American Philological Association

Vota publica pro salute alicuius

Author(s): Lloyd W. Daly
Source: Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 81 (1950),
pp. 164-168
Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press
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164

Lloyd W. Daly

[1950

XV.-Vota publicaprosalutealicuius
LLOYD W. DALY
UNIVERSITY

OF PENNSYLVANIA

In the historyof Roman religionthe takingof vows in times of

stress, trouble,and danger is a featureas characteristicas it is
ancient. Individualshad always,among the Romans as among the
Greeks,soughtto win the favorof theirgods, when faced by perils
such as those of warfare,shipwreck,or sickness,by promisingto
make specificofferingsif their prayersshould be heard. The innumerableex-votosfromtemplesbear witnessto the practice. So
too the Roman state, as a corporateentity,took vows forits preservationfromthe threatsof war, plague and the like. Such vota
publica were also early taken pro saluterei publicaeat fiveand ten
year intervals(votaquinquennaliaand decennalia)and also annually
on the firstof Januarywhen the new magistratestook office.'
Thus, forthe Republic we know of privatevows forthe welfare
of individualsand public vows forthe welfareof the state, but in
the Empirethe two practicescombinein publicvows forthe welfare
ofan individual,theemperor. We firstencountersuchvows among
the honors paid Caesar. Dio (44.6) states that vows were taken
annually on Caesar's behalf. The practicedid not become firmly
established until the time of Augustus. In the Res Gestae (? 9)
Augustus reportsthat the senate decreed that vows forhis health
(valetudo)2should be taken by the consuls and priestsevery fourth
year (quintoquoqueanno), an observancewhichwas begunin 28 B.C.
and regularlyrepeated but not extendedbeyond Augustus' reign.3
Augustusdoes not,however,mentiontheannual nuncupatiovotorum
pro saluteimperatoriswhichwas establishedapparentlyin the year
of these annual vows was con30.4 The taking and fulfillment
tinued beyond Augustus and becomes a commonplaceof the Acta
1 Cf. in general Marquardt-Wissowa, Romische Staatsverwaltung (Leipzig 1885)
3.264-9 and J. Toutain, "Votum," DS 5.975.
While one might expect
2 The restoration is probably correct in this detail.
salutis (so Bergk), the Greek has ammnTplav,and the well known fact of Augustus'
frail health, referred to by Suetonius (Aug. ? 81), could easily justify the use of
valetudinis.
3 Cf. Mommsen, Res Gestae, p. 42.
4 Cf. Mommsen, CIL 12, p. 305. The date is based on Dio (51.19) who reports,
under the year 30, that Augustus was included in the vows on behalf of the people

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Vol. lxxxi]

Votapublica pro salutealicuius

165

FratrumArvaliumunder his successors. Public sentimentwould,

it seems,have been inclinedto extend this formof flatteryto other
prominentbut private individuals,as in the case of Sejanus- (Dio
58.2.8), but this practice,like that of swearingby the genius of the
emperor,fellunderthe law of treason.5
These annual votapro saluteimperatorishad, then,become conventionaland routine,but therewere othervotapublica whichmay
be described as extraordinaria. Such notably are those recorded
by the Arval Brethrenon occasion of the birthdayof the emperor
and of membersof the imperialfamily,or on occasion of the emperor's arrival in the city. Into this class fall the vows taken for
the recoveryof the emperorfromill health. In the passage of the
Res Gestae immediatelyfollowingthe one previouslymentioned,
Augustus reports sacrificesmade pro valetudinemea, and while
those sacrificesare not described as votive they are obviously
closely related if not identical. We cannot identifyany of the
occasions on which such sacrificeswere made, but Augustus was
ill frequently'enough, e.g., at the time of the dedication of the
templeof the deifiedJuliusin 29, and again at the celebrationof the
votive games in 28, so that he was unable to participate in the
ceremonies.6 It must remain somethingof a question in the case
of the Augustan vows whethervaletudohas any special significance
or whetherthe word is used in its neutralsense as a synonymfor.
salus.
There is a somewhat clearer instance of such vows taken for
Claudius as recorded in an entry of the Acta FratrumArvalium
which is dated between 50 and 54. There we read: "Neronem
Clau[dium etc. s]alvom incolumemquecon[serves et in reliquom
malae v]aletudinis primo quoque [tempore praestes expertem]."7
In the year 54 again, when Claudius was on his deathbed, Tacitus
says8that the senate was convenedand that the consulsand priests
took vows pro incolumitateprincipis. So also for Nero the Acta
record under the year 66: "propter [..........
et valetludinem
C[aesaris Augustivota nuncupavitin C]apitolio."9
and the senate, but it is not usually noted that in the statement which introduces this
list of honors, Dio says: Fv b5 -robrc K a I I 7- * 7rp 6 7re p o v. . . o'Lk oTKc 'PWxAuao.
v4-14paOaPTO

KTX.

5 Mommsen, Staatsrecht (Leipzig 1888) 2.811.

6 Dio 51.22.9 and 53.1.6.
7 CIL 6.2034; Henzen, p. LVIII.
8 Ann. 12.68.
9 CIL 6,2044 g and h; Henzen, p. LXXXIII.

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166

Lloyd W. Daly

[1950

In general,then,one gets the impressionthat vows includingthe

name of any individualare a phenomenonpeculiar to the Empire,
somethingclosely allied to emperorworship,and part of the ritual
of flatteringpomp and circumstancethat mushroomedso rapidly
on the decomposingsoil of the Republic. One need not necessarily
suspect the sincerityof vows forthe health of Augustus,but vows
forthe health of Nero in 66 are surelya perversionofwhat had once
been an honest formof pious prayerfor the welfareof the state.
Such epiphenomenaof the processof declineare worthinvestigating
in theirown right.
The whole point is that the beginningof this perversionof
public vows is to be foundin the late years of the Republic. After
Caesar's death the firstinstance,to which attentionseems not to
have been called in this connection,is the taking of public vows
for the recoveryof A. Hirtius. In the seventh Philippic (? 12)
Cicero says of Hirtius: "Aequum, credo, putavit vitam, quam
populi Romani votis retinuisset,pro libertate populi Romani in
discrimenadducere." And again in the tenthPhilippic (? 16) he
says of him: "nondum ex longinquitategravissimimorbirecreatus
quidquid habuit virium,id in eorum libertatemdefendendamcontulit,quorum votis iudicavit se a morterevocatum." That vows
were taken forHirtius'valetudoor salus is clear fromthesepassages.
Hirtiushad been seriouslyill since the summerof 4410and was not
entirelyrecoveredby the beginningof the next year." It might
be supposed that the vows referredto by Cicero were taken on the
firstof January43 as a continuationof the annual honor so paid
to Caesar, but it seems ratherunlikelythat, in the briefinterval
between the firstof January and Hirtius' departure for Mutina,
enoughimprovementin his healthcould have taken place to justify
Cicero's attributionof it to the effectof the vows. It is muchmore
and that theywere
likely,then,that these were votaextraordinaria
taken sometimein the second half of the year 44. If we can interto these
pret Cicero's words in the firstPhilippic (? 37) as referring
vota,as I feelsure we must,then theywere taken beforethe beginningofSeptember,on whichdate thatorationwas delivered. There
Cicero says: "hoc contemnitis,quod sensistis tam caram populo
Romano vitam A. Hirti fuisse?" He is comparing this public
demonstrationon behalf of Hirtius, whatever it was, with the
applause forBrutusat theLudi Apollinares,and sees ia it something
10 Cic. Ear.
12.22.2.
11 Cic. Phil. 7.12. Delivered in January.

Cf. Gelzer, "Tullius," RE 7A (1939) 1062.

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Votapublica pro salutealicujus

Vol. lxxxi]

167

much moreimpressivethan the applause. The vows suit the situation verywell, and ifwe do not believe that it is the vows to which
Cicerohererefers,we mustsuppose that therewas some otherpublic
demonstrationof whichwe know nothing. The fact that Caesar's
name had already been includedin the public vows would make it
more natural that this should be done for Hirtius, and the hope
that was at the time being reposed in the consul designatewould
have lent a tone of real sincerityto the prayersfor his recovery.
There is not, to my knowledge,any otheror earlierinstance of
votapublica pro valetudinealicuius at Rome, but thereis a familiar
and highlysignificantincidentthat bears directlyupon the origin
of the practice. The occasion was late in 50 when Pompey was
suffering
froma criticalillness at Naples. It became a rhetorical
commonplaceto exclaimhowmuchbetteroffhe wouldhave been ifhe
had thensuccumbedand notsurvivedto facedefeatand ignominious
death.'2 In any case, Naples and some of the surroundingmunicipalities put on quite a show of public concern for his recovery.
Cicero mentionsspecificallyNaples and Pozzuoli as well as oppida;
with Juvenal it becomes multaeurbes,and with Velleius universa
Italia. The point is that Cicero tells us explicitly that public
vows were made at this time."3 His reaction to the display was
that it was utterlyinsincere,a silly businessand typicallyGreek.'4
Thus we see that at this time it was outlandish,if not unheardof,
fora respectableRoman to receivesuch honors. It was, of course,
by no means unheardof that Greek states should pay fulsomeand
effusivehonorsto a Roman official. The votingof publichonorsto
individualswas an art whichthe Greeks had cultivatedintensively
at least since the time of Alexander,'5but a respectable Roman
sneeredat it, as Cicero did at the honorspaid Verresby the Syracusans.'6 We need not, however, rely on any such impressions
as to the noveltyand unprecedentedcharacterof the vows taken
forPompey's recoveryby the municipalitiesof Italy. Dio tells us
in unequivocal termsthat this was the firsttime anythingof the
sort had been done. "So well disposed to him," says Dio, "were
12

Cic. Tusc. 1.86; Vell. 2.48; Sen. Cons. Marc. 20.4; Juv. 10.283-5.
"A tt. 8.16.1: "municipia . . . de illo aegroto vota faciebant." Cf. Att. 9.5.3 as
well as Velleius and Juvenal.
14 Tusc. 1.86 and Aft. 9.5.3.
lb Cf. Pfister, "Soteria," RE 3A (1927) 1221-31 and the inscription cited there
from Nesos recording the celebration in honor of the recovery of Thersippus (IG

12.2.645,c. 320 B.C.).

16

Verr. 2.2.154.

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168

Lloyd W. Daly

[1950

practicallyall the municipalitiesin Italy that, when, a short time

before,they heard that he was criticallyill, they took public vows
for his recovery. That this was a great and brilliantdistinction
they conferredupon him no one could deny, forthere is no other
individual, with the exception of those who thereafteracquired
supreme power, for whom such an honor was ever decreed."'17
This sweepingstatementleaves out of account the public vows at
Rome forHirtius,but theywere obviouslyless famous. So too, in
speakingof Hirtius,Cicero disregardsPompey. In the firstPhilippic (? 37) he says of Hirtius: "In whose case do we recall such concern on the part of the boni,such fear on the part of all? Surely
in none." He is thinkingonly of those vows taken at Rome and
can disregardthose for Caesar because they were annual and not
extraordinary.
This, then,seems to be the historyof votapublica pro valetudine
(or salute) alicuius. The municipalities,led by the Neapolitan
Greeks, pointed the way with vows for Pompey's recoveryin 50.
Not to be outdone, the Roman senate included Caesar's name in
the old annual vows for the welfare of the state. In 44 public
vows were taken at Rome for the recoveryof Hirtius, the consul
designate. And so we are fully prepared for the use of public
vows whichwe findprevalentunderthe Empire. The whole practice is clearlypart and parcel of the developmentof the great-man
complex,whichis so closelyassociated with the collapse of the Republic. One has only to compare the spiritin which such honors
as vows were then accepted with the earlierhumilityof a Curius
Dentatus refusingSamnite gold in order to appreciate Cicero's
feelingthat the vows forPompey's recoverywere a typicallyGreek
form of flatteryand unbecominga Roman. The rapidity with
whichthisfeelingofcontemptbrokedown may perhapsbe measured
to some degree by the complacencywith which Cicero repeatedly
refersto the vows on behalfof Hirtius' health a fewyears later.'8
Velleius (2.48), if correctly interpreted, also gives the same infor17 Dio 41.6.3-4.
mation. He says, "Italia vota pro salute eius, primi omnium civium, suscepit,"'
which Hainsselin and Watelet properly translate: "pour la premiere fois l'Italie entiere
faire des voeux pour le salut d'un citoyen" (Velleius Paterculus et Florus, Paris 1932).
18 It must, of course, be remembered that the Tusculan Disputations were written
in 45/4, and that differentopinions expressed by Cicero at differenttimes on the same
subject are as apt to represent his varying reaction to expediency as they are to represent any real change of mind or heart.

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