On This Day In Roman History, March 23
On the last day of Quinquatria, a ceremony known as Tubilustrium takes place on March 23. I talked about Quinquatria when it starts on March 19, and will now look to dive a little deeper on this last day ceremony. During Tubilustrium, generals looked to the armies in order to prepare them for war or a campaign. March classically marked the beginning of campaign season for early Rome and the festival retained this purpose even after Rome started participating in military campaigns year-round. A trademark event for this ceremony was the playing of ceremonial trumpets known in Latin as tubae. The event was held within a building in Rome known as the atrium sutorium, or the Hall of the Shoemakers. It concluded with the sacrifice of a ewe lamb and the Salii parading through the streets.
Did you know?
This ceremony followed in line with Quinquatria by celebrating the Roman God Mars and a lesser known Sabine goddess sometimes referred to as Nerine. Another interesting fact is that the site of the atrium sutorium has been lost to time and is unknown. The building itself probably has connections to shoe manufacture or trade and was probably demolished and covered up, therefore transforming it into a forum area.
Pictured: Mars wearing a breastplate, Ancient Roman bronze figurine, origins traced to Gaul. Photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen, via Wikimedia Commons.
Today's selected quote is from Cato that was found within his book on farming tips. He prescribes a promise to be made with Mars in order to keep cattle safe: "Make an offering to Mars Silvanus in the forest (in silva) during the daytime for each head of cattle: 3 pounds of meal, 4½ pounds of bacon, 4½ pounds of meat, and 3 pints of wine. You may place the viands in one vessel, and the wine likewise in one vessel. Either a slave or a free man may make this offering. After the ceremony is over, consume the offering on the spot at once. A woman may not take part in this offering or see how it is performed. You may vow the vow every year if you wish."
Opinion
Welcome to my daily opinion! I ran into an interesting distinction on the Latin terms tubae vs tubi. The 20th-century theologian and scholar, Johannes Quasten, seems to think the difference is only that tubae are used during military preparation and tubi used during sacrificial ceremonies. This comes right back to how nit-picky some of this Roman religious jargon can be and how just downright confusing some its practices are. Take a moment and be happy Farmer's Almanacs today are based off observable trends and science; those to learn from Ovid were not nearly as lucky.
Sources
Fowler, W. W. (1899). The roman festivals of the period of the Republic: an introduction to the study of the religion of Romans. London: Macmillan.
Richardson, L. (1995). A new topographical dictionary of ancient Rome. Baltimore: John Hopkins Univ. Press.
Sears, G. (2015). Written space in the Latin West, 200 BC to AD 300. London: Bloomsbury.
Further Reading:
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