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Rome: Magical
practice was rife amongst the Romans. Magic was
the motive power of their worship which was
simply an organized system of magical rites for
communal ends. It was the basis of their mode of
thought and outlook upon the world, it entered
into every moment and action of their daily
life, it affected their laws and customs. This
ingrained tendency instead of diminishing,
developed to an enormous extent, into a great
system of superstition, and in the later years
led to a frenzy for strange gods, borrowed from
all countries. In times of misfortune and
disaster the Romans were always ready to borrow
a god if so be his favours promised more than
thos,e of their own deities. Though there was a
strong conservative element in the native
character, though the " custom of the elders "
was strongly upheld by the priestly fraternity,
yet this usually gave way before the will and
temper of the people. Thus, as a rock shows its
geological history by its differing strata, so
the theogony of the Roman gods tells its tale of
the race who conceived it. There are
pre-historic nature deities, borrowed from the
indigenous tribes, gods of the Sabines, from
whom the young colony stole its wives; gods of
the Etruscans, of the Egyptians, Greeks and
Persians. The temple of Jupiter on the Capitol
contained the altar of a primitive deity, a
stone-god, Terminus, the spirit of boundaries:
in the temple of Diana of the Grove, a fountain
nymph was worshipped. Instances of this
description are numerous.
Spirits.—In addition to the gods, there were
spirits to be propitiated. Indeed the objects
offered to the Roman for adoration were
numberless. Apuleius gives a description of this
when he tells of a country road where one might
meet an altar wreathed with flowers, a cave hung
with garlands, an oak tree laden with horns of
cattle, a hill marked by fences as sacred, a log
rough-hewn into shape, an altar of turf smoking
with libations or a stone anointed with oil.
Every single action of man's daily life had a
presiding spirit; commerce and husbandry
likewise. There was eating Ednea, drinking
Potina; there were spirits of departure, of
journeying, of approaching and home-coming. In
commerce there was Mercurius, the spirit of
gain, of money, Pecunia ; in farming, the
spirits of cutting, grinding, sowing and
bee-keeping. A deity presided over streets and
highways ; there was a goddess of the sewers,
Cloacina; a spirit of bad smells, Mephitis.
Spirits of evil must also be propitiated by
pacificatory rites, such as Robigo, the spirit
of mildew ; in Rome there was an altar to Fever
and Bad Fortune. From the country came Silvanus,
god of farms and woods, and his Fauns and nymphs
with Picus, the wood-pecker god who had fed the
twins Romulus and Remus with berries—all these
were possessed of influences and were approached
with peculiar rites. The names of these spirits
were inscribed on tablets, indigitamenta, which
were in the charge of the pontiffs, who thus
knew which spirit to evoke according to the
need. Most of these spirits were animistic in
origin.
The Roman Worship consisted of magical rites
destined to propitiate the powers controlling
mankind; to bring man into touch with them, to
renew his life and that which supported it, the
land with its trees, corn and cattle, to stop
that process of degeneration constantly set in
motion by evil influences. Everything connected
with it typified this restoration. The Priests
who represented the life of the community, were
therefore bound by strict observances from
endangering it in any way. Rules as to attire,
eating and touch were numerous. Sacrifices were
systematised according to the end desired and
the deity invoked. There were rules as to
whether the victim must be young or full-grown,
male or female; oxen were to be offered to
Jupiter and Mars; swine to Juno, to Ceres the
corn-goddess and to Silvanus. At one shrine a
cow in calf was sacrificed and the ashes of the
unborn young were of special magical efficacy.
Human sacrifice existed within historical times.
After the battle of Cannae the Romans had sought
to divert misfortune by burying two Greeks alive
in the cattle-market while in the time of Julius
Caesar two men were put to death with
sacrificial solemnities by the Pontiff and
Flamen of Mars. Again, in the time of Cicero and
Horace boys were killed for magical purposes.
Fire possessed great virtue and was held sacred
in the worship of Vesta, in early belief Vesta
being the fire itself; it presided over the
family hearth; it restored purity and conferred
protection. Blood had the same quality and
smeared on the face of the god symbolised and
brought about the one-ness of the deity with the
community. On great occasions the Statue of
Jupiter was treated thus : the priests of
Bellona made incisions in their shoulders and
sprinkled the blood upon the image ; the face of
a triumphant general was painted with vermilion
to represent blood. Kneeling and prostration
brought one into direct contact with the earth
of the sacred place. Music was also used as a
species of incantation, probably deriving its
origin in sound made to drive away evil spirits.
Dancing too was of magical efficacy. In Rome
there were colleges of dancers for the purposes
of religion, youths who danced in solemn measure
about the altars, who, in the sacred month of
Mars took part in the festivals and went
throughout the city dancing and singing. One
authority states four kinds of '' holy solemnity
" ; sacrifice, sacred banquets, public festivals
and games. Theatrical performances also belonged
to this category, in one instance being used as
a means of diverting a pestilence. The sacred
banquets were often decreed by the Senate as
thanks-
giving to the gods. Tables were spread with a
sumptuous repast in the public places and were
first offered to the statues of the deities
seated around. The festivals were numerous, all
of a magical and symbolic nature. In the spring
there was the Parilia when fires of straw were
lighted, through which persons passed to be
purified ; the Cerealia, celebrated with
sacrifice and offerings to Ceres, the
corn-goddess, and followed by banquets. The
Luper-calia, the festival of Faunus, was held in
February and symbolised the wakening of Spring
and growth. Goats were slain as sacrifice and
with their blood the Liiperci, youths clad in
skins, smeared their faces. They took thongs of
the goat-skin and laughing wildly rushed through
the city striking the crowd, Roman matrons
believing that the blows thus received rendered
them prolific. Juno, the goddess of marriage and
childbirth also had her festival, the Matronalia,
celebrated by the women of Rome. There were the
festivals of the dead when the door leading to
the other world was .opened, the stone removed
from its entrance in the Cdmitium, and the
shades coming forth were appeased with
offerings. On these days three times in the
year, when the gods of gloom were abroad,
complete cessation from all work was decreed, no
battle could be fought nor ship set sail neither
could a man marry. To the Sacred Games were
taken the statues of the gods in gorgeous
procession, chariots of silver, companies of
priests, youths singing and dancing. The gods
viewed the games reclining on couches. The
Chariot races also partook of the nature of
rites. After the races in the Field of Mars came
one of the most important Roman rites, the
sacrifice of the October Horse. The right-hand
horse of the victorious team was sacrificed to
Mars, and the tail of the animal, running with
blood, carried to the Altar of the Regia. The
blood was stored in the temple of Vesta till the
following spring and used in the sacrifice of
the festival of Parilia. This sacrifice was
essentially magical, all citizens present being
looked upon as purified by the blood-sprinkling
and lustral bonfire. The Roman outlook upon life
was wholly coloured by magic. Bodily foes had
their counterpart in the unseen world, wandering
spirits of the dead, spirits of evil, the anger
of innocently offended deities, the menace of
the evil eye. Portents and prodigies were
everywhere. In the heavens strange things might
be seen. The sun had been known to double, even
treble itself; its light turn to blood, or a
magical halo to appear round the orb. Thunder
and lightning were always fraught with presage;
Jove was angered when he opened the heavens and
hurled his bolts to earth. Phantoms, too.
hovered amid the clouds; a great fleet of ships
had beem seen sailing over the marshes. Upon the
Campagua the gods were observed in conflict, and
afterwards tracks of the combatants were visible
across the plain. Unearthly voices were heard
amid the mountains and groves ; cries of portent
had sounded within the temples. Blood haunted
the Roman imagination. Sometimes it was said to
have covered the land as a mantle, the standing
corn was dyed with blood, the rivers and
fountains flowed with it, white walls and
statues were covered with a bloody sweat. The
flight and song of birds might be foretelling
the decrees of Fate ; unappeased spirits of the
dead were known to lurk near and steal away the
souls of men and then they too were " dead." All
these happenings were attributable to the gods
and spirits, who, if the portent be one of
menace, must be propitiated, if one of good
fortune, thanked with offerings. Down to the
later times this deep belief in the occurrence
of prodigies persisted. When Otho set out for
Italy, Rome rang with reports of a gigantic
phantom rushing forth from the Temple of Juno;
of the Statue of Julius turning from east to
west.
Augury.—Divination was
connected with the Roman worship. There was a spot on the
Capitol from which the augur with veiled head read the
auspices in the flight of birds. Augurs also accompanied
armies and fleets and read the omens before an engagement
was entered upon. Divination was also practised by reading
the intestines of animals, by dreams, by divine possession
as in the case of the Oracles when prophecies were
uttered. These had been gathered together in the Sibylline
books (q.v.), and were consulted as oracles by the State.
With the worship of Fortune were connected the Lots of
Praneste. The questions put to the goddess were answered
by means of oaken lots which a boy drew from a case made
of sacred wood. The fortune-tellers also used a
narrow-necked urn which, filled with water, only allowed
one lot at a time to rise. Astrologers from Chaldea were
also much sought after and were attached to the kingly and
noble houses. Familiar things of everyday life were of
magical import. Words, Numbers, odd ones specially for the
Kalends, Nones and Ides were so arranged as to fall upon
odd days; touch was binding and so recognised in the law
of Rome, as the grasp of a thing sold, from a slave to a
turf of distant estate; and knotting and twisting of
thread was injurious so that women must never pass by
cornfields twisting their spindles, they must not even be
uncovered. There was a strange sympathy between the trees
and mankind, and great honour was paid to the sacred trees
of Rome. On the oak tree of Jupiter the triumphant general
hung the shield and arms of his fallen foe ; while the
hedges about the Temple of Diana at Nemi were covered with
votive offerings. The trees also harboured the spirits of
the dead who came forth as dreams to the souls of men.
Pliny the elder says in this matter •' Trees have a soul
since nothing on earth lives without one. They are the
temples of spirits and the simple countryside dedicates
still a noble tree to some god. The various kinds of trees
are sacred to their protecting spirits : the oak to
Jupiter, the laurel to Apollo, olive to Minerva, myrtle to
Venus, white poplar to Hercules." These trees therefore
partook of the nature of their presiding spirits and it
was desirable to bring about communion with their magical
influence, as in the spring when laurel boughs were hung
at the doors of the flamens and pontiffs and in the temple
of Vesta where they remained hanging till the following
year. Trees and their leaves were also possessed of
healing and purifying value ; laurel was used for the
latter quality as in the Roman triumphs the fasces of the
commander, the spears and javelins of legionaries were
wreathed with its branches to purify them from the blood
of the enemy. Man himself had a presiding spirit, his
genius, each woman her " juno " the Saturnalia was really
a holiday for this " other self." The Roman kept his
birthday in honour of his genius, offering frankincense,
cakes and unmixed wine on an altar garlanded'with flowers
and making solemn prayers for the coming year. City and
village had their genii, also bodies of men from the
senate to the scullions.
Death was believed to be the life and soul enticed #way by
revengeful ghosts, hence death would never occur save by
such agencies. The dead therefore must be appeased with
offerings or else they wander abroad working evil among
the living. This belief is present in Ovid's lines : "
Once upon a time the great feast of the dead was not
observed and the manes failed to receive the customary
gifts, the fruit, the salt, the corn steeped in unmixed
wine, the violets. The injured spirits revenged themselves
on the living and the city was encircled with the funeral
fires of their victims. The townsfolk heard their
grand-sires complaining in the quiet hours of the night,
and told each other how the unsubstantial troop of
monstrous spectres rising from their tombs, shrieked along
the city
streets and up and down the fields." Beans were used in
the funeral feasts. They were supposed to harbour the
souls of the dead, and the bean-blossom to be inscribed
with characters of mourning.
Dreams were considered of great importance by the Romans;
many historical instances of prophetic dreams may be
found. They were thought to be like birds, the " bronze-coloured
" hawks ; they were also thought to be the souls of human
beings visiting otfiers in their sleep; also the souls of
the dead returning to earth. In Virgil much may be found
on this subject; Lucretius tried to find a scientific
reason for them ; Cicero, though writing in a slighting
manner of the prevalent belief in these manifestations of
sleep, yet records dreams of his own, which events proved
true.
Sorcery in all its forms, love-magic and death-magic was
rife amongst all classes, besides necromantic practices.
There were charms and spells for everything under the sun;
the rain-charm of the pontiffs consisting of the throwing
of puppets into the Tiber; the charm against thunder-bolts
compounded of onions, hair and sprats ; the charm against
an epidemic when the matrons of Rome swept the
temple-floors with their hair; and many more down to the
simple love-charm strung round the neck of the country
maiden.
Witches were prevalent. The poets often chose these
sinister figures for their subjects, as when Horace
describes the ghastly rites of two witches in the cemetery
of the Esquiline. Under the light of the new moon they
crawl about looking for poisonous herbs and bones ; they
call the spectres to a banquet consisting of a black lamb
torn to pieces with their teeth, and after, these phantoms
must answer the questions of the sorceresses. They make
images of their victims and pray to the infernal powers
for help ; hounds and snakes glide over the ground, the
moon turns to blood, and as the images are melted so the
lives of the victims ebb away. Virgil gives a picture of a
sorceress performing love-magic by means of a waxen image
of the youth whose love she desired. Lucan in his
Pharsalia treats of Thessaly, notorious in all ages for
sorcery and draws a terrific figure—Erichtho, a sorceress
of illimitable powers, one whom even the gods obeyed, to
whom the forces of earth and heaven were bond-slaves; and
Fate waiting her least command. Both Nero and Agrippina
his mother were reported to have had recourse to the
infamous arts of sorcery ; while in the New Testament may
be found testimony as to these practices in Rome. The
attitude of the cultured class towards magic is
illustrated by an illuminating passage to be found in the
writings of Pliny the elder. He says " The art of magic
has prevailed in most ages and in most parts of the globe.
Let no one wonder that it has welded very great authority
inasmuch as it embraces three other sources of influence.
No one doubts that it took its rise in ntedicine and
sought to cloak itself in the garb of a science more
profound and holy than the common run. It added to its
tempting promises the force of religion, after which the
human race is groping, especially at this time. Further it
has brought in the arts of astrology and divination. For
everyone desires to know what is to come to him and
believes that certainty can be gained by consulting the
stars. Having in this way taken captive the feelings of
man by a triple chain it has reached such a pitch that it
rules over all the world and in the East, governs the King
of Kings."
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