Forum Romanum


Subject:	[novaroma] Masada
From:	jmath669642reng@--------
Date:	Tue, 12 Dec 2000 20:42:00 -0500 (EST)

Salvete, Censor Sulla, Tristan Warmeke, and NR Citizens who may be
interested:

There is a book available which speaks to the archaelogical efforts at
Masada. The title is:

>>"Masada" (Herod's Fortress and the Zealot's Last Stand), Yigael Yadin
(original copyright 1966), WELCOME RAIN, 1998, NY, NY<<

I have reported on this book previously, here on the Main List and the
value of the book in my view, merits a repeat mention. The book
outlines the archaelogical finds on Masada and provides some beautiful
diagrams, colored photographs and sketches of Masada, the surrounding
countryside, and many of the finds therein:

Murals, Coins, armour scales, pottery, cloth, burial remains, food,
military camps of both the zealots and the romans, and detailed
descriptions of each.

My view is that this is a valuable book for the serious student of this
magnificent fortress and the battle that was fought here. There is also
provided a small bibliography that will lead the interested reader to
other aspects of this site and historical struggle. I am pleased to be
able to recomend this book, as well as this event in history for both
historical cultural and military interest.

Valete, Respectfully,
Marcus Audens

Fair Winds and Following Seas!!!

http://community.webtv.net/jmath669642reng/NovaRomaMilitary

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Subject:	Re: Applying for weird names (was Re: [novaroma] The Candidate Debate)
From:	"Tiberius Hibernius Gladius Mortifer" <tiberius@-------->
Date:	Tue, 12 Dec 2000 21:56:11 -0500

>PS: On a more serious note, whilst browsing the Album Gentium, I noticed
>that there was a gens Johnia or something along those lines. With all due
>respect to its pater- or materfamilias, but I find that name absolutely
>unroman. The Romans didn't really know the "J", and they certainy didn't
>know any words that had an "h" before an "n", according to my knowledge. If
>there can be a Johnius in NR, I'm applying for Biggus Dickus today!
>

In my own personal experience, the Censors have been rather arbitrary in
what they will pass and what they will not pass.

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Subject:	Re: Applying for weird names (was Re: [novaroma] The Candidate Debate)
From:	"M. Papirius Justus" <papirius@-------->
Date:	Tue, 12 Dec 2000 22:10:05 -0500

Certe there's a time-honoured tradition of this sort of thing ... heck,
even the Historia Augusta cites a certain Turdulus Gallicanus ... (honest!).

mpj

At 04:21 PM 12/12/2000, S. Apollonius Draco wrote:
[If you don't like vulgar Latin humour, skip this please]

Salvete,

A hacker has recently entered the Censorial archives and has discovered the
following people applying for citizenship and being denied, because of their
name solely, even though it was Latin! Shame on Nova Roma, and on the
Censores! Sic indignitas magna! *fat wink*.

Imbecilis Stultus
Ichtifallus Magnus
Crassus Flatulens
Pornelius Maximus
Anus Niger
Deus ex Machina
Dux Fascis (nice try Festus!)
Coitus Interruptus
Vagina Dentata
Lupa Aperta
Hannibal Lector

You know, only to see some of those hilarious names I would run for
Censorship ;-).

Valete,
Draco

PS: On a more serious note, whilst browsing the Album Gentium, I noticed
that there was a gens Johnia or something along those lines. With all due
respect to its pater- or materfamilias, but I find that name absolutely
unroman. The Romans didn't really know the "J", and they certainy didn't
know any words that had an "h" before an "n", according to my knowledge. If
there can be a Johnius in NR, I'm applying for Biggus Dickus today!

]|[M. Papirius Justus]|[ http://web.idirect.com/~atrium ]|[

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Subject:	[novaroma] Article I found
From:	"L. Cornelius Sulla" <alexious@-------->
Date:	Tue, 12 Dec 2000 22:35:38 -0800

http://www.cs.utk.edu/~mclennan/BA/OM/MS-S.txt
Secespita
"The Sacrificial Knife"
A Roman Book of Blood Sacrifice
Containing:
-The Names of the Gods
-A Fasti of all Holy Days, and Auspicious and Unlucky Days.
-A Multitude of Important Facts

By
Marcus Sulla

Cross Plains, WI
Copyright 1996

Legalities:
All rights are reserved. The author encourages not-for-profit use and
distribution, with proper citation of authorship. Suggestions and further
citations are heartily welcome at "Sulla@--------".
My next project is an expansion of this little book into a concordance of
original Latin quotations that reveals the precise wording and
descriptions the Romans used to describe their rituals and Gods.

Table of Contents:

i. Praecepta
ii. Nomina Divum
iii. Fasti

Oh Heavenly Muses, help me explain the unspeakable with a few lucid shining
words, while the breeze wafts through the boughs of the Tree.

Praecepta

This little book presents the Religio Romana, the religion of classical
Rome in a form usable today.
The Old Gods have not perished, they sleep in great stones, waiting for
the words and sacrifices heralding the Awaking.
This manual contains very old thoughts, practices, and stories. The style
is often sparse, because great care has been excercised to keep
interpretation to a minimum, at the price of literature.
If these words do come alive in you, the reader, than once again, the Old
Gods live.

The Augurs

The Augurs in ancient times were the holy men that kept the calender, and
advised the rulers about omens and portents. Their function was an
official state position, originally established by Romulus, and as time
progressed, their numbers increased until they formed a Collegium.

A World View

Sitting on a high place, facing east, the augur sees the world
differently. The earth is a coagulation, like whey of the milk of chaos.
This earth is teaming with power, which they referred to as numen. This
power swirls down from the Godhead and it has the potential to change not
only the course of human events, but also the very fabric of creation.
These whirlpools of numen, are the earthly manifestations of the Gods.
There is divinity in many natural objects. Springs, rivers, groves, even
rocks and trees, have numen flowing through them and may require occasional
respect.
Man is separate from the animals, for two reasons. Firstly, Man was
created not by the Gods, but by Prometheus, a Titan. Then,during the
golden age, the Gods freely coupled with mortals and planted in man a spark
of divinity. Unfortunately, the Gods have been sleeping for about two
millennia, so we cannot honestly blame them for the present mess of the
world. As Pandora discovered, man does have free will, and we must live
with the consequences of our actions.

FAS

There is such a thing as Natural Law. This is the natural, proper order
of all things. If something was inherently, naturally right, it was
referred to as fas. Likewise, something that is heinous, wrong,
out-of-kilter is nefas. These concepts stand above the written laws of
man.

The Day

From our high place, we watch the sun rise and set. Each day has 24
hours: twelve hours of night, and twelve hours of day. We tell time with a
sundial with twelve even demarcations. Thus in the summer when the days
are longer, the daytime hours are longer, and the nighttime hours are
shorter. When the sun rises, it is the first hour. When the sun is at its
zenith, it is the sixth hour. The sun sets at the twelfth hour. The night
is divided into four watches of three hours each. This was more practical
because the sundial does not work so well at night.

The Month, and it's Parts

The month consists of around thirty days, but it is not divided into
weeks. Rather there are three days to which all other days are calculated.
These are the kalends, the nones, and the ides. First, some explanation.
Far back in the mists of time, cultured people told time by the moon. the
phases of the moon were ready sign-posts to what day it was. The Kalends
would indicate the first day of the month, the night that the first sliver
of the new moon was seen. The nones were the night of the first quarter.
The ides were the first night of the full moon. This works if the demands
of your life style give you three or four weeks leeway on getting things
done, and for several thousands of years, this was fine. But with the
advent of what some people call progress: trade, manufacturing, organized
agriculture; greater precision became advantageous.

The Solar Year

The lunar calender was adapted to the solar year. It has been known for
a very long time that the sun spins around the Earth in a 365 day cycle,
give or take a few hours. The moon rotates around the Earth in a 28 day
cycle. It does not take an Aristotle to figure out that 28 does not divide
evenly into 365. Therefore the wise ones began a series of compromises
that continues today.
The greatest compromise is the adoption of the solar year. The lunar year
has about thirteen months compared to the twelve months of the solar year.
It is obvious that the month as we know it is an adaptation of the period
of a lunar cycle. The word month is even related to the word moon.'
The Babylonians had the good sense to set up twelve months of thirty days.
This left only a few days left over at the end of the year. The advantage
of this is that all the months are a consistent length, and each day
corresponds closely to a degree in the 360 degrees of a circle. Each night
at the same time, a star moves one degree to the west. A star map and a
transit are all an augur requires to tell exactly what day of the year it
is.
But since it is not compatible with modern life to give up a week at the
end of the year, and certain wise ones will go to extremes to make nature
fit the theory, we now have some months of thirty-one days so we can use up
those extra days, and a leap year every four years to lap up every last
hour.
I will make no comment about the insanity of the present modern system. I
am sure it makes excellent sense to start the day in the middle of the
night, and the year in the middle of the winter. It is just in my present
state of old age that I just do not understand the logic.

The Center

Is the the sun is in the center of the universe? This was a radical
departure from the universe of Ptolemy, who taught that the earth was the
center of the universe. A sun-centered, heliocentric, universe is no
better that an earth-centered universe. What is different between them is
merely the point-of-view. Albert Einstein"s radical concept about
relativity was that time varies according to your point of view. Stasis is
a very victorian, anal-retentive concept. The augurs know that things
change constantly.
Nevertheless, calculating and predicting the movements of heavenly bodies
is infinitely easier if the sun is used as a reference point. When you use
the earth as the reference point, planets tend to move back and forth
across the sky in messy tracks. This is very understandable if these
planets are manifestations of capricious divine power, but embarrassing
if you try to explain their movement with mass, gravity, and velocity.
An augur, sitting on a high place, sees the heavenly bodies slowly spin
around him, and I am perfectly satisfied to maintain this point-of-view.

The Shape of the Earth

Likewise, I will not lower myself to argue the shape of the earth. Most
people today consider the world a huge sphere, yet photographs taken from
high altitudes do lend credence to a disk shaped world floating in space.
This topic plainly begs further unbiased research.

The Four Quarters of the Year

From simple observation, we know that the day is longer in the summer, and
shorter in the winter. In the summer, the sun rises higher than in the
winter. On two days a year, the equinoxes, 'equal nights', the day is as
long as the night. Likewise, in early winter there is a day with the
shortest day and in the summer there is a day with the longest day. This
is called a 'solstice' because it appears that the sun stands still. The
25th day of the month is traditionally associated with the solstices and
equinoctes. This imprecision would be anathema to a modern scientist, but
it has elegance. All these four points are associated with festivals and
the seasons.

AUC

The years are recorded in one of two ways. First, since consuls were
elected yearly, the Romans could just talk about the consulship of Bill and
Al, and everyone would know which year was referred to.
They also tabulated their years from the founding the city of Rome. The
"City" was Rome, and AUC. , "Ab Urbe Condita", means "from the founding of
the city." To convert our AD reckoning to AUC, just add 753.

Time

I will not even profess to know the secrets of time. The first spirits
before all else were Time, Chronos, and Earth, Rhea. From this coupling,
arose all the other divinities. Thus time is most elemental, and
mysterious. The gods do not experience time like man does, which is part
of the gulf between us. Those who See, know that in Truth, time and
distance are irrelevant, and are mortal impediments.

The Sacrifice

Roman paganism revolves around the rites of sacrifice. The word itself
means to make holy, as the act of sacrifice takes an object and by means of
a rite, gives it to the immortales. Certain actions please the gods, and
it is these actions that we refer to as worship. What worship does is
attract the Numen and its effects, both positive and negative, onto the
participant.
A pius man in Rome respected the Gods and lived a moral and honorable
life. Pius was a high complement when used to describe a man.
Respect for the Gods is exhibited in several ways. Firstly, do not scorn
or speak a God's name in a disrespectful way. Any time that something must
be said that might offend a God, an apology or epithet must be used. By
naming a God, the numen of that god is evoked, and the power of that god
flows through you. The Greater Gods all have many epithets, and a pius man
should always speak respectfully.
The act of sacrifice also pleases the Gods. Sacrifice occurs in many
forms and rites, but there is a distinct pattern. That which is sacrificed
must be pleasing to the god, and each divinity will have his own
preference. The stories often reveal particular tastes. For example,
laurel leaf is particularly attractive to Apollo, because Daphne was
transformed into a laurel tree before He could take her. A burning of some
laurel will clearly attract the attention of the Shining One.
The actual sacrifices will involve several things. Food and drink are
probably the most common. It is often good to pour wine onto the earth and
bury a crust of bread. If the offering is to a celestial, than burnt
offerings are more appropriate. A fire is set on the altar, and the food
and drink is placed on the fire. The fire consumes the offering and the
smoke is pleasing to the Gods.
On a more daily basis, incense should be burned on the altar. This can be
a very simple and efficient way to appease the gods, since sweet odors are
so attractive to them. A pius man who burns a cone of incense in the
morning before work will surely have a good day.
Some gods, such as Mars, revel in the smell of blood, and blood sacrifice
is appropriate. Chickens, goats, lambs, veal, and any animal can be
offered so long as the animal is clean and undiseased. Any pain and
suffering of a victim in nefas and will anger the god.
People will wonder about the sacrifice of humans. Sometimes in history,
the gods have demanded human blood, but it has been rare. Normally, a
human should never be sacrificed lest the wrath of gods and Man is to be
evoked. Even the lowliest slave is worth more to the gods as a worshiper
than as a sacrifice.
The act of sacrifice has three parts. First the altar must be
consecrated. Then the participant must be purified. Finally, the
sacrifice is offered. This can be a major festival lasting days, or it can
be done in seconds with a few words and the lighting of some incense. Big
is not necessarily better. If the action pleases the god, then things will
go well and it will be good for all.
The principle here is "Do ut des," I give to you, so that you may give to
me. The Gods, though sometimes inscrutable, will favor the pious.

Purification

Prior to sacrifice, the devotee must rid him/herself of impurity. An
impure devotee will only anger the God. There are several ways to purify
oneself for sacrifice:
Wash your hands in clean spring water.
Asperge yourself with holy water.
Bath.
Make a holy sign.
Prayer.
Abstain from sex.
Walk barefoot.
Strip naked.
Wear special garb.
Fast.
Deprive sleep.
Incantation.
Sound or singing.
March in a parade.
Flagellation.
Wear flowers or garlands.

The Sacrifice

Many actions please the Gods.
It is pleasing to burn incense.
It is pleasing to pour libations of milk, honey, wine, or other drinks.
It is pleasing to bury offerings.
It is pleasing to let birds and other animals devour offerings.
It is pleasing to burn plants that are dear to the God worshiped.
It is pleasing to offer cakes of wheat and honey in special shapes.
It is pleasing to slay on the alter an animal, and burn its blood and entrails.
It is pleasing to cut the flesh and offer fresh blood to the fire.
It is pleasing to offer pain, and be whipped upon the alter.
It is pleasing to release seed onto the alter.
It is pleasing to receive seed on the alter.
It is pleasing to receive the spiritus, and speak oracles.
It is pleasing to receive the spiritus, and to offer seed to the faithful.
It is pleasing to receive the spiritus, and receive seed from the faithful.
It is pleasing to cut off the testicles, and offer them to the fire.
It is pleasing to offer your throat to the knife.
It is pleasing to throw men into the river.
It is pleasing to burn the heads of captives.
It is pleasing to fight gladiators on the sand in the God's honor.
It is pleasing to perform plays.
It is pleasing to have races and contests in the honor of the God.

The Language of the Holy

Basic consecration:
Consecrato aram. I consecrate this altar.
Avocation:
Voco te. I call you.
Sacrifice:
Dono tibi. I donate (give formally) to you.
Benedicas me. Please bless me.
Latin is pleasing and familiar to the Gods, but English is perfectly
suitable. Just as a poppy head may substitute for a human head, the Gods
hear the piety, and not the individual words. The complexity of ritual, of
course, can and will grow far beyond these few words.
The Life of Man Under the Gods

Perhaps man was created as a joke, and man's trials and tribulations are
solely for the amusements of the Gods. Life begins with the copulation of
the sexes. Sex is not a bad thing. On the contrary, Juppiter spent much of
his time copulating with mortal women, much to the anger of Juno and the
detriment of the woman. Modern moralists are abhorred at the willingness
of the gods to copulate with anything that strikes their fancy. Ganymede
is an excellent example of a pretty pet that displaced Hebe. Therefore,
from the example of the gods themselves, homosexuality cannot be condemned
as nefas. Though same sex unions do not produce children, the stories make
it clear that they often have product of a different coin.
Sex in the City can be bought for only a couple copper coins. This is
like purchasing a tryst for 50 cents. Promiscuity was frowned upon, but
not forbidden. Certain religious rites involve wanton sex, and this is
acceptable. But also note that the Bacchanalia created a public nuisance
and was forbidden by the senate. Though sex was easy, it is a very bad
thing to copulate with a married woman. If you are caught, the husband's
slaves will hold you down and he will take a knife and with the force of
law disarm you. It is not a pretty sight.
It is the matron's duty to service her husband, bear sons for posterity,
and manage the household frugally. If the husband dallies with the slave
girls, it is to be expected. It is perhaps a blessing, because it
increases the estate and saves the wife the burden of too frequent
pregnancy. Likewise, eunuchs are highly prized attendants of the roman
matron. A eunuch, or spado, was created by crushing or cutting off the
testicles. This leaves the poor slave hurting, but still sexually capable.
I suppose the roman husband is not too jealous as long as there is no
residue left when the wife is done.
When a child is born, the father raises it over his head and proclaims
that he accepts it. If he does not do this, then the baby is thrown out
onto the street.
Unwanted or deformed babies are regularly exposed. Slave hunters often
pick them up, or if they are lucky, the dogs eat them.
Infants are named on their ninth day, girls on their eighth day. (See the
god Nondinus)
Baby boys are not circumcised.
Of course, infants are nursed, what else could you do?
Young boys are sent to schools for education. Girls are taught household
skills by their mothers.
Young boys are given a "bulla", which is a talisman. The bulla is given
up when achieving adulthood at age thirteen.
If illness strikes, it is customary to sleep in the temple of Asclepius,
and therefore the spirit of Asclepius can come and cure.
Life is hard, short, and precious.
When a soul, does leave this world, it is sad. The Fates weave the thread
of life, and the time inwhich they snip the thread, is totally up to them.
Even mighty Jove cannot keep a soul in the land of light beyond its fated
day. When that thread is cut, Mercury, or sometimes Iris comes and takes
the hand of the soul and leads it down into the Land of the Dead.
The body should be washed, a coin is placed in the mouth, and it is sown
into a shroud. A vigil is held, because if watch is not made, larvae or
lemurs can come and possess the body. The body is taken from the City,
and with procession, prayers, sacrifices, the body is placed on a pyre and
burned. The ashes are placed in an urn and kept in the family mausoleum. A
death mask of plaster, silver, or gold is sometimes placed in the tomb.
All burials are performed outside of the City.
If the body is properly buried, and the correct rites sung, the soul is
lead peacefully away. The soul of an unburied body wanders in this world,
an unhappy ghost.
Mercury will lead the soul down into the Land of the Dead. It lies down
deep in the bowels of the Earth, on the far shore of the River Styx. The
passage down is guarded by Cerberus, the three headed dog. A divine word
can calm this animal, a mortal is torn apart. Mortals are not allowed in
the Underworld.
A crowd of souls stand at the shore of the river Styx. They await the
ferry man Charon. He rows back and forth in a rickety boat. Those souls
with a coin, go right across. Those souls with no toll must wait twenty
years for a passage.
The Land of the Dead has a reputation of not being a pleasant place.
Those souls that offended the gods in their life times are sometimes
condemned to eternal torment. The Elysian Fields are a reasonably pleasant
place and this is reserved for good people. You should never forget that
the Gods have long memories.
Some people will devote themselves to a God. This is fine. If someone
has the time to seek, he will find. There are many mysteries that can only
revealed to the initiates of those gods. The religions of Orpheus,
Cybele, Mithras, and Bacchus were involved, passionate, and ecstatic.
Unfortunately, they are far beyond the scope of this manual, but their
numines do still flow from the godhead.
The working man must often be content with respecting the Lares and
Penates, and offering sacrifices on festival days. In the event of a
crisis, a sacrifice to an involved god can often restore balance.
A pius man will do what he can and the gods will be pleased. It is more
pleasing to the gods for a poor man to give what little he has without
reservation, than for a rich man to erect a presumptuous gilded temple.
The gods can be benevolent and merciful. They can also be capricious and cruel.
All men have masters. This is a hard fact. In the time of the City,
people were bound by law, obligation, debt, and servitude. Today, people
are bound by law, obligation, and debt. The effect is the same, although
in today's world the masters have no obligation to their lessers. They
have created a system where they extract incredible amounts of labor from
people and then discard them, and they are not even required to feed them.
The modern moralists decry the lack of the value of life in the City, but
they do not look carefully at our world. In today's world, you can buy a
life for $4.25 an hour. There are lessons to be learned here.

Sacrifice Today.

The sacrifice in today's world is a complicated matter. Many localities
have ordinances that forbid blood sacrifice, or even the keeping of animals
necessary for the rites. Therefore, a devotee will have to make many
concessions.
Once an altar is consecrated, sacrifice should be simple, as long the
altar in not defamed. If you are looking at a bad day at work, and you
need some help, you would do something like this. In the morning, wash
your hands. Approach the altar, ring a bell, say , " O Lares and Penates,
come and accept this offering, and bless this day." Light a cone of incense
one the altar, and continue on with day. If this does not help, then
perhaps a more intense ritual will be required.
The altar should ideally be placed outside, where a charcoal brazier can
be safely lit. The size, decoration, and construction are all variable.
Ideally, the altar would be built in a walled garden where rites could be
conducted in privacy. Neighbors would probably not appreciate the killing
of animals, burning of entrails, nudity, drunkenness, and sexual activity
under their kitchen window. Never condemn the unfaithful! The religio
accepts all Gods, and it is not profane to drink the blood and eat the
body of the Christ on the Easter holiday.
Though the religio was practiced openly two millennia ago, it must be
practiced as a mystery today and conducted in secret.
There is no reason that festivals cannot be celebrated just as we all do
the Saturnalia. Other than a sacrifice at the altar, the celebration to
Saturnus could be performed without change. You would deck the Halls,
exchange gifts, and have a joyous holiday season. The offering of milk
and cookies by children to Santa-Father Christmas is a pagan sacrifice,
conducted with the same reverence as it was in the ancient city.
A pagan community may be necessary for the complete restoration of the
religio, but remember that a temple is always built one brick at a time.

Further Study

This is not a book of cute stories. There are hundreds of books on
mythology, and very few of them deal with the religiosity of the stories.
I advise bypassing all these, and going directly to the primary sources.
Harvard Heinemann publishes the Loeb classical series which has the Latin
on one page and a generally good translation on the facing page. The
primary "bible" of the religio is without doubt Ovid's Metamorphoses.
His Fasti is a close second. The lyric poets Horace, Tibullus, and
Catullus are crammed with divine references that offer a tremendous amount
of diffuse detail. The histories have far less, but have more comment
about the place the the religio in roman society.
There is no one source that puts down on paper all the beliefs and
rituals. The Romans would have thought it unnecessary since the Gods were
independent and changing in importance and demands. Therefore, what
remains we have today seem to be contradictory in some cases and
fragmented. Thus this little book is just a rough attempt to assemble a
few small parts.
The Names of the Gods

The following is a list of the Gods. Some extra information is included
on obscure names, but the major Gods are just listed, with the meaning of
the name.

Consentes Dii

Vesta-
Hearth

Minerva-
Wisdom
Ceres- "Grain"
Diana -"Goddess"

Venus- "Beauty"

Mars, Camulus
War

Mercury- "merchant"
Messenger

Jove- "god"
Father Sky

Neptune- "nephew"
Sea

Vulcan
Smith

Apollo
Sun

Also:
Saturn- "Sower"

Pluto & Proserpine(Brimo)
Death
Pluto= wealth

The Indigites:

Adeona, Abeona- "to, from going"
The goddess invoked on a journey.

Adonis- "man"
The beloved of Venus, Apollo, and Bacchus. A demi-god.
Agenoria, Ageronia
Agenoria is a goddess of industry and silence.

Agonius- 'perhaps from word for sacrifice'
Patron of the actions of men.
Refers to Janus
Aius Locutius- 'god f. aiser? speaking'

Albunea, Albuna- "the white"
A grove goddess, residing in a spring at Tibur.
Amburbia

Ancaria
Angerona
Angerona is the goddess of suffering and silence.
Goddess, Dec 21 Angeronalia

Anna Perenna- 'mother? or pass a year every year'
This goddess is the bestower of the returning year.

Anteros
God of mutual love and tenderness; avenger of slighted love; a kind of
amethyst.

Antevorta- "turn mind before"
The goddess who knows and reminds man of things past. She is also called
Porima.

Asclepius
- Son of Apollo, god of healing. A demi-god.

Ate, Discordia- "ater, black; not harmony"
A daughter of Nox, goddess of all evil, exiled from heaven by Jove. She
was sister to Nemesis, the Parchae, and Death. She appears as a ghastly
woman with torn garments, fiery eyes, and holds a concealed dagger. Her
head is crowned with serpents and she is attended by Bellona. She is the
cause of all the murders, quarrels, wars, and conflict on earth.

Attis
Consort of Cybele

Averruncus- "to avert, remove"
God of averting; perhaps associated with Robigus;

Bacchus- God of the fertile vine.
Agriona, a Boetian festa

Bellona- "war"
She is the goddess of war, the sister of Mars. Her festivals were March
24, and June 3; She is an attendant to Mars and prepares his chariot; she
appears as a woman with wild hair and carries a whip into battle to incite
the warriors.
The temple of Bellona was without doors. At the door to the temple was a
column called the column of war. Whenever war was declared, a spear was
thrown over the column. The priests of Bellona mutilate themselves and
offer their blood to the goddess.

Bibesia- "drink"
Bibesia is the goddess of beverages.

Bona Dea- "good goddess"
- The Good Goddess: The Great Mother; This goddess was worshiped by only
women and was so modest that her festivals were celebrated at night.

Bonus Eventus- "good event"
The god who rules over the fortune of single events, and not the course of
human life. He is signified by a handsome man who holds a cup and a sheaf
of grain.

Bubona- "Cow"
Bubona is the protectress of cattle.

Caca- "Shit"
Caca is the goddess of excrement and ministered to by the Vestals.

Carna, cardinea- "hinge; formerly Crane"
Carna is goddess of door hinges, entrails, and secret parts of the body.
She was originally a virgin huntress whom Janus violated. He then made her
protectress of the exterior of houses and the power for removing pesky
birds.

Carmenta
Carmenta is one the of the Carminae, mother of Evander, and a demi-goddess
of prophecy. She was known for her wild possessed look when speaking
oracles. She was received by King Faunus in Italy 60 years before the
Trojan war (550 years before the founding of the City.).

Castor and Pollux
Castor and Pollux are the twin sons of Jupiter by Leda. White lambs are
the favored sacrifice.They rode winged horses and ruled victories,
commerce, weights, and measures.

Charon
- Ferryman to the underworld

Concordia- "with the heart"
Concordia is the goddess of peace and harmony. She appears as a beautiful
woman, crowned with garlands, holding a cup, or scepter, or cornucopia.
She is evoked to promote the peace and harmony of families and individual
citizens.

Clementia- "cle -mind"
-Goddess of tolerance and mercy

Cloacina, Cluacina Venus- "Sewer"
-The purifier; the Romans purified themselves by her statue with myrtle
during the Sabine war.

Comus
-God of feasting and revelry, and nocturnal carousing; During his feast,
man and women cross-dress. He is represented by a handsome young man
crowned with flowers and holding a torch.

Consus- "council"
Consus was the god of advice and council.

Copia- "Plenty"
Copia is the goddess of plenty. She is represented by a young virgin
crowned with flowers, and holding the cornucopia.

Cotytto
Cotytto was the goddess of debauchery, and her priests were the Baptae.
She was worshiped in Greece and Sicily, and is perhaps a manifestation of
Proserpine or Ceres.

Cupido- Lust: the God of Physical Love; son of Venus; at pretty boy with a
bow and arrow.

Cybele

Dis- "The godhead"

Dis is Pluto, the god of the Dead. Dis= wealth.

Discordia- See Ate

Duelliona- See Bellona

Edesia- "eating"
Edesia is the goddess of food.

Epona- "Horse"
Epona is the protectress of horses.

Empusa-
Empusa was a monster sent by Hecate to frighten travellers.

Erebus-
A deity of Hell, son of Chaos and Caligo; He married Nox, by which he had
Lux and Dies. He signifies the infernal regions.

Fascinus-
The protector of witchcraft, sorcery, and demons.

Fabulinus- "little story"
The god of the first words of children.

Fama- "fame"
Fama is a goddess represented by a woman blowing a trumpet.

Fatua-
The goddess known as Fauna.

Faunus-Also called Lupercus; An Italic Pan; The Horned God. Ruler of flocks
and farms, apiary,fishing, orchards, gardens, animals, fertility, Nature,
woods, music, dance . He has the power to incite terror in mortals.

Fauna, Consort of Faunus- A fertility goddess with a mystery in early december.

Faustitas- "favored"
A goddess which rules over cattle.

Februus- "fever"
God of Purification

Fessonia- "Weary"
Goddess of the weary.

Flora- "flower"
Goddess of Flowers; signified by a woman crowned with flowers and holding
the cornucopia.

Fides- Faith
She is represented by a young woman crowned with an olive branch, with a
cup or turtle, or a military ensign in hand. She wears a white veil or
stola; her priests wear white; Numa first instituted the worship of this
divinity and her temple was on the capitoline hill.

Fidius Dius- faithful God
Fidius is the divinity by which oaths are sworn; also known as Sanctus
Sabus and Semipater. Some suppose that he was Hercules, and others the
first king of the Sabines.

Fornax- "oven"
The goddess of baking bread.

Fortuna- "luck"
The goddess of Luck; Her signs are the wheel, the sphere, the ship's
rudder and prow, and the cornucopia. She rules oracles, fate, chance; She
is a protectress of married women.

Fraus- "fraud"
The daughter of Orcus and Nox; she was signified by a beautiful woman with
hidden deformities, terminating in a spotted serpent.

Furina- "theft"
The goddess of thieves.

Fulgora- "lightning"
Fulgora is the goddess of lighting and storms.

Gratiae- "grace"
The Graces, also known as the Charites, are the daughters of Venus by
Juppiter or Bacchus. They rule over all kindness and benevolence. They
are signified by three young virgins, naked, holding hands. They are the
constant attendants of Venus.

Hebe-
The cup bearer of the gods before being replaced by Ganymede. Hebe was
signified by a beautiful woman. She married Hercules and effected the
reconciliation between Juno and Hercules.

Hecate- also known as Trivia- "crossroads"
Diva Triformis, Tergemina, Triceps
The Witch form of Diana; ruler of magic,vengeance, expiations, riches
victory, wisdom , and choices. Hecate is signified by a woman with three
faces. Dogs, lambs, and honey are particularly favored by her.

Honor- "honor"
God of honor.

Horae- "hours"
The horae are three sisters, born of Juppiter and Themis who are the
seasons of Spring, Summer and Winter.

Horta, Orta
Hersilia was the sabine wife of Romulus, who was deified by Juno.

Ilithyia- Juno Lucina

Iris- "rainbow"
Iris is the messenger of the gods. Her duty was to cut the thread of life
of those expiring. She is signified by a beautiful woman with irredescent
wings. She is an attendant to Juno.

Juventas, Juventus- "youth"
Juventas was the roman form of Hebe, the beautiful cup-bearer of Juppiter.

Lara, Larunda-
An Etruscan goddess.

Lares-
The Lares are the household gods.

Laverna-
Goddess of thieves

Levana- "light"
Levana is the goddess who oversees the acceptance of a new-born by his
father when he lifts it up and declares its paternity.

Libera- See Proserpine.

Liber- "Free"
Liber is the god of wine, and some think a manifestation of Bacchus.

Liberalitas- "freely"
Liberalitas is signified by a woman holding a cornucopia, or distributing
money with the other.

Libertas- "Freedom"
Libertas is the goddess of freedom and manumission. She is signified by a
woman holding a rod and a slave's cap. Cats are dear to her.

Libitina-
Libitina is the goddess of funerals. The register of the dead is kept at
her temple.

Lua- "purified"
The goddess who rules over things purified by rite. She is perhaps a
manifestation of Ops.

Lucina- "lux"
Lucina is the daughter of Juppiter and Juno, and rules over labor and
childbirth.

Luna- "moon"
Luna is a manifestation of Diana.

Maia-Mother Earth,

Mania, also Lara
Mania is the mother of the Lares, and the Manes; probably she is Etruscan
in origin; She is evoked at festivals honoring the Lares, and sacrificed
to with poppy-heads or garlic.

Matuta- "mother"
Dawn, Mater Matuta
See Bona Dea

Mens Bona- "good mind"

Momus-
Momus is a god of pleasantry; he was one of the gods that were driven from
heaven.

Molae- "grindstone"
Daughter of Mars, worshiped by millers

Moneta- "warn"
Moneta is a manifestation of Juno.

Mors- "death"

Muses
Muta- "change"

Nemestrinus- "grove"
God of the Groves mentioned only by Arnobius

Naenia-
Naenia was the goddess of funerals; her temple is by the gates of the
City, and songs to her are sung to at funerals. Burials are never within
the walls of the City. The tombs line the roads leading from the City.

Nemesis-
Goddess of vengeance and reward of virture.

Nondina, Nundina- "nine day"
The goddess that presides over the rite inwhich infants are named. This
occurs nine days after birth for boys, and eight days for girls. The child
is carried around the altar, and is then asperged with water.

Nocturnus- "night"
Perhaps the same as Vesper or Nox, Nocturnus is a god of the night.

Nodinus- "knot"
Nodatus is the god of the knots of riping barley.

Nodatus- "Knotted"

Numeria- "number"
Goddess of numbers

Novensiles- "new"
Novensiles is the name given to foreign gods that were not originally Italic.

Nortia, Nurtia-
Etruscan Goddess of Fortune. Probably related to the word for wet-nurse,
nutrex.

Nox- "night"

Nursica-
Etrurian Goddess; see Nortia, this is probably the same word with a
descriptive particle inserted.

Nyads-

Nymphs-

Occator- "harrow"
Occator is the god of harrowing, that is the cutting of the soil for
planting.

Ops- "wealth"
Ops is the daughter of Sky and Earth and wife of Saturn, and mother of
Jove. She is signified by a matron with helping hand extended and holding
a loaf of bread in the other. She is often considered to be a
manifestation of other matron goddess such as Cybele, Bona Dea, Proserpine,
and Juno.

Orbona- "orphan"
Goddess of Orphans

Orcus (Quietalis)- "hell"
Orcus is a chthonic deity, perhaps a manifestation of Pluto. The word is
also used to signify the Land of the Dead.

Orpheus & Eurydice

Pales-
Pales is the goddess of sheep and pastures. She is perhaps a
manifestation of Vesta or a male deity.

Palici, Palisci- (Same root as Pales)

Pallor
Goddess of Paleness

Pan-

Panacea-

Panda-
Goddess' of openings of roads and towns

Parcae-
Nona
Decima
Morta

Pavor-

Paventia-

Pax- "Peace"

Pellonia-

Penates-

Pertunda-
Goddess of Consummation.

Peta- "Seek"
The goddess of prayer.

Picumnus-

Pilumnus-

Pomona- "fruit"

Portumnus- "harbor"
Portumnus is a god of harbors and the sea.

Porus-

Postverta- "Turn back"
Potina- "Drink"
Potina is the goddess of drink.

Priapus-
Gardener

Prosa, Prorsa-

Prudentia-

Pudicitia-
Puta-

Quies, Quietus Fanum
Tranquility

Robigo-"reddening?"
Rust

Rumia, Rumina- "pap"
Goddess of the breast.

Runcina-

Salus- "Health"
Health, represented by the serpent.

Sarritor- "hoeing"
God of hoeing or weeding
Satyr- "sower(?)"

Segestia, Segetia-
Crops
Ruler of standing crops

Seia- "seed"
Sower
Ruler of Sowing

Semo, Semonia -"Seed"
Seed

Silenus-

Silvanus- "forest"
God of the forest.

Somnus-"Dream"

Stimula- "incitation"

Goddess who incites to action or pleasure.

Strenia, Strenua-
Goddess who presides over New-Year's gifts.

Suada, Suadela- "Persuasion"
Goddess of persuasion.

Tellus, see Terra
Goddess of the earth.
Represented by a woman with many breasts; crowned with turrets; sceptre in
one hand, a key in the other; a lion at her feet.

Tempestas- "Storm"

Terminus- "boundary"
God of bounds and limits, and to punish the theft of land. Represented by
a head (unable to move.) A temple on the Tarpeian rock.

Terra (see Tellus)- "earth"
Goddess of the earth.
Wife of Coelus, Mother of Oceanus

Terror- "terror"
Attendant to Mars and Bellona.

Vacuna- "empty"
Goddess of repose and leisure. Festival in the month of December and she
had a famous Sabine temple.

Vallina, Vallonia- "valley"
The goddess of valleys

Veritas- "truth"

Vertumnus-
Changing Seasons
Ruler of Trade and Produce

Victoria- "victory"

Virginensis- "virgin"
Goddess of virginity; honored the bridal chamber.

Virtus- "virtue"

Viriplaca- "Pleasingly Strong"
Goddess of domestic peace; families reconciled at the temple on the Palatine.

Vitula-

Volendo-

Volutas-

Voluptas, Volupia- "lust"
Goddess of sexual pleasure.
A Beautiful woman, enthroned with Virtue at her feet.

Voltumna, Vulturna
Goddess of the Etruscan confederation.
Goddess of kindness and good will. Same as
Volumna, Etruscan.
Vulturnus-

Volumnus, Volumna-
Well-wishers, gods of new-born infants.
Gods of the Will, invoked often at weddings.

Volta-
Etruscan name of a monster among the Volsinians.

Volutrina-

Vulturnus-
God of the Tiber.

Fasti

A few comments: following is a calender of the Roman year; I utilize the
standard form of months of thirty and thirty-one days. The second number
after the date is the degree of the sun from March 1. By ignoring the
dates of 31, the calender easily fit into the 360 degree circle. The
harmony of the dates and degrees makes this arrangement attractive. You
might notice that I am missing a degree at the end. The elegance of this
far overrides the science. The length of the day is also stated, since
this changes each day. Divide this period by 12 to get the length of the
Roman hour for that day.
F is a lawful day, N (nefastus) is an unlawful day, NP is a half day
(nefastus parte), or EN (endotercisi) when business may be conducted at
midday.
The first number is the day of the month; then there is the degree of the
sun from the first day of the year; finally there is the length of
daylight on that day; finally, Roman calendar nomenclature describing the
day.

i. March
March is the first month of the year. This makes good sense, because the
earth is finishing with winter, and life begins to grow again. This month
is the begining of the eternal cycle of life and death.
March is named after the divine Mars, the patron of Rome. Therefore, the
old Mars, Mamerius Veturius, is driven from the City on the day preceding
the 1st day of the full moon.

1-1 11:14 D NP
Matronalia: A festival inwhich flowers were offered to Juno, and Mars is
venerated in commemoration of the Rape of the Sabines, and the
reconciliation of warring parties. OF
Flowers are offered.
There are garlands of flowers.
Hair is loosened and there is prayer.
The Salii carry their shields and chant "mamurius."
Marriage is not propitious on this day.
Hair is left unkempt by pointy capped flamines.

2-2 ater 11:16 EF
Festival of Mars: continuation of the Matronalia.

3-3 11:19 FC
4-4 11:22 GC
5-5 11:24 HC
6-6 11:28 A NP hoc.die.caesar.pontif.maxim.fact.est
Compitalia: The festival venerating the Lares.
Small images of men and women are placed at cross-roads;
lamps are burned to honor the gods;
doorways are decorated and wreathed;
the Pater Familias sacrifices to the Lares.
Tarquin offered heads to the Lares, but Brutus thought it proper to offer
poppy heads and straw men after the expulsion of the Tarquins.
Slaves minister the celebration, and during this time they are treated as
free men.
Incense is burned to Vesta.

7-7 Nones 11:31 B F
The temple of Vejovis was consecrated.
8-8 ater 11:33 CF
9-9 11:36 DC
10-10 11:39 EC
11-11 11:42 FC
12-12 11:45 GC
13-13 11:48 H EN
Quirinalia: The festival of Romulus deified.

14-14 11:50 A EQ NP
Equiria- Annual horse race in honor of Mars.

15-15 Ides 11:53 B NP
A white lamb is sacrificed to Jove.
Festival of Anna Perenna:
The faithful sit in the sun and drink on the river bank with a partner;
they sing and dance indecently and as they parade home, they are
pronounced "fortunate."
Drink as many cups of wine as years you wish to live.
16-16 ater 11:56 C F

17-17 12:00 D LIB NP
Liberalia: The festival of Bacchus;
Boys assume the toga virilis on this day;
Slaves are allowed to speak freely.
Cakes with honey are offered.
Cymbals are rung.
The thyrsus rules.
All is garlanded in ivy, because ivy conceals.
A procession carries a phallus to the fields, where it is wreathed.

18-18 12:02 EC
Quinquatria, fest of Minerva, on days 18, 19, 20, 21, 22;
This begins as a bloodless festival celebrating the birth of Minerva.

19-19 12:05 QUIN N

20-20 12:08 GC
On this day , blood is shed in the arena.

21-21 12:10 HC
More blood is shed for Minerva.
The feast of Cybele and Attis, 21,22,23.

22-22 12:13 AN
More blood is shed for Minerva.

23-23 12:16 B TUBIL NP
Tubilustrium: The ritual purification of the trumpets used at sacrifices.

24-24 12:20 C Q REX C F

25-25 12:22 DC
Hilaria, (Vernal Equinox)
-Statue of Cybele purified at Almo
Festival of the Mater Magna.
This festival lasts several days.
There is a sumptuous procession.
Sorrow is suspended.
Dress however.
Bacchanalia

26-26 12:25 EC
27-27 12:28 F NP
28-28 12:31 GC
29-29 12:33 HC
30-30 12:33 AC NP

31-X 12:40 CC
Sacrifice to Luna.

ii. April
The month of April is probably named after a form the the word Aphrodite.
1-31 kalends 12:43 CK NP
There is a sacrifice to Juno.
Veneralia: a festival for Venus Verticordia and Fortuna Virilis is celebrated.
Women only.
Remove ornaments from the holy idol and wash it.
Offer flowers, especially roses.
Garland the temple in Myrtle
All must be nude.
Incense is offered.
A potion of poppy, milk, and honey.

2-32 ater 12:45 D F
3-33 12:48 EC
4-34 12:51 FC ludi.matr.mag
Ambarvalia: This is the festival of the Magna Mater.
Cymbals, flutes and drums sound.
Eunuchs parade with self-mutilation.
She delights in noise.
The idol is carried in procession around the fields three times.
Fresh flowers are scattered.
A heifer innocent of work and mating is sacrificed.
A white haired priest in a purple robe washes the idol.

5-35 nones 12:53 G ludi
The temple of Fortuna is consecrated on the Quirinal.
Games are conducted.

6-36 ater 12:56 H NP ludi
Games are conducted.

7-37 12:59 AN ludi
Games are conducted.

8-38 13:02 BN ludi
Games are conducted.

9-39 13:05 CN ludi
Games are conducted.

10-40 13:08 DN lud.in.cir
there is a procession of the idol in the Circus.
Horses are raced.

11-41 13:10 EN
This is the festival of the Ludi Cereales.
Ceres taught man to eat grain rather than acorns.
Spelt and salt are pleasing to her.
Incense is burned to her.
Pure things appeal to Her.
Pigs are sacrificed-- a yokable animal is not pleasing to Ceres.
White is pleasing to Ceres: wear white.
Decorate with garlands of grain.

12-42 13:13 FN ludi.cereri
Ludi Cereales continue.

13-43 ides 13:16 G NP ludi
A white lamb is sacrificed to Jove.
A Temple of Jove was dedicated on this day.
Libertas is honored on this day.

14-44 ater 13:18 HN ludi

15-45 13:21 A FORD NP ludi
The Fordicia
A pregnant cow is sacrificed and the calf is offered.
The ashes are saved for the Palilia.

16-46 13:25 BN ludi

17-47 13:27 CN ludi
18-48 13:30 DN ludi

19-49 13:32 E CER N lud.in.cir
Ludi Cereales: Horse races
Foxes are released with torches tied to their backs.
Offerings of spelt and salt
Libations of milk,honey, wine.

20-50 13:35 FN

21-51 13:37 G PAR NP
Palilia: This is a Feast of the Flocks, honoring Pales. On this day
Romulus began the building of the City. The celebration consists of:
leaping over bonfires;
there is no formal sacrifice, but horses' blood is burnt and the ashes of
a fetal calf and the ashes of beans offered.
Sulphur, olive, pine, laurel and rosemary are burned in offering.
Also cheese, wine, and cakes are offered to the fields and flocks.
Ashes of calf and bean stalk are offered.
Jump over three fires set in a row.
Asperge with a laurel branch.
Fumigate Vesta's alter with horse blood, and calf ash, and bean stalk.
Sweep and asperge the temple grounds.
Purify the sheep at twilight.
Deck the sheepfolds with wreathes and garlands.
Burn sulphur, olive, pine, juniper, and laurel.
Offer millet cakes and millet.
Offer a pail of milk.
Face East, wash hands with running water, say four times...
Offer crater with milk and grape must.
Jump over the fires.

22-52 HN

23-53 13:42 A VIN NP
This day is holy to Jupiter.
Vinalia, or Veneralia: The Vinalia in this month is in honor of Venus;
wine is offered are the temple of Venus
prostitutes come an offer Her roses, myrtle, mint, and incense.:
Wine must is offered to Venus.

24-54 13:46 BC

25-55 13:48 C ROB NP
Robigalia- The Festival of Robigus
Dress in white.
A flamen entered the grove of Robigus to offer the dog entrails and sheep
to flame.
Offer incense,
wine,
sheep entrails and dog entrails.
The dog symbolizes the Dog Star.

26-56 13:51 DF
27-57 13:53 EC

28-58 13:56 F NP lud.flor
Floralia- The festival of Flora.
This festival extends past the Kalends.
Flora has thousands of multi-colored flowers.
Great licentiousness.
This day is holy to Vesta and Apollo.
29-59 13:58 GC ludi
30-60 14:01 HC ludi
Laurentalia, last day

iii. May
This month is sacred to Maia.

1-61 Kalends 14:03 A NP ludi
Festa of Bona Dea, the Maiama.
A sacrifice is made to Juno.
The Floralia continues
with bawdy shows in the the theatre, and horse races.
Garlands of flowers.
Lots of wine.
Perfumed hair.
Honored by prostitutes.
This is considered a rustic holiday.

Maiama
Sacrifice a pregnant sow.

2-62 ater 14:05 BF ludi
3-63 14:09 CC lud.in.cir
4-64 14:11 DC
5-65 14:13
6-66 14:16 FC
7-67 nones 14:18 G N
8-68 ater 14:20 HF

9-69 14:22 A LEM N
Lemuria- Festival of the Spirits.
Offerings to the spirits.
Done at midnight.
bare feet.
Makes a sign of the fig.
Wash hands with spring water.
Throw beans over the shoulder.
Say, "these I let fall, with these I ransom me and mine." nine times
without looking back.
The temples are closed.
Marriage is not allowed.

10-70 14:24 BC
11-71 14:26 C LEM N
Lemuria- continued.
12-72 14:29 D NP lud.mart.in.circ
13-73 14:31 E LEM N
Lemuria - continued.

14-74 14:33 FC
A procession led by the Vestals is led through the City;
straw men are thrown from a bridge into the river.
In times of old, men were thrown into the river instead of dolls.

15-75 ides 14:35 G NP
A white lamb is sacrificed to Jove.
This day is holy to Mercury.
Take water from a spring holy to Mercury, in a purified pitcher, asperge
articles of business with the laurel leaves.

16-76 ater 14:38 HF
17-77 14:40 AC
18-78 14:42 BC
19-79 14:44 CC

20-80 14:46 DC

21-81 14:47 E AGON NP
Agonalia- The festival of Janus
A ram is sacrificed.

22-82 14:48 FN

23-83 14:50 G TUB NP
This day is holy to Vulcan.
Tubilustrium- Festival of the Trumpets.
trumpets are ritually purified.
24-84 14:52 HQ R C F
25-85 14:54 AC
26-86 14:55 BC
27-87 14:57 CC
28-88 14:59 DC
29-89 15:00 EC
30-90 15:02 FC
31-X 15:03 GC

iv. June
This month is sacred to Juno.
Marriage is not propitious before the Ides. Afterwards it is.

1-91 Kalends 15:04 H N
Fabaria- festival of Carna:

The first day is dedicated to Carna, the goddess of the hinge:
With her spirit she opens the closed, and closes the open.

on this day beans are offered to Carna.
eat pork, barley, and beans.
Asperge doors posts thrice.
Set piglet entrails out in the open.
beseech the Daimons to leave the children be;
Do not look at the entrails. Place a white thorn rod of Janus in the
window, and evil spirits will be kept at bay.
Matronalia, Fest of Juno
A sacrifice is made to Juno.
A temple was consecrated to Juno Moneta by Camillus.
This same day is a festival of Mars.
The temple to Tempestas was consecrated on this day.
This day is holy to Concordia.

2-92 ater 15:05 AF
3-93 15:06 BC
hac sacrata die Tusco Bellona duello dicitur et Latio prospera semper adest.
On this day a temple was dedicated to Bellona. In times of war, a spear
was thrown over a column that stands in front.
4-94 15:07 CC
This day is holy to Hercules the Guardian.

5-95 nones 15:09 D
nomina terna fero.... Fidius, Sancus, Pater Semo
A solemn festival to Fidius Dius. Sancus-Fidius-Semo, a sabine God.
6-96 ater 15:10 EN

7-97 15:10 FN
Festival of Tiber, especially dear to fishermen; games are held on the
Campus Martius.

8-98 15:11 GN menti.in.capit
Mens quoque numen habet. The mind also has numen.
On this day a temple to Mens was consecrated.

9-99 15:12 H VEST fer.vestae
Vestalia-
Vesta, fave! Vesta, favor me!
(in prece totus eram: caelestia numina sensi, laetaque purpurea luce
refulsit humus.)
I was totally in prayer: I sensed the divine numen, and the happy earth
shone with purple light.
Vesta eadem est et terram... Vesta is the same as the earth...
Banquets are prepared.
Meat is sent to the Vestals to be offered.
Millstones are decked with garlands.
Asses are decked and paraded.
Ladies parade barefoot to the temple.
Jupiter Pistor. An alter was consecrated to Juppiter pistor.

Rite of Vacuna. mos erat et mensae credere adesse deos; nunc quoque, cum
fiunt antiquae sacra Vacunae, ante Vacunales stantque sedentque focos.

10-100 15:13 AN

11-101 15:14 B MATR N
Matralia-

12-102 15:14 CN
13-103 ides 15:15 D N
A white lamb is sacrificed to Jove.

14-104 ater 15:15 E EN
15-105 15:16 F Q ST D F
16-106 15:16 GC
17-107 15:16 HC
18-108 15:17 AC
19-109 15:17 BC
This day is holy to Minerva.
20-110 15:17 CC
21-111 15:17 DC

22-112 15:17 EC
23-113 15:17 FC
24-114 15:17 GC
Fortunalia, festival of Fortuna, Venus (Summer solstice eve)
Much drinking
Garlands on boats
Nods to slaves.
Groups of young men.
25-115 15:17 HC
Bacchanalia
26-116 15:16 AC
27-117 15:16 BC
28-118 15:15 CF
29-119 15:15 DF
30-120 15:15 EC

v. July (Quintilis)
This month is named after Julius Caesar. It was originally called
Quintilis meaning the fifth month.

1-121 Kalends 15:14
Sacrifice is made to Juno.
2-122 ater 15:14
3-123 15:13
4-124 15:12
5-125 15:11
6-126 15:10

7-127 nones 15:09
Matronalia, Fest of Juno;
The Games of Apollo are on this day.

8-128 ater 15:08
9-129 15:07
10-130 15:06
11-131 15:05
12-132 15:03
13-133 15:02
14-134 15:00
15-135 ides 14:59
A white lamb is sacrificed to Jove.
16-136 ater 14:58
17-137 14:56
18-138 14:54
The Festival of Aius Locutus.
19-139 14:53
20-140 14:51
21-141 14:49
22-142 14:48

23-143 14:46
Neptunalia- The festival of Neptune.
Neptune as protector of the water supply is celebrated.
24-144 14:44
25-145 14:42
Furinalia- festival of Furina
26-146 14:41
27-147 14:39
28-148 14:37
29-149 14:34
30-150 14:32
31-X 14:30

vi. August (Sextilis)

This month is named after Augustus Caesar. It was originally called
Sextilis, the sixth month.

1-151 Kalends 14:28
Sacrifice to Juno.
2-152 ater 14:26
3-153 14:24
4-154 14:22
5-155 nones 14:19
Annual sacrifice to Salus.
6-156 ater 14:17
7-157 14:15
8-158 14:13
9-159 14:09
Festival to Sol Invictus
10-160 14:07
11-161 14:04
12-162 14:02
13-163 14:00
Festival of Diana at Nemi
Vertumnalia- The festival of Vertumnus
Holy to Hercules Victor
Holy to the Gemini
Holy to Hecate
Holy to Flora
Holy to Camenae

14-164 ater 13:57
15-165 13:55
16-166 13:52
17-167 13:50
Portunalia: This is a festival of Portumnus;
This is a solemn rite;
Keys are thrown into a fire.
18-168 13:47
19-169 13:45
Consualia- This is the festival of Consus.
The altar of Consus is dug up and a mule is sacrificed.
Beasts of burden are freed from labor.
Games are sponsored.
Finally, the altar is recovered for another year.
Vinalia-
20-170 13:42
21-171 13:40

22-172 13:37
23-173 13:35
Volcanalia, Festival of Vulcan
Fish are thrown in a fire.
24-174 13:32
25-175 13:29
26-176 13:26
27-177 13:23
Volturnalia
28-178 13:21
29-179 13:18
30-180 13:15
31-X 13:13

vii. September

This month's name simply means the seventh month.

1-181 Kalends 13:10
2-182 ater 13:07
3-183 13:04
4-184 13:02
5-185 12:59
Ludi till the 19th
6-186 ater 12:56
7-187 12:54
8-188 12:51
Opiconsiva
9-189 12:48
10-190 12:45
11-191 12:43
12-192 12:40
13-193 ides 12:36
14-194 ater 12:33

Festival of Vesta
15-195 12:31
Circenses Ludi, in honor of Consus, 15-20
16-196 12:28
17-197 12:25
18-198 12:22
19-199 12:20
20-200 12:17
21-201 12:14
22-202 12:11
23-203 12:08
24-204 12:06
25-205 12:03
Bacchanalia
26-206 12:00
27-207 11:57
28-208 11:54
29-209 11:51
30-210 11:48

viii. October

This month's name means the eighth month.

1-211 11:45
2-212 ater 11:43
3-213 11:40
4-214 11:37
5-215 11:34
6-216 11:32
7-217 nones 11:29
8-218 ater 11:25
9-219 11:23
10-220 11:20
11-221 11:17
12-222 11:15
13-223 11:12
Fontinalia
14-224 11:09
15-225 ides 11:06
Sacrifice of a horse to Mars; A purification of the City
16-226 ater 11:03
17-227 11:01
18-228 10:58
19-229 10:56
Armilustrium- Festival of polishing the weapons. Holy to Mars.
20-230 10:53
21-231 10:50
22-232 10:47
23-233 10:45
24-234 10:42
25-235 10:40
26-236 10:36
27-237 10:34
28-238 10:31
29-239 10:29
30-240 10:26
31-X 10:23

ix. November

November means simply the ninth month.

1-241 10:21
2-242 ater 10:19
Hilaria
3-243 10:16
4-244 10:13
5-245 nones 10:11
6-246 ater 10:09
7-247 10:06
8-248 10:04
9-249 10:02
10-250 9:59
11-251 9:56
12-252 9:54
Epulum Jovis in Capitoli
13-253 ides 9:52
14-254 ater 9:50
15-255 9:48
Feronia, feast of Ferona
16-256 9:46
17-257 9:44
18-258 9:42
19-259 9:40
20-260 9:38
21-261 9:36
22-262 9:34
23-263 9:32
24-264 9:31
25-265 9:28
26-266 9:27
27-267 9:25
28-268 9:24
29-269 9:22
30-270 9:21

x. December

December means the tenth month.
1-271 9:20
2-272 ater 9:18
3-273 9:17
Feast of Bona Dea, Fauna
4-274 9:16
5-275 9:15
6-276 ater 9:14
7-277 9:13
8-278 9:11
9-279 9:10
10-280 9:10
11-281 9:09
Brumalia
12-282 9:08
13-283 ides 9:07
14-284 ater 9:07
Consualia
-Lararia
15-285 9:15
16-286 9:06
Saturnalia, 16-23
17-287 9:05
18-288 9:05
Eponalia, Feast of Epona
19-289 9:05
Opalia, 3rd day of Saturnalia
-Compitalia, festival of the dead, Lares
20-290 9:05
21-291 9:04
22-292 9:04
23-293 9:04
Laurentalia
24-294 9:05
25-295 9:05
26-296 9:05
27-297 9:06
28-298 9:06
29-299 9:06
30-300 9:07
31-X 9:08

xi. January

January is the month sacred to the divine Janus.

1-301 Kalends 9:08 AKF
2-302 ater 9:09 BF
3-303 9:10 CC
4-304 9:11 DC
5-305 nones 9:12 E F
6-306 ater 9:13 FF
7-307 9:15 GC
8-308 9:16 HC
Day of Justicia
9-309 9:17 A AGON
Agonia, Festival of Janus
10-310 9:18 B EN
11-311 9:19 C CAR Np
Carmentales
12-312 9:21 DC
Compitalia
13-313 ides 9:22 E EID NP
14-314 ater 9:24 F EN dies.vitios.ex.s.c
15-315 9:25 G CAR
Feast of the Ass, Feast of Vesta
-Carmentalia, Feast of Goddess of Childbirth
16-316 9:27 HC
17-317 9:29 AC
18-318 9:30 BC
Theogamia, Feast of Juno
19-319 9:32 CC
20-320 9:34 DC
21-321 9:36 EC
22-322 9:38 FC
23-323 9:40 GC
24-324 9:42 HC
25-325 9:44 AC
26-326 9:46 BC
27-327 9:48 CC
28-328 9:51 DC
29-329 9:53 EC
Feast of Concordia
30-330 9:55 F NP
31-X 9:58 GC

xii. February

February is last month of the year, indicating the time of warming.

1-331 kalends 10:00 H N
2-332 ater 10:02 AN
3-333 10:04 BN
4-334 10:07 CN
5-335 nones 10:09 D
6-336 ater 10:11 EN
7-337 10:14 FN
8-338 10:17 GN
9-339 10:19 HN
10-340 10:22 AN
11-341 10:24 BN
12-342 10:27 CN
13-343 ides 10:29 D NP
Parentalia, fest of Mania and Vesta, 13 (to 18)
14-344 ater 10:32 EN
15-345 10:35 F LVPER NP
Februa, Fest of Purification
Lupercalia- Fest of Pan for protecting the flocks.
16-346 10:37 G EN
17-347 10:41 H QUIR NP
18-348 10:43 AC
19-349 10:45 BC
20-350 10:48 CC
21-351 10:51 D FERAL F
22-352 10:54 EC
23-353 10:56 F TER NP
Terminalia- Fest of boundaries
-Lucaria, feast of the grove
-Fugalia: The celebration of the exile of the Tarquins
-Day of Tacita, The day of the silent Goddess,Lara. 20
-Fornacalia, 17
-Feralia, 17 or 21 for 11 days
-Charistia, feast of reconciliation, 20
24-354 10:59 G REGIF N
Refugium
25-355 11:02 HC
26-356 11:05 A EN
27-357 11:08 B EQ NP
28-358 11:10 CC

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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Subject:	RE: [novaroma] Article I found
From:	"Antonio Grilo" <amg@-------->
Date:	Wed, 13 Dec 2000 07:34:51 -0800

Salvete omnes

The so called "Sacrificial Knife" is all but Roman. It is a New Ager
document. Among other things it defends the practice of sex and offerings of
semen and human blood as valid within the context of the Religio Romana. In
Rome such a document would surely be banished. The only positive thing it
includes is the list of deities. Nevertheless, even this is quite
innacurate.

So, if you are trying to find out how the Romans sacrificed, it's better to
read the NR page and proceed to competent works like those of R. Turcan or
J. Scheid... Or present your question on the ReligioRomana@-------- list!

Valete
Antonius Gryllus Graecus

-----Original Message-----
From: L. Cornelius Sulla [mailto:alexious@--------]
Sent: terga-feira, 12 de Dezembro de 2000 22:36
To: novaroma@--------
Subject: [novaroma] Article I found

http://www.cs.utk.edu/~mclennan/BA/OM/MS-S.txt
Secespita
"The Sacrificial Knife"
A Roman Book of Blood Sacrifice
Containing:
-The Names of the Gods
-A Fasti of all Holy Days, and Auspicious and Unlucky Days.
-A Multitude of Important Facts

By
Marcus Sulla

Cross Plains, WI
Copyright 1996

Legalities:
All rights are reserved. The author encourages not-for-profit use and
distribution, with proper citation of authorship. Suggestions and further
citations are heartily welcome at "Sulla@--------".
My next project is an expansion of this little book into a concordance of
original Latin quotations that reveals the precise wording and
descriptions the Romans used to describe their rituals and Gods.

Table of Contents:

i. Praecepta
ii. Nomina Divum
iii. Fasti

Oh Heavenly Muses, help me explain the unspeakable with a few lucid shining
words, while the breeze wafts through the boughs of the Tree.

Praecepta

This little book presents the Religio Romana, the religion of classical
Rome in a form usable today.
The Old Gods have not perished, they sleep in great stones, waiting for
the words and sacrifices heralding the Awaking.
This manual contains very old thoughts, practices, and stories. The style
is often sparse, because great care has been excercised to keep
interpretation to a minimum, at the price of literature.
If these words do come alive in you, the reader, than once again, the Old
Gods live.

The Augurs

The Augurs in ancient times were the holy men that kept the calender, and
advised the rulers about omens and portents. Their function was an
official state position, originally established by Romulus, and as time
progressed, their numbers increased until they formed a Collegium.

A World View

Sitting on a high place, facing east, the augur sees the world
differently. The earth is a coagulation, like whey of the milk of chaos.
This earth is teaming with power, which they referred to as numen. This
power swirls down from the Godhead and it has the potential to change not
only the course of human events, but also the very fabric of creation.
These whirlpools of numen, are the earthly manifestations of the Gods.
There is divinity in many natural objects. Springs, rivers, groves, even
rocks and trees, have numen flowing through them and may require occasional
respect.
Man is separate from the animals, for two reasons. Firstly, Man was
created not by the Gods, but by Prometheus, a Titan. Then,during the
golden age, the Gods freely coupled with mortals and planted in man a spark
of divinity. Unfortunately, the Gods have been sleeping for about two
millennia, so we cannot honestly blame them for the present mess of the
world. As Pandora discovered, man does have free will, and we must live
with the consequences of our actions.

FAS

There is such a thing as Natural Law. This is the natural, proper order
of all things. If something was inherently, naturally right, it was
referred to as fas. Likewise, something that is heinous, wrong,
out-of-kilter is nefas. These concepts stand above the written laws of
man.

The Day

From our high place, we watch the sun rise and set. Each day has 24
hours: twelve hours of night, and twelve hours of day. We tell time with a
sundial with twelve even demarcations. Thus in the summer when the days
are longer, the daytime hours are longer, and the nighttime hours are
shorter. When the sun rises, it is the first hour. When the sun is at its
zenith, it is the sixth hour. The sun sets at the twelfth hour. The night
is divided into four watches of three hours each. This was more practical
because the sundial does not work so well at night.

The Month, and it's Parts

The month consists of around thirty days, but it is not divided into
weeks. Rather there are three days to which all other days are calculated.
These are the kalends, the nones, and the ides. First, some explanation.
Far back in the mists of time, cultured people told time by the moon. the
phases of the moon were ready sign-posts to what day it was. The Kalends
would indicate the first day of the month, the night that the first sliver
of the new moon was seen. The nones were the night of the first quarter.
The ides were the first night of the full moon. This works if the demands
of your life style give you three or four weeks leeway on getting things
done, and for several thousands of years, this was fine. But with the
advent of what some people call progress: trade, manufacturing, organized
agriculture; greater precision became advantageous.

The Solar Year

The lunar calender was adapted to the solar year. It has been known for
a very long time that the sun spins around the Earth in a 365 day cycle,
give or take a few hours. The moon rotates around the Earth in a 28 day
cycle. It does not take an Aristotle to figure out that 28 does not divide
evenly into 365. Therefore the wise ones began a series of compromises
that continues today.
The greatest compromise is the adoption of the solar year. The lunar year
has about thirteen months compared to the twelve months of the solar year.
It is obvious that the month as we know it is an adaptation of the period
of a lunar cycle. The word month is even related to the word moon.'
The Babylonians had the good sense to set up twelve months of thirty days.
This left only a few days left over at the end of the year. The advantage
of this is that all the months are a consistent length, and each day
corresponds closely to a degree in the 360 degrees of a circle. Each night
at the same time, a star moves one degree to the west. A star map and a
transit are all an augur requires to tell exactly what day of the year it
is.
But since it is not compatible with modern life to give up a week at the
end of the year, and certain wise ones will go to extremes to make nature
fit the theory, we now have some months of thirty-one days so we can use up
those extra days, and a leap year every four years to lap up every last
hour.
I will make no comment about the insanity of the present modern system. I
am sure it makes excellent sense to start the day in the middle of the
night, and the year in the middle of the winter. It is just in my present
state of old age that I just do not understand the logic.

The Center

Is the the sun is in the center of the universe? This was a radical
departure from the universe of Ptolemy, who taught that the earth was the
center of the universe. A sun-centered, heliocentric, universe is no
better that an earth-centered universe. What is different between them is
merely the point-of-view. Albert Einstein"s radical concept about
relativity was that time varies according to your point of view. Stasis is
a very victorian, anal-retentive concept. The augurs know that things
change constantly.
Nevertheless, calculating and predicting the movements of heavenly bodies
is infinitely easier if the sun is used as a reference point. When you use
the earth as the reference point, planets tend to move back and forth
across the sky in messy tracks. This is very understandable if these
planets are manifestations of capricious divine power, but embarrassing
if you try to explain their movement with mass, gravity, and velocity.
An augur, sitting on a high place, sees the heavenly bodies slowly spin
around him, and I am perfectly satisfied to maintain this point-of-view.

The Shape of the Earth

Likewise, I will not lower myself to argue the shape of the earth. Most
people today consider the world a huge sphere, yet photographs taken from
high altitudes do lend credence to a disk shaped world floating in space.
This topic plainly begs further unbiased research.

The Four Quarters of the Year

From simple observation, we know that the day is longer in the summer, and
shorter in the winter. In the summer, the sun rises higher than in the
winter. On two days a year, the equinoxes, 'equal nights', the day is as
long as the night. Likewise, in early winter there is a day with the
shortest day and in the summer there is a day with the longest day. This
is called a 'solstice' because it appears that the sun stands still. The
25th day of the month is traditionally associated with the solstices and
equinoctes. This imprecision would be anathema to a modern scientist, but
it has elegance. All these four points are associated with festivals and
the seasons.

AUC

The years are recorded in one of two ways. First, since consuls were
elected yearly, the Romans could just talk about the consulship of Bill and
Al, and everyone would know which year was referred to.
They also tabulated their years from the founding the city of Rome. The
"City" was Rome, and AUC. , "Ab Urbe Condita", means "from the founding of
the city." To convert our AD reckoning to AUC, just add 753.

Time

I will not even profess to know the secrets of time. The first spirits
before all else were Time, Chronos, and Earth, Rhea. From this coupling,
arose all the other divinities. Thus time is most elemental, and
mysterious. The gods do not experience time like man does, which is part
of the gulf between us. Those who See, know that in Truth, time and
distance are irrelevant, and are mortal impediments.

The Sacrifice

Roman paganism revolves around the rites of sacrifice. The word itself
means to make holy, as the act of sacrifice takes an object and by means of
a rite, gives it to the immortales. Certain actions please the gods, and
it is these actions that we refer to as worship. What worship does is
attract the Numen and its effects, both positive and negative, onto the
participant.
A pius man in Rome respected the Gods and lived a moral and honorable
life. Pius was a high complement when used to describe a man.
Respect for the Gods is exhibited in several ways. Firstly, do not scorn
or speak a God's name in a disrespectful way. Any time that something must
be said that might offend a God, an apology or epithet must be used. By
naming a God, the numen of that god is evoked, and the power of that god
flows through you. The Greater Gods all have many epithets, and a pius man
should always speak respectfully.
The act of sacrifice also pleases the Gods. Sacrifice occurs in many
forms and rites, but there is a distinct pattern. That which is sacrificed
must be pleasing to the god, and each divinity will have his own
preference. The stories often reveal particular tastes. For example,
laurel leaf is particularly attractive to Apollo, because Daphne was
transformed into a laurel tree before He could take her. A burning of some
laurel will clearly attract the attention of the Shining One.
The actual sacrifices will involve several things. Food and drink are
probably the most common. It is often good to pour wine onto the earth and
bury a crust of bread. If the offering is to a celestial, than burnt
offerings are more appropriate. A fire is set on the altar, and the food
and drink is placed on the fire. The fire consumes the offering and the
smoke is pleasing to the Gods.
On a more daily basis, incense should be burned on the altar. This can be
a very simple and efficient way to appease the gods, since sweet odors are
so attractive to them. A pius man who burns a cone of incense in the
morning before work will surely have a good day.
Some gods, such as Mars, revel in the smell of blood, and blood sacrifice
is appropriate. Chickens, goats, lambs, veal, and any animal can be
offered so long as the animal is clean and undiseased. Any pain and
suffering of a victim in nefas and will anger the god.
People will wonder about the sacrifice of humans. Sometimes in history,
the gods have demanded human blood, but it has been rare. Normally, a
human should never be sacrificed lest the wrath of gods and Man is to be
evoked. Even the lowliest slave is worth more to the gods as a worshiper
than as a sacrifice.
The act of sacrifice has three parts. First the altar must be
consecrated. Then the participant must be purified. Finally, the
sacrifice is offered. This can be a major festival lasting days, or it can
be done in seconds with a few words and the lighting of some incense. Big
is not necessarily better. If the action pleases the god, then things will
go well and it will be good for all.
The principle here is "Do ut des," I give to you, so that you may give to
me. The Gods, though sometimes inscrutable, will favor the pious.

Purification

Prior to sacrifice, the devotee must rid him/herself of impurity. An
impure devotee will only anger the God. There are several ways to purify
oneself for sacrifice:
Wash your hands in clean spring water.
Asperge yourself with holy water.
Bath.
Make a holy sign.
Prayer.
Abstain from sex.
Walk barefoot.
Strip naked.
Wear special garb.
Fast.
Deprive sleep.
Incantation.
Sound or singing.
March in a parade.
Flagellation.
Wear flowers or garlands.

The Sacrifice

Many actions please the Gods.
It is pleasing to burn incense.
It is pleasing to pour libations of milk, honey, wine, or other drinks.
It is pleasing to bury offerings.
It is pleasing to let birds and other animals devour offerings.
It is pleasing to burn plants that are dear to the God worshiped.
It is pleasing to offer cakes of wheat and honey in special shapes.
It is pleasing to slay on the alter an animal, and burn its blood and
entrails.
It is pleasing to cut the flesh and offer fresh blood to the fire.
It is pleasing to offer pain, and be whipped upon the alter.
It is pleasing to release seed onto the alter.
It is pleasing to receive seed on the alter.
It is pleasing to receive the spiritus, and speak oracles.
It is pleasing to receive the spiritus, and to offer seed to the faithful.
It is pleasing to receive the spiritus, and receive seed from the faithful.
It is pleasing to cut off the testicles, and offer them to the fire.
It is pleasing to offer your throat to the knife.
It is pleasing to throw men into the river.
It is pleasing to burn the heads of captives.
It is pleasing to fight gladiators on the sand in the God's honor.
It is pleasing to perform plays.
It is pleasing to have races and contests in the honor of the God.

The Language of the Holy

Basic consecration:
Consecrato aram. I consecrate this altar.
Avocation:
Voco te. I call you.
Sacrifice:
Dono tibi. I donate (give formally) to you.
Benedicas me. Please bless me.
Latin is pleasing and familiar to the Gods, but English is perfectly
suitable. Just as a poppy head may substitute for a human head, the Gods
hear the piety, and not the individual words. The complexity of ritual, of
course, can and will grow far beyond these few words.
The Life of Man Under the Gods

Perhaps man was created as a joke, and man's trials and tribulations are
solely for the amusements of the Gods. Life begins with the copulation of
the sexes. Sex is not a bad thing. On the contrary, Juppiter spent much of
his time copulating with mortal women, much to the anger of Juno and the
detriment of the woman. Modern moralists are abhorred at the willingness
of the gods to copulate with anything that strikes their fancy. Ganymede
is an excellent example of a pretty pet that displaced Hebe. Therefore,
from the example of the gods themselves, homosexuality cannot be condemned
as nefas. Though same sex unions do not produce children, the stories make
it clear that they often have product of a different coin.
Sex in the City can be bought for only a couple copper coins. This is
like purchasing a tryst for 50 cents. Promiscuity was frowned upon, but
not forbidden. Certain religious rites involve wanton sex, and this is
acceptable. But also note that the Bacchanalia created a public nuisance
and was forbidden by the senate. Though sex was easy, it is a very bad
thing to copulate with a married woman. If you are caught, the husband's
slaves will hold you down and he will take a knife and with the force of
law disarm you. It is not a pretty sight.
It is the matron's duty to service her husband, bear sons for posterity,
and manage the household frugally. If the husband dallies with the slave
girls, it is to be expected. It is perhaps a blessing, because it
increases the estate and saves the wife the burden of too frequent
pregnancy. Likewise, eunuchs are highly prized attendants of the roman
matron. A eunuch, or spado, was created by crushing or cutting off the
testicles. This leaves the poor slave hurting, but still sexually capable.
I suppose the roman husband is not too jealous as long as there is no
residue left when the wife is done.
When a child is born, the father raises it over his head and proclaims
that he accepts it. If he does not do this, then the baby is thrown out
onto the street.
Unwanted or deformed babies are regularly exposed. Slave hunters often
pick them up, or if they are lucky, the dogs eat them.
Infants are named on their ninth day, girls on their eighth day. (See the
god Nondinus)
Baby boys are not circumcised.
Of course, infants are nursed, what else could you do?
Young boys are sent to schools for education. Girls are taught household
skills by their mothers.
Young boys are given a "bulla", which is a talisman. The bulla is given
up when achieving adulthood at age thirteen.
If illness strikes, it is customary to sleep in the temple of Asclepius,
and therefore the spirit of Asclepius can come and cure.
Life is hard, short, and precious.
When a soul, does leave this world, it is sad. The Fates weave the thread
of life, and the time inwhich they snip the thread, is totally up to them.
Even mighty Jove cannot keep a soul in the land of light beyond its fated
day. When that thread is cut, Mercury, or sometimes Iris comes and takes
the hand of the soul and leads it down into the Land of the Dead.
The body should be washed, a coin is placed in the mouth, and it is sown
into a shroud. A vigil is held, because if watch is not made, larvae or
lemurs can come and possess the body. The body is taken from the City,
and with procession, prayers, sacrifices, the body is placed on a pyre and
burned. The ashes are placed in an urn and kept in the family mausoleum. A
death mask of plaster, silver, or gold is sometimes placed in the tomb.
All burials are performed outside of the City.
If the body is properly buried, and the correct rites sung, the soul is
lead peacefully away. The soul of an unburied body wanders in this world,
an unhappy ghost.
Mercury will lead the soul down into the Land of the Dead. It lies down
deep in the bowels of the Earth, on the far shore of the River Styx. The
passage down is guarded by Cerberus, the three headed dog. A divine word
can calm this animal, a mortal is torn apart. Mortals are not allowed in
the Underworld.
A crowd of souls stand at the shore of the river Styx. They await the
ferry man Charon. He rows back and forth in a rickety boat. Those souls
with a coin, go right across. Those souls with no toll must wait twenty
years for a passage.
The Land of the Dead has a reputation of not being a pleasant place.
Those souls that offended the gods in their life times are sometimes
condemned to eternal torment. The Elysian Fields are a reasonably pleasant
place and this is reserved for good people. You should never forget that
the Gods have long memories.
Some people will devote themselves to a God. This is fine. If someone
has the time to seek, he will find. There are many mysteries that can only
revealed to the initiates of those gods. The religions of Orpheus,
Cybele, Mithras, and Bacchus were involved, passionate, and ecstatic.
Unfortunately, they are far beyond the scope of this manual, but their
numines do still flow from the godhead.
The working man must often be content with respecting the Lares and
Penates, and offering sacrifices on festival days. In the event of a
crisis, a sacrifice to an involved god can often restore balance.
A pius man will do what he can and the gods will be pleased. It is more
pleasing to the gods for a poor man to give what little he has without
reservation, than for a rich man to erect a presumptuous gilded temple.
The gods can be benevolent and merciful. They can also be capricious and
cruel.
All men have masters. This is a hard fact. In the time of the City,
people were bound by law, obligation, debt, and servitude. Today, people
are bound by law, obligation, and debt. The effect is the same, although
in today's world the masters have no obligation to their lessers. They
have created a system where they extract incredible amounts of labor from
people and then discard them, and they are not even required to feed them.
The modern moralists decry the lack of the value of life in the City, but
they do not look carefully at our world. In today's world, you can buy a
life for $4.25 an hour. There are lessons to be learned here.

Sacrifice Today.

The sacrifice in today's world is a complicated matter. Many localities
have ordinances that forbid blood sacrifice, or even the keeping of animals
necessary for the rites. Therefore, a devotee will have to make many
concessions.
Once an altar is consecrated, sacrifice should be simple, as long the
altar in not defamed. If you are looking at a bad day at work, and you
need some help, you would do something like this. In the morning, wash
your hands. Approach the altar, ring a bell, say , " O Lares and Penates,
come and accept this offering, and bless this day." Light a cone of incense
one the altar, and continue on with day. If this does not help, then
perhaps a more intense ritual will be required.
The altar should ideally be placed outside, where a charcoal brazier can
be safely lit. The size, decoration, and construction are all variable.
Ideally, the altar would be built in a walled garden where rites could be
conducted in privacy. Neighbors would probably not appreciate the killing
of animals, burning of entrails, nudity, drunkenness, and sexual activity
under their kitchen window. Never condemn the unfaithful! The religio
accepts all Gods, and it is not profane to drink the blood and eat the
body of the Christ on the Easter holiday.
Though the religio was practiced openly two millennia ago, it must be
practiced as a mystery today and conducted in secret.
There is no reason that festivals cannot be celebrated just as we all do
the Saturnalia. Other than a sacrifice at the altar, the celebration to
Saturnus could be performed without change. You would deck the Halls,
exchange gifts, and have a joyous holiday season. The offering of milk
and cookies by children to Santa-Father Christmas is a pagan sacrifice,
conducted with the same reverence as it was in the ancient city.
A pagan community may be necessary for the complete restoration of the
religio, but remember that a temple is always built one brick at a time.

Further Study

This is not a book of cute stories. There are hundreds of books on
mythology, and very few of them deal with the religiosity of the stories.
I advise bypassing all these, and going directly to the primary sources.
Harvard Heinemann publishes the Loeb classical series which has the Latin
on one page and a generally good translation on the facing page. The
primary "bible" of the religio is without doubt Ovid's Metamorphoses.
His Fasti is a close second. The lyric poets Horace, Tibullus, and
Catullus are crammed with divine references that offer a tremendous amount
of diffuse detail. The histories have far less, but have more comment
about the place the the religio in roman society.
There is no one source that puts down on paper all the beliefs and
rituals. The Romans would have thought it unnecessary since the Gods were
independent and changing in importance and demands. Therefore, what
remains we have today seem to be contradictory in some cases and
fragmented. Thus this little book is just a rough attempt to assemble a
few small parts.
The Names of the Gods

The following is a list of the Gods. Some extra information is included
on obscure names, but the major Gods are just listed, with the meaning of
the name.

Consentes Dii

Vesta-
Hearth

Minerva-
Wisdom
Ceres- "Grain"
Diana -"Goddess"

Venus- "Beauty"

Mars, Camulus
War

Mercury- "merchant"
Messenger

Jove- "god"
Father Sky

Neptune- "nephew"
Sea

Vulcan
Smith

Apollo
Sun

Also:
Saturn- "Sower"

Pluto & Proserpine(Brimo)
Death
Pluto= wealth

The Indigites:

Adeona, Abeona- "to, from going"
The goddess invoked on a journey.

Adonis- "man"
The beloved of Venus, Apollo, and Bacchus. A demi-god.
Agenoria, Ageronia
Agenoria is a goddess of industry and silence.

Agonius- 'perhaps from word for sacrifice'
Patron of the actions of men.
Refers to Janus
Aius Locutius- 'god f. aiser? speaking'

Albunea, Albuna- "the white"
A grove goddess, residing in a spring at Tibur.
Amburbia

Ancaria
Angerona
Angerona is the goddess of suffering and silence.
Goddess, Dec 21 Angeronalia

Anna Perenna- 'mother? or pass a year every year'
This goddess is the bestower of the returning year.

Anteros
God of mutual love and tenderness; avenger of slighted love; a kind of
amethyst.

Antevorta- "turn mind before"
The goddess who knows and reminds man of things past. She is also called
Porima.

Asclepius
- Son of Apollo, god of healing. A demi-god.

Ate, Discordia- "ater, black; not harmony"
A daughter of Nox, goddess of all evil, exiled from heaven by Jove. She
was sister to Nemesis, the Parchae, and Death. She appears as a ghastly
woman with torn garments, fiery eyes, and holds a concealed dagger. Her
head is crowned with serpents and she is attended by Bellona. She is the
cause of all the murders, quarrels, wars, and conflict on earth.

Attis
Consort of Cybele

Averruncus- "to avert, remove"
God of averting; perhaps associated with Robigus;

Bacchus- God of the fertile vine.
Agriona, a Boetian festa

Bellona- "war"
She is the goddess of war, the sister of Mars. Her festivals were March
24, and June 3; She is an attendant to Mars and prepares his chariot; she
appears as a woman with wild hair and carries a whip into battle to incite
the warriors.
The temple of Bellona was without doors. At the door to the temple was a
column called the column of war. Whenever war was declared, a spear was
thrown over the column. The priests of Bellona mutilate themselves and
offer their blood to the goddess.

Bibesia- "drink"
Bibesia is the goddess of beverages.

Bona Dea- "good goddess"
- The Good Goddess: The Great Mother; This goddess was worshiped by only
women and was so modest that her festivals were celebrated at night.

Bonus Eventus- "good event"
The god who rules over the fortune of single events, and not the course of
human life. He is signified by a handsome man who holds a cup and a sheaf
of grain.

Bubona- "Cow"
Bubona is the protectress of cattle.

Caca- "Shit"
Caca is the goddess of excrement and ministered to by the Vestals.

Carna, cardinea- "hinge; formerly Crane"
Carna is goddess of door hinges, entrails, and secret parts of the body.
She was originally a virgin huntress whom Janus violated. He then made her
protectress of the exterior of houses and the power for removing pesky
birds.

Carmenta
Carmenta is one the of the Carminae, mother of Evander, and a demi-goddess
of prophecy. She was known for her wild possessed look when speaking
oracles. She was received by King Faunus in Italy 60 years before the
Trojan war (550 years before the founding of the City.).

Castor and Pollux
Castor and Pollux are the twin sons of Jupiter by Leda. White lambs are
the favored sacrifice.They rode winged horses and ruled victories,
commerce, weights, and measures.

Charon
- Ferryman to the underworld

Concordia- "with the heart"
Concordia is the goddess of peace and harmony. She appears as a beautiful
woman, crowned with garlands, holding a cup, or scepter, or cornucopia.
She is evoked to promote the peace and harmony of families and individual
citizens.

Clementia- "cle -mind"
-Goddess of tolerance and mercy

Cloacina, Cluacina Venus- "Sewer"
-The purifier; the Romans purified themselves by her statue with myrtle
during the Sabine war.

Comus
-God of feasting and revelry, and nocturnal carousing; During his feast,
man and women cross-dress. He is represented by a handsome young man
crowned with flowers and holding a torch.

Consus- "council"
Consus was the god of advice and council.

Copia- "Plenty"
Copia is the goddess of plenty. She is represented by a young virgin
crowned with flowers, and holding the cornucopia.

Cotytto
Cotytto was the goddess of debauchery, and her priests were the Baptae.
She was worshiped in Greece and Sicily, and is perhaps a manifestation of
Proserpine or Ceres.

Cupido- Lust: the God of Physical Love; son of Venus; at pretty boy with a
bow and arrow.

Cybele

Dis- "The godhead"

Dis is Pluto, the god of the Dead. Dis= wealth.

Discordia- See Ate

Duelliona- See Bellona

Edesia- "eating"
Edesia is the goddess of food.

Epona- "Horse"
Epona is the protectress of horses.

Empusa-
Empusa was a monster sent by Hecate to frighten travellers.

Erebus-
A deity of Hell, son of Chaos and Caligo; He married Nox, by which he had
Lux and Dies. He signifies the infernal regions.

Fascinus-
The protector of witchcraft, sorcery, and demons.

Fabulinus- "little story"
The god of the first words of children.

Fama- "fame"
Fama is a goddess represented by a woman blowing a trumpet.

Fatua-
The goddess known as Fauna.

Faunus-Also called Lupercus; An Italic Pan; The Horned God. Ruler of flocks
and farms, apiary,fishing, orchards, gardens, animals, fertility, Nature,
woods, music, dance . He has the power to incite terror in mortals.

Fauna, Consort of Faunus- A fertility goddess with a mystery in early
december.

Faustitas- "favored"
A goddess which rules over cattle.

Februus- "fever"
God of Purification

Fessonia- "Weary"
Goddess of the weary.

Flora- "flower"
Goddess of Flowers; signified by a woman crowned with flowers and holding
the cornucopia.

Fides- Faith
She is represented by a young woman crowned with an olive branch, with a
cup or turtle, or a military ensign in hand. She wears a white veil or
stola; her priests wear white; Numa first instituted the worship of this
divinity and her temple was on the capitoline hill.

Fidius Dius- faithful God
Fidius is the divinity by which oaths are sworn; also known as Sanctus
Sabus and Semipater. Some suppose that he was Hercules, and others the
first king of the Sabines.

Fornax- "oven"
The goddess of baking bread.

Fortuna- "luck"
The goddess of Luck; Her signs are the wheel, the sphere, the ship's
rudder and prow, and the cornucopia. She rules oracles, fate, chance; She
is a protectress of married women.

Fraus- "fraud"
The daughter of Orcus and Nox; she was signified by a beautiful woman with

hidden deformities, terminating in a spotted serpent.

Furina- "theft"
The goddess of thieves.

Fulgora- "lightning"
Fulgora is the goddess of lighting and storms.

Gratiae- "grace"
The Graces, also known as the Charites, are the daughters of Venus by
Juppiter or Bacchus. They rule over all kindness and benevolence. They
are signified by three young virgins, naked, holding hands. They are the
constant attendants of Venus.

Hebe-
The cup bearer of the gods before being replaced by Ganymede. Hebe was
signified by a beautiful woman. She married Hercules and effected the
reconciliation between Juno and Hercules.

Hecate- also known as Trivia- "crossroads"
Diva Triformis, Tergemina, Triceps
The Witch form of Diana; ruler of magic,vengeance, expiations, riches
victory, wisdom , and choices. Hecate is signified by a woman with three
faces. Dogs, lambs, and honey are particularly favored by her.

Honor- "honor"
God of honor.

Horae- "hours"
The horae are three sisters, born of Juppiter and Themis who are the
seasons of Spring, Summer and Winter.

Horta, Orta
Hersilia was the sabine wife of Romulus, who was deified by Juno.

Ilithyia- Juno Lucina

Iris- "rainbow"
Iris is the messenger of the gods. Her duty was to cut the thread of life
of those expiring. She is signified by a beautiful woman with irredescent
wings. She is an attendant to Juno.

Juventas, Juventus- "youth"
Juventas was the roman form of Hebe, the beautiful cup-bearer of Juppiter.

Lara, Larunda-
An Etruscan goddess.

Lares-
The Lares are the household gods.

Laverna-
Goddess of thieves

Levana- "light"
Levana is the goddess who oversees the acceptance of a new-born by his
father when he lifts it up and declares its paternity.

Libera- See Proserpine.

Liber- "Free"
Liber is the god of wine, and some think a manifestation of Bacchus.

Liberalitas- "freely"
Liberalitas is signified by a woman holding a cornucopia, or distributing
money with the other.

Libertas- "Freedom"
Libertas is the goddess of freedom and manumission. She is signified by a
woman holding a rod and a slave's cap. Cats are dear to her.

Libitina-
Libitina is the goddess of funerals. The register of the dead is kept at
her temple.

Lua- "purified"
The goddess who rules over things purified by rite. She is perhaps a
manifestation of Ops.

Lucina- "lux"
Lucina is the daughter of Juppiter and Juno, and rules over labor and
childbirth.

Luna- "moon"
Luna is a manifestation of Diana.

Maia-Mother Earth,

Mania, also Lara
Mania is the mother of the Lares, and the Manes; probably she is Etruscan
in origin; She is evoked at festivals honoring the Lares, and sacrificed
to with poppy-heads or garlic.

Matuta- "mother"
Dawn, Mater Matuta
See Bona Dea

Mens Bona- "good mind"

Momus-
Momus is a god of pleasantry; he was one of the gods that were driven from
heaven.

Molae- "grindstone"
Daughter of Mars, worshiped by millers

Moneta- "warn"
Moneta is a manifestation of Juno.

Mors- "death"

Muses
Muta- "change"

Nemestrinus- "grove"
God of the Groves mentioned only by Arnobius

Naenia-
Naenia was the goddess of funerals; her temple is by the gates of the
City, and songs to her are sung to at funerals. Burials are never within
the walls of the City. The tombs line the roads leading from the City.

Nemesis-
Goddess of vengeance and reward of virture.

Nondina, Nundina- "nine day"
The goddess that presides over the rite inwhich infants are named. This
occurs nine days after birth for boys, and eight days for girls. The child
is carried around the altar, and is then asperged with water.

Nocturnus- "night"
Perhaps the same as Vesper or Nox, Nocturnus is a god of the night.

Nodinus- "knot"
Nodatus is the god of the knots of riping barley.

Nodatus- "Knotted"

Numeria- "number"
Goddess of numbers

Novensiles- "new"
Novensiles is the name given to foreign gods that were not originally
Italic.

Nortia, Nurtia-
Etruscan Goddess of Fortune. Probably related to the word for wet-nurse,
nutrex.

Nox- "night"

Nursica-
Etrurian Goddess; see Nortia, this is probably the same word with a
descriptive particle inserted.

Nyads-

Nymphs-

Occator- "harrow"
Occator is the god of harrowing, that is the cutting of the soil for
planting.

Ops- "wealth"
Ops is the daughter of Sky and Earth and wife of Saturn, and mother of
Jove. She is signified by a matron with helping hand extended and holding
a loaf of bread in the other. She is often considered to be a
manifestation of other matron goddess such as Cybele, Bona Dea, Proserpine,
and Juno.

Orbona- "orphan"
Goddess of Orphans

Orcus (Quietalis)- "hell"
Orcus is a chthonic deity, perhaps a manifestation of Pluto. The word is
also used to signify the Land of the Dead.

Orpheus & Eurydice

Pales-
Pales is the goddess of sheep and pastures. She is perhaps a
manifestation of Vesta or a male deity.

Palici, Palisci- (Same root as Pales)

Pallor
Goddess of Paleness

Pan-

Panacea-

Panda-
Goddess' of openings of roads and towns

Parcae-
Nona
Decima
Morta

Pavor-

Paventia-

Pax- "Peace"

Pellonia-

Penates-

Pertunda-
Goddess of Consummation.

Peta- "Seek"
The goddess of prayer.

Picumnus-

Pilumnus-

Pomona- "fruit"

Portumnus- "harbor"
Portumnus is a god of harbors and the sea.

Porus-

Postverta- "Turn back"
Potina- "Drink"
Potina is the goddess of drink.

Priapus-
Gardener

Prosa, Prorsa-

Prudentia-

Pudicitia-
Puta-

Quies, Quietus Fanum
Tranquility

Robigo-"reddening?"
Rust

Rumia, Rumina- "pap"
Goddess of the breast.

Runcina-

Salus- "Health"
Health, represented by the serpent.

Sarritor- "hoeing"
God of hoeing or weeding
Satyr- "sower(?)"

Segestia, Segetia-
Crops
Ruler of standing crops

Seia- "seed"
Sower
Ruler of Sowing

Semo, Semonia -"Seed"
Seed

Silenus-

Silvanus- "forest"
God of the forest.

Somnus-"Dream"

Stimula- "incitation"

Goddess who incites to action or pleasure.

Strenia, Strenua-
Goddess who presides over New-Year's gifts.

Suada, Suadela- "Persuasion"
Goddess of persuasion.

Tellus, see Terra
Goddess of the earth.
Represented by a woman with many breasts; crowned with turrets; sceptre in
one hand, a key in the other; a lion at her feet.

Tempestas- "Storm"

Terminus- "boundary"
God of bounds and limits, and to punish the theft of land. Represented by
a head (unable to move.) A temple on the Tarpeian rock.

Terra (see Tellus)- "earth"
Goddess of the earth.
Wife of Coelus, Mother of Oceanus

Terror- "terror"
Attendant to Mars and Bellona.

Vacuna- "empty"
Goddess of repose and leisure. Festival in the month of December and she
had a famous Sabine temple.

Vallina, Vallonia- "valley"
The goddess of valleys

Veritas- "truth"

Vertumnus-
Changing Seasons
Ruler of Trade and Produce

Victoria- "victory"

Virginensis- "virgin"
Goddess of virginity; honored the bridal chamber.

Virtus- "virtue"

Viriplaca- "Pleasingly Strong"
Goddess of domestic peace; families reconciled at the temple on the
Palatine.

Vitula-

Volendo-

Volutas-

Voluptas, Volupia- "lust"
Goddess of sexual pleasure.
A Beautiful woman, enthroned with Virtue at her feet.

Voltumna, Vulturna
Goddess of the Etruscan confederation.
Goddess of kindness and good will. Same as
Volumna, Etruscan.
Vulturnus-

Volumnus, Volumna-
Well-wishers, gods of new-born infants.
Gods of the Will, invoked often at weddings.

Volta-
Etruscan name of a monster among the Volsinians.

Volutrina-

Vulturnus-
God of the Tiber.

Fasti

A few comments: following is a calender of the Roman year; I utilize the
standard form of months of thirty and thirty-one days. The second number
after the date is the degree of the sun from March 1. By ignoring the
dates of 31, the calender easily fit into the 360 degree circle. The
harmony of the dates and degrees makes this arrangement attractive. You
might notice that I am missing a degree at the end. The elegance of this
far overrides the science. The length of the day is also stated, since
this changes each day. Divide this period by 12 to get the length of the
Roman hour for that day.
F is a lawful day, N (nefastus) is an unlawful day, NP is a half day
(nefastus parte), or EN (endotercisi) when business may be conducted at
midday.
The first number is the day of the month; then there is the degree of the
sun from the first day of the year; finally there is the length of
daylight on that day; finally, Roman calendar nomenclature describing the
day.

i. March
March is the first month of the year. This makes good sense, because the
earth is finishing with winter, and life begins to grow again. This month
is the begining of the eternal cycle of life and death.
March is named after the divine Mars, the patron of Rome. Therefore, the
old Mars, Mamerius Veturius, is driven from the City on the day preceding
the 1st day of the full moon.

1-1 11:14 D NP
Matronalia: A festival inwhich flowers were offered to Juno, and Mars is
venerated in commemoration of the Rape of the Sabines, and the
reconciliation of warring parties. OF
Flowers are offered.
There are garlands of flowers.
Hair is loosened and there is prayer.
The Salii carry their shields and chant "mamurius."
Marriage is not propitious on this day.
Hair is left unkempt by pointy capped flamines.

2-2 ater 11:16 EF
Festival of Mars: continuation of the Matronalia.

3-3 11:19 FC
4-4 11:22 GC
5-5 11:24 HC
6-6 11:28 A NP hoc.die.caesar.pontif.maxim.fact.est
Compitalia: The festival venerating the Lares.
Small images of men and women are placed at cross-roads;
lamps are burned to honor the gods;
doorways are decorated and wreathed;
the Pater Familias sacrifices to the Lares.
Tarquin offered heads to the Lares, but Brutus thought it proper to offer
poppy heads and straw men after the expulsion of the Tarquins.
Slaves minister the celebration, and during this time they are treated as
free men.
Incense is burned to Vesta.

7-7 Nones 11:31 B F
The temple of Vejovis was consecrated.
8-8 ater 11:33 CF
9-9 11:36 DC
10-10 11:39 EC
11-11 11:42 FC
12-12 11:45 GC
13-13 11:48 H EN
Quirinalia: The festival of Romulus deified.

14-14 11:50 A EQ NP
Equiria- Annual horse race in honor of Mars.

15-15 Ides 11:53 B NP
A white lamb is sacrificed to Jove.
Festival of Anna Perenna:
The faithful sit in the sun and drink on the river bank with a partner;
they sing and dance indecently and as they parade home, they are
pronounced "fortunate."
Drink as many cups of wine as years you wish to live.
16-16 ater 11:56 C F

17-17 12:00 D LIB NP
Liberalia: The festival of Bacchus;
Boys assume the toga virilis on this day;
Slaves are allowed to speak freely.
Cakes with honey are offered.
Cymbals are rung.
The thyrsus rules.
All is garlanded in ivy, because ivy conceals.
A procession carries a phallus to the fields, where it is wreathed.

18-18 12:02 EC
Quinquatria, fest of Minerva, on days 18, 19, 20, 21, 22;
This begins as a bloodless festival celebrating the birth of Minerva.

19-19 12:05 QUIN N

20-20 12:08 GC
On this day , blood is shed in the arena.

21-21 12:10 HC
More blood is shed for Minerva.
The feast of Cybele and Attis, 21,22,23.

22-22 12:13 AN
More blood is shed for Minerva.

23-23 12:16 B TUBIL NP
Tubilustrium: The ritual purification of the trumpets used at sacrifices.

24-24 12:20 C Q REX C F

25-25 12:22 DC
Hilaria, (Vernal Equinox)
-Statue of Cybele purified at Almo
Festival of the Mater Magna.
This festival lasts several days.
There is a sumptuous procession.
Sorrow is suspended.
Dress however.
Bacchanalia

26-26 12:25 EC
27-27 12:28 F NP
28-28 12:31 GC
29-29 12:33 HC
30-30 12:33 AC NP

31-X 12:40 CC
Sacrifice to Luna.

ii. April
The month of April is probably named after a form the the word Aphrodite.
1-31 kalends 12:43 CK NP
There is a sacrifice to Juno.
Veneralia: a festival for Venus Verticordia and Fortuna Virilis is
celebrated.
Women only.
Remove ornaments from the holy idol and wash it.
Offer flowers, especially roses.
Garland the temple in Myrtle
All must be nude.
Incense is offered.
A potion of poppy, milk, and honey.

2-32 ater 12:45 D F
3-33 12:48 EC
4-34 12:51 FC ludi.matr.mag
Ambarvalia: This is the festival of the Magna Mater.
Cymbals, flutes and drums sound.
Eunuchs parade with self-mutilation.
She delights in noise.
The idol is carried in procession around the fields three times.
Fresh flowers are scattered.
A heifer innocent of work and mating is sacrificed.
A white haired priest in a purple robe washes the idol.

5-35 nones 12:53 G ludi
The temple of Fortuna is consecrated on the Quirinal.
Games are conducted.

6-36 ater 12:56 H NP ludi
Games are conducted.

7-37 12:59 AN ludi
Games are conducted.

8-38 13:02 BN ludi
Games are conducted.

9-39 13:05 CN ludi
Games are conducted.

10-40 13:08 DN lud.in.cir
there is a procession of the idol in the Circus.
Horses are raced.

11-41 13:10 EN
This is the festival of the Ludi Cereales.
Ceres taught man to eat grain rather than acorns.
Spelt and salt are pleasing to her.
Incense is burned to her.
Pure things appeal to Her.
Pigs are sacrificed-- a yokable animal is not pleasing to Ceres.
White is pleasing to Ceres: wear white.
Decorate with garlands of grain.

12-42 13:13 FN ludi.cereri
Ludi Cereales continue.

13-43 ides 13:16 G NP ludi
A white lamb is sacrificed to Jove.
A Temple of Jove was dedicated on this day.
Libertas is honored on this day.

14-44 ater 13:18 HN ludi

15-45 13:21 A FORD NP ludi
The Fordicia
A pregnant cow is sacrificed and the calf is offered.
The ashes are saved for the Palilia.

16-46 13:25 BN ludi

17-47 13:27 CN ludi
18-48 13:30 DN ludi

19-49 13:32 E CER N lud.in.cir
Ludi Cereales: Horse races
Foxes are released with torches tied to their backs.
Offerings of spelt and salt
Libations of milk,honey, wine.

20-50 13:35 FN

21-51 13:37 G PAR NP
Palilia: This is a Feast of the Flocks, honoring Pales. On this day
Romulus began the building of the City. The celebration consists of:
leaping over bonfires;
there is no formal sacrifice, but horses' blood is burnt and the ashes of
a fetal calf and the ashes of beans offered.
Sulphur, olive, pine, laurel and rosemary are burned in offering.
Also cheese, wine, and cakes are offered to the fields and flocks.
Ashes of calf and bean stalk are offered.
Jump over three fires set in a row.
Asperge with a laurel branch.
Fumigate Vesta's alter with horse blood, and calf ash, and bean stalk.
Sweep and asperge the temple grounds.
Purify the sheep at twilight.
Deck the sheepfolds with wreathes and garlands.
Burn sulphur, olive, pine, juniper, and laurel.
Offer millet cakes and millet.
Offer a pail of milk.
Face East, wash hands with running water, say four times...
Offer crater with milk and grape must.
Jump over the fires.

22-52 HN

23-53 13:42 A VIN NP
This day is holy to Jupiter.
Vinalia, or Veneralia: The Vinalia in this month is in honor of Venus;
wine is offered are the temple of Venus
prostitutes come an offer Her roses, myrtle, mint, and incense.:
Wine must is offered to Venus.

24-54 13:46 BC

25-55 13:48 C ROB NP
Robigalia- The Festival of Robigus
Dress in white.
A flamen entered the grove of Robigus to offer the dog entrails and sheep
to flame.
Offer incense,
wine,
sheep entrails and dog entrails.
The dog symbolizes the Dog Star.

26-56 13:51 DF
27-57 13:53 EC

28-58 13:56 F NP lud.flor
Floralia- The festival of Flora.
This festival extends past the Kalends.
Flora has thousands of multi-colored flowers.
Great licentiousness.
This day is holy to Vesta and Apollo.
29-59 13:58 GC ludi
30-60 14:01 HC ludi
Laurentalia, last day

iii. May
This month is sacred to Maia.

1-61 Kalends 14:03 A NP ludi
Festa of Bona Dea, the Maiama.
A sacrifice is made to Juno.
The Floralia continues
with bawdy shows in the the theatre, and horse races.
Garlands of flowers.
Lots of wine.
Perfumed hair.
Honored by prostitutes.
This is considered a rustic holiday.

Maiama
Sacrifice a pregnant sow.

2-62 ater 14:05 BF ludi
3-63 14:09 CC lud.in.cir
4-64 14:11 DC
5-65 14:13
6-66 14:16 FC
7-67 nones 14:18 G N
8-68 ater 14:20 HF

9-69 14:22 A LEM N
Lemuria- Festival of the Spirits.
Offerings to the spirits.
Done at midnight.
bare feet.
Makes a sign of the fig.
Wash hands with spring water.
Throw beans over the shoulder.
Say, "these I let fall, with these I ransom me and mine." nine times
without looking back.
The temples are closed.
Marriage is not allowed.

10-70 14:24 BC
11-71 14:26 C LEM N
Lemuria- continued.
12-72 14:29 D NP lud.mart.in.circ
13-73 14:31 E LEM N
Lemuria - continued.

14-74 14:33 FC
A procession led by the Vestals is led through the City;
straw men are thrown from a bridge into the river.
In times of old, men were thrown into the river instead of dolls.

15-75 ides 14:35 G NP
A white lamb is sacrificed to Jove.
This day is holy to Mercury.
Take water from a spring holy to Mercury, in a purified pitcher, asperge
articles of business with the laurel leaves.

16-76 ater 14:38 HF
17-77 14:40 AC
18-78 14:42 BC
19-79 14:44 CC

20-80 14:46 DC

21-81 14:47 E AGON NP
Agonalia- The festival of Janus
A ram is sacrificed.

22-82 14:48 FN

23-83 14:50 G TUB NP
This day is holy to Vulcan.
Tubilustrium- Festival of the Trumpets.
trumpets are ritually purified.
24-84 14:52 HQ R C F
25-85 14:54 AC
26-86 14:55 BC
27-87 14:57 CC
28-88 14:59 DC
29-89 15:00 EC
30-90 15:02 FC
31-X 15:03 GC

iv. June
This month is sacred to Juno.
Marriage is not propitious before the Ides. Afterwards it is.

1-91 Kalends 15:04 H N
Fabaria- festival of Carna:

The first day is dedicated to Carna, the goddess of the hinge:
With her spirit she opens the closed, and closes the open.

on this day beans are offered to Carna.
eat pork, barley, and beans.
Asperge doors posts thrice.
Set piglet entrails out in the open.
beseech the Daimons to leave the children be;
Do not look at the entrails. Place a white thorn rod of Janus in the
window, and evil spirits will be kept at bay.
Matronalia, Fest of Juno
A sacrifice is made to Juno.
A temple was consecrated to Juno Moneta by Camillus.
This same day is a festival of Mars.
The temple to Tempestas was consecrated on this day.
This day is holy to Concordia.

2-92 ater 15:05 AF
3-93 15:06 BC
hac sacrata die Tusco Bellona duello dicitur et Latio prospera semper adest.
On this day a temple was dedicated to Bellona. In times of war, a spear
was thrown over a column that stands in front.
4-94 15:07 CC
This day is holy to Hercules the Guardian.

5-95 nones 15:09 D
nomina terna fero.... Fidius, Sancus, Pater Semo
A solemn festival to Fidius Dius. Sancus-Fidius-Semo, a sabine God.
6-96 ater 15:10 EN

7-97 15:10 FN
Festival of Tiber, especially dear to fishermen; games are held on the
Campus Martius.

8-98 15:11 GN menti.in.capit
Mens quoque numen habet. The mind also has numen.
On this day a temple to Mens was consecrated.

9-99 15:12 H VEST fer.vestae
Vestalia-
Vesta, fave! Vesta, favor me!
(in prece totus eram: caelestia numina sensi, laetaque purpurea luce
refulsit humus.)
I was totally in prayer: I sensed the divine numen, and the happy earth
shone with purple light.
Vesta eadem est et terram... Vesta is the same as the earth...
Banquets are prepared.
Meat is sent to the Vestals to be offered.
Millstones are decked with garlands.
Asses are decked and paraded.
Ladies parade barefoot to the temple.
Jupiter Pistor. An alter was consecrated to Juppiter pistor.

Rite of Vacuna. mos erat et mensae credere adesse deos; nunc quoque, cum
fiunt antiquae sacra Vacunae, ante Vacunales stantque sedentque focos.

10-100 15:13 AN

11-101 15:14 B MATR N
Matralia-

12-102 15:14 CN
13-103 ides 15:15 D N
A white lamb is sacrificed to Jove.

14-104 ater 15:15 E EN
15-105 15:16 F Q ST D F
16-106 15:16 GC
17-107 15:16 HC
18-108 15:17 AC
19-109 15:17 BC
This day is holy to Minerva.
20-110 15:17 CC
21-111 15:17 DC

22-112 15:17 EC
23-113 15:17 FC
24-114 15:17 GC
Fortunalia, festival of Fortuna, Venus (Summer solstice eve)
Much drinking
Garlands on boats
Nods to slaves.
Groups of young men.
25-115 15:17 HC
Bacchanalia
26-116 15:16 AC
27-117 15:16 BC
28-118 15:15 CF
29-119 15:15 DF
30-120 15:15 EC

v. July (Quintilis)
This month is named after Julius Caesar. It was originally called
Quintilis meaning the fifth month.

1-121 Kalends 15:14
Sacrifice is made to Juno.
2-122 ater 15:14
3-123 15:13
4-124 15:12
5-125 15:11
6-126 15:10

7-127 nones 15:09
Matronalia, Fest of Juno;
The Games of Apollo are on this day.

8-128 ater 15:08
9-129 15:07
10-130 15:06
11-131 15:05
12-132 15:03
13-133 15:02
14-134 15:00
15-135 ides 14:59
A white lamb is sacrificed to Jove.
16-136 ater 14:58
17-137 14:56
18-138 14:54
The Festival of Aius Locutus.
19-139 14:53
20-140 14:51
21-141 14:49
22-142 14:48

23-143 14:46
Neptunalia- The festival of Neptune.
Neptune as protector of the water supply is celebrated.
24-144 14:44
25-145 14:42
Furinalia- festival of Furina
26-146 14:41
27-147 14:39
28-148 14:37
29-149 14:34
30-150 14:32
31-X 14:30

vi. August (Sextilis)

This month is named after Augustus Caesar. It was originally called
Sextilis, the sixth month.

1-151 Kalends 14:28
Sacrifice to Juno.
2-152 ater 14:26
3-153 14:24
4-154 14:22
5-155 nones 14:19
Annual sacrifice to Salus.
6-156 ater 14:17
7-157 14:15
8-158 14:13
9-159 14:09
Festival to Sol Invictus
10-160 14:07
11-161 14:04
12-162 14:02
13-163 14:00
Festival of Diana at Nemi
Vertumnalia- The festival of Vertumnus
Holy to Hercules Victor
Holy to the Gemini
Holy to Hecate
Holy to Flora
Holy to Camenae

14-164 ater 13:57
15-165 13:55
16-166 13:52
17-167 13:50
Portunalia: This is a festival of Portumnus;
This is a solemn rite;
Keys are thrown into a fire.
18-168 13:47
19-169 13:45
Consualia- This is the festival of Consus.
The altar of Consus is dug up and a mule is sacrificed.
Beasts of burden are freed from labor.
Games are sponsored.
Finally, the altar is recovered for another year.
Vinalia-
20-170 13:42
21-171 13:40

22-172 13:37
23-173 13:35
Volcanalia, Festival of Vulcan
Fish are thrown in a fire.
24-174 13:32
25-175 13:29
26-176 13:26
27-177 13:23
Volturnalia
28-178 13:21
29-179 13:18
30-180 13:15
31-X 13:13

vii. September

This month's name simply means the seventh month.

1-181 Kalends 13:10
2-182 ater 13:07
3-183 13:04
4-184 13:02
5-185 12:59
Ludi till the 19th
6-186 ater 12:56
7-187 12:54
8-188 12:51
Opiconsiva
9-189 12:48
10-190 12:45
11-191 12:43
12-192 12:40
13-193 ides 12:36
14-194 ater 12:33

Festival of Vesta
15-195 12:31
Circenses Ludi, in honor of Consus, 15-20
16-196 12:28
17-197 12:25
18-198 12:22
19-199 12:20
20-200 12:17
21-201 12:14
22-202 12:11
23-203 12:08
24-204 12:06
25-205 12:03
Bacchanalia
26-206 12:00
27-207 11:57
28-208 11:54
29-209 11:51
30-210 11:48

viii. October

This month's name means the eighth month.

1-211 11:45
2-212 ater 11:43
3-213 11:40
4-214 11:37
5-215 11:34
6-216 11:32
7-217 nones 11:29
8-218 ater 11:25
9-219 11:23
10-220 11:20
11-221 11:17
12-222 11:15
13-223 11:12
Fontinalia
14-224 11:09
15-225 ides 11:06
Sacrifice of a horse to Mars; A purification of the City
16-226 ater 11:03
17-227 11:01
18-228 10:58
19-229 10:56
Armilustrium- Festival of polishing the weapons. Holy to Mars.
20-230 10:53
21-231 10:50
22-232 10:47
23-233 10:45
24-234 10:42
25-235 10:40
26-236 10:36
27-237 10:34
28-238 10:31
29-239 10:29
30-240 10:26
31-X 10:23

ix. November

November means simply the ninth month.

1-241 10:21
2-242 ater 10:19
Hilaria
3-243 10:16
4-244 10:13
5-245 nones 10:11
6-246 ater 10:09
7-247 10:06
8-248 10:04
9-249 10:02
10-250 9:59
11-251 9:56
12-252 9:54
Epulum Jovis in Capitoli
13-253 ides 9:52
14-254 ater 9:50
15-255 9:48
Feronia, feast of Ferona
16-256 9:46
17-257 9:44
18-258 9:42
19-259 9:40
20-260 9:38
21-261 9:36
22-262 9:34
23-263 9:32
24-264 9:31
25-265 9:28
26-266 9:27
27-267 9:25
28-268 9:24
29-269 9:22
30-270 9:21

x. December

December means the tenth month.
1-271 9:20
2-272 ater 9:18
3-273 9:17
Feast of Bona Dea, Fauna
4-274 9:16
5-275 9:15
6-276 ater 9:14
7-277 9:13
8-278 9:11
9-279 9:10
10-280 9:10
11-281 9:09
Brumalia
12-282 9:08
13-283 ides 9:07
14-284 ater 9:07
Consualia
-Lararia
15-285 9:15
16-286 9:06
Saturnalia, 16-23
17-287 9:05
18-288 9:05
Eponalia, Feast of Epona
19-289 9:05
Opalia, 3rd day of Saturnalia
-Compitalia, festival of the dead, Lares
20-290 9:05
21-291 9:04
22-292 9:04
23-293 9:04
Laurentalia
24-294 9:05
25-295 9:05
26-296 9:05
27-297 9:06
28-298 9:06
29-299 9:06
30-300 9:07
31-X 9:08

xi. January

January is the month sacred to the divine Janus.

1-301 Kalends 9:08 AKF
2-302 ater 9:09 BF
3-303 9:10 CC
4-304 9:11 DC
5-305 nones 9:12 E F
6-306 ater 9:13 FF
7-307 9:15 GC
8-308 9:16 HC
Day of Justicia
9-309 9:17 A AGON
Agonia, Festival of Janus
10-310 9:18 B EN
11-311 9:19 C CAR Np
Carmentales
12-312 9:21 DC
Compitalia
13-313 ides 9:22 E EID NP
14-314 ater 9:24 F EN dies.vitios.ex.s.c
15-315 9:25 G CAR
Feast of the Ass, Feast of Vesta
-Carmentalia, Feast of Goddess of Childbirth
16-316 9:27 HC
17-317 9:29 AC
18-318 9:30 BC
Theogamia, Feast of Juno
19-319 9:32 CC
20-320 9:34 DC
21-321 9:36 EC
22-322 9:38 FC
23-323 9:40 GC
24-324 9:42 HC
25-325 9:44 AC
26-326 9:46 BC
27-327 9:48 CC
28-328 9:51 DC
29-329 9:53 EC
Feast of Concordia
30-330 9:55 F NP
31-X 9:58 GC

xii. February

February is last month of the year, indicating the time of warming.

1-331 kalends 10:00 H N
2-332 ater 10:02 AN
3-333 10:04 BN
4-334 10:07 CN
5-335 nones 10:09 D
6-336 ater 10:11 EN
7-337 10:14 FN
8-338 10:17 GN
9-339 10:19 HN
10-340 10:22 AN
11-341 10:24 BN
12-342 10:27 CN
13-343 ides 10:29 D NP
Parentalia, fest of Mania and Vesta, 13 (to 18)
14-344 ater 10:32 EN
15-345 10:35 F LVPER NP
Februa, Fest of Purification
Lupercalia- Fest of Pan for protecting the flocks.
16-346 10:37 G EN
17-347 10:41 H QUIR NP
18-348 10:43 AC
19-349 10:45 BC
20-350 10:48 CC
21-351 10:51 D FERAL F
22-352 10:54 EC
23-353 10:56 F TER NP
Terminalia- Fest of boundaries
-Lucaria, feast of the grove
-Fugalia: The celebration of the exile of the Tarquins
-Day of Tacita, The day of the silent Goddess,Lara. 20
-Fornacalia, 17
-Feralia, 17 or 21 for 11 days
-Charistia, feast of reconciliation, 20
24-354 10:59 G REGIF N
Refugium
25-355 11:02 HC
26-356 11:05 A EN
27-357 11:08 B EQ NP
28-358 11:10 CC

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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Subject:	[novaroma] ATTN (Religio Romana): Idus Decembres (December 13th)
From:	"Antonio Grilo" <amg@-------->
Date:	Wed, 13 Dec 2000 07:51:18 -0800

Salvete omnes

This is a dies nefastus publicus (NP), a day for special religious
observance in which no legal action can take place.

The Idus of every month are sacred to Iuppiter. An white ewe is
sacrificed to Iuppiter by the Flamen Dialis.

Today is a festival of Tellus (Earth).

The month of December is sacred to Vesta.

Valete in pace deorum
Antonius Gryllus Graecus
Pontifex

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Subject:	Re: Applying for weird names (was Re: [novaroma] The Candidate Debate)
From:	"S. Apollonius Draco" <hendrik.meuleman@-------->
Date:	Wed, 13 Dec 2000 13:24:34 +0100

Salve, Tiberi Hiberni,

> >PS: On a more serious note, whilst browsing the Album Gentium, I noticed
> >that there was a gens Johnia or something along those lines. With all due
> >respect to its pater- or materfamilias, but I find that name absolutely
> >unroman. The Romans didn't really know the "J", and they certainy didn't
> >know any words that had an "h" before an "n", according to my knowledge.
If
> >there can be a Johnius in NR, I'm applying for Biggus Dickus today!
> >
>
>
> In my own personal experience, the Censors have been rather arbitrary in
> what they will pass and what they will not pass.

Yes, and so it is mentioned on the NR site. But the word "John" is no Latin
at all, and "Johnus" is a pretty silly name. Perhaps I shouldn't talk, my
praenomen being Sextus (but hey, at least it's Latin!) :-).

Vale bene,
S.A. Draco

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Subject:	[novaroma] Look What I Found
From:	"Nicolaus Moravius" <n_moravius@-------->
Date:	Wed, 13 Dec 2000 14:34:43

Quiritibus salutem

I wonder if anyone was delighted to find Sulla's bestowal of 60 pages' worth
of dubious material in one e-mail, clagging up their inboxes lately ("The
Sacrificial Knife")?

Even if it had not been drivel, (and to be fair to Sulla, he wouldn't know),
surely posting the link is sufficient for anybody who might be interested?

Although Pontifex Graecus and I often argue about what is appropriate to the
reconstructed Religio Romana, I couldn't agree more with him on this
occasion, that this offering is worse than useless.

Pace deorum

N. Moravius Vado
Flamen Floralis.

>Salvete omnes

>The so called "Sacrificial Knife" is all but Roman. It is a New Ager
>document. Among other things it defends the practice of sex and >offerings
>of
>semen and human blood as valid within the context of the Religio >Romana.
>In
>Rome such a document would surely be banished. The only positive thing >it
>includes is the list of deities. Nevertheless, even this is quite
>innacurate.

>So, if you are trying to find out how the Romans sacrificed, it's >better
>to
>read the NR page and proceed to competent works like those of R. >Turcan or
>J. Scheid... Or present your question on the ReligioRomana@--------
> >list!

>Valete
>Antonius Gryllus Graecus

_____________________________________________________________________________________
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Subject:	[novaroma] Nova Roma and Modernity
From:	"M. Apollonius Formosanus" <bvm3@-------->
Date:	Wed, 13 Dec 2000 18:37:41 +0200

M. Apollonius Formosanus Candidatus Praetorius omnibus Quiritibus S.P.D.

Vedius Germanicus Candidatus Consularis is, I believe, an honourable
man, as I hope one will grant, I am. However, therre is a considerable
gulf of disagreement between us with respect to certain things, which
deserves exploration.

Vedius is a proponent of Roman Reconstructionism, and wishes to
reconstruct as much of ancient Roman society as possible, "warts and
all" as he says. Now, there is nothing wrong with this in itself. I can
understand the fascincation of it quite easily, and even *partly* share
it. However, for me it has an element of r�le-playing about it when it
goes to the extent that he would wish, and I do not think that Nova Roma
should take on the characteristics of a RPG.

My objection is that I think Nova Roma has many potentials as a
serious entity that would be harmed if it took an extreme turn towards
antiquarian RP-ing. If we want to have an educational programme here in
classical studies and Latin, if we want to sponsor serious archaeology,
if we want to be taken seriously by all the people we want to be taken
seriously by in the world, people whose support we need to do many of
the things we want to do, then we have to avoid isolating ourselves
through unnecessary idiosyncraticity.

We need to attract people here who are simply not into r�le-playing
as Vedius would have us be. And to tell the truth, does that not already
describe the majority of us? We have ruled out slavery, blood
sacrifices, clientage, the subjugation of women, etc. and thus are
*never* going to be completely "authentic" from a purist's viewpoint. Is
there not a parallel here to our religious controversies of the past?
Too many people then entered Nova Roma who were not committed followers
of the Religio Romana, and the original vision had to change and broaden
to include them. Likewise now Vedius would keep us to his ideas of
antiquarian RP-ing, but most of us do not really feel that this is our
primary interest in Nova Roma.

Most of us think that we should be a real, dynamic and creative
mixture of the ancient and the contemporary from the standpoint of our
organisation and our micronational society. Not a place so puristic that
it would reject basics of a decent modern life like explicit human
rights. If we are to be a successful, broad-based, respected, and
effective micronation and centre for Roman studies and research in the
world, then we must wholeheartedly accept some of the important changes
in the world between the fall of the Republic and Empire, and the
present - like the internet, human rights, and human equality.

In other words, Nova Roma has been accepting virtually everyone
interested in things Roman - and the result is that only a small
minority would be in favour of making the Religio Romana personally
compulsory for all or making Latin the sole language of the group or
trying to pretend that the past two thousand years of social, political
and technological history never happened. Purism won't work now if it
ever would have. We must accept *both* our Ancient Romanitas and our
Nova Romanitas in a realistic way and with a realistic balance.

I wish to repeat, since some people misperceive me as being far more
confrontational that I really am, that my arguments above do not stem
from any dislike or disrespect for Vedius Germanicus, a Founder of Nova
Roma and the architect of our present rather good Constitution. I do not
regard him as an enemy in any way, but while respecting him and his
position, I disagree. I would like this to be a friendly disagreement.

The balance between the new and the old in Nova Roma is of great
importance to our future, and it is something that should be determined
with ongoing and patient dialogue among all the cives of our Respublica.
My special personal interest is primarily, as you might suspect, human
rights. I do not believe that *any* human organisation functioning in
the 21st Century should be without the most modern and up-to-date
human-rights provisions, any more than I would wish a reconstructed
trireme to be without fire extinguishers, radio and a global positioning
system to use at need, even if some might think them "inauthentic".
Without the human rights and the safety devices it is all too easy for
real people to be hurt unnecessarily. A prudent policy should avoid
this.

Valete!

M. Apollonius Formosanus
Candidate for Praetor Urbanus

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Subject:	Re: [novaroma] Masada
From:	"Aurelius Tiberius" <kminer_rsg@-------->
Date:	Wed, 13 Dec 2000 13:32:58 -0500

Salve all,
Excellent book!!!! well worth the reading. Having been to Masada both
before and after reading it, I had a fantastic impression of what happened
where,when, etc, the second time around. If anyone ever needs a trip to
fill a week or two, the Sinai, egypt and Israel are a great place to
visit...

I will try to post my pictures I have from there for everyone to see. (they
are a couple years old)...

I would recommend taking the bus up though. I ran up (part of the tour we
took, Army thing don't ask) and let me tell you, If I were a Legioniare
then I would have had to be paid alot more $$$ then what they got to tote my
self up that bad boy!!!!

ATR

>From: jmath669642reng@--------
>To: alexious@--------
>CC: novaroma@--------
>Subject: [novaroma] Masada
>Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2000 20:42:00 -0500 (EST)
>
>Salvete, Censor Sulla, Tristan Warmeke, and NR Citizens who may be
>interested:
>
>There is a book available which speaks to the archaelogical efforts at
>Masada. The title is:
>
> >>"Masada" (Herod's Fortress and the Zealot's Last Stand), Yigael Yadin
>(original copyright 1966), WELCOME RAIN, 1998, NY, NY<<
>
>I have reported on this book previously, here on the Main List and the
>value of the book in my view, merits a repeat mention. The book
>outlines the archaelogical finds on Masada and provides some beautiful
>diagrams, colored photographs and sketches of Masada, the surrounding
>countryside, and many of the finds therein:
>
>Murals, Coins, armour scales, pottery, cloth, burial remains, food,
>military camps of both the zealots and the romans, and detailed
>descriptions of each.
>
>My view is that this is a valuable book for the serious student of this
>magnificent fortress and the battle that was fought here. There is also
>provided a small bibliography that will lead the interested reader to
>other aspects of this site and historical struggle. I am pleased to be
>able to recomend this book, as well as this event in history for both
>historical cultural and military interest.
>
>Valete, Respectfully,
>Marcus Audens
>
>
>Fair Winds and Following Seas!!!
>
>
>http://community.webtv.net/jmath669642reng/NovaRomaMilitary
>

_____________________________________________________________________________________
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Subject:	Re: [novaroma] Nova Roma and Modernity
From:	"Les Peterson" <procopious@-------->
Date:	Wed, 13 Dec 2000 11:16:26 -0800

Lucius Mauricius Procopious Omnibus SPD

I think an important point has been raised here. IMHO a lot of this arguing
is about reconstruction, which is perhaps, a mistake. Would it be more
constructive for the discussion to center on the future rather than the
past? How will the rest of the world vew us when we become large enough to
notice?
When we obtain our tax exempt status I for one would like to see us solicit
funds from various charitable organizations. If possible I would like to be
included in this effort. Rather than this continuous cycle of attack and
defend, could the individuals involved in this debate focus on a
constructive solution to the dilema of bringing an ancient government into
the modern world in a manner that allows the current world governments and
organizations to invite us to be one of thier peers? And if you don't like
someones ideas, could you please state so briefly and then tell the rest of
us your "better" idea?
At any moment I hope to announce to this nation the birth of my daughter. I
hope we are fortunate enough to come out of this election as a unified
people, building a strong Nova Roma for her to serve.
Bene Valete

P.S. This post is by no means to be construed as debate or chastisement. I
greatly value both of you and your contributions to Nova Roma. I can only
hope some day to have as much knowledge as you gentlemen, and to be as great
an asset to Nova Roma.

----- Original Message -----
From: "M. Apollonius Formosanus" <bvm3@-------->
To: <novaroma@-------->
Sent: Wednesday, December 13, 2000 8:37 AM
Subject: [novaroma] Nova Roma and Modernity

> M. Apollonius Formosanus Candidatus Praetorius omnibus Quiritibus S.P.D.
>
> Vedius Germanicus Candidatus Consularis is, I believe, an honourable
> man, as I hope one will grant, I am. However, therre is a considerable
> gulf of disagreement between us with respect to certain things, which
> deserves exploration.
>
> Vedius is a proponent of Roman Reconstructionism, and wishes to
> reconstruct as much of ancient Roman society as possible, "warts and
> all" as he says

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Subject:	Re: [novaroma] Nova Roma and Modernity
From:	sfp55@--------
Date:	Wed, 13 Dec 2000 14:18:22 EST

In a message dated 12/13/2000 11:11:48 AM Pacific Standard Time, SFP55 writes:
<< n a message dated 12/13/2000 9:57:38 AM Pacific Standard Time,
bvm3@-------- writes:
<< The balance between the new and the old in Nova Roma is of great
importance to our future, and it is something that should be determined
with ongoing and patient dialogue among all the cives of our Respublica.
My special personal interest is primarily, as you might suspect, human
rights. I do not believe that *any* human organisation functioning in
the 21st Century should be without the most modern and up-to-date
human-rights provisions, any more than I would wish a reconstructed
trireme to be without fire extinguishers, radio and a global positioning
system to use at need, even if some might think them "inauthentic".
>>
Go Start Your Own Micronation Then. Leave us the Hades Alone!
A Tres with 21st century equipment wouldn't tell us anything about the
ancient ship. We wouldn't have pilot, who knew the seas well enough to tell
us a storm is coming. We wouldn't be navigating by the stars, we would know
exactly how fast the ship would be going, and we would know who was around us
in a 5 mile radius. We might as well be in sail boat. You just don't get it.
About your blood sacrifices, if Nova Roma does survive your attention
eventually I believe there will be. There will be people that will have to
be trained in the correct procedure to carry it out, but since this was most
pleasing to the Gods, it will have to be done. Caribbean and African tribes
still use blood sacrifice. It isn't an ancient horror.
Slavery. We could never have slavery since we are not a military force. The
only way you get people to carry out tasks for you with no pay, is to capture
them as old Rome did. I don't think any great humanitarian concept is at
work here. Oh sure the United Nations looks ahance at China, Mongolia and
the other small nations were slavery still exists, but I see no giant war to
"free" these people.
Besides Roman slavery is should be looked on as indentured servitude. A
slave could be freed through ransom, the master's kindness, and could even
buy his own freedom, (if the price wasn't so dear.) You, BVM as a slave
would be some Patrician's pedagogue.
You'd tutor his children in Latin and Greek, teach them manners, almost
baby-sit them. In return you'd be allowed the run of the city, have 3
squares a day, and have the respect of your Peers, and perhaps even other
Patricians. There are even parts of Roman law that would protect you from
abuses. The slavery that most people think about today, was not Roman
inspired, nor should it be thought to be.

Again I say. You don't like what we are doing, go find your own utopia.
Leave us alone.

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Subject:	[novaroma] WDE
From:	"Emj Emj" <emj@-------->
Date:	Wed, 13 Dec 2000 19:35:35 -0000

Become a Diplomat of WDE - WORLDWIDE UNION FOR DIPLOMATIC EXCHANGE
( Agent - Consul - Ambassador )

For Information : emj@--------

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Subject:	Re: [novaroma] Nova Roma and Modernity
From:	"Les Peterson" <procopious@-------->
Date:	Wed, 13 Dec 2000 12:17:01 -0800

Lucius Mauricius Procopious Omnibus SPD

As an interested voter I would like to know from the candidates what
concessions they think we should make for the era we live in? For example,
we let women vote now. That was not the practice in ancient times. Why make
that adjustment to fit in with current practice yet argue against certain
civil rights as unathentic? Why does either party drawn the line of
inclusion where you do? Could you please tell us your own views, I think we
all get the idea that you don't like each others ideas? These are questions
whose answers could be of great service to those of us who haven't voted
yet. I don't wish this to be construed as a challenge to anyone. I'm
relatively new here and don't feel as if I'm ready to be invited to leave.
> bvm3@-------- writes:
> << The balance between the new and the old in Nova Roma is of great
> importance to our future, and it is something that should be determined
> with ongoing and patient dialogue among all the cives of our Respublica.
> My special personal interest is primarily, as you might suspect, human
> rights. >

Again I say. You don't like what we are doing, go find your own utopia.
> Leave us alone.
>
>
>
>

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Subject:	[novaroma] Voter Codes
From:	Marcus Octavius Germanicus <haase@-------->
Date:	Wed, 13 Dec 2000 14:19:42 -0600 (CST)

Salve Omnes,

If anyone has not received your voter code, or has lost it,
please mail me immediately and I'll send you that code.
To verify your identity I'll need your full legal name
and date of birth.

M. Octavius Germanicus
Curule Aedile, Nova Roma

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Subject:	[novaroma] Re: Nova Roma and Modernity
From:	marcusaemiliusscaurus@--------
Date:	Wed, 13 Dec 2000 20:28:08 -0000

Salvete Quirites,

> Go Start Your Own Micronation Then. Leave us the Hades Alone!
> A Tres with 21st century equipment wouldn't tell us anything about
the
> ancient ship. We wouldn't have pilot, who knew the seas well
enough to tell
> us a storm is coming. We wouldn't be navigating by the stars, we
would know
> exactly how fast the ship would be going, and we would know who was
around us
> in a 5 mile radius. We might as well be in sail boat. You just
don't get it.
> About your blood sacrifices, if Nova Roma does survive your
attention
> eventually I believe there will be. There will be people that will
have to
> be trained in the correct procedure to carry it out, but since this
was most
> pleasing to the Gods, it will have to be done. Caribbean and
African tribes
> still use blood sacrifice. It isn't an ancient horror.

No, it is not. That doesn't mean it isn't a horror. If for no other
reason than this, we'd have the animal rights groups (Of which I am a
proud member) knocking on our door, and the animal rights activists,
(Of which I am not a proud member!)

> Slavery. We could never have slavery since we are not a military
force. The
> only way you get people to carry out tasks for you with no pay, is
to capture
> them as old Rome did. I don't think any great humanitarian concept
is at
> work here. Oh sure the United Nations looks ahance at China,
Mongolia and
> the other small nations were slavery still exists, but I see no
giant war to
> "free" these people.
> Besides Roman slavery is should be looked on as indentured
servitude. A
> slave could be freed through ransom, the master's kindness, and
could even
> buy his own freedom, (if the price wasn't so dear.) You, BVM as a
slave
> would be some Patrician's pedagogue.
> You'd tutor his children in Latin and Greek, teach them manners,
almost
> baby-sit them. In return you'd be allowed the run of the city,
have 3
> squares a day, and have the respect of your Peers, and perhaps even
other
> Patricians. There are even parts of Roman law that would protect
you from
> abuses. The slavery that most people think about today, was not
Roman
> inspired, nor should it be thought to be.

As you say, you won't find many volunteers there!

> Again I say. You don't like what we are doing, go find your own
utopia.
> Leave us alone.

How can this micronation be a utopia for 600 people? Each of us has
our own hopes for this micronation, so how can it be a utopia for
each and everyone of us? Sulla thinks there should be a version of
clientelage, you think blood sacrifice will come about eventually,
etc. And we re all attempting to make it more desirable for us. So
I have no problem with Formosanus' speech, nor yours, except for your
statement that he should make his own micronation.

Nova Roma means something different for each of us. Some come for
the latin. Some for the history. Some for, indeed, the
roleplaying. Some for the Religio Romana. Some for the politics, or
the military, the culture, etc. So, does it matter if Formosanus
thinks NR should be more modern? No, just as it does not matter that
you think it should take more from Roma Antiqua.

Valete,
Marcus Scribonius CUrio Britannicus.
Candidate for Rogator.

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Subject:	Re: [novaroma] Re: Nova Roma and Modernity
From:	Michel Loos <loos@-------->
Date:	Wed, 13 Dec 2000 19:09:23 -0200

marcusaemiliusscaurus@-------- wrote:
>
> Salvete Quirites,
>
> > Go Start Your Own Micronation Then. Leave us the Hades Alone!
> > A Tres with 21st century equipment wouldn't tell us anything about
> the
> > ancient ship. We wouldn't have pilot, who knew the seas well
> enough to tell
> > us a storm is coming. We wouldn't be navigating by the stars, we
> would know
> > exactly how fast the ship would be going, and we would know who was
> around us
> > in a 5 mile radius. We might as well be in sail boat. You just
> don't get it.
> > About your blood sacrifices, if Nova Roma does survive your
> attention
> > eventually I believe there will be. There will be people that will
> have to
> > be trained in the correct procedure to carry it out, but since this
> was most
> > pleasing to the Gods, it will have to be done. Caribbean and
> African tribes
> > still use blood sacrifice. It isn't an ancient horror.
>
> No, it is not. That doesn't mean it isn't a horror. If for no other
> reason than this, we'd have the animal rights groups (Of which I am a
> proud member) knocking on our door, and the animal rights activists,
> (Of which I am not a proud member!)
>

I think you totally miss the point of blood sacrifice (ancient ones).
As far as I know the greek word for butcher derives from sacrificator.
A blood sacrifice is a big barbecue whith fresh meat,
the meat is not thrown away, it is eaten by the participants.
It is overall a civic celebration which join the citizens (and feed the
poor,
with the money fo the rich which offer the sacrifice)

No need to go to Africa to see that, I think in all countries they are
still
farmers which kill a pig/sheep in order to make a feast for the larger
family//
in order to honour somebody etc. Those celebrations are direct
descendents of
old Greek/Roman/Celtic blood sacrifices.

Michel.

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Subject:	Re: [novaroma] Nova Roma and Modernity
From:	"Domna" <comptess@-------->
Date:	Thu, 14 Dec 2000 10:25:01 +1300

Salvete Nova Romani!

I read the question concerning the disparity between the ancient practice of men-only voting and the modern day practice allowing women to vote also and I would like to add a consideration that is not directly human rights related.

Women were barred from voting for thousands of years in various 'democratic' systems for interesting reasons it seems, ranging from the simple concept of preserving the gender/sex-monopoly of power in patriarchal systems, reflected in other institutions such as the family unit, military restrictions, religious restrictions, et cetera to the simplistic idea that women were mentally unable to intelligently participate in voting due to some natural disability. (This calls to mind the wonderful 'science' of such groups as the Eugenists who believing the human body to be a closed energy system and therefore if a woman was to spend too much time thinking, being educated, et cetera her reproductive system would fail and what use would she be then...)

The harsh consequence of this naivety - simply that a nation's intellectual power, wisdom, workforce and armies are effectively halved. Of course we have come a long way since then, scientifically and socially, and in allowing women to vote (of which my country was the first I am proud to say) nations have a greater propensity to thrive when a greater majority are allowed a voice in governance.

Nova Roma also inherits the advances acheived throughout history in fields of science and human rights and the simple practicality is that her power is diminished if she would adopt the practices of old.

Oh, by the way I am not a candidate, hope that is ok.

Valete
Domna Claudia Auspicata
----- Original Message -----
From: Les Peterson
To: novaroma@-------- ; sfp55@aol.com
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2000 9:17 AM
Subject: Re: [novaroma] Nova Roma and Modernity

Lucius Mauricius Procopious Omnibus SPD

As an interested voter I would like to know from the candidates what
concessions they think we should make for the era we live in? For example,
we let women vote now. That was not the practice in ancient times. Why make
that adjustment to fit in with current practice yet argue against certain
civil rights as unathentic? Why does either party drawn the line of
inclusion where you do? Could you please tell us your own views, I think we
all get the idea that you don't like each others ideas? These are questions
whose answers could be of great service to those of us who haven't voted
yet. I don't wish this to be construed as a challenge to anyone. I'm
relatively new here and don't feel as if I'm ready to be invited to leave.
> bvm3@-------- writes:
> << The balance between the new and the old in Nova Roma is of great
> importance to our future, and it is something that should be determined
> with ongoing and patient dialogue among all the cives of our Respublica.
> My special personal interest is primarily, as you might suspect, human
> rights. >

Again I say. You don't like what we are doing, go find your own utopia.
> Leave us alone.
>
>
>
>

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Subject:	Re: [novaroma] Nova Roma and Modernity
From:	"Aurelius Tiberius" <kminer_rsg@-------->
Date:	Wed, 13 Dec 2000 16:52:33 -0500

I would like to take a second and address this point. Our name should say it all NOVA ROMA (NEW ROME). I came here with the belief that our new August Fathers point was to establish a place where those of us who found the virtues both public and private of old Rome to be a guiding presence in our lives could come together and work towards creating a "nation" of like minded people. As well as a place to exchange and debate the topics of Old Rome and how she functioned by creating a likeness of her, not an exact copy of her.

If I am wrong I don't belong here. none of us do, to be ignorant to the accomplishments and education of history with it's regards to humanity is a travisty to mankind, under any name. I have been to the dark parts of this planet. the places where slavery and human abuse are still common place, I tell you all this is not a place to be or even to think of going. not to mention it is against the law in many of the countries we are "Exiled" in across the globe. (even if the person who's rights are being violated consents to it)

Granted our ancient August Fathers did what they could to bring peace to the world, this meant the bringing the sword in most cases but.. that is another matter one for which you need an army, which we don't have.

If it is the intention of this micronation to lay aside the basic rights time, humanity, and common sense has given us then we all need to look at ourselves with our rose colored glasses off. and to address our senior consul his answer is not what I would have expected from someone in his position. I have a 2 year old that does the if you don't like my sandbox then take your toys and find somewhere else to play routine. I don't expect that from someone who runs a nation, no matter how small the nation is.

as i have always said, I AM a soldier of Rome both old and new, the old being my escape from reality, the new being a true soldier. I don't like Tyrants, Dictators, or any others whom think themselves not a servent of the people. You are here to serve the Republic, not the other way around. So to all of us, the collective WE...

Those that don't learn from history are destined to repeat it... Don't let this be the case...

Most Respectfully...

ATR <hr>Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : <a href="http://explorer.msn.com">http://explorer.msn.com</a> 

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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Subject:	[novaroma] Re: Nova Roma and Modernity
From:	razenna@--------
Date:	Wed, 13 Dec 2000 22:31:20 -0000

Well said, Aurelius Tiberius. Of course not perfectly said, but
better than I expect my word-smithing to produce. NOVA ROMA (New
Roma) should be, and I always (ALWAYS) believed it was intended to be,
a reconstruction of Roma for the Present and the Future incorporating
the good of Roma Antiqua with appropriate parts of the contemporary
world [not just computers], and not some type of back to whatever. I
am also disheartened by the "Love it or Leave it" line that we have
been hearing from a number of high placed, and prestigious, citizens
and magistrates. I am happy that our little country is not into
banishing people for not toeing some party line. We have always been
open for discussion. Right?

Valete.
C. Aelius Ericius.
Senator. Augur. Pontifex.
Paterfamilias gens Aelia.
Propraetor of California and Nevada (ret.)

--- In novaroma@--------, "Aurelius Tiberius" <kminer_rsg@h...>
wrote:
> I would like to take a second and address this point. Our name
should say it all NOVA ROMA (NEW ROME). I came here with the belief
that our new August Fathers point was to establish a place where those
of us who found the virtues both public and private of old Rome to be
a guiding presence in our lives could come together and work towards
creating a "nation" of like minded people. As well as a place to
exchange and debate the topics of Old Rome and how she functioned by
creating a likeness of her, not an exact copy of her.
>
> If I am wrong I don't belong here. none of us do, to be ignorant to
the accomplishments and education of history with it's regards to
humanity is a travisty to mankind, under any name. I have been to the
dark parts of this planet. the places where slavery and human abuse
are still common place, I tell you all this is not a place to be or
even to think of going. not to mention it is against the law in many
of the countries we are "Exiled" in across the globe. (even if the
person who's rights are being violated consents to it)
>
> Granted our ancient August Fathers did what they could to bring
peace to the world, this meant the bringing the sword in most cases
but.. that is another matter one for which you need an army, which we
don't have.
>
> If it is the intention of this micronation to lay aside the basic
rights time, humanity, and common sense has given us then we all need
to look at ourselves with our rose colored glasses off. and to
address our senior consul his answer is not what I would have expected
from someone in his position. I have a 2 year old that does the if
you don't like my sandbox then take your toys and find somewhere else
to play routine. I don't expect that from someone who runs a nation,
no matter how small the nation is.
>
> as i have always said, I AM a soldier of Rome both old and new, the
old being my escape from reality, the new being a true soldier. I
don't like Tyrants, Dictators, or any others whom think themselves not
a servent of the people. You are here to serve the Republic, not the
other way around. So to all of us, the collective WE...
>
> Those that don't learn from history are destined to repeat it...
Don't let this be the case...
>
> Most Respectfully...
>
> ATR <hr>Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer
download : <a
href="http://explorer.msn.com">http://explorer.msn.com</a> 
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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