Roman Civilization

CMS 206 /History 206

• August was, before Augustus, called Sextilis (the sixth month of the Roman Calendar in which March 1 was the original New Year, if you count inclusively). Sextilis was renamed August in honor of Octavian (honored with the name Augustus). Quintilis, the fifth month, had similarly been renamed in honor of Julius Ceasar. It's a hot month in Rome without many big draw feasts. The calendar, as might be expected at harvesting time, has a number of agricultural festivals.
  
• On the 12th of August [C], Romans honored one of the first foreign gods admitted to the city, Hercules (Greek - Heracles). His first altar was within the pomerium [indicating an official embrace of his cult] near the Forum Boarium (cattle market). Perhaps because of this original location of Hercules' cult, he was associated with merchants (and may have been introduced to Rome by Phonecian merchants). Near Hercules' altar (the Ara Maxima), said to be built by Evandar even before Aeneas came to Italy, the Romans built the temple of Hercules Invectus - Hercules the Unconquered (or Hercules the Victor. The temple was unusual in Rome because it, like the aedes of Vestia, was round in structure. Unfortunately Pope Sixtus the Fourth destroyed the temple in the last quarter of the 15th century of the common era. Fortunately, someone thought to make a drawing before the knocked the building down. An anonymous Roman general dedicated a temple to Hercules near the Porta 'Trigemina in 173 BCE. The consul L. Mummius, in the middle of the second century BCE dedicated a temple to Pompey on the Caelian hill. One hundred years later, Pompey the Great had a temple dedicated to Hercules near the Circus Maximus.
  
• Two Roman families, the Potitii and Pinarii, managed the cult of Hercules Invectus at the Ara Maxima until early in the fourth century BCE, when it was taken over by the Roman state. The Roman state had already funded a famous cult celebration which included Hercules, early in the century. Livy tells us that in 399, the Republic sponsered a lectisternium [lectus - is the Latin word for bed or couch]. The statues of a number of gods and goddesses (mostly Greek) were brought out of their temples and set upon dinner couches. A huge meal was prepared and offered to them as though they were guests at a Roman banquet.
  
• The ceremonies for Hercules at the Ara Maxima were quite distinct. Roman men worshipped in the Greek fashion (they did not cover their heads with cloaks; but they did wear garlands of laurel). There were two altars. Women were permitted to attend only one of them. Dogs were driven from the area. Finally, no one was allowed to mention any other gods at the ceremony.
  
• It was common (but not legally required) for merchants and successful generals to donate 10% of their profits (or booty) to the Hercules Invectus. Crassus was famous for donating 10% of his entire estate to the temple. Despite such regular and generous contributions, the cult was not wealthy. Unlike other gods, who were quite finicky in what they would eat, Hercules would eat everything. Thus, a lot of different types of animals were sacrificed to him. Second, unlike ritual feasts for other gods, Hercules would brook no leftovers. Whatever was sacrificed had to be eaten in its entirety. As a consequence, the feats for Hercules were popular, well attended and expensive.
  
• The next day, August 13 (NP), was quite a holiday in Rome. There was a procession to the temple of Hercules Victorus (Hercules of the Victory) near the Porta Trigemina. But for slaves, the action was all on the Aventine Hill, where Diana of the Aventine was. Diana, like Artemis, her Greek counterpart, was a patron of women (particularly associated with childbirth) and hunters. The temple of Diana on the Aventine was founded in the sixth century (its inscriptions were actually in Greek) and may have been connected with the conflict of orders, but the political associations to her worship, if any, were rapidly forgotten. On this feast day, all Romans had to give their slaves the day off. Her temple became a sanctuary for runaway slaves. Between the feasting with Hercules and the holiday for slaves, these mid-August days must have afforded a nice vacation from the harvest.