Hilaria
Hilaria | |
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Observed by | Historically: Romans |
Type | Cultural, Pagan |
Significance | Vernal equinox, death and resurrection of Attis |
Celebrations | Ritual mourning, symbolic decoration, processions, games, masquerades |
Date | 22–25 March (or 10–7 days before the April new moon) |
Frequency | Annual |
Religion in ancient Rome |
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Practices and beliefs |
Priesthoods |
Deities |
Deified leaders: Other deified persons: |
Related topics |
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The Hilaria (
Origins
The term seems originally to have been a name which was given to any day or season of rejoicing. The hilaria were, therefore, according to Maximus the Confessor[1] either private or public. Among the former, he thinks it the day on which a person married, and on which a son was born; among the latter, those days of public rejoicings appointed by a new emperor. Such days were devoted to general rejoicings and public sacrifices, and no one was allowed to show any symptoms of grief or sorrow.
The Romans also celebrated hilaria as a
The Romans took this feast originally from the Greeks, who called it Ἀνάβασις, Latin Ascensus: the eve of that day they spent in tears and lamentations, calling it Κατάβασις (Latin Dēscensus). Greek writers later borrowed the Latin name as Ἱλάρια, as appears from Photios I of Constantinople's Bibliotheca in his codex of the life of the philosopher Isidore of Alexandria.
Festival structure
Sallustius, writing in the 4th century AD, described the basic multi-day structure of the festival as it related to the myth of Cybele and Attis: "And at first we ourselves, having fallen from heaven and living with the nymph, are in despondency, and
According to the calendar in the Chronography of 354, ten days before the calends of April was the Arbor Intrat, or "entering of the tree". According to Arnobius, in his Against the Pagans (book V),[5] this involved cutting down a pine tree and setting it up in a place of honor inside a temple of Cybele. Fleeces of wool would be tied around the tree trunk, representing the goddess wrapping the dying Attis against the cold. The branches would be decked in wreathes of violets, as "the Mother adorned with early flowers the pine which indicates and bears witness to the sad mishap." The priests would ritually mourn for the dead Attis, beating their chests and wailing. Following this, according to Arnobius, worshipers would fast and, in particular, abstain from bread, "in imitation of the time when the goddess abstained from Ceres' fruit in her vehement sorrow", and they would enter a state of mourning, wounding their arms and breasts.
The full festival can be tentatively reconstructed (with the days of the festival literally translated) as follows:[6]
- 15 March. "The Reed Entered". Its exact significance is uncertain (the reeds may refer to the river bank where Attis was exposed as a child and rescued by Cybele). A nine-day period of abstinence from bread, pomegranates, quinces, pork, fish, and probably wine began. Only milk was permitted as a drink.[7]
- 22 March. "The Tree Entered" (Arbor intrat). A pine tree is felled. The tree is set up at the Temple of Cybele, its trunk wrapped in wool, and its branches decked with wreathes of violets.[5]
- 23 March. A day of mourning.
- 24 March. "scourging and whipping. Castrationrituals would take place on this day. The tree is symbolically buried.
- 25 March. "The Day of Joy" (Hilaria) celebrating the resurrection of Attis. This was the hilaria proper (as opposed to the mournful tone of the previous days).
- 26 March. A day of rest.
- 27 March. "The Washing" (Lavatio). Added by Marcus Aurelius.
- 28 March. Possible ceremony at the Vatican sanctuary. Appears in the Calendar of Philocalus.
Other
According to the
On this day
Herodian details an assassination plot by Maternus against Emperor Commodus that was to occur on the hilaria.[9] Maternus planned to disguise himself and his followers as members of the Praetorian Guard, and proceed among the true members of the Guard, until they were close enough to kill Commodus. However, one of Maternus's followers revealed the plot ahead of time, betraying him because, according to Herodian, his men "preferred a legitimate emperor to a robber tyrant". On the day of hilaria, he was beheaded and his followers punished. The public celebrated the emperor's safety, and Commodus sacrificed to Cybele for protecting him from harm.
Notes
- ^ Maximus the Confessor, Schol. ad Dionys. Areopag. Epist. 8
- Augustan History, "The Life of Severus Alexander", c37.6
- ^ Valerius Maximus, Factorum et Dictorum Memorabilium ii.4 §3
- ^ "Sallustius: On the Gods and the Cosmos" (PDF). platonic-philosophy.org. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ^ a b Arnobius, Against the Pagans, Book V.
- ^ R Turcan. 1996. The Cults of the Roman Empire. p44-47
- ^ R Turcan. 1996. The Cults of the Roman Empire. p44.
- ^ Salzman, Michele (1990). On Roman Time: The Codex-Calendar of 354 and the Rhythms of Urban Life in Late Antiquity. pp. 170–172
- ^ Herodian, Roman History i.10.5-7
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Hilaria". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). "hilaria". Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. Vol. 1 (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al. p. 250.
- Mary Beard, John North, Simon Price. Religions of Rome. Cambridge University Press. 1998. ISBN 0-521-45646-0. pp 133–134.
- Robin Osborne. Studies in Ancient Greek and Roman Society. Cambridge University Press. 2004. ISBN 0-521-83769-3. p 365.
- "Hilaria". Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 2nd ed. 1989.