Religione romana

More than 20 years after presenting his first interpretation of the mosaic from the House of Aion in a paper entitled “Uwagi na temat mozaiki z Domu Aiona w Nea Paphos (Cypr)” (Meander 9/10, 1987, p. 421-438, in Polish, and translated to English: « The Immortality of the Human Soul and the Dionysiac Mysteries in the 4th Century Allegory [in Connection with the Interpretation of the Mosaic from the “House of Aion” at Paphos in Cyprus]»), where he proposed reading the five mythological panels (1. Leda and Zeus; 2. Dionysus on Mount Nysa; 3. The Dionysian thiasos; 4. Apollo and Marsyas; 5. The Apotheosis of Cassiopeia) as an allegory of the destiny of the human soul and body, starting with conception and ending with the liberation of the soul and its apotheosis, the author now enhances his initial interpretation with numerous reflections concerning the historical context of this work of art, created in the years 320-360.
If, according to the author, the mosaic is a “Hymn” in honour of the pagan gods, Man (his soul) and his place in the (pagan) universe, then at the same time it polemicises with the Christian faith and its God, Jesus Christ.
The author puts forward numerous new solutions relating to the mosaic’s iconography and iconology. Analysis of the mosaic also leads him to propose a solution to the as-yet unanswered question regarding the absence of images of the crucified Christ in Christian art of the 3rd and 4th centuries, up until 420/430, when the first images of Christ on the cross appear.
CONTENTS:
Introduction
1. Research to-date (recap)
2. Description of mosaic (recap)
2.1. Composition of five mythological scenes
2.2. Brief iconographic description of mythological panels
2.3. Outline of individual iconographic elements and their respective roles
2.4. The pagan gods’ air of majesty and dignity as an expression of piety
3. A few words about the pagan reaction
4. An apology of pious human life according to pagan principles and a polemic on the Christian model of Man and his theological idol, Jesus Christ
4.1. Divine intervention in the act of human conception (allusion to/polemic on the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary)
4.2. The Epiphany of Dionysus (an allusion to the Epiphany of Christ – Theou Pais)
4.3. The procession and dissemination of Dionysian order (allusion to/polemic on Christ’s entry into Jerusalem)
4.4. The error of Marsyas (polemic on/allusion to the error of Jesus the Messiah): arrest, sentencing for arrogance and lack of piety (asebeia) and condemnation to a martyr’s death
4.5. The anabasis (or anagoge psyches) of a ‘beautiful soul’ (allusion to/polemic on the Ascension of Christ)
5. A few words on the mosaic programme prior to final conclusions
Final conclusions

Esta obra está conformada por varios estudios que abordan las prácticas rituales y los objetos litúrgicos empleados, entre otros pueblos, por egipcios, hebreos, fenicios, íberos, griegos y romanos. A partir de nuevos enfoques metodológicos, se realiza una serie de catas precisas y bien documentadas, que evidencian la variedad, riqueza y profundidad de las prácticas litúrgicas que desarrollaron los hombres de la Antigüedad. Se describen desde barcas sagradas, que servían de transporte a los dioses-astros, hasta amuletos y objetos diversos, pasando por el análisis de los sacrificios de los corderos en la pascua de Israel o el empleo ritual de la sal en Roma. El lector se aproximará a un universo litúrgico ajeno a muchos ritos contemporáneos, en el que lo material y lo espiritual conforman dos planos inseparables que ponen de manifiesto las posibilidades insospechadas del espíritu humano.

More than 20 years after presenting his first interpretation of the mosaic from the House of Aion in a paper entitled “Uwagi na temat mozaiki z Domu Aiona w Nea Paphos (Cypr)” (Meander 9/10, 1987, p. 421-438, in Polish, and translated to English: « The Immortality of the Human Soul and the Dionysiac Mysteries in the 4th Century Allegory [in Connection with the Interpretation of the Mosaic from the “House of Aion” at Paphos in Cyprus]»), where he proposed reading the five mythological panels (1. Leda and Zeus; 2. Dionysus on Mount Nysa; 3. The Dionysian thiasos; 4. Apollo and Marsyas; 5. The Apotheosis of Cassiopeia) as an allegory of the destiny of the human soul and body, starting with conception and ending with the liberation of the soul and its apotheosis, the author now enhances his initial interpretation with numerous reflections concerning the historical context of this work of art, created in the years 320-360.
If, according to the author, the mosaic is a “Hymn” in honour of the pagan gods, Man (his soul) and his place in the (pagan) universe, then at the same time it polemicises with the Christian faith and its God, Jesus Christ.
The author puts forward numerous new solutions relating to the mosaic’s iconography and iconology. Analysis of the mosaic also leads him to propose a solution to the as-yet unanswered question regarding the absence of images of the crucified Christ in Christian art of the 3rd and 4th centuries, up until 420/430, when the first images of Christ on the cross appear.
CONTENTS:
Introduction
1. Research to-date (recap)
2. Description of mosaic (recap)
2.1. Composition of five mythological scenes
2.2. Brief iconographic description of mythological panels
2.3. Outline of individual iconographic elements and their respective roles
2.4. The pagan gods’ air of majesty and dignity as an expression of piety
3. A few words about the pagan reaction
4. An apology of pious human life according to pagan principles and a polemic on the Christian model of Man and his theological idol, Jesus Christ
4.1. Divine intervention in the act of human conception (allusion to/polemic on the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary)
4.2. The Epiphany of Dionysus (an allusion to the Epiphany of Christ – Theou Pais)
4.3. The procession and dissemination of Dionysian order (allusion to/polemic on Christ’s entry into Jerusalem)
4.4. The error of Marsyas (polemic on/allusion to the error of Jesus the Messiah): arrest, sentencing for arrogance and lack of piety (asebeia) and condemnation to a martyr’s death
4.5. The anabasis (or anagoge psyches) of a ‘beautiful soul’ (allusion to/polemic on the Ascension of Christ)
5. A few words on the mosaic programme prior to final conclusions
Final conclusions
Key words: mythological mosaic, House of Aion, Nea Paphos, Late Antiquity, Roman art, allegorical narrative, allusive language of mythological pictures, wordplay (Marsyas-Messias), Jesus Christ, anti-Christian polemic, Dionysos, Cassiopeia, Apollon, Nereides, Abstract Personifications, Greek Mythology, ΚΥΠΡΟΣ

The text aims to analyze, through the analysis of archaeological data, the problem of ownership and change of ownership in the houses of Pompeii.
The study of private building has often highlighted changes in the spatial organization of a building, which may have modified its plan, expanded or reduced in size through acquisitions or disposals of rooms from other buildings, showing a very high mobility. These changes have always been interpreted as the result of a change in ownership or a change in the social status of the owner. These phenomena are apparently only conceivable on the basis of the archaeological data in our possession.
The paper, through some cases emerging from recent excavations in some Pompeian domus, intends to focus on a few elements that can be considered archaeological indicators of domestic rituals that could be connected to any changes in ownership.

Il saggio esamina il tema del c.d. cinctus Gabinus, un particolare modo di indossare la toga che, stando al dettato di alcune fonti e agli studi, costituirebbe una tenuta connessa alle attività rituali e belliche. Secondo alcuni, si tratterebbe del retaggio delle relazioni intercorse tra l’antica comunità di Gabii, crogiolo forse della cultura greca, e Roma, mentre per altri autori, l’abbigliamento sarebbe già stato noto presso gli Etruschi. La studiosa italiana Anna Pasqualini ha supposto che il cinctus Gabinus fosse utilizzato in tutti quei frangenti in cui era necessario delimitare con auspici “singularia” lo spazio e sacralizzare il limite, il confine, tra dentro e fuori. A nostro avviso, invece, il cinctus Gabinus non vuole evidenziare solo il nesso, che pure esiste, tra il modus vestiendi e il concetto di “terminus”, inteso quale “confine” tangibile e astratto fra visioni distanti, ma individua precisamente l’atto di attraversare quell’“estremità”, superando la linea di demarcazione tra un interno e un esterno.

How does the pagan élite of Rome react to the laws that gradually limited the traditional religion and imposed the Christian faith? Was it an armed resistance or a painless process? The case study to better understand the topic will be an inscription regarding the Salians (CIL 6.2158), a very ancient priesthood of Rome, traditionally held by young Roman patricians. The pontiffs act independently without their maximus (the emperor), trying to go on practising the ancestral rites and restoring the ancient buildings, in this case precisely the mansiones of the Salians.
Taking advantage of the evidence provided by the laws contained in the 16th book of the Theodosian Code, it will be very interesting to follow the internal process of change of the Roman élite, more complex than usually regarded, between actions and reactions, resistences until the inevitable conversion.

According to the rules that govern Roman religion, a white sacrificial animal is offered to a celestial or earth god, while infernal divinities receive a black one. Moreover, each deity is pleased by the immolation of an animal belonging to the same sex: male animals to gods, female ones to goddesses. What happens when those rules are not followed? We examine the regular and -mainly- the irregular cases and see why those particular divinities do nοt follow the general rule that the animal’s nature should be conform to the god’s one. We propose a new theory, based on the notion that they are reminisces from the era when the deities were asexual. We reinforce this interpretation by providing examples of sex perturbations in Roman religion (androgynous, bisexual and biform divinities, which are often related to human procreation and nature’s fertility). A minor examination concernσ the other sacrificial rule’s rare deviations, such as offerings of opposite colored or even red animals.

This article presents a program of research
on ancient religion that draws on the concept
of “lived religion”. For antiquity, we use
the term to denote an approach which focus
on the individual appropriation of traditions
and embodiment, religious experiences and
communication on religion in different social
spaces and the interaction of different levels
facilitated by religious specialists. Working in
an international core group at the Max Weber
Centre of the University of Erfurt, the program
intends to include specialists from Europe
and beyond in the development of new paradigms
of research.

The term devotio strictly speaking indicates the Roman religious ritual whereby during a battle the general could sacrifice himself or a legionary of his army to the gods of the underworld (a so-called devotio ducis, closely linked to the Decii Mures). He could do the same with a city that had just been conquered and stripped of its tutelary deities (devotio hostium). In both cases, the recipients of the rite are the infernal deities, especially the Manes and Tellus : the connection with the earth is in fact strongly emphasized in the devotio. This rite is also to be distinguished from the defixio. The meaning of the term will change over time and finally acquire the modern meaning of “devotion”.
In this article I should like to argue in favour of the plausibility of this rite as it is described in the sources, or at least of some of its characteristics, rather than to consider it a mere narrative device or a historiographical construct.
Keywords : devotio, infernal gods, Decii Mures, defixio, carmen

The analysis of historical sources, onomastics data, and the festive calendar, shows that the most archaic Roman kingship was structured in the form of a diarchy between a lifelong priest-king (rex sacrorum) and a temporary warrior-king (quirinus, magister populi): the latter ruled in the season of war, while in peacetime the city government was led in turn by the patres (interregnum). This diarchy could be the result of the influence, on Roman institutions, of the constitutional structures of the Greeks and of the Italic peoples, since among other Indo-European cultures, like Vedic India and the Celts, the pattern seems rather to be a triad — composed of a priest, a supreme king and a warrior king — surviving in Rome only at a theological level in the Pre-Capitoline triad Iuppiter Mars Quirinus. Given these premises, the subsequent Etruscan monarchy looks like the result of the rising of the army commander to a tyrannical and lifelong power, and of the marginalization of the priest-king, while the Republic seems to be a partial restoration of the oldest constitution.

According to the rules that govern Roman religion, a white sacrificial animal is offered to a celestial or earth god, while infernal divinities receive a black one. Moreover, each deity is pleased by the immolation of an animal belonging to the same sex: male animals to gods, female ones to goddesses. What happens when those rules are not followed? We examine the regular and -mainly- the irregular cases and see why those particular divinities do nοt follow the general rule that the animal’s nature should be conform to the god’s one. We propose a new theory, based on the notion that they are reminisces from the era when the deities were asexual. We reinforce this interpretation by providing examples of sex perturbations in Roman religion (androgynous, bisexual and biform divinities, which are often related to human procreation and nature’s fertility). A minor examination concernσ the other sacrificial rule’s rare deviations, such as offerings of opposite colored or even red animals.

Among the rituals of Roman religion performed in war, the most striking one was probably the devotio. When a battle was about to be lost and there were no more military resources left, the Roman general could decide to consecrate himself to the gods of the underworld. After a complex religious procedure and a prayer, he launched himself into the hostile army on his horse, with the aim of dying, thus taking the enemies with him into the underworld.

Il Quadrato Magico denominato SATOR è forse la più famosa ed enigmatica iscrizione latina, la cui struttura palindroma ha da secoli stimolato l’interesse degli studiosi. Nel saggio il significato perduto delle parole iscritte nel “quadrato magico” viene finalmente svelato nella rappresentazione dell’antico “culto delle sacre origini di Roma” e identificato con Fauno, il re-divino della fertilità e dei Lupercalia, i rituali di celebrazione della fondazione di Roma, nei quali si metteva in scena la società delle origini.
Il testo ne spiega la genesi e il significato, attraverso ricostruzioni al computer delle correlazioni astronomiche con le costellazioni “generatrici”, nel modo in cui i nostri avi hanno rappresentato in terra - nella scacchiera della centuriazione romana - ciò che avveniva in cielo, attribuendogli un valore di sacralità.

The aim of the article is to cast a light on the nature of the cult of Mithras in Central Italy, focusing on the administrative division of Roman Etruria. Indeed, the Regio VII has emerged as a privileged territory to explore different aspects of the cult, due to the great variety of its artefacts.
Hence, a model of diffusion of the Mithraic marble religious artifacts across the region and through the Roman main viability is presented, highlighting its dependence on public officials, responsible for both spreading government-endorsed iconographies and managing the Imperial marble industry.
Consequently, the active role played by the Imperial administration in promoting the Mithras worship in Etruria is discussed, as well as the cult diffusion among the lower classes and (by the Middle/Late Empire) the aristocratic élites.
The last phases of the cult within the region are also explored, showing how the Mithraic spelaea were dismissed according to a variety of different modalities during the first decades of the 5th century AD, ranging from violent destruction to pacific abandonment of their structures.

Secondo Cicerone la summa vis di ritmi e suoni, unita a poesia e canto, è capace di influenzare lo stato d’animo; tale forza intensissima non fu trascurata neanche dai Romani fin dall’età più arcaica, come provano i versi dei Salii, i sacerdoti che danzavano armati e intonavano inni in onore di Marte.
Dionigi di Alircarnasso paragona i Salii ai Cureti: ma se questi ultimi durante le loro danze armate sperimentavano una sorta di trance, ciò accadeva anche ai primi? Sicuramente il rituale da loro eseguito doveva destare intense emozioni; d’altra parte era richiesta loro una grande concentrazione per la difficoltà delle coreografie e del Carmen Saliare.
Al di là della loro opinione negativa sulla danza, sembrano comunque ravvisabili occasioni in cui era permesso ai Romani eseguire delle danze senza biasimo, sempre però con gravitas e senza furor o perdita di controllo: ciò sarebbe stato giudicato con la massima severità dalla cultura romana.

The term "Flamines" (< flamen), of uncertain etymology, refers to the priests, each of whom was in charge of the worship of a particular Roman deity. They were divided into the Flamines Maiores, who supervised the ceremonies of the deities of the archaic trinity (Flamen Dialis, Martialis, Quirinalis), and the Flamines Minores, who were responsible for twelve additional entities. These minor deities belong to the archaic Roman religion, were worshipped in public and had at least one official holiday, while at the same time being associated, either with vegetation and fertility, or with a location. The names of ten of them are still known today (Carmentalis, Cerialis, Falacer, Floralis, Furrinalis, Palatualis, Pomonalis, Portunalis, Volcanalis, Volturnalis). Using a new approach, and taking into account their common features, we will try to identify the other two, who enjoyed the - almost exclusive - services of a flamen (Virbialis, Consualis, in this case, according to our working hypothesis). [English translation of an article published in modern Greek[

All’interno dell’arcaico feriale romano, le festività di Anna Perenna e Minerva risultano indissolubilmente collegate da un complesso sistema mitologico e cultuale, finalizzate alla celebrazione dei riti di passaggio femminili al principio del nuovo anno. Il nesso tra le due divinità è infatti ribadito dalla sacralità del numero 5 per Minerva e dall’etimologia del sostantivo Quinquatrus, entrambi riconducibili alla centralità del quindiale compreso tra il 15 ed il 19 marzo, momento in cui l’arcaica comunità romana ritualizzava la comparsa del menarca e quindi l’accesso delle nuove donne nella comunità.

In the archaic Roman calendar the festivities of Anna Perenna and Minerva were closely connected to each other through a complex mythological and cultural system, concerning the celebration of post-pubescent transition rites at the beginning of the new year. The connection between these divinities is confirmed by the sacred significance of the number 5 for Minerva and by the etymological analysis of the noun Quinquatrus: both the number and the noun, in fact, are linked to the importance of the five-day period between the 15th and 19th of March, since this was the moment when the archaic Roman society ritually acknowledged the first appearance of menstrual blood and therefore celebrated the transformation of girls into women.

The common idea that the curiae were divisions of the people created after the foundation of the city and strictly related to the gentes, is mostly due to the etymology cūria < *ko-wir-ia. However, the sources represent the curiae as divisions of the army, and up to Servius Tullius the meeting area of the comitia curiata was extra pomerium. These clues suggest the different etymology cūria < *koir-ia, which connects the word with a number of names of the army or of its units in the Indo-European languages ​​(*koryos: cf. Germ. Heer), and explains the theonym Quirīnus as the result of the deification of a homonymous title indicating the ‘head of the cūriae’ (*koir-yo/a-Hn-o-s). If the term cūria is not a Latin formation but can be traced back to the Indo-European past, it is likely that the institution of the curia did nor arise after the foundation of the city, but reproduced a precivic form of organisation. This leads to represent the foundation of Rome not as the result of an aggregative process of gentes, but as the establishing in an urban form of a pre-existing political entity, perhaps consisting in a league of curiae.

✅ Il 14 maggio alle ore 16:30 Marina De Franceschini e Giuseppe Veneziano presenteranno il loro ultimo libro PANTHEON. ARCHITETTURA E LUCE, in italiano e in inglese.
Per saperne di più vedi il nostro libro su Rirella Editrice: https://rirella-editrice.com/schedashop.aspx?idArt=2890
✅ Il Libro ripercorre la storia millenaria del Pantheon e illustra con splendide fotografie i fenomeni luminosi che si vedono al suo interno, in particolare l'Arco e il Quadrato di Luce che sono stati scoperti dai due autori nel 2014.
✅ L'Arco ed il Quadrato di Luce avevano un preciso significato simbolico, che viene analizzato e spiegato in dettaglio, fornendo una nuova chiave di interpretazione per comprendere la funzione di questo straordinario edificio.
✅ Il Seminario di Archeoastronomia, a cura dell'Alssa e dell'Osservatorio Astronomico di Genova, si svolgerà presso l'Università Popolare Sestrese, Piazzetta dell'Università Popolare, Genova Sestri, tel. 010-6043247.

""The author analyses the mythological subjects known from the funerary paintings of the Near East. He is interested principally in the meaning and the message which these representations conveyed. He studies the interpretative problems of funerary iconography in terms of the principles that we encounter in the iconography of roman art - principles which are confirmed by Artemidorus of Ephesus (or Artemidorus of Daldis), a Greek author of the Antonine period, in his manuel Key to Dreams (Onirocriticon). This approach has never previously been attempted. To support his argument, he refers to numerouse monuments of funerary art as well as to a series of inscriptions adorning the monuments in Roman necrpoleis.

L’auteur analyse les sujets mythologiques connus de la peinture funéraire au Proche-Orient. Il s’intéresse principalement au sens et au message que ces représentations portaient. Il étudie la problématique de la sémantique de l’iconographie funéraire en fonction des principes qu’on retrouve dans l’iconographie plastique et qu’Artémidore d’Ephese (soit Artémidore de Daldis), auteur grec de l’époque antonine, confirme dans son manuel La clef de songes (Onirocriticon). Cette démarche n’avait jusqu’alors, jamais été entreprise. Pour appuyer son raisonnement, l’auteur se réfère à des nombreux monuments d’art funéraire, ainsi qu’à une série d’inscriptions ornant des monuments des nécropoles romaines.
See also: M.T. Olszewski, Artémidore, mythologie et symbolique funéraire, Archeologia (Warsaw) 52, 2001, pp. 39-60.
M.T. Olszewski, Le statut de l'image selon Artémidore et l'art romain, in: Morlier, H. ed., IXe Colloque international pour l'étude de la mosaïque antique et médiévale, Roma 5.11.2001-10.11.2001, Collection de l'Ecole Française de Rome 352/2, Rome 2005, pp. 859-880.""