LECTURE 2 Venus and Mars Are All Right Tonight Bibliography F.

Graf, Athena and Minerva: Two Faces of One Goddess, in S. Deacy & A. Villings (eds.), Athena in the Classical World (Leiden, 2001), 127-39 M. Lipka, Roman Gods: A Conceptual Approach (Leiden, 2009) C.R. Long, The Twelve Gods of Greece and Rome (Leiden, 1987) B. Spaeth, The Roman Goddess Ceres (Austin, 1996) T.P. Wiseman, The Myths of Rome (Exeter, 2004) ***** 1) Ovid, Metamorphoses 9.229-72: But you, famous son of Jupiter, after cutting down the trees which grew on steep Oeta and made from them a pyre, you commanded the son of Poeas, who supplied the flame that was set under, to take your bow and your ample quiver and the arrows that were fated to see, once more, the kingdom of Troy. As the pile was seized by the eager fire, you spread the Nemean pelt on the top of the heap of logs, and lay down, your neck resting on your club, and with a face no different from a banqueter reclining amongst the cups full of wine, crowned with garlands. Now the powerful flames, spreading on every side, were resounding and were attacking his unconcerned limbs as he scorned them. The gods were fearful for earths champion. Since he understood their feelings, Saturnian Jupiter spoke to them with happy face. Gods of heaven, your fear for him is my pleasure, and I gladly congratulate myself with all my heart, that I am called ruler and father of a thoughtful people, and that my offspring is protected by your favour also. Though this tribute is paid to his great deeds, I am obliged to you also. But so that your loyal hearts are not terrifies by empty fears, forget Oetas flames! He, who has defeated all things, will defeat the fires you see, nor will he feel the power of Vulcan except with the maternal part of him; what he has drawn from me is eternal and untouched and unharmed by death and cannot be overcome by any fire. When that is quit of the earth I shall receive it into the celestial realm, and I trust my action will please all the gods. But if there is anyone, anyone at all, who is going to be unhappy with Hercules as god, and does not wish to grant this gift, he will know that it was given deservedly, and will approve it, though unwillingly. The gods agreed; his royal spouse also seemed to accept the rest of his words without a hard expression, but the last ones with a hard expression, and upset that she was being censored. Meanwhile Vulcan had snatched away whatever could be ravaged by fire, nor did a recognisable image of Hercules remain, nor did he have anything drawn from the form of his mother, and only kept the traces of Jupiter. And just as a new snake

blooms when it has laid down its old age with its skin, and glows with its fresh scales, so, when Hercules stripped off his mortal limbs, the better part of him was strong, and he began to look larger and become awe-inspiring with august dignity. The all-powerful father carrying him upwards, in his fourhorse chariot, through the hollow clouds, set him among the shining stars.

2) Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities 2.18.3-19.1: He [Romulus] rejected all the traditional myths concerning the gods that contain blasphemies or calumnies against them, looking upon these as wicked, useless and indecent, and unworthy, not only of the gods, but even of good men; and he accustomed people both to think and to speak the best of the gods and to attribute to them no conduct unworthy of their blessed nature. Indeed, there is no tradition among the Romans either of Uranus being castrated by his own sons or of Kronos destroying his own offspring to secure himself from their attempts or of Zeus dethroning Kronos and confining his own father in the dungeon of Tartarus, or, indeed, of wars, wounds, or bonds of the gods, or of their servitude among men. 3) Livy 22.10.9: Six couches were set up in public: one for Jupiter and Juno, a second for Neptune and Minerva, a third for Mars and Venus, a fourth for Apollo and Diana, a fifth for Vulcan and Vesta, a sixth for Mercury and Ceres. 4) Livy 1.55.1-6: Here his [Tarquins] first concern was to build a temple of Jupiter on the Tarpeian Mount 1So that the area should be free from other religious associations and should entirely belong to Jupiter and that temple which was being inaugurated, he decided to deconsecrate the numerous shrines and temples that had been consecrated and inaugurated there, starting from vows that King Tatius had made in the heat of battle against Romulus. At the very time when he began this task the gods are said to have exerted their power to show the magnitude of this mighty empire. The birds permitted the deconsecration of all the shrines, but did not give their sanction in the case of Terminus. This omen and augury was thus construed: the fact that the seat of Terminus was not moved, and that of all the gods he alone was not called away from the place consecrated to him, meant that the whole kingdom would be firm and steadfast. When this omen of permanence had been received, there followed another prodigy foretelling the grandeur of their empire. A human head, its features intact, was found, so it is said, by the men who were digging for the foundations of the temple. This appearance plainly foreshowed that here was to be the citadel of the empire and the head of the world. 5) CIL XIII 6 = ILS 3060: Valerius Justus, to Jupiter Optimus Maximus, who controls good weather. 6) CIL XI 3773 = ILS 3047: Sacred to Jupiter, who makes thunder and thunderbolts.

7) Ovid, Fasti 3.285-344: Behold, through the clouds the father of the gods scattered red flames, then cleared the sky after the torrent rain: at no other time did hurled fires fall thicker. The king quaked, and terror filled the hearts of the common folk. To the king the goddess said: Do not be too afraid. It is possible to expiate the thunderbolt, and the wrath of angry Jupiter can be averted They drew (eliciunt) you from the sky, Jupiter, whence even now later generations celebrate you by the name of Elicius. It is accepted that the tops of the trees on the Aventine quivered, and the earth sank down under the weight of Jupiter. The kings heart throbbed, the blood shrank from his whole body, and his bristling hair stood stiff. When his spirit returned, he said, King and father of the high gods, grant me a reliable expiations for the thunderbolt, if with pure hands we have touched your offerings, and if a pious tongue prays for what we ask. The god granted his prayer, but hid the truth in a difficult riddle, and alarmed the man by his ambiguous words. Cut off the head, said he. The king answered, We will obey. Well cut an onion, dug up in my garden. The god added, A mans. You will get, he said his hair. The god demanded a life, and Numa answered him, A fishs life. The god laughed and said, See to it that by these things you expiate my bolts, you man not to be deterred from converse with the gods. 8) Plutarch, Numa 15.6: Then the god returned to heaven in a gracious mood, hileos, as the Greeks say, and the place was called Ilicium from this circumstance; and that is the way the charm was perfected. 9) Livy 1.10.4-7: Their army he broke and routed, and pursued it as it fled; their king he killed in battle and despoiled; their city, once their leader was slain, he captured at the first assault. He then led his victorious army back, and being just as much a displayer of his deeds as someone outstanding in them, he arranged the spoils of the enemy's dead commander upon a frame, suitably fashioned for the purpose, and, carrying it himself, mounted the Capitol. Having there deposited his burden by an oak which the shepherds held sacred, at the same time as he made his offering he marked out the limits of a temple to Jupiter, and bestowed a title upon him. Jupiter Feretrius, he said, to you I, svictorious Romulus, a king bring kingly armour, and dedicate a sacred precinct within the bounds which I have even now marked off in my mind, to be a seat for the Spoils of Honour which men in future shall bring here, following my example, when they have slain kings and commanders of the enemy. This was the origin of the first temple that was consecrated in Rome. 10) Livy 1.12.3-7: The Roman line gave way at once and fled towards the old gate of the Palatine. Romulus himself was swept along in the crowd of the fugitives, till lifting his sword and shield to heaven, he cried, Jupiter, it was your omen that directed me when I laid here on the Palatine the first

foundations of my city. The Sabines now possess the fortress they come from there under arms, across the valley to seek us here. Father of gods and men, keep the enemy back from this spot at least; deliver the Romans from their terror, and stay their shameful flight! I here vow to you, Jupiter Stator [the Stayer], a temple, to be a memorial to our descendants how the City was saved by your immediate help. Having uttered this prayer he exclaimed, as if he had perceived that it was heard, Here, Romans, Jupiter Optimus Maximus commands us to stand and renew the fight! The Romans did stand, as though directed by a voice from Heaven, Romulus himself rushing into the forefront of the battle. 11) Livy 10.29.14: He [Fabius] himself, after vowing a temple and the enemy's spoils to Jupiter Victor, kept on to the Samnite camp. 12) CIL V 7237 : To the Genius [guardian spirit] of Sex. Valerius Severinus and to the Juno of his wife Valeria Potita and to the Genius of his son Valerius Severianus and to the Juno of his daughter Valeria Severiana; dedicated by his slave Primus. 13) CIL VI 361 = ILS 3103: To Juno Lucina, Sulpicia the daughter of Servius gladly and deservedly gave an offering on behalf of her daughter Paulla Cassia. 14) Varro, On the Latin Language 6.18: The Nonae Caprotinae are socalled because on that day in Latium women sacrifice to Juno Caprotina and do it under a wild fig-tree (caprificus); they use a rod from the fig-tree. 15) CIL XI 1306 = ILS 3137: To Minerva of Cabardiscum, the healer, Valeria Sammonia Vercellens willingly and deservedly fulfilled her vow. 16) CIL XI 1545 = ILS 3084: To Jupiter Optimus Maximus, to Queen Juno, to Minerva, on account of the restoration of the Capitol, the most distinguished rank of the Florentines gave this as an offering. 17) CIL XI 5928 = ILS 3173: To Venus of Victory [Venus Victrix] L. Apronius Amandus, sevir Augustalis, acting alone as a private individual, placed this at his own expense. 18) CIL V 6596 = ILS 3199: To Mercury, powerful over profit and preserver of the sacred, C. Gemellius Valerianus of the Oufentia tribe, son of Gaius, Quattuorvir with the power of an aedile, prefect for giving law, along with his wife Cilonia Seconda and his children, the Gemellii Valeriana, Secundus, and Valeria, placed and dedicated this offering according to their vow, in the place granted by the decree of the decurions. Dedicated on 30 May, in the consulship of Dexter (for the second time) and Fuscus [AD 196].

19) Virgil, Aeneid 8.319-25: First Saturn came down from heavenly Olympus, fleeing the weapons of Jupiter and as an exile deprived of his kingdom. He gathered an untaught nation scattered on the high mountains and gave them laws, and preferred it to be called Latium, since he had hidden (latuisset) safely in these lands. They say that the centuries under his kingship were golden; thus he ruled the peoples in calm peace. 20) CIL X 4854 = ILS 7326: Sacred to the gods of the dead, for the worshippers of Saturn, an area of . feet, in front feet. 21) Servius, ad Aen. 6.136: Orestes, after, along with his sister Iphigenia, killing King Thoas in the region of Tauris fled and, taking the statue of Diana from there, placed it near to Aricia. In her temple, after the sacrificial ritual was changed, was a certain tree, from which it was not permitted to break off a branch. However, runaway slaves had permission that, if any of them could remove a branch from there, he could fight in single combat with the priest of the temple, himself a runaway for the priest there is a runaway, in a copy of the ancient flight. And the permission for combat is there as if in recompense for the ancient sacrifice. 22) Suetonius, Caligula 35: And because the rex Nemorensis had already held his priesthood for many years, he [Caligula] prepared a stronger adversary for him.

EXERCISE FOR NEXT LECTURE 1Read Cicero, Nature of the Gods 3.47 (p.124) and 3.61 (pp.129-30) and answer the following questions: 1. Is the speaker right to make a sharp distinction between abstract qualities and divine powers? How might a Roman who believed in these divine powers respond to him? Is the speaker right to argue that one cannot deify some abstract qualities without potentially deifying all of them?

2.