Indo-European Sacred Space: Vedic and Roman Cult

by Roger D. Woodard

Overview

In Indo-European Sacred Space, Roger D. Woodard provides a careful examination of the sacred spaces of ancient Rome, finding them remarkably consistent with older Indo-European religious practices as described in the Vedas of ancient India. Employing and expanding on the fundamental methods of Émile Benveniste, as well as Georges Dumézil's tripartite analysis of Proto-Indo-European society, Woodard clarifies not only the spatial dynamics of the archaic Roman cult but, stemming from that, an unexpected clarification of several obscure issues in the study of Roman religion.
Looking closely at the organization of Roman religious activity, especially as regards sacrifices, festivals, and the hierarchy of priests, Woodard sheds new light on issues including the presence of the god Terminus in Jupiter's Capitoline temple, the nature of the Roman suovetaurilia, the Ambarvalia and its relationship to the rites of the Fratres Arvales, and the identification of the "Sabine" god Semo Sancus.  Perhaps most significantly, this work also presents a novel and persuasive resolution to the long standing problem of "agrarian Mars."
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780252092954
Publisher:	University of Illinois Press
Publication date:	10/01/2010
Series:	Traditions
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	312
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Roger Woodard is Andrew V. V. Raymond Professor of the Classics and professor of linguistics at the University of Buffalo (The State University of New York). Among his many books are Greek Writing from Knossos to Homer and The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World’s Ancient Languages.

Table of Contents

Contents Preface 1. The Minor Capitoline Triad 1.1 Introduction 1.2 The founding of the Capitolium 1.3 Terminus and Juventas 1.4 The gods of Titus Tatius 1.5 The Pre-Capitoline triad 1.5.1 The ordo sacerdotum 1.5.2 The devotio 1.5.3 The spolia opima 1.5.4 The archaic ritual of Fides 1.5.5 The Salii 1.6 The three Proto-Indo-European functions 1.6.1 Tripartition and Dum?zil 1.6.1.1 Tripartition and Benveniste 1.6.1.2 More than tripartition? 1.6.2 Tripartition and the present work 1.6.3 Indo-European tripartition: the evidence 1.6.3.1 India 1.6.3.2 Iran 1.6.3.3 Scandinavia 1.6.3.4 Celtic Europe 1.7 Jupiter, Mars, Quirinus 1.7.1 Response 1.7.1.1 Ideology (part 1) 1.7.1.2 Heterogeneity and continuity 1.7.1.3 Les quatre cercles d'appartenance 1.7.1.4 Ideology (part 2) 1.7.1.4.1 The Romulean tribes 1.7.1.4.2 The comparative method 1.7.1.4.3 The progression of ideas 1.7.1.4.4 A mythic history 1.7.1.4.5 A broader expression 1.8 The Capitoline triad 1.8.1 An Etruscan source? 1.8.2 A Greek source? 1.9 Continuity and dissolution 1.9.1 Roman-Etruscan conflicts 1.9.1.1 The ancient Romulean tribes 1.9.1.2 The Capitoline head 1.9.1.3 The Capitoline terra cotta chariot 1.9.1.4 A glimpse behind the curtain 1.10 Compromise and the Minor Capitoline triad 1.11 Mars 1.12 Conclusion 2. Terminus 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Terminus and Jupiter 2.3 Indo-European parallels 2.3.1 Indo-European talismans 2.4 An Indo-European matrix 2.5 The boundary question 2.6 Indo-European cultic boundaries 2.6.1 The Yajur Veda and Br?hma?as 2.6.1.1 The V?japeya 2.6.2 The Rig Veda 2.6.3 Related structures 2.6.3.1 The skambha 2.6.3.2 The li?godbhava 2.6.3.3 The Indradhvaja 2.6.3.4 The Sadas post 2.7 Terminus and the Y?pa 2.7.1 Penes Iovem sunt summa 2.7.2 Fecundity 2.8 Space and fire 2.8.1 The three fires 2.8.2 Termini sacrificales 2.8.2.1 Blood, fertility and chthonic beings 2.8.3 Analogy and homology 2.8.4 Termini Romani 2.8.5 The private rites of the Terminalia 2.9 Conclusion 3. Into the Teacup 3.1 Introduction 3.2 The public rites of the Terminalia 3.3 The Ambarvalia 3.3.1 Strabo 3.3.2 Festus 3.3.3 Cato 3.3.3.1 Suovetaurilia 3.3.3.2 Manius 3.3.3.2.1 The Lares 3.3.3.2.2 The Mater Larum 3.3.3.2.3 Mania and Manius 3.3.4 Virgil 3.3.5 Tibullus 3.3.6 The Fratres Arvales 3.3.6.1 The festival of Dea Dia 3.3.6.2 The Ager Romanus 3.3.6.3 The same or different? 3.4 Conclusion 4. The Fourth Fire 4.1 Introduction 4.2 The fourth fire 4.3 The Mah?vedi 4.3.1 The conquest 4.3.2 The Dhi??ya? 4.4 The Roman Mah?vedi 4.5 The Public Terminalia 4.6 The Public Ambarvalia 4.7 The Arval rite of Dea Dia (I) 4.8 The Soma-pressing day 4.8.1. The morning pressing 4.8.2 The midday pressing 4.8.3 The evening pressing 4.8.4 The concluding I??i 4.9 The Arval rite of Dea Dia (II) 4.9.1 The morning culinary episode 4.9.2 The midday culinary episode 4.9.2.1 The Semones 4.9.2.2 Semo Sancus 4.9.2.3 Hercules and Cacus 4.9.2.4 Indra and V?tra 4.9.2.5 Trita ?ptya and the tricephal 4.9.2.6 Semo Sancus and the tricephal 4.9.2.7 Hercules and Bona Dea 4.9.2.8 The hero beyond the boundary 4.9.2.8.1 The Indic hero 4.9.2.8.2 The Irish hero 4.9.2.8.3 The Ossetic hero 4.9.2.8.4 The Italic hero 4.9.2.9 The Italic reflex 4.9.2.10 Mars and Semo Sancus 4.9.3 The evening culinary episode 4.9.4 Bracketing rites of beginning and ending 4.9.4.1 The Tuscanicae 4.10 The Robigalia 4.10.1 Agrarian Mars 4.11 The temple of Mars on the Via Appia 4.12 The Ager Gabinus and the augural boundary 4.13 Conclusion 5. From the Inside Out 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Proto-Indo-European cult 5.2.1 The small space 5.2.2 East 5.2.3 The unboundary 5.2.3.1 The unboundary lost 5.2.3.2 The unboundary gained 5.2.4 A theo-geometric shift 5.2.4.1 Two columns 5.2.4.2 Terminus 5.2.5 Terminus and Mars 5.2.5.1 Indra and Vi??u 5.2.5.2 Invasion and conquest 5.2.5.3 Agrarian Mars 5.3 Conclusion Postscript Abbreviations Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

"Woodard fashions a point-by-point comparison between classical Latin and Greek accounts of certain archaic Roman ceremonies that demarcate, celebrate, and hallow civic space . . . and some of the many painstakingly detailed prescriptions for sacrifice in which the brahmanic literature of ancient India abounds."
—Indo-European Studies Bulletin

"A stimulating, thought-provoking, and structured account of what can appear to be random and inexplicable details in the synchronic system, a way of thinking 'outside the box' of a single culture."—Journal of the American Oriental Society

"A great and beautiful book."—History of Religions

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