Prayers to Jupiter
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L. Accius Aenead sive Decius fr. 4
Invincible Holiness, with venerating prayers I ask that You send good portents to signify a change for the better for the people of our nation.
Cato Origines I fr. 12
The Latins vowed: Jupiter, if it is greatly pleasing to You, that we, rather than Mezentium, should give offerings to You, accordingly may You make us victorious.
Cato De Agricultura 132
Jupiter Dapalis, it is a tradition in my family that a cup of wine be offered to You in thanksgiving for the sacred feast. For this reason may You accept this feast offering. Jupiter Dapalis, may You be strengthened by this feast, may You be warmed by this small portion of our wine that I offer.
Cato De Agricultura 134
Jupiter, in offering You this fertum bread I pray good prayers in order that, pleased with this offering of fertum, You may be favorable to me and my children, to my house and our household. Jupiter, be strengthened by this fertum, be warmed by this small portion of our wine.
Catullus 64.171
Jupiter Almighty, if only in an earlier time Attic prows had never touched Cretan shores.
Catullus 66.30
How often Jupiter have You dabbed Your sorrowful eyes (at the death of a lover)?
Catullus 66.48
O Jupiter, may the whole race of Chalybes, the first to mine ore underground, the first to work raw metal into bars (and weapons), may they all be cursed.
Cicero De Domo sua ad Pontifices 144
O Jupiter Capitolinus, to You I pray, I entreat You, who the Roman people have named Optimus after Your kindness and Maximus after Your great power.
Cicero In Verrem Act. II Lib. V 184 sqq.
Now I pray to You, Jupiter Optimus Maximus, for You Syracusa raised this royal gift, worthy of Your most beautiful temple, worthy of the Capitolium and the Arx, that all nations deem a worthy service. Hands then raised to You in vows and promises turned to heinous wickedness to wrench the most holy images and most beautiful statues that Syracusa had erected in Your honour.
Corpus Inscriptiones Latinae III 1933 Public dedication, Salona, Dalmatia
Jupiter Optimus Maximus when today I will give and dedicate this altar to you, according to the laws, and within this region, whose laws and boundaries I will give and dedicate this very day, for as long as this palus stone shall remain beneath this altar. If anyone should sacrifice a victim and not have first thoroughly stretched out and examined the entrails, all the same may it be regarded as properly offered. Let the law of this altar be the same as those proclaimed for the altar of Diana on the Aventine Hill, what is said in those laws shall apply in this region as well. Thus for the reasons I have spoken, I give, I order, and I dedicate this altar to you, Jupiter Optimus Maximus, in order that you may be willing to be favorable and propitious to me, to my colleagues, to the colony's council of ten magistrates, to the people of the colony Martia Julia Salonia and to our wives and children.
Corpus Inscriptiones Latinae VI 2065 Fratres Arvales
O Jupiter Optimus Maximus, if You allow the emperor …and [the Fratres Arvales] for whom I speak, to live uninjured and keep their homes safe, then come next 3 Jan., voted by the people of Rome, the Quirites, for the benefit of the Republic of the Roman people, the Quirites, [a sacrifice will be offered.] Should You preserve today's emperor and the people in good health from danger, if they remain as they are today as far as possible, and the results are beneficial as I have spoken, and, too, if You will grant to the emperor and this state as they are now or You will preserve them in a better state, thereby making it so, then in the name of the College of the Fratres Arvales I vow to You to sacrifice two bulls with gilded horns in the future.
Jupiter Optimus Maximus, for the same reasons given earlier today when (2) bulls with gilded horns were vowed to You in the future, what this day was vowed with these very words, and if You will make it so, then I vow to You an [additional] gift worth 25 pounds of gold and 4 pounds of silver to be drawn from the wealth of the Fratres Arvales in whose name I speak
Corpus Inscriptiones Latinae VI 30975
By Mercury, Jupiter, the God Eternal, Juno Regina, Minerva, Sol, Luna, Apollo, Diana, Bona Fortuna, Ops, Isis, Pietas, and the divine Fates, may it be good, fortunate and happy.
Corpus Inscriptiones Latinae VI 32 323. Acta Sacrorum Saecularium
105-7; and 93-99
Jupiter Optimus Maximus, as it is prescribed for you in the Sibylline Oracles –and for this [reason] may good fortune attend the Roman people, the Quirites – let sacrifice be made to you with this fine bull. I beg you and pray. I beg you and pray that you may increase [the power and majesty of the Roman people], the Quirites, in war and peace; [and that the Latins may always be obedient; and that you may grant eternal safety], victory and health [to the Roman people, the Quirites; and that you may protect the Roman people, the Quirites, and the legions of the Roman people], the Quirites; [and that you may keep safe and make greater] the state of the Roman people, [the Quirites, and that you may be] favorable and propitious [to the Roman people], the Quirites, to the collegium of the quindecimviri, [to me, to my house, to my household; and that] you may accept [this] sacrifice of [bull], to be burnt whole for you in sacrifice. For these reasons be honoured with the sacrifice of this [bull], become favourable and propitious to the Roman people, the Quirites, to the collegium of the quindecimviri, to myself, to my house, to my household.
Corpus Inscriptiones Latinae XIV 03557 Tibur, Latium
IOVI CUSTODI SACRUM M AEMILIUS FLACCUS Q(AESTOR)
Fratres Arvales
Jupiter Optimus Maximus, to You we pray, we plead, we entreat in order that the emperor Caesar Hadrian, son of Nerva Trajan Augustus Germanicus, our prince and patron (of our college), the Pontifex Maximus, having the powers of the Tribune of the People, Father of the Fatherland, we feel to say he will be well and prosperous as he travels from this place and province, over whatever lands or seas, returning safely and victorious in whatever matters he now undertakes. Grant him good results, and to this state, as it is now, or as it may improve in the future, keep him safe, and allow him to return to us safely and victorious. Also, may You first stop in the city of Rome. And if You make it to be so, then we vow to You, in the name of the College of the Fratres Arvales, in the future (to sacrifice) oxen with gilded horns
Horace Satires II.3.283-4
Spare me alone, (Jove); it is but a little thing to ask. Spare me only from death. Truly, for the Gods it is something easily done.
Horace Satires II 3.288-92
For a child lying sick in bed for five long months, a mother calls out, O Jupiter, who gives and takes away great anguish, if the quartan ague leaves my child, then on the day You indicate to hold a fast, nude he shall stand in the Tiber River.
Horace Satires II.6.22-23
It is enough to pray, Jupiter, who gives and takes away; may You grant me life; may You grant me the means, and I shall provide a balanced mind myself.
Horace Epistles I 18.107-12
May I have what I have now, and also a little more, that, the Gods willing, I may yet live what remains of a lifetime. May I have enough books and provisions to last the year, and not wallow in doubts with hopes wavering each hour.
Horace Carmina 1.12.49-52
Jupiter, father and guardian of mankind, descended from Saturnus, to You is given the care of mighty Caesar's fate; may Your will reign supreme while Caesar rules.
Juvenal X 185
Grant me a great length of life, O Jupiter, give to me many years.
Livy 1.10.6
Jupiter Feretrius, I, Romulus, myself a king and victor, bring to You these arms taken from a king, and in this precinct, whose boundaries I have imagined in my mind and will with purpose trace, I dedicate a shrine to receive the spolia opima which posterity will place here in your honor, following my example, taken from the kings and generals of our foes slain in battle.'
Livy 1.12.4-7
O Jupiter, it was through Your omen that I was led while I laid here upon the Palatine Hill, to establish the very first foundations of the city of Rome. Already the Arx, that fortress wickedly bought, is seized by the Sabines, from whence they, with sword in hand, now advance across the valley against us. But if You, Father of the Gods and of men, hold back our enemies, at least from this spot, delivering the Romans from their terror, and stay their shameful retreat, then this I vow to You, Jupiter Stator, that a holy precinct and shrine will be built in Your honor as a memorial to remind our descendents of how once the city of Rome was saved by Your aid.
Livy 1.18.9)
Father Jupiter, if it is heaven's will that this Numa Pompilius, on whose head I place my hand, should become king of Rome, then may You signify Your will to us with certain signs within the boundaries that I have designated.
Livy 1.24.7-9
Hear, 0 Jupiter; hear me, too, Pater Patratus of the people of Alba! Hear me also, people of Alba! As these provisions have been written in good faith and publicly read from beginning to end from these tablets, and inasmuch as they have today been most clearly understood, so the People of Rome will not be the first to withdraw from these treaty provisions. If, in their public council, they were to do so, with false and malicious intent break this treaty, then, Dispater, on that day, may You bring ruin on the People of Rome, even as today I shall strike this swine, and strike them so much more the greater, as Your power and might is greater.
Livy 1.32.9
Hear, 0 Jupiter, and You Janus Quirinus, and all You heavenly Gods, and You gods of earth and of the lower world, hear me! I call You to witness that this people'-- mentioning it by name-- `is unjust and does not fulfill its sacred obligations. But about these matters we must consult the elders in our own land in what way we may obtain our rights.
Livy 6.16.1
Jupiter Optimus Maximus, Juno Regina, Minerva, and all you other gods and goddesses who dwell upon the Capitolium and the Arx, is this how you allow your defender, the protector of your shrines, to be treated, to be vexed and harassed by his enemies in this manner? Shall this right arm which drove the Gauls headlong from your shrines now be bound and chained?
Livy 8.5
Listen, O Jupiter, to this wickedness. Listen, too, Justice and Lawfulness!
Livy 8.6.5
There is a heavenly power and You do exist, O great Jupiter; not in vain did we consecrate this seat to You, Father of Gods and Mankind.
Livy 8.9.6-8
Janus, Jupiter, Father Mars, Quirinus, Bellona, Lares, You divine Novensiles and You divine Indigetes, deities whose power extends over us and over our foes, and to You, too, Divine Manes, I pray, I do You reverence, I crave Your grace and favour will bless the Roman People, the Quirites, with power and victory, and will visit fear, dread and death on the enemies of the Roman People, the Quirites. In like manner as I have uttered this prayer so do I now on behalf of the commonwealth of the Quirites, on behalf of the army, the legions, the auxiliaries of the Roman People, the Quirites, devote the legions and auxiliaries of the enemy, together with myself to Tellus and the Divine Manes.
Livy 22.53.10-12
I swear with a deep conviction of mind that I shall never allow myself to desert the Republic of the people of Rome. If I should willfully break my oath, may Jupiter Optimus Maximus inflict upon me the worst, most shameful ruin, and on my house, my family, and all I possess.
Martial Epigrammata VII 60
Jupiter, sacred ruler on Tarpeian Heights, who we call Thunderer, let other men petition You and request Your divine favor, while Caesar is safe. But be not wroth with me if nothing I desire, and nothing for my own bounty I ask, and all my prayers to the heavens are made for Caesar's good health, for all I truly need, from Caesar it is freely given.
Ovid Fasti III 365-6
The time has come, Jupiter, to fulfill Your promise made in good faith.
Ovid Fasti IV 827-32
Then king Romulus said, As I found this city, be present, Jupiter, Father Mars, and Mother Vesta, and all gods who it is pious to summon, join together to attend. Grant that my work may rise with Your auspices. Grant that it may for many years hold dominion on earth, and assert its power over the east and west.
Ovid Fasti 4.893
To the Tyrrhenian king is vowed the enemy's vintage; You, Jupiter, will carry the unwatered wine from the cultivated vines of Latium.
Ovid Fasti 5.716-18
Then Pollux said, "Gather in my words, Father, and grant that the heavenly abode You reserved for me alone may be shared, for then half of the whole shall be a greater gift.
Ovid Heroides XIII 49-50
O Gods, I pray, spare us from sinister omens, and grant that my good husband shall return home from the wars to hang his arms before Jupiter Redux
Ovid Metamorphoses VII.615-21
Jupiter, if what they say is not false, if You did indeed embrace my mother Aegina, if then, great Father, You are not ashamed to acknowledge me as Your son, either restore to me what is mine or else build me a sepulcher as well." Then Jupiter sent lightning and thunder as a sign that He had heard. "I accept this to be Your sign and I pray that it is a good omen of Your approval.
Persius Satura III 35-38
O Mighty Father of the Gods, may it be your will to punish those cruel tyrants who are moved by an impetuous character steeped in dread desires, that they may look upon Virtue and melt away because they have abandoned Her.
Persius Satura X. 185
Grant me long life, O Jupiter, give me many years.
Petronius Satyricon 98
In You, dearest Father, in Your hands do we place our safekeeping.
Petronius Satyricon 122.156-8
Jupiter Almighty and Tellus, daughter of Saturnus, I, who willingly have borne arms in Your defense and who in the past has honored You with my triumphs, I swear, that it is by Your will that I am now invited to raise my hand in anger, and not by my will that Mars the God of War now inspires this army with His avenging fury.
Petronius Satyricon 126
What has happened, Jove, to make You throw down Your arms, to become an old story in heaven, to disdain these terrestrial charms? Here now was a worthy occasion to beetle your brows and put on the horns of a bull, or else to don the feathers and beak of a swan. Here is a real Danae, she would kindle Your lust even higher. One touch, one mere touch of her body would melt Your limbs in the fires of desire.
Plautus Menaechmi 617
By Jove and all the gods I swear.
Per Iovem deosque omnis adiuro.
Plautus Cistellaria 520
It is true, by Jupiter, by Juno and by Janus.
Enim vero me Iuppiter, itaque me Iuno, itaque Ianus ita.
Plautus Trinummus 447
It is so, may Jupiter love me.
Ita, me amabit Iuppiter.
Plautus Pseudolus 13
May Jupiter prevent it [from happening] to you!
Id te Iuppiter prohibessit!
Plautus Aulularia 776
May Great Jupiter do with me as he wills.
Tum me faciat quod volt magnus Iuppiter!
Plautus Poenulus 1187-89
O Iuppiter, who does cherish and nurture the human race, through whom we live and draw the breath of being, in whom rest the hopes and lives of all humankind, I pray You grant that this day may prosper that which I have in hand.
Plautus Captivi 922; 976-7)
To Jove and the Gods I deservedly give great thanks…Jove Supreme, look down and keep me and my son, I do beseech you by your good genius. Come out! I want you.
Plautus Amphitryon 933-4
If in that I should fail, then, mighty Jupiter, I pray that you will forever let your anger fall on (me).
Plautus Persa 251-6
O Jove, opulent, glorious son of Ops, deity supreme, powerful and mighty, bestower of wealth, good hopes and bounty, gladly I give you thanks and duly offer praise also that all the gods kindly bestow this generous benefit by enabling me to help my friend in his need with an opulent loan.
Plautus Captivi 768-775
Great Jupiter supreme, you who are my patron god, it is you who makes me rich and givest to me wealth in sumptuous abundance, honor and gains, and games and play and festivals, and trains of servants bringing meat and drink, fullness and joy! It is certain now that I do not need to beg of any man. Nay, for now I can do a good turn for a friend, or ruin a foe. The pleasure of my days is brought to such sweet delight, with an ample heritage to pass on with all attachments worn away .
Plautus Persa 753-6
Now our foes are beaten and our citizens safe, our state at peace, peace assured, and the war brought to a triumphant conclusion, with our army and garrisons intact, I thank you, Iuppiter, for your kindly aid, and all the other divine powers of heaven, that I am avenged on my enemy.
Plautus Amphitruo 1022)
May Jupiter and the gods be angry with you, so that you live in eternal misery.
Plautus Captivi 909-910
May Jupiter and the Gods destroy you, and your stomach, and all the parasites that dwell in it, and all those who shall encourage them henceforth
Plautus Curculio 26-7
No, of course not, may Jupiter forbid it.
Nemini, nec me ille sirit Jupiter.
Plautus Pseudolus 13
May Jupiter prevent it (from happening to you).
Id te Juppiter prohibessit.
Propertius 2.28a. 1-2
O Jupiter, may You finally show compassion for this ill-stricken girl, the death of one so beautiful would cause Your reproach.
Propertius 4.10.15
Jupiter, today let these offerings fall in sacrifice to You.
Propertius 4.11.18
Grant, Father, what I have asked for my gentle shade.
Seneca Hercules Furens 205
Almighty Ruler from Olympus on high, Judge of All the World, set now a limit to my cares that have been for too long, and put an end to my disasters.
Seneca Hercules Furens 299
Ruler of the Gods, a hundred white bulls shall bleed for you. For you, Goddess of the Fruits of the Earth, your secret rites I will fund; in your shrine at Eleusius shall burn the sacred flame in celebration of your mysteries.
Seneca Hercules Furens 516
God of Gods, Ruler of the Heavens, who make men tremble in fear at your hurling lightning bolts, look now upon the hand of this dread king.
Servius Honoratus Ad Aeneis 3.89
Grant, Father, an augury.
Silius Italicus Punica 3.565-7
Give us an abode, Father, where at last the ashes and sacred relics of fallen Troy may rest, and where the rites of the royal Lares and the mysteries of Vesta may be safely kept.
Silius Italicus Punica 4.126-127
I recognize You, Mightiest of the Gods; Be present now, Father, and confirm the omen of Your eagle.
Silius Italicus Punica 6.466-72
Then (Regulus) lifted hand and eye together to the heavens, "O Giver of Justice and Rectitude, You who steers the course of the lingering stars of destiny, and Fides, no less divine to me, and Juno of Tyre, You Gods I invoked to witness my oath that I would return. If now I am permitted to speak words that will befit me, and by my voice protect the hearths of Rome, willingly I will go to Carthage, keeping my promise to return and endure whatever punishment is prescribed.
Silius Italicus Punica 10.432-8
O Father Jupiter who inhabits the Tarpeian Heights as His chosen abode next to the heavens, and You Juno, Daughter of Saturnus, who has not yet changed from Her hatred of the Trojans, and You, divine Virgin, whose gentle breast is harshly girt with the aegis of the terrible Gorgon, and all You Gods and Indigites of Italy, hear me as I swear by Your divine powers, and by the head of my father, who I hold no less to be a divine power, on my oath I swear.
Silius Italicus Punica 12.643-5
Grant, Mightiest of the Gods, that by Your hand, Father, the Libyan shall fall in battle to a thunderbolt, since by no other hand than Yours is there power to slay him.
Silius Italicus Punica 14.440-1
Bring forth, Father, Jupiter Ammon, bring your aid, Prophet of Garamantes, and grant a certain flight for my missile that it may impale an Italian .
Silius Italicus Punica 15.362-3
Grant, O Most Highest of the Gods, that I may preside over offering to You the choicest spoils, taken from the Libyan general (Hannibal), and borne on these my son's shoulders.
Statius Silvae I.1.74-78
Hail, Child of the Mighty, Father of the Gods, whose divine power I have heard from afar. In one moment my pool is blessed with happiness, at another it is venerated, made holy by Your presence, ever since I was granted to know that You are never far from me, and was enabled to watch Your immortal radiance from a vicinity near my abode.
Statius Thebaeid III.471-96).
Jupiter, God Almighty, You are, as we are so taught, He who imparts counsel to swift wings, and You who fills birds with foreknowledge of the future, and brings to light the omens and causes that lurk within the heavens, - not Cirrha can more surely vouchsafe the inspiration of her grotto, nor those Chaonian leaves that are famed to rustle at your bidding, Jupiter Dodona, in Molossian groves, though arid Hammon envy, and the Lycian oracle of Apollo contend in rivalry, and the Apis bull of the Nile, and Branhus, whose honor in Miletus is equal to his father Apollo's, and Pan, whom the rustic neighbors hear nightly along the wave beaten shores of Pisa, beneath Lycainian shades. More enriched in mind is he, for whom You, O Dictaean Jupiter, announce Your will in the favoring flights of birds. Wondrous the reason, but once, long ago, this honour was given to the birds, whether from His heavenly hall the Creator Himself granted it, sowing into fertile fabric of Chaos the hidden Nature of new things; or whether birds first took flight on the winds after evolving from forms that were originally like our own; or because their flight to learn the truth takes them nearer to the purer poles of the sky, from where wickedness is banished, and rarely do they alight on the earth; all this, Highest Father of the Gods and of the earth, is already known by You. May You allow that, guided by the skies, we shall have foreknowledge of the assembly of Argive forces and their initial movements in the fight ahead. If the Fates have resolved for the Lernaean spear to pierce the Echionian gates, then grant us signs and thunder on the left. Then let every bird in the heavens resound with his or her arcane language in confirmation. If, though, You prohibit this, then weave delays and on the right disguise the day's abyss with winged creatures.
Statius Thebaeid VI.197-201).
Faithless Jupiter, once I vowed these golden locks to You, accepting before I spoke that I would be bound by our pact, if at the same time You would grant me to offer my youthful son's manhood at Your temple. But far from that, Your priest would not confirm Your agreement to our pact, and instead my prayers condemned him. Then may his shade, who is worthier than You, receive them.
Tacitus Annales 16.35
We pour out a libation to Jupiter the Liberator. Observe, discover, and may the Gods avert the omen from you, my son, but you are born into a time when it is expedient to fortify your spirit with examples of courage and firmness of mind in the face of adversity.
Tacitus Histories IV 58
I implore and entreat you, Jupiter Optimus Maximus, to whom for eight hundred and twenty years we have paid the highest honors in so many triumphs, and I pray and venerate You Quirinus, Father of the City of Rome, if You would not be pleased to see this camp remain pure, preserved and inviolate under my command, may You at least not allow it to be polluted and defiled by a Tutor and a Calssicus. Grant that the soldiers of Rome may either be innocent of a crime, or at least may they be granted a speedy repentance without punishment.
Tiberianus IV
God Almighty, potent in all things, to Whom the aged Pole Star looks upon with admiring wonder, revering Your agelessness, the One who is always known by a thousand virtues, no one shall ever be able to account their countless number or timelessness. Now be addressed, if by any name Your dignity may be addressed, Holy One, be delighted, Unknown One, for Whom mightiest Earth trembles and the wandering stars halt their rapid course. You alone, though within Yourself are You many, You are first, and You are last, and likewise are You in between, arising above and outliving the very stars. For without end Yourself, You bring ever-gliding time to an end. On high from eternity You look upon the whirling course of Nature's certain Fate and of lives taken into the intricate convolutions of time immemorial only to be brought back once more and restored to their heavenly vault, the world no doubt restored of those parts drawn off and will have been lost, only once more for them to ebb back into the flow of unending time. If indeed it is allowed to thoughtlessly direct one's senses toward You and attempt to grasp Your holy splendor, whereby You surround the immense vastness of the stars and embrace the far- flung aether with Your likeness, perhaps Your image appears in the momentary flash of lightning with limbs of flowing flames, in that You are the Radiance, who enlightens all the world beneath You and presses onward the sunlight into our days. In You are the entire race of Gods. You are the invigorating cause of all things. You are all of Nature, the One God innumerable. You are the generating power in the totality of all sexual procreation. (You manifest in many way), born once here as a God, born once here as a world, this home of Gods and mankind, Lucent, majestic source of the starry field in youthful bloom. Instill me with Your favoring breath, I pray, grant to one willing to know, the manner in which You father the world. Grant, Father, that I may come to know the august causes by which You once wove all things together to form the physical world of matter, and what texture of light, congruent and dissimilar, You once wove into it, by which You animated the world with soul, and what it is that is lively, by which the quick body lives.
Tibullus 1.351-2
Spare me, Father Jove, I need not tremble for promises broken, no vows to the gods with impious words have I spoken.
Valerius Flaccus Argonautica 4.474-6)
I pray first to You, thunderous Jupiter Tonans, that now finally You may spare me in my old age and lift the manner in which Your anger has been set upon me.
Valerius Soranus FPL fr.4; August. Civ. Dei 7.9
Almighty Jupiter, who both engendered and fathered kings, things, and gods, God of Gods, who are both One and All
Almighty Jove, progenitor of kings, things, and Gods, And Mother of the Gods
Velleius Paterculus II 131
Jupiter Capitolinus, Mars Gradivus called progenitor and aide of the Romans, Vesta, perpetual guardian of fire, and whatever divine powers in this greatness of Roman sovereignty, the largest empire on earth, exulted to the highest dignity, to You the public voice calls to witness and to pray: guard, preserve, and protect this state, this peace, this prince, and those who succeed to the Senate, by their long standing, determined worthy to consider the most grave matters among mortals.
Virgil Aeneid I.731-5
Jupiter, giver of the laws of hospitality, as it is said, may you wish this day to be pleasing and prosperous for Tyrians and Trojans alike, and that our children's children shall remember this day. Let Bacchus, giver of gladness, and good Juno, and you as well, O Tyrians, join with us in friendship at our celebration.
Virgil Aeneid II.689-91)
Jupiter Almighty, if any prayers bend You, look upon us. This only, and, if our piety deserves, then grant us Your assistance, Father, and confirm all these portents .
Virgil Aeneid IV.206-10)
Jupiter Almighty, to whom now the tattooed people of Maurusia, feasting on couches, pour libations of wine, a gift of Laenean Bacchus, offered in Your honour. Do you look upon this, Father? Or is it without any reason that we join in empty prayers and tremble in fear when You hurl lightning bolts and light the clouds in blinding fires?
Virgil Aeneid V.687-93
Jupiter Almighty, if You do not yet detest every Trojan to a man, if You still regard our pious acts of old, Father, grant that the flames will now avoid our fleet, and may You pull the diminished people of Troy away from destruction. Or else, if I so deserve, then send forth Your thunderbolt from above and cast those who remain into death, and by Your power rightly bury them.
Virgil Aeneid IX.495).
O Great Father of the Gods, have pity and with your lightning bolt strike down this detested head to Tartarus, for there is no other way to break off the bonds of this cruel life.
Virgil Aeneid IX.625-9
Jupiter Almighty, give your approval to my audacious venture, and each year I shall carry solemn gifts with my own hand to your temple, and I shall place before your altar a snow white bullock with gilded horns of gold, carrying his head held high like his proud mother, seeking to strike with his horns, as his hooves churn the sand along the seashore.
Virgil Aeneid XII.197-211
By these same deities I, Aeneas, swear, by the Earth and the Sea, by the stars and Latona's twin children, and dual-faced Janus, and the powers of the gods below, and the harsh shrines of Father Dis. May the Great Father hear my vow, he that sanctions alliances with his thunderbolt. I touch the altars, and by the fires and by the divine powers who I have called to witness, I so swear, that never shall I breach this alliance or the peace of Italy, no matter what or how things happen, nothing shall divert my will (to keep my vow), not even if waves would cover the earth, plunging all into deluge, and the Heavens fell into deepest Tartarus. (By this vow I swear to be bound), even as this scepter, (the scepter that he now held up in his right hand), shall never bud new foliage, or branch out to lend shade, once it was cut deep in the forest, seized from its mother tree, its leaves and branches now encased in steel; once a tree, now an artifact turned by hand, decorated with bronze, and given to the Latin fathers to bear.
