythology . Jupiter was the chief deity of Roman state religion throughout the Republican and Imperial eras, until Christianity became the dominant religion of the Empire . In Roman mythology, he negotiates with Numa Pompilius , the second king of Rome , to establish principles of Roman religion such as offering, or sacrifice. Jupiter
2323-420: Is the origin of the expression "by Jove!"—archaic, but still in use. The name of the god was also adopted as the name of the planet Jupiter ; the adjective " jovial " originally described those born under the planet of Jupiter (reputed to be jolly, optimistic, and buoyant in temperament ). Minerva Minerva ( / m ə ˈ n ɜːr v ə / ; Latin: [mɪˈnɛru̯ä] ; Etruscan : Menrva )
2424-410: Is thought to have invented the flute by piercing holes into boxwood. She enjoyed the music, but became embarrassed by how it made her face look when her cheeks puffed out to play. Because of this she threw it away and it landed on a riverbank where it was found by a satyr . The Romans celebrated her festival from March 19 to March 23 during the day that is called, in the neuter plural, Quinquatria ,
2525-473: Is under the influence of the Parcae. Jupiter himself can not interfere to save his son Sarpedon." The names of the three Parcae are: The earliest extant documents referencing these deities are three small stelae (cippi) found near ancient Lavinium shortly after World War II . They bear the inscription: Neuna fata, Neuna dono, Parca Maurtia dono The names of two of the three Roman Parcae are recorded ( Neuna = Nona, Maurtia = Morta) and connected to
2626-399: Is usually regarded as his Etruscan counterpart. The Romans believed that Jupiter granted them supremacy because they had honoured him more than any other people had. Jupiter was "the fount of the auspices upon which the relationship of the city with the gods rested." He personified the divine authority of Rome's highest offices, internal organization, and external relations. His image in
2727-453: Is usually thought to have originated as a sky god. His identifying implement is the thunderbolt and his primary sacred animal is the eagle, which held precedence over other birds in the taking of auspices and became one of the most common symbols of the Roman army (see Aquila ). The two emblems were often combined to represent the god in the form of an eagle holding in its claws a thunderbolt, frequently seen on Greek and Roman coins. As
2828-409: Is windy and was usually the site of rites of divination performed by haruspices. The senate in the end sent a delegation composed of ten members with full powers of making a deal with the plebs, of which were part Menenius Agrippa and Manius Valerius. It was Valerius, according to the inscription found at Arezzo in 1688 and written on the order of Augustus as well as other literary sources, that brought
2929-710: The pompa circensis resembled a triumphal procession. Wissowa and Mommsen argue that they were a detached part of the triumph on the above grounds (a conclusion which Dumézil rejects). The Ludi Plebei took place in November in the Circus Flaminius . Mommsen argued that the epulum of the Ludi Plebei was the model of the Ludi Romani, but Wissowa finds the evidence for this assumption insufficient. The Ludi Plebei were probably established in 534 BC. Their association with
3030-463: The Acta Arvalia , a cow was sacrificed to Minerva on October 13 58 AD along with many other sacrifices to celebrate the anniversary of Nero coming to power. On January 3 81 AD, as a part of the New Year vows, two cows were sacrificed to Minerva (among many others) to secure the well-being of the emperor Titus, Domitian Caesar, Julia Augusta, and their children. On January 3 87 AD there is again record of
3131-545: The Aventine Hill . Among others, its members included Livius Andronicus . The Aventine sanctuary of Minerva continued to be an important center of the arts for much of the middle Roman Republic . As Minerva Medica , she was the goddess of medicine and physicians. As Minerva Achaea , she was worshipped at Lucera in Apulia where votive gifts and arms said to be those of Diomedes were preserved in her temple. According to
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3232-585: The Quinquatria by appointing a college of priests who were to stage plays and animal games in addition to poetry and oratory competitions. A lesser version, the Minusculae Quinquatria , was held on the Ides of June, June 13, by the flute-players , as Minerva was thought to have invented the flute. In 207 BC, a guild of poets and actors was formed to meet and make votive offerings at the temple of Minerva on
3333-532: The Republican and Imperial Capitol bore regalia associated with Rome's ancient kings and the highest consular and Imperial honours . The consuls swore their oath of office in Jupiter's name, and honoured him on the annual feriae of the Capitol in September. To thank him for his help, and to secure his continued support, they sacrificed a white ox (bos mas) with gilded horns. A similar sacrificial offering
3434-580: The Via Nova , below the Porta Mugonia , ancient entrance to the Palatine. Legend attributed its founding to Romulus. There may have been an earlier shrine ( fanum ) , since the Jupiter cult is attested epigraphically. Ovid places the temple's dedication on 27 June, but it is unclear whether this was the original date, or the rededication after the restoration by Augustus. A second temple of Iuppiter Stator
3535-494: The Ides, a white lamb ( ovis idulis ) was led along Rome's Sacred Way to the Capitoline Citadel and sacrificed to him. Jupiter's two epula Iovis festivals fell on the Ides, as did his temple foundation rites as Optimus Maximus , Victor , Invictus and (possibly) Stator . The nundinae recurred every ninth day, dividing the calendar into a market cycle analogous to a week. Market days gave rural people ( pagi )
3636-496: The Latins. The original cult was reinstated unchanged as is testified by some archaic features of the ritual: the exclusion of wine from the sacrifice the offers of milk and cheese and the ritual use of rocking among the games. Rocking is one of the most ancient rites mimicking ascent to Heaven and is very widespread. At the Latiar the rocking took place on a tree and the winner was of course
3737-610: The Old Latin nominative case * Ious . Jove is a less common English formation based on Iov- , the stem of oblique cases of the Latin name. Linguistic studies identify the form * Iou-pater as deriving from the Proto-Italic vocable * Djous Patēr , and ultimately the Indo-European vocative compound * Dyēu-pəter (meaning "O Father Sky-god"; nominative: * Dyēus -pətēr ). Older forms of
3838-496: The PIE derivative * menes-ueh₂ ("provided with a mind, intelligent") as the transitional form. The myth of Minerva's birth follows that of Athena. In it, Minerva was borne of Metis , who had been swallowed by Jupiter , and burst from her father's head, fully grown and clad in armour. Jupiter had sex with the titaness Metis, which resulted in her attempting to change shape (or shapeshift ) to escape him. Jupiter then recalled
3939-549: The Roman State as Romans saw in Jupiter the only source of state authority. The fetials were a college of 20 men devoted to the religious administration of international affairs of state. Their task was to preserve and apply the fetial law (ius fetiale) , a complex set of procedures aimed at ensuring the protection of the gods in Rome's relations with foreign states. Iuppiter Lapis is the god under whose protection they act, and whom
4040-519: The Roman senate to inquire was also greeted by a rain of stones and heard a loud voice from the grove on the summit of the mount requesting the Albans perform the religious service to the god according to the rites of their country. In consequence of this event the Romans instituted a festival of nine days ( nundinae ). Nonetheless a plague ensued: in the end Tullus Hostilius himself was affected and lastly killed by
4141-641: The Sacer Mons: this act besides recalling the first secession was meant to seek the protection of the supreme god. The secession ended with the resignation of the decemviri and an amnesty for the rebellious soldiers who had deserted from their camp near Mount Algidus while warring against the Volscians, abandoning the commanders. The amnesty was granted by the senate and guaranteed by the pontifex maximus Quintus Furius (in Livy's version) (or Marcus Papirius) who also supervised
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4242-459: The annual Ludi Romani and were held in the Circus Maximus after a procession from the Capitol. The games were attributed to Tarquinius Priscus, and linked to the cult of Jupiter on the Capitol. Romans themselves acknowledged analogies with the triumph , which Dumézil thinks can be explained by their common Etruscan origin; the magistrate in charge of the games dressed as the triumphator and
4343-458: The architectural model for his provincial temples. When Hadrian built Aelia Capitolina on the site of Jerusalem , a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus was erected in the place of the destroyed Temple in Jerusalem . There were two temples in Rome dedicated to Iuppiter Stator ; the first one was built and dedicated in 294 BC by Marcus Atilius Regulus after the third Samnite War. It was located on
4444-414: The chief fetial (pater patratus) invokes in the rite concluding a treaty. If a declaration of war ensues, the fetial calls upon Jupiter and Quirinus , the heavenly, earthly and chthonic gods as witnesses of any potential violation of the ius . He can then declare war within 33 days. The action of the fetials falls under Jupiter's jurisdiction as the divine defender of good faith. Several emblems of
4545-459: The concept of fata . One of the sources for the Parcae is Metamorphoses by Ovid , II 654, V 532, VIII 452, XV 781. Another source is Aeneid by Virgil , in the opening of Book I. Jupiter (mythology) Jupiter ( Latin : Iūpiter or Iuppiter , from Proto-Italic * djous "day, sky" + * patēr "father", thus " sky father " Greek: Δίας or Ζεύς ), also known as Jove ( gen . Iovis [ˈjɔwɪs] ),
4646-448: The consuls and the highest magistrates were required to attend shortly after the beginning of the administration, originally on the Ides of March: the Feriae usually took place in early April. They could not start campaigning before its end and if any part of the games had been neglected or performed unritually the Latiar had to be wholly repeated. The inscriptions from the imperial age record
4747-464: The cult of Jupiter is attested by Cicero. The feriae of 23 December were devoted to a major ceremony in honour of Acca Larentia (or Larentina ), in which some of the highest religious authorities participated (probably including the Flamen Quirinalis and the pontiffs ). The Fasti Praenestini marks the day as feriae Iovis , as does Macrobius. It is unclear whether the rite of parentatio
4848-615: The deity's name in Rome were Dieus-pater ("day/sky-father"), then Diéspiter . The 19th-century philologist Georg Wissowa asserted these names are conceptually- and linguistically-connected to Diovis and Diovis Pater ; he compares the analogous formations Vedius - Veiove and fulgur Dium , as opposed to fulgur Summanum (nocturnal lightning bolt) and flamen Dialis (based on Dius , dies ). The Ancient later viewed them as entities separate from Jupiter. The terms are similar in etymology and semantics ( dies , "daylight" and Dius , "daytime sky"), but differ linguistically. Wissowa considers
4949-512: The end of the grape harvest; the new wine was pressed , tasted and mixed with old wine to control fermentation. In the Fasti Amiternini , this festival is assigned to Jupiter. Later Roman sources invented a goddess Meditrina , probably to explain the name of the festival. At the Vinalia urbana on 23 April, new wine was offered to Jupiter. Large quantities of it were poured into a ditch near
5050-520: The epithet Dianus noteworthy. Dieus is the etymological equivalent of ancient Greece 's Zeus and of the Teutonics' Ziu (genitive Ziewes ). The Indo-European deity is the god from which the names and partially the theology of Jupiter, Zeus and the Indo-Aryan Vedic Dyaus Pita derive or have developed. The Roman practice of swearing by Jove to witness an oath in law courts
5151-626: The face of a quarry next to the River Dee . Stemming from an Italic moon goddess * Meneswā ('She who measures'), the Etruscans adopted the inherited Old Latin name, * Menerwā , thereby calling her Menrva . It is presumed that her Roman name, Minerva, is based on this Etruscan mythology . Minerva was the goddess of wisdom, war, art, schools, justice and commerce. She was the Etruscan counterpart to Greek Athena . Like Athena, Minerva burst from
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#17328449247385252-578: The festival back to the time of the decemvirs . Wissowa remarks the inner linkage of the temple of the Mons Albanus with that of the Capitol apparent in the common association with the rite of the triumph : since 231 BC some triumphing commanders had triumphed there first with the same legal features as in Rome. The Ides (the midpoint of the month, with a full moon) was sacred to Jupiter, because on that day heavenly light shone day and night. Some (or all) Ides were Feriae Iovis , sacred to Jupiter. On
5353-414: The fetial office pertain to Jupiter. The silex was the stone used for the fetial sacrifice, housed in the Temple of Iuppiter Feretrius , as was their sceptre. Sacred herbs (sagmina) , sometimes identified as vervain , had to be taken from the nearby citadel (arx) for their ritual use. The role of Jupiter in the conflict of the orders is a reflection of the religiosity of the Romans. On one side,
5454-533: The fifth day after the Ides of March, the nineteenth, an artisans ' holiday. This festival was of deepest importance to artists and craftsmen as she was the patron goddess of crafting and arts. According to Ovid ( Fasti 3.809) the festival was 5 days long, and the first day was said to be the anniversary of Minerva's birth, so no blood was to be shed. The following four days were full of games of "drawn swords" in honour of Minerva's military association. Suetonius tells us (Life of Domitian 4.4) that Domitian celebrated
5555-585: The fight. In order to do this he slept in Minerva's temple, and she came to him with a golden bridle. When Pegasus saw Bellerophon with the bridle the horse immediately allowed Bellerophon to mount, and they defeated the Chimera. Metamorphoses by Ovid tell the story of Minerva and Aglauros . When Mercury comes to seduce mortal virgin Herse , her sister Aglauros is driven by her greed to help him. Minerva discovers this and
5656-411: The fulness of life and absolute freedom that are features of Jupiter. The augures publici , augurs were a college of sacerdotes who were in charge of all inaugurations and of the performing of ceremonies known as auguria . Their creation was traditionally ascribed to Romulus . They were considered the only official interpreters of Jupiter's will, thence they were essential to the very existence of
5757-460: The god with a lightning bolt. The festival was reestablished on its primitive site by the last Roman king Tarquin the Proud under the leadership of Rome. The feriae Latinae , or Latiar as they were known originally, were the common festival ( panegyris ) of the so-called Priscan Latins and of the Albans. Their restoration aimed at grounding Roman hegemony in this ancestral religious tradition of
5858-613: The hat on his head and flew away. Tarquin's wife Tanaquil interpreted this as a sign that he would become king based on the bird, the quadrant of the sky from which it came, the god who had sent it and the fact it touched his hat (an item of clothing placed on a man's most noble part, the head). The Elder Tarquin is credited with introducing the Capitoline Triad to Rome, by building the so-called Capitolium Vetus. Macrobius writes this issued from his Samothracian mystery beliefs. Sacrificial victims ( hostiae ) offered to Jupiter were
5959-831: The head of her father, Jupiter (Greek Zeus ), who had devoured her mother (Metis) in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent her birth. By a process of folk etymology , the Romans could have linked her foreign name to the root men- in Latin words such as mens meaning "mind", perhaps because one of her aspects as goddess pertained to the intellectual. The word mens is built from the Proto-Indo-European root *men- 'mind' (linked with memory as in Greek Mnemosyne /μνημοσύνη and mnestis /μνῆστις: memory, remembrance, recollection, manush in Sanskrit meaning mind). The Etruscan Menrva
6060-557: The healing hot springs located in Bath . Though Minerva is not a water deity, her association with intellectual professions as Minerva Medica she could also be thought of as a healing goddess, the epigraphic evidence present makes it clear that this is how Minerva was thought of in Bath. Some of the archaeological evidence present in Bath leads scholars to believe that it was thought Minerva could provide full healing from things such as rheumatism via
6161-420: The hill where they had retreated to Jupiter as symbol and guarantor of the unity of the Roman res publica . Plebeians eventually became eligible for all the magistracies and most priesthoods, but the high priest of Jupiter ( Flamen Dialis ) remained the preserve of patricians. Jupiter was served by the patrician Flamen Dialis, the highest-ranking member of the flamines , a college of fifteen priests in
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#17328449247386262-507: The hot springs if she was given full credit for the healing. The temple of Sulis Minerva was known for having a miraculous altar-fire that burned coal as opposed to the traditional wood. There is evidence of worship of Minerva Medica in Carrawburgh due to archaeological evidence such as a relief depicting her and Aesculapius . There is a shrine dedicated to Minerva in Edgar's Field built in
6363-481: The influence of the Greek narrative tradition . After the influence of Greek culture on Roman culture, Latin literature and iconography reinterpreted the myths of Zeus in depictions and narratives of Jupiter. In the legendary history of Rome, Jupiter is often connected to kings and kingship. Jupiter is depicted as the twin of Juno in a statue at Praeneste that showed them nursed by Fortuna Primigenia . An inscription that
6464-618: The last king ( Tarquinius Superbus ) and inaugurated in the early days of the Roman Republic (13 September 509 BC). It was topped with the statues of four horses drawing a quadriga , with Jupiter as charioteer. A large statue of Jupiter stood within; on festival days, its face was painted red. In (or near) this temple was the Iuppiter Lapis : the Jupiter Stone , on which oaths could be sworn. Jupiter's Capitoline Temple probably served as
6565-466: The military function; he was forbidden to ride a horse or see the army outside the sacred boundary of Rome ( pomerium ). Although he served the god who embodied the sanctity of the oath, it was not religiously permissible ( fas ) for the Dialis to swear an oath. He could not have contacts with anything dead or connected with death: corpses, funerals, funeral fires, raw meat. This set of restrictions reflects
6666-475: The monarchy, but the "king" of this festival may have been the priest known as the rex sacrorum who ritually enacted the waning and renewal of power associated with the New Year (1 March in the old Roman calendar). A temporary vacancy of power (construed as a yearly " interregnum ") occurred between the Regifugium on 24 February and the New Year on 1 March (when the lunar cycle was thought to coincide again with
6767-499: The myths and iconography of Zeus are adapted under the name Jupiter . In the Greek-influenced tradition, Jupiter was the brother of Neptune and Pluto , the Roman equivalents of Poseidon and Hades respectively. Each presided over one of the three realms of the universe: sky, the waters, and the underworld. The Italic Diespiter was also a sky god who manifested himself in the daylight, usually identified with Jupiter. Tinia
6868-487: The nomination of the new tribunes of the plebs, then gathered on the Aventine Hill. The role played by the pontifex maximus in a situation of vacation of powers is a significant element underlining the religious basis and character of the tribunicia potestas . A dominant line of scholarship has held that Rome lacked a body of myths in its earliest period, or that this original mythology has been irrecoverably obscured by
6969-545: The official public cult of Rome, each of whom was devoted to a particular deity. His wife, the Flaminica Dialis, had her own duties, and presided over the sacrifice of a ram to Jupiter on each of the nundinae , the "market" days of a calendar cycle, comparable to a week. The couple were required to marry by the exclusive patrician ritual confarreatio , which included a sacrifice of spelt bread to Jupiter Farreus (from far , "wheat, grain"). The office of Flamen Dialis
7070-413: The one who had swung the highest. This rite was said to have been instituted by the Albans to commemorate the disappearance of king Latinus , in the battle against Mezentius king of Caere : the rite symbolised a search for him both on earth and in heaven. The rocking as well as the customary drinking of milk was also considered to commemorate and ritually reinstate infancy. The Romans in the last form of
7171-605: The opportunity to sell in town and to be informed of religious and political edicts, which were posted publicly for three days. According to tradition, these festival days were instituted by the king Servius Tullius . The high priestess of Jupiter ( Flaminica Dialis ) sanctified the days by sacrificing a ram to Jupiter. During the Republican era , more fixed holidays on the Roman calendar were devoted to Jupiter than to any other deity. Festivals of viniculture and wine were devoted to Jupiter, since grapes were particularly susceptible to adverse weather. Dumézil describes wine as
7272-430: The ox (castrated bull), the lamb (on the Ides, the ovis idulis ) and the wether (a castrated goat or castrated ram) (on the Ides of January). The animals were required to be white. The question of the lamb's gender is unresolved; while a sacrificial lamb for a male deity was usually male, for the vintage-opening festival the flamen Dialis sacrificed a ewe lamb to Jupiter. This rule seems to have had many exceptions, as
7373-449: The patricians were able to naturally claim the support of the supreme god as they held the auspices of the State. On the other side, the plebs (plebeians) argued that, as Jupiter was the source of justice, they had his favor because their cause was just. The first secession was caused by the excessive debt burden on the plebs. The legal institute of the nexum permitted a debtor to become
7474-475: The plebs down from the Mount, after the secessionists had consecrated it to Jupiter Territor and built an altar ( ara ) on its summit. The fear of the wrath of Jupiter was an important element in the solution of the crisis. The consecration of the Mount probably referred to its summit only. The ritual requested the participation of both an augur (presumably Manius Valerius himself) and a pontifex. The second secession
7575-496: The price for it. This angered Minerva, and she took the form of an old woman to approach Arachne, offering her a chance to take back her challenge and ask forgiveness. When Arachne refused, Minerva rid herself of her disguise and took Arachne up on her challenge. Arachne began to weave a tapestry that showed the shortcomings of the gods, while Minerva depicted her competition with Neptune and the gods looking down with disgust on mortals who would dare to challenge them. Minerva's weaving
7676-477: The prophecy that his own child would overthrow him, as he had Saturn , and in turn, Saturn had Caelus . Fearing that their child would be male, and would grow stronger than he was and rule the Heavens in his place, Jupiter swallowed Metis whole after tricking her into turning herself into a fly. The Titaness gave birth to Minerva and forged weapons and armour for her child while within Jupiter's body. In some versions of
7777-402: The recent dead, rather than raised in triumph and battle lust. In Rome her bellicose nature was emphasized less than elsewhere. According to Livy 's History of Rome (7.3), the annual nail marking the year, a process where the praetor maximus drove a nail in to formally keep track of the current year, happened in the temple of Minerva because she was thought to have invented numbers. There
7878-402: The requests of the god for human sacrifices, Jupiter agreed to his request to know how lightning bolts are averted, asking only for the substitutions Numa had mentioned: an onion bulb, hairs and a fish. Moreover, Jupiter promised that at the sunrise of the following day he would give to Numa and the Roman people pawns of the imperium . The following day, after throwing three lightning bolts across
7979-509: The rite brought the sacrificial ox from Rome and every participant was bestowed a portion of the meat, rite known as carnem petere . Other games were held in every participant borough. In Rome a race of chariots ( quadrigae ) was held starting from the Capitol: the winner drank a liquor made with absynth. This competition has been compared to the Vedic rite of the vajapeya : in it seventeen chariots run
8080-612: The sacrifice of a ram on the Nundinae by the flaminica Dialis demonstrates. During one of the crises of the Punic Wars , Jupiter was offered every animal born that year. The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus stood on the Capitoline Hill in Rome. Jupiter was worshiped there as an individual deity, and with Juno and Minerva as part of the Capitoline Triad . The building was supposedly begun by king Tarquinius Priscus , completed by
8181-559: The severed head to Minerva, who placed its image on her Aegis . When Perseus beheaded Medusa some of the blood spilled onto the ground, and from it came Pegasus . Minerva caught the horse and tamed it before gifting the horse to the Muses . It was a kick from the hoof of Pegasus that opened the fountain Hippocrene . When Bellerophon later went to fight the Chimera he sought to use Pegasus in
8282-493: The skygod, he was a divine witness to oaths, the sacred trust on which justice and good government depend. Many of his functions were focused on the Capitoline Hill , where the citadel was located. In the Capitoline Triad , he was the central guardian of the state with Juno and Minerva . His sacred tree was the oak. The Romans regarded Jupiter as the equivalent of the Greek Zeus , and in Latin literature and Roman art ,
8383-483: The solar cycle), and the uncertainty and change during the two winter months were over. Some scholars emphasize the traditional political significance of the day. The Poplifugia ("Routing of Armies" ), a day sacred to Jupiter, may similarly mark the second half of the year; before the Julian calendar reform , the months were named numerically, Quintilis (the fifth month) to December (the tenth month). The Poplifugia
8484-554: The stories of her Greek counterpart Athena are attributed to Minerva in Roman mythology, such as that of the naming of Athens resulting from a competition between Minerva and Neptune , in which Minerva created the olive tree. Arachne was a mortal highly proficient in weaving and embroidery. Not only were her finished works beautiful, but also her process, so much so that nymphs would come out of their natural environments to watch her work. Arachne boasted that her skills could beat those of Minerva, and if she were wrong she would pay
8585-460: The story, Metis continued to live inside of Jupiter's mind as the source of his wisdom. Others say she was simply a vessel for the birth of Minerva. The constant pounding and ringing left Jupiter with agonizing pain. To relieve the pain, Vulcan used a hammer to split Jupiter's head and, from the cleft, Minerva emerged, whole, adult, and in full battle armour. Minerva is a prominent figure in Roman mythology . She appears in many famous myths. Many of
8686-535: The story, omens ( prodigia ) in the form of a rain of stones occurred on the Alban Mount because the deported Albans had disregarded their ancestral rites linked to the sanctuary of Jupiter. In addition to the omens, a voice was heard requesting that the Albans perform the rites. A plague followed and at last the king himself fell ill. As a consequence, the warlike character of Tullus broke down; he resorted to religion and petty, superstitious practices. At last, he found
8787-461: The temple of Venus Erycina , which was located on the Capitol. The Regifugium ("King's Flight") on 24 February has often been discussed in connection with the Poplifugia on 5 July, a day holy to Jupiter. The Regifugium followed the festival of Iuppiter Terminus (Jupiter of Boundaries) on 23 February. Later Roman antiquarians misinterpreted the Regifugium as marking the expulsion of
8888-541: The third Samnite War in 295 BC. It was probably on the Quirinal, on which an inscription reading Diovei Victore has been found, but was eclipsed by the imperial period by the Temple of Jupiter Invictus on the Palatine, which was often referred to by the same name. Inscriptions from the imperial age have revealed the existence of an otherwise-unknown temple of Iuppiter Propugnator on the Palatine. The cult of Iuppiter Latiaris
8989-482: Was a "primitive military ritual" for which the adult male population assembled for purification rites, after which they ritually dispelled foreign invaders from Rome. There were two festivals called epulum Iovis ("Feast of Jove"). One was held on 13 September, the anniversary of the foundation of Jupiter's Capitoline temple. The other (and probably older) festival was part of the Plebeian Games (Ludi Plebei) , and
9090-453: Was abolished and the Republic established, religious prerogatives were transferred to the patres , the patrician ruling class . Nostalgia for the kingship (affectatio regni) was considered treasonous. Those suspected of harbouring monarchical ambitions were punished, regardless of their service to the state. In the 5th century BC, the triumphator Camillus was sent into exile after he drove
9191-420: Was built and dedicated by Quintus Caecilus Metellus Macedonicus after his triumph in 146 BC near the Circus Flaminius . It was connected to the restored temple of Iuno Regina with a portico ( porticus Metelli ). Augustus constructed the Temple of Jupiter Tonans near that of Jupiter Capitolinus between 26 and 22 BC. Iuppiter Victor had a temple dedicated by Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges during
9292-458: Was caused by the autocratic and arrogant behaviour of the decemviri , who had been charged by the Roman people with writing down the laws in use till then kept secret by the patrician magistrates and the sacerdotes . All magistracies and the tribunes of the plebs had resigned in advance. The task resulted in the XII Tables, which though concerned only private law. The plebs once again retreated to
9393-454: Was circumscribed by several unique ritual prohibitions, some of which shed light on the sovereign nature of the god himself. For instance, the flamen may remove his clothes or apex (his pointed hat) only when under a roof, in order to avoid showing himself naked to the sky—that is, "as if under the eyes of Jupiter" as god of the heavens. Every time the Flaminica saw a lightning bolt or heard
9494-536: Was great and extensive. Some suppose that they were subjected to none of the gods but Jupiter; while others support that even Jupiter himself was obedient to their commands; and indeed we see the father of the gods, in Homer's Iliad, unwilling to see Patroclus perish, yet obliged, by the superior power of the Fates, to abandon him to his destiny." Similarly: "We have the clearest evidence of the poet for it, that whatever happens to us
9595-506: Was held on 13 November. In the 3rd century BC, the epulum Iovis became similar to a lectisternium . The most ancient Roman games followed after one day (considered a dies ater , or "black day", i. e. a day which was traditionally considered unfortunate even though it was not nefas , see also article Glossary of ancient Roman religion ) the two Epula Iovis of September and November. The games of September were named Ludi Magni ; originally they were not held every year, but later became
9696-504: Was itself the reason for the festival of Jupiter, or if this was another festival which happened to fall on the same day. Wissowa denies their association, since Jupiter and his flamen would not be involved with the underworld or the deities of death (or be present at a funeral rite held at a gravesite). The Latin name Iuppiter originated as a vocative compound of the Old Latin vocative * Iou and pater ("father") and came to replace
9797-407: Was made by triumphal generals , who surrendered the tokens of their victory at the feet of Jupiter's statue in the Capitol. Some scholars have viewed the triumphator as embodying (or impersonating) Jupiter in the triumphal procession. Jupiter's association with kingship and sovereignty was reinterpreted as Rome's form of government changed. Originally, Rome was ruled by kings ; after the monarchy
9898-414: Was meant as a final warning to her foe to back down. Minerva was insulted by the scenes that Arachne was weaving, and destroyed it. She then touched Arachne on the forehead, which made her feel shame for what she had done, leading her to hang herself. Minerva then felt bad for the woman, and brought her back to life. However, Minerva transformed her into a spider as punishment for her actions, and hanging from
9999-558: Was not strong enough to fight him off. Minerva was furious this took place in her temple and she turned Medusa into a monster, replacing her hair with hissing snakes and removing her charm. Medusa turned any living creature she looked upon into stone. Neptune was not ever confronted for his wrongdoings to Medusa. When Perseus approached Medusa he used her reflection in his shield to avoid contact with her eyes, and then beheaded her. Medusa’s spilt blood gave birth to Pegasus; which Minerva immediately tamed and gifted to Bellerophon. He delivered
10100-659: Was part of a holy triad with Tinia and Uni , equivalent to the Roman Capitoline Triad of Jupiter-Juno-Minerva. She is remembered in De Mulieribus Claris , a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio , composed in 1361–62. It is notable as the first collection devoted exclusively to biographies of women in Western literature. Poet Elizabeth Carter
10201-515: Was the most ancient known cult of the god: it was practised since very remote times near the top of the Mons Albanus on which the god was venerated as the high protector of the Latin League under the hegemony of Alba Longa . After the destruction of Alba by king Tullus Hostilius the cult was forsaken. The god manifested his discontent through the prodigy of a rain of stones: the commission sent by
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