Flamen Quirinalis
Part of a series on the |
Priesthoods of ancient Rome |
---|
Major colleges |
Other colleges or sodalities |
Priests |
|
Priestesses |
|
Related topics |
|
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.[1]
The theology of Quirinus is complex and difficult to interpret. From early times, he was identified with the deified Romulus, who originally seems to have shared some common theological and mythological elements with Quirinus.
Ritual functions
The flamen Quirinalis presided over at least three festivals, the
These festivals were all devoted to the cult of deities of remarkable antiquity:
Consualia Aestiva
During the Consualia Aestiva the flamen Quirinalis and the
Robigalia
The Robigalia of April 25 required the sacrificial offering of blood and entrails from a puppy, and perhaps also the entrails of a sheep. The rite took place near the fifth milestone of the
Larentalia
The Larentalia of December 23 were a parentatio, an act of funerary cult in memory of Larunda or Larentia. A sacrifice was offered at the site of her supposed tomb on the Velabrum. She was not a goddess but a sort of heroine, with two conflicting legends:
In the first story (and probably elder one) Larentia is a courtesan who had become fabulously rich after spending a night in the sanctuary of Heracles. Later she had bestowed her fortune on the Roman people on the condition that a rite named after her were held yearly.
In the second story she is Romulus and Remus's
Quirinalia
The
Some scholars[20] connect the Quirinalia with the anniversary date of the murder of Romulus by his subjects on the basis of the calendar of Polemius Silvius and of Ovid,[21][22] where the story of Romulus's apotheosis is related, and accordingly interpret the festival as a funerary parentatio.[23]
Dumezil on the other hand
- If it were not so then no Roman writer gave any indication of their content. This is highly unlikely for in Rome religious rituals often survived their theological justification.
- The stultorum feriae bring to an end the organised operation of the curiae in the Fornacalia and this is a guarantee of their antiquity.
The connection hypothesized by Dumezil between the flamen Quirinalis and an activity regulated through the curiae is important as it supports the interpretation of Quirinus as a god of the Roman civil society. The curiae were in fact the original smallest grouping of Roman society.
The most probable etymology of curia is considered by many scholars,[28] to be rooted in *co-viria and that of quirites in *co-virites.
The
Hence Quirinus would be the Roman homologous of the correspondent last component god of the supreme divine triad among all Italic peoples, such as the
Relation to Dumezil's trifunctional hypothesis
The Consualia, Robigalia, Larentalia, and the last act of Fornacalia (the Quirinalia) are the religious rituals performed by flamen Quirinalis. If Romans' traditions were conserved, rather than re-adapted, these rituals should reflect the most ancient and original nature of god Quirinus. The festivals connect him to wheat at the three important and potentially risky stages of its growth, storing, and preservation. Quirinus is thus concerned with a staple food. He cooperates with god Consus, as is testified by the role of his flamen in the Consualia, to the aim of assuring the nurture of the Roman people.
There is also a connection between the function of the flamen Quirinalis in the Quirinalia and the functioning of organized Roman society as expressed through the role played by the curiae in the Fornacalia. The curiae were in fact the smallest cell of ancient Roman society.
According to
Brelich's identification of Romulus with Quirinus as a mythical archetype of primitive religion
Italo-Hungarian religious historian Angelo Brelich advanced a hypothesis that could bring together all of the poorly understood elements of the religious traditions concerning Romulus and Quirinus. He argues it is not likely that the two figures were merged at a later stage in the development of the legend, but they were in fact one since the most ancient times. This view allows us to understand why the Fornacalia, the feast of the toasting of spelt, were also one of the traditional dates of the murder of Romulus: according to this tradition the king was killed by the patres, his body dismembered and each bit of it buried within their own plots of land. Brelich sees in this episode a clear reflection of a mythical theme found in primitive religion and known as the
References
- ^ Scheid, John, An introduction to Roman religion, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2002
- ISBN 978-0-292-77357-8.
- ISBN 978-0-691-20232-7.
- ISBN 978-0-252-09295-4.
- ISBN 978-0-520-33856-2.
- ISBN 978-1-4381-1027-1.
- ISBN 978-1-4008-4978-9.
- ISBN 978-1-4809-5144-0.
- ^ This interpretation has been recently challenged by G. Capdeville as not grounded in ancient documents. Moreover the Romans did not store grains in underground barns or siloses. See article Consus for detailed discussion.
- ^ Tertullian, De Spectaculis V 7
- ^ Varro Lingua Latina VI 21
- ^ Calendar of Praeneste, Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum CIL I2 pp. 316-317.
- ^ prayer: Ovid Fasti IV 910 sqq. While the prayer reported by Ovid may contain elements from an actual formulation, his text is a poetic recreation.
- ^ ritual: Ovid Fasti IV 905-942
- ^ For further discussion, see Robigalia.
- ^ Aulus Gellius. Noctes Atticae VII 7, 8.
- ^ Aulus Gellius Noctes Atticae VII 7, 7.
- ^ Macrobius Saturnalia I 10, 15.
- ^ Orlin, Eric (2010). Foreign Cults in Rome: Creating a Roman Empire. Oxford University Press. p. 144.
- ^ H. Wagenvoort Studies in Roman literature, culture and religion 1956
- ^ Ovid Fasti II 481-512
- ISBN 978-0-520-20223-8.
- ISBN 978-0-521-48366-7.
- ^ G. Dumezil La religion romaine archaique Paris, 1974, part I, chap. 2
- ISBN 978-0-8018-4300-6.
- ^ Festus p.412 L 2nd.
- ^ Plutarch Questiones Romanae 89.
- ^ P. Kretschmer "Lateinisch quirites und quiritare" in Glotta 10 1920 p. 147-157: E. Benveniste "Symbolisme social dans les cultes gréco-italiques" in Revue de l'histoire des religions 129 1945 p. 7-9; A. Carandini Cercando Quirino Turin, 2007.
- ^ A. Gellius Noctes Atticae XIII, 2, 3, 1.
- ^ Phonetic correspondences l, eu, dh > u, o, f are perfectly regular for Umbrian. Compare ‘leudhyo’ to German ‘Leute’.
- ^ Pisani, V. (1938). Mytho-Etymologica, Rev. des etudes Indo-Europeennes, 1. Bucarest.
- ^ E. Benveniste. (1945). Symbolisme social dans les cultes greco-italique, 129. Rev.d'Histoire des Religions.
- ^ G. Dumezil. La religion romaine archaique, Paris, 1974
- ^ A. Carandini. Cercando Quirino Turin, 2007
- ^ G. Dumezil La religion romaine archaique Paris, 1974, part I, chap.2
- ^ "Quirinus: una divinita' romana alla luce della comparazione storica" in Studi e Materiali di Storia delle Religioni1964.