Two names of white colour of a victim in Roman sacrificial rituals : the case of cretatus and calidus

Roč.28,č.2(2023)

Abstrakt
The aim of this paper is to present a new perspective on the religious function of the Latin adjectives cretatus (whitened with chalk) and calidus (having a white spot on the forehead). The researchers of Roman religion have attributed to the former a specific role. Whitening chalk was used to cover any imperfections in the appearance of the sacrificial animal. According to them, cretatus could also have a pejorative meaning. The author of the article, however, disagrees with this view and suggests to examine more closely the context in which the adjective was used and references to the white colour of the victims. He argues for a different, positive interpretation, namely that the adjective cretatus was used to indicate the effect of a ceremonial act intended to emphasise Roman piety. In the case of the other adjective, calidus, the examination of the context in which the word appeared proves that it most likely did not serve as a technical religious term and animals with a white spot on their foreheads were not considered pars pro toto as white victims in Rome.

Klíčová slova:
Roman religion; Roman sacrifice; sacrificial animal; sacrificial ritual; Juvenal; Horace

Stránky:
139–150
Reference

Balty, J. Ch. et al. (Eds.). (2004). Thesaurus Cultus et Rituum Antiquorum (The J. Paul Getty Museum; Vol. 1). Los Angeles: Getty Publications.

Beard, M. & North, J., & Price, S. (2009). Religion of Rome. A History (10th ed.; Vol. 1). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Beard, M. & North, J. & Price, S. (2020). Religions of Rome. A Sourcebook (21st ed.; Vol. 2). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Benucci, F. (1999). Victimarum probatio e origine dell'uso monetario nell'Italia antica. La parola del passato, 306, 161−185.

Capdeville, G. (1971). Substitution de victimes dans les sacrifices d'animaux à Rome. Mélanges de l'École française de Rome. Antiquité, 83(2), 283−323.

Courtney, E. (2013). A Commentary on the Satires of Juvenal (reprint). Berkeley: California Classical Studies.

De Vaan, M. (2008). Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages. Leiden – Boston: Brill.

Driediger-Murphy, L. G. (2014). M. Valerius Messala to Teos (Syll. 601) and the Theology of Rome's War with Antiochus III. Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 189, 115−120.

Ernout, A., & Meillet, A. (Eds.). (2001). Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latin. Histoire des mots (reprint 4th ed.). Paris: Klincksieck.

Fraenkel, E. (1957). Horace. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Goette, H. R. (1986). Kuh und Stier als Opfertier. Zur probatio Victimae. Bullettino della Commissione Archeologica Comunale di Roma, 91(1), 61−68.

Harvey, R. A. (1972). A Commentary on Persius' Fifth Satire. PhD Thesis, University of London.

Krause, C. (1894). De Romanorum hostiis quaestiones selectae. Marpurgi Cattorum: (n.p.).

Krause, C. (1931). Hostia. In G. Wissowa (Ed.)., Paulys Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft (Suppl. 5; col. 236−282). Stuttgart: J. B. Metzlersche.

Latte, K. (1960). Römische Religionsgeschichte. München: C. H. Beck.

Lindsay, W. M. (1894). The Latin Language. An Historical Account of Latin Sounds, Stems, and Flections. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Lübbert, E. (1859). Commentationes pontificales. Berolini: G. Schade.

Mantzilas, D. (2016). Sacrificial Animals in Roman Religion: Rules and Exceptions. In P. A. Johnston, A. Mastrocinque, & S. Papaioannou (Eds.), Animals in Greek and Roman Religion and Myth (pp. 19−38). Newcastle Upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars.

Mayor, J. E. B. (1881). Thirteen Satires of Juvenal (3rd ed.; Vol. 2). London – Cambridge: MacMillan.

Murgatroyd, P. (2017). Juvenal's Tenth Satire. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.

Ogilvie, R. M. (1970). Commentary on Livy. Books 1−5. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Palmer, L. R. (1988). The Latin Language. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

Poultney, J. W. (1959). The Bronze Tables of Iguvium. Baltimore: American Philological Association.

Prescendi, F. (2007). Décrire et comprendre le sacrifice. Les réflexions des Romains sur leur propre religion à partir de la littérature antiquaire. Stuttgart: Steiner.

Rosenzweig, I. (1937). Ritual and Cults in pre-Roman Iguvium. London: Christophers.

Rothe, U. (2020). The Toga and Roman Identity. London: Bloomsbury.

Scheid, J. (Ed.). (1998). Commentarii fratrum arvalium qui supersunt. Roma: École Française de Rome.

Scheid, J. (2003). An Introduction to the Roman Religion (transl. J. Lloyd). Bloomington: Indiana University Press (original work published 1998).

Scheid, J. (2011). Quando fare é credere. I riti sacrificali dei Romani (transl. B. Gregori). Bari: Laterza (original work published 2005).

Scheid, J., & Veyne, P. (2009). PROPRIUS (VIRGILE, ECL. VII, 31; AEN. VII, 331). Revue de philologie, de littérature et d'histoire anciennes, 83, 99−101.

Schmitz, Ch. (2000). Das Satirische in Juvenals Satiren. Berlin – New York: de Gruyter.

Siebert, A. V. (1999). Instrumenta Sacra. Untersuchungen zu römischen Opfer-, Kult- und Priestergeräten. Berlin – New York: de Gruyter.

Thesaurus linguae Latinae open access. Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften [online available at <a href=https://thesaurus.badw.de/en/tll-digital/tll-open-access.html target=_blank>https://thesaurus.badw.de/en/tll-digital/tll-open-access.html</a> ; accessed 26. 10. 2023].

Untermann, J. (2000). Wörterbuch des Oskisch-Umbrischen. Heidelberg: Winter.

Wissowa, G. (1912). Religion und Kultus der Römer (2nd ed.). München: Beck.

Metriky

0

Crossref logo

0


8

Views

0

PDF (English) views