Ludi
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Ceres, The Plebeian Goddess
Message sent to Nova Roma Main List on 17 Apr 2003 12:14:14 -0700 (PDT) by Plebeian Aedile Lucius Arminius Faustus. Ceres, the Plebeian Goddess IN SUMMA "And likewise games were held and golden paterae placed at the temple of Ceres by the plebeian aediles L. Aelius Paetus and C Fulvius Curvus with the money from fines that they had collected from those convicted of [illegally] using public pasture." - Livy 10.23.13. With the founding of the Republic in 500 BC, Ceres picked up a new association as the goddess of the plebeian class. They comprised the bulk of Rome's common citizens, and existed in opposition to the Roman aristocratic class, the patricians (Spaeth 6). The archives of the decrees of the Roman Senate and of the Concilium Plebes were stored in her temple by the plebeian aediles (85). The office of the tribune of the plebs was protected by Ceres directly. Anyone who harmed a tribune could be killed with impunity (Dumezil 195), and his goods consecrated to Ceres. The tribunes derived several other important powers from their association with the goddess. Among these were the right to protect plebs from patrician magistrates, ius auxilii, and the right to impede the action of any patrician magistrate, ius intercessionis. These two rights, sponsored by the goddess, helped make the tribune one of the strongest offices in the entire Roman government. The plebeian aediles may owe their very name to Ceres, as it may be derived from aedes Cereris, the Latin for "Temple of Ceres" (Spaeth 86). Fines levied by them were frequently presented to the goddess as gifts. Such fines were described by the legal term in sacram iudicare (90). At the beginning of the Cerealia, plebeian families typically invited each other to special banquets (92). Several reasons for why Ceres was made goddess of the plebs have been suggested. One of the more convincing notes that her ancient associations with agriculture and fertility would have made her a commonly worshiped deity among Latin farmers. Another suggests that the Aventine Triad was to have grain importations as its focus, an association that would be compatible with Ceres' older associations with grain (9). The patricians imported the cult of Magna Mater, or Cybele, explicitly so that their social class would have a goddess that served some of the functions that Ceres did for the plebeians. As a result, there was sharp antagonism between the two cults, who became rivals separated only by the social classes they served. The cult was imported from Pessinus in Asia Minor in 204 BCE, and welcomed into the city by a vir optimus, or best man, selected from one of the most distinguished patrician families. The matrons that escorted the goddess on the road from Ostia to Rome were entirely drawn from the patrician class. After the completion of Magna Mater's temple on the Palatine in 191 BCE, games were established in her honor in which patricians received special privileges and patrician families held banquets (92). Magna Mater's games, the ludi Megalenses, directly preceded the Cerialia and were celebrated by the curule aediles, who were drawn largely from the patrician class. The Palatine itself was a district largely associated with the patricians, and the temple of Ceres, Liber, and Libera on the Aventine directly faced the temple of Magna Mater that stood there (94). The same year the temple of Magna Mater was dedicated, a new festival dedicated to Ceres was established. This festival was called the ieinium Cereris, and may have represented a plebeian response to the new patrician goddess. The festival lasted nine days and was originally held every five years (96), though it was held every year beginning on October 4 by the time of Augustus. In it, women fasted and offered the first wheat harvest to Ceres One of the many spheres Ceres had influence over was liminality, boundaries and transitions between different stages of social life. This is a function she shared with Janus. The ritual of the mundus Cereris, for instance, was believed to break down the barriers between the world of the living and the world of the dead and thereby allow ghosts to roam the world. Spaeth suggests that the site of the ritual could be associated with the circular bothros in the Roman Forum. If true, this would indicate that the mundus Cereris was a ritual somehow tied to the very origins of Rome itself. She was also associated with divorce and marriage, and a torch was carried in her honor in wedding processions (Spaeth 5). The "law of Romulus" enumerated the three reasons for which a husband could legally divorce his wife, which included poisoning their children, counterfeiting his keys, and adultery. If he left her for any other reason, then half of his goods would be forfeit to his wife, and the other half consecrated to Ceres (Dumezil 376). Many laws were associated with Ceres in her liminal aspect. The property of sancrosanctitas, the divine protection the tribune of the plebs was under, was part of Ceres' sphere of influence. So was the law that called for the punishment of anyone who attempted to set himself up as a tyrant. The goods and person of those executed for attempted tyranny were consecrated to Ceres (Spaeth 10). Many literary sources also associate her in general with the concept of law, order, and social tranquility (27). She even assimilated several minor goddesses who embodied the idea of social order. On a denarius from the period of the Civil Wars appear together the wheat stalks of Ceres, the caduceus of Pax the goddess of peace, and the clasped hands of Concordia the goddess of harmony (28). The goddess also embodied the idea of castitas, or purity, especially as regards ritual purity and the sexual purity of women. As relates to women, sexual castitas or chastity takes on a liminal function. The violation of a woman's chastity forced her to cross a social boundary and leave her previous state of existence forever. To the Romans, the violation of chastity had great political, economic, and social significance (116). "Let Tellus, fertile in fruits and herds, present Ceres with a crown of wheat stalks; let the healthy waters and breezes of Jupiter nourish the offspring." - Horace, Carm. Saec. 29- 32 Ceres was part of a special cult with the ancient Italic goddess Tellus, who personified the Earth. They shared an ancient feast day on December 13, which was associated with the end of the sowing season. The Feriae Sementivae, associated with the protection of seeded crops, honored both goddesses in the latter half of January. The festival of Tellus, the Fordicicia, was celebrated on April 15. The Cerealia occurred only four days later, an interval of time often used by the Romans to separate related festivals (Spaeth 5). Tellus was often mentioned alongside Ceres in early Roman funeral sacrifices. Through her association with Tellus, Ceres eclipsed her in the second century BCE and began to be associated directly with the Earth herself. Even before this period, Ceres and Tellus were occasionally alleged to be one and the same. Tellus had some spheres of influence that were similar to Ceres'. For instance, it was customary to sacrifice a pregnant cow to Tellus as part of the wedding of a widow. While it was not specified to whom the sacrifice was dedicated, it was typical to sacrifice a pig at the beginning of a marriage, and the pig was the favorite victim of Ceres. Varro claimed the pig represented the untouched sexual organs of the bride, and the sacrifice the consummation of the marriage. This is consistent with what else is known about Ceres' role in fertility and liminality. The similarity of Tellus' and Ceres' roles in marriage and fertility indicates some sort of unusually close relationship (47). |
