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In ancient Roman religion and law, the sacramentum was an oath or vow that rendered the swearer sacer, "given to the gods," in the negative sense if he violated it. [1] Sacramentum also referred to a thing that was pledged as a sacred bond , and consequently forfeit if the oath were violated. [ 2 ]
Votives are gifts to gods by worshippers. In this instance they are given to gods in gratitude for the fulfillment of the vow to the god for divine favor. Unlike anatomical votives which are made to resemble a body part, the swaddled baby votive is assumed to represent the child's body in its entirety. [1]
In ancient Roman religion, the devotio was an extreme form of votum in which a Roman general vowed to sacrifice his own life in battle along with the enemy to chthonic gods in exchange for a victory. The most extended description of the ritual is given by the Augustan historian Livy , regarding the self-sacrifice of Decius Mus . [ 1 ]
Votive paintings in the ambulatory of the Chapel of Grace, in Altötting, Bavaria, Germany Mexican votive painting of 1911; the man survived an attack by a bull. Part of a female face with inlaid eyes, Ancient Greek Votive offering, 4th century BC, probably by Praxias, set in a niche of a pillar in the sanctuary of Asclepios in Athens, Acropolis Museum, Athens Bronze animal statuettes from ...
The devotio was the most extreme offering a Roman general could make, promising to offer his own life in battle along with the enemy as an offering to the underworld gods. Livy offers a detailed account of the devotio carried out by Decius Mus ; family tradition maintained that his son and grandson , all bearing the same name, also devoted ...
The vocabulary of ancient Roman religion was highly specialized. Its study affords important information about the religion, traditions and beliefs of the ancient Romans. This legacy is conspicuous in European cultural history in its influence on later juridical and religious vocabulary in Europe, particularly of the Christian Church.
The Roman deities most widely known today are those the Romans identified with Greek counterparts, integrating Greek myths, iconography, and sometimes religious practices into Roman culture, including Latin literature, Roman art, and religious life as it was experienced throughout the Roman Empire. Many of the Romans' own gods remain obscure ...
The best-known and most vivid description, though of the quite different taurobolium as it was revived in aristocratic pagan circles, is the notorious one that has coloured early scholarship, which was provided in an anti-pagan poem by the late 4th-century Christian Prudentius in Peristephanon: [9] the priest of the Great Mother, clad in a silk toga worn in the Gabinian cincture, with golden ...