Names of legends of the ancient Romans. Myths and legends of ancient Rome. The myth of Aphrodite's son Aeneas

Everyone is somehow accustomed to combining the mythology of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. It seems that what else can be found among the Romans, who only knew how to give new names to foreign gods? Zeus - Jupiter, Hera - Juno, Ares - Mars, Aphrodite - Venus, just remember, and that's the end of it!

But this is just the tip of the iceberg, and you can try to dive deeper.

Who told?

It is extremely difficult to judge the most ancient period of Roman mythology, because scientists have to rely on much later sources.

However, the priestly books “Indigita-menti” are quite famous. Official records of the life of ancient Roman communities, records of ancient Greek authors in response to events in Hesperia (as they called ancient Italy), hymns of the colleges of the Arval brothers, etc. have been preserved.

The main sources are considered to be the first treaties of Rome with other cities and states, records of the college of pontiffs (priests), as well as records of the main events of each year, which later became known as the annals (Latin annus - year).

However, the main sources are considered to be Virgil's Aeneid, Livy's history books, Ovid's Fasti and the fourth book of Propertius.

Cosmogony and gods

For a long time it was believed that Roman mythology in its initial stages of development was reduced to animism. The worship of the souls of the dead was due to fear of their supernatural power, as was the worship of animate natural phenomena. The Romans never began or finished anything without securing the favor of the gods, without performing all the required rituals, without offering prayers and making the necessary sacrifices.

It was believed that the Romans distinguished only favorable or unfavorable non-personified forces - numina (numina), and there were a great many of them: the deity of sowing and growth, flowering and marriage, harvest and conception, walking and returning, etc., and their names were formed from the name of the action being performed.

Moreover, it was also believed that even the few personal gods that arose later did not have an anthropomorphic embodiment, but only symbols: for example, Jupiter is a stone, Mars is a spear, Vesta is fire.

In the primitive communal period, the cult of ancestors, honored in every clan, was of great importance: the Penates, the patrons of the hearth and clan, and the Lares, the patrons of the home, family and the entire community as a whole.

However, although the ancient cosmogony of the Romans still remains a mystery, researchers gradually began to find evidence that Roman mythology itself went through approximately the same stages of development as other peoples during the primitive communal period.

The most ancient triad of deities was identified: Jupiter (who supplanted the original creator of the world, Janus) is the embodiment of religiosity and priesthood, Mars is the military hypostasis, Quirin is the economic hypostasis.

Janus and Vesta guarded the doors and the family hearth, the Lares protected the field and the house, Palaeus the pastures, Saturn the crops, Ceres the growth of cereals, Pomona the tree fruits, and Cone and Opa the harvest.

In addition, according to the conclusions of scientists, the Romans believed that people as a family trace their origins to sacred trees, oaks, and therefore groves were dedicated to each numina deity, where rituals were performed and sacrifices were made, and the trees themselves played a very important role in life states. For example, sacrifices were made to the oak tree on the Capitoline Hill, and the withering of any fig tree, the tree under which, according to legend, the she-wolf fed the future founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, was perceived as an extremely formidable and unfavorable sign.

Since the cult of animals was very developed, the interpretation of their behavior and the study of the sacrifices made, or, more simply, fortune-telling, so widespread in Ancient Rome, became of great importance.

Justified...by the state

What is the uniqueness of Roman mythology in comparison with other mythological traditions?

If you think about it, it becomes obvious: most of the ancient myths about the gods did not survive; they were gradually but steadily replaced by myths about heroes.

The very structure of Roman society, in which individual communities sought to unite into large urban conglomerates, in which politics played an increasingly greater role with each century, and the state became an intermediary between the citizen and the gods - this is the originality of Ancient Rome.

Myths telling about heroes are a reflection of the deep mutual penetration of history and myth in the minds of the Romans. A person’s life is filled with the divine presence, every moment of it a person is responsible for his actions.

And if they are performed for the benefit of the community, then the gods are pleased with you.

Such are the myths about the Sabine women, Numa Pompilius, Lucretia, Scaevola, Coriolanus and many others.

Of course, it cannot be denied that Roman culture constantly absorbed the culture of the peoples around it. Yes, the Romans renamed and adopted almost the entire Greek pantheon, made many borrowings from the Etruscans and other peoples, but there was a very simple reason for this. Rome was a military state, which, through conquests, constantly expanded its territories and assimilated the culture of the conquered peoples.

Roman heroic myth explained the past, justified the present, and guided the future. Despite some initial primitiveness, he made a person’s life filled with meaning: service to the fatherland.

And what is the end?

The Roman religion, open and constantly changing under external influences, simply could not develop a single concept about the end of the world.

Like any military state, Rome was doomed to gradual decline and destruction or to inevitable transformation. Roman mythology, having gone through various stages of development - from the adoption of the Greek pantheon to the formation of the cult of the emperor, eventually became... a kind of basis for the victory of Christianity as a religion.

The myth of the Roman left-hander

In 509 BC. e. The Etruscan king Lare Porsenna declared war on Rome. A huge army invaded the country and was getting closer and closer to the capital. A little more - and Rome would have been taken by storm.

Then one of the young Roman patricians, Gaius Mucius Cordus, decided to infiltrate the Etruscan camp and kill their king. Guy knew the Etruscan language and, dressed in the clothes of enemies, easily entered the camp, but he could not understand which of those sitting at the main tent was King Porsenna. He could not ask, for fear of giving himself away.

Then the young man decided that the most elegantly dressed person was the enemy ruler. He attacked him and stabbed him with a dagger. But alas! It turned out to be just one of the king’s courtiers, the greatest lover of outfits and decorations.

Gaius Mucius was immediately captured, but refused to answer questions. Then they began to threaten him with torture. Seeing a tripod with a blazing fire, the young man himself approached it, put his right hand in the flame and silently, without making a sound, looked at Porsenna until his hand was charred.

Amazed by the courage and incredible stamina of the patrician, Porsenna exclaimed: “If all the Romans are so persistent, then it is impossible to defeat them.” He released Mucius, who from then on began to bear the nickname Scaevola (Left-handed), and decided to begin negotiations on a truce.

A A Neihardt

Legends and tales of ancient Rome

GODS. ANCIENT ITALIAN DEITIES

The powerful ruler of the sky, the personification of sunlight, thunderstorms, storms, who in anger threw lightning, striking with them those who disobeyed his divine will - such was the supreme ruler of the gods, Jupiter. His abode was on high mountains, from where he looked out over the whole world, the fate of individuals and nations depended on him.

Jupiter expressed his will with the peals of thunder, the flash of lightning, the flight of birds (especially the appearance of an eagle dedicated to him); sometimes he sent prophetic dreams in which he revealed the future. The priests of the formidable god, the pontiffs, performed especially solemn ceremonies in those places where lightning struck. This area was fenced off so that no one could walk through it and thus desecrate the sacred place. The earth was carefully collected and buried along with a piece of flint - a symbol of lightning. The priest erected an altar at this place and sacrificed a two-year-old sheep. To Jupiter, a powerful protector who bestows victory and rich military spoils, a grandiose temple was erected on the Capitoline Hill in Rome, where generals, returning from victorious campaigns, brought the armor of defeated leaders and the most valuable treasures taken from their enemies. Jupiter simultaneously patronized people and sanctified their relationships. He cruelly punished oathbreakers and violators of the customs of hospitality. In honor of this highest god of all ancient Latium, general festivities were held several times a year - at the beginning of sowing and the end of the harvest, during the grape harvest. The Capitoline and Great Games with equestrian and athletic competitions were held annually in Rome. The most important days of the year—the Ides[*] of each month—were dedicated to the greatest and visionary Jupiter, who controls the destinies of the world and people. The name of Jupiter was mentioned in every significant matter, public or private. They swore by his name, and the oath was considered inviolable, for the quick-to-death and irritable god inexorably punished the wicked. Since the main features of the Italian Jupiter were very similar to the image of the supreme deity of the Greeks, Zeus, with the increasing influence of Greek culture, elements of Greek mythology merged into the Roman religion. And many legends associated with Zeus were transferred to Jupiter. His father began to be called Saturn, the god of crops, who first gave people food and ruled them during the golden age, like the Greek Kronos. Thus, the wife of Saturn, the goddess of the rich harvest Ops, began to be considered the mother of Jupiter, and since when addressing the goddess it was prescribed to touch the earth, her image naturally merged with the image of the goddess Rhea, the wife of Kronos.

[* Days falling in the middle of the month (13th – 15th).]

Especially colorful were the celebrations in honor of Saturn and his wife Saturnalia, which began on December 17 after the end of the harvest and lasted seven days. During these celebrations, people sought to revive the memory of the golden age of the reign of Saturn, when, according to the Roman poet Ovid, “spring stood forever” and “the Earth brought a harvest without plowing”, “safely living people tasted the sweet peace”[*]. And indeed, on the days of Saturnalia, people spent their time in carefree fun, games, dances, and feasts. They gave gifts to their loved ones and even freed slaves from work, seated them at the table and treated them, believing that they were paying tribute to the equality that once existed between people.

[* Publius Ovid Naso. Metamorphoses (Transformations).]

Before Jupiter, Janus was the deity of the sky and sunlight, who opened the heavenly gates and released the sun into the sky, and closed these gates at night. Then he gave up his place to the ruler of the sky, Jupiter, and he himself took an equally honorable place - the ruler of all beginnings and undertakings in time. All entrances and exits were under his patronage, be it the doors of a private house, a temple of the gods, or the gates of city walls. Every day began in the name of Janus, invoked by the priests; the first month of the year and the first day of the year were also named after him[*] and celebrated in his honor. Sacrifices were made to the god Janus in the form of honey pies, wine, and fruits. People wished each other happiness, gave sweets as a symbol that the whole coming year would pass under the sign of happy (and sweet) satisfaction of all desires. Quarrels and discord with shouting and noise were prohibited by law, so as not to darken the benevolent attitude of Janus, who, when angry, could send down a bad year for everyone. On this significant day, the priests sacrificed a white bull to Janus in the presence of all officials and offered prayers for the well-being of the Roman state. The Temple of Janus consisted of two large arches connected by transverse walls, with two gates facing each other. Inside there was a statue of a god who had two faces facing in opposite directions (one to the past, the other to the future). Janus had a key in his hand, with which he unlocked and locked the gates of heaven. Since Janus was the god of time, counting days, months and years, the number 300 (Latin numerals = CCC) was inscribed on his right hand (on his fingers), and 65 (Latin numerals - LXV) was inscribed on his left hand, which meant the number of days per year. The Temple of Janus played a special role in the military affairs of Ancient Rome[**]. When a decision was made to declare war on any state, the main person in the state, be it a king or a consul, unlocked the double doors of the temple with a key and armed warriors going on a campaign, as well as young men who took up arms for the first time, passed under the arches in front of the faces of Janus. Throughout the war, the gates of the temple stood open. When peace was concluded, the armed troops again passed in front of the statue of the god, returning from a victorious campaign, and the heavy double oak doors of the temple, decorated with gold and ivory, were again locked.

[* Januaris is the Latin name from which the name of one of the winter months “January” comes.]

[** The first temple to the god Janus was erected, according to legend, by King Numa Pomnilius (see p. 537). To the surprise of contemporaries and descendants, its gates were closed for 43 years.]

God Janus, in addition, was considered the patron of roads and travelers. He was also revered by Italian sailors, who believed that it was he who taught people how to build the first ships. There was also a belief that Janus reigned on earth even before Saturn, and people owe all their skills in cultivating the land, knowledge of crafts and calculating time to this benevolent and fair deity. The wife of Janus was the water nymph Juturn, the patroness of springs, and their son Fone was revered as the god of fountains and springs gushing out of the ground. In October, festivities were held in honor of Fons - fontinalia. The wells were surrounded with garlands of flowers, and wreaths were thrown into the springs. Therefore, Janus, the father of Fons, was credited with the creation of all rivers and streams.

The furious and indomitable god of war, Mars was revered as the father of the great and warlike Roman people, whose glory began with the founder of the city of Rome - Romulus (Romulus and his twin brother Remus, according to legend, were the sons of Mars). Thanks to the patronage of the mighty god of war, the Romans won victories over neighboring tribes, and then other peoples. Mars had two nicknames - Mars Marching into Battle (Gradivus) and Mars the Spearbearer (Quirinus). After the death of Romulus and his deification, the god Quirinus appeared, into whom Romulus turned, thus becoming the double of Mars.

Special sacrifices were dedicated to the Trinity of gods - patrons of military valor and guardians of the Roman state - Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus, and they were called upon for victory in battles. The third month of the year (March) was named after Mars, and in the first days of the year, horse competitions were held, since horses, the faithful support of a warrior in battle, were dedicated to the god Mars. On the first of March, in honor of the warlike god, there was a procession of his priests - the Salii, who moved with sacred dances and chants, striking their shields with spears, one of which, according to legend, fell straight from the sky under King Numa Pompilius. The words of these hymns sung by the Salii were incomprehensible already to the priests themselves, which, of course, pointed to the magical meaning of this rite, which apparently went back to ancient times. On this day, men gave gifts to their wives, and women - to slaves. The god of war had other, more peaceful duties; he embodied the productive forces of nature, male power and was revered as the god of spring. In addition, he was considered a protector of fields and herds from pests and wolves. Therefore, farmers and shepherds made sacrifices to Mars, and the woodpecker and wolf were dedicated to him. But, of course, his military power prevailed, and when the commander set out on a campaign, he went to the temple of Mars and, shaking the sacred shield and spear of the god, addressed him, calling: “Wake, Mars!” Mars' constant companions in battle were his wife Neriena (strength), Pallor (pallor) and Pa-thief (terror). The daughter or sister of Mars was the goddess of war Bellona (from the Latin word bellum - war). At the back wall of her temple, where Roman rulers received foreign ambassadors or generals returning from a campaign, there was a column, near which the fetial priest performed the ceremony of declaring war. Since the Roman Mars and the Greek Ares were very similar, much of what was told in the Greek myths about Ares was transferred to Mars.

The divine wife of Jupiter, the queen of the sky Juno, like him, who gives people favorable weather, thunderstorms, rains and harvests, bestows success and victories, was also revered as the patroness of women, especially married women. Juno was the guardian of marriages and an assistant during childbirth. She was also revered as a great goddess of fertility. The cult of Jupiter was in charge of the priest - the Flamin, and the cult of Juno - the wife of the Flamin. Married women annually celebrated the so-called matronalia on the first of March in honor of Juno. With wreaths in their hands, they marched to the Temple of Juno on the Esquiline Hill and, together with prayers for happiness in family life, sacrificed flowers to the goddess. At the same time, slaves also took part in the celebration. Juno enjoyed great authority as a giver of sensible advice. Not only ordinary people, but also statesmen turned to her in difficult times. A temple to Juno Moneta (persuader) was erected on the Capitoline Hill. There was also a mint of the Roman state[*], which, according to legend, she provided patronage. The birds sacred to Juno were the peacock and geese. The famous legend about the salvation of Rome during the invasion of the Gauls is associated with these geese. When in the 5th century BC. Rome was captured by the Gallic hordes that unexpectedly attacked it; the surviving Roman soldiers fortified themselves on the Capitoline Hill and were severely hungry, awaiting help from the allied troops. To inform the besieged about imminent help, it was necessary to get through the Gaul camp and overcome the steep walls of the Capitoline fortress. This feat was a success for the Roman youth Cominius, who achieved an inaccessible ascent with great risk and courage. The Gauls noticed the place where Cominius managed to rise, and their leader Brennus announced that he promised a great reward to those warriors who were able to capture the impregnable fortress. And so, under the cover of the darkness of the night, the Gauls, moving from one horizontally turned shield of the warriors standing below to another, reached the top of the hill along this peculiar pyramid and killed the sleepy sentries. But when they began to advance further in order to capture the fortress with an unexpected attack, the hungry geese dedicated to Juno, who were located at her temple, began to cackle loudly and woke up the Roman soldiers. They immediately rushed at the rising Gauls and threw them off the cliff. Falling, the Gauls destroyed the rows of the pyramid.

[* From this nickname of Juno came the common name for money – “coin”.]

The first of the Romans to rush at the Gauls who suddenly appeared, Marcus Manlius, received a one-day portion of bread and wine from each of the soldiers.

The goddess who patronized cities and the peaceful pursuits of their inhabitants was the daughter of Jupiter Minerva. Craftsmen, artists and sculptors, poets and musicians, doctors, teachers and skilled needlewomen enjoyed its special favor. Celebrations in honor of the beautiful and wise goddess were held in the second half of March, called quinquatria and lasted five days. On the first day of the quinquatria, students were freed from classes and paid their teachers for their studies. On this day, hostilities, if they took place, were interrupted, and a general bloodless sacrifice of cakes, honey and oil took place. Then gladiatorial games were held, and on the last day, sacrifices were made to Minerva, in a special room for shoemakers, and the solemn consecration of trumpets took place, which were under the special patronage of the goddess, since the class of trumpeters played a large role in city life, participating in ceremonies, funerals and various rituals. The flutists considered their main holidays to be the minor quinquatria in honor of Minerva, celebrated from June 13 and lasting for three days. Minerva was part of the divine trinity, which, besides her, included Jupiter and Juno[*]. In their honor, a magnificent temple was erected on the Capitoline Hill, which began construction during the reign of King Tarquinius Gord. This temple, erected on a high pedestal, had three sanctuaries - Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. In the temple there was a statue of Jupiter, sculpted by the famous Etruscan sculptor Vulca from baked clay and covered with cinnabar[**]. The Supreme God was depicted sitting on a throne, wearing a crown with a scepter and lightning in his hands. The temple burned down, set on fire by an attacker. After its restoration, a relief image of Rome was placed on the central tympanum, located on the shields, and in front of it - a she-wolf nursing Romulus and Remus. On the gable roof, covered with gilded copper, in the center was placed a quadriga[*] with Jupiter armed with lightning and a scepter, to his left was a statue of Minerva, and to his right was Juno. At the edges of the roof there are two sitting eagles. Between the four middle columns there were three disks hanging on chains (there were six columns in total along the façade).

[* Apparently, this was a direct borrowing from the Etruscans of their divine trinity: Tini (Jupiter), Uni (Juno) and Menrva (Minerva).]

[** Hence the ancient custom of covering the face of a triumphant commander with red paint, for he was likened to Jupiter with his clothes, regalia and face.]

[***Chariot drawn by four horses.]

Near the Capitoline Hill there was a sanctuary of the god Terminus, the patron saint of boundaries, boundary stones between land plots and the boundaries of the city and state. Sacred ceremonies to establish boundaries and boundary stones were introduced by King Numa Pompilius. A fire was made in a hole dug for the boundary stone; A sacrificial animal was slaughtered over it so that its blood, flowing into the pit, would not extinguish the fire. Honey, incense and wine were poured there, fruits were thrown and, finally, a stone decorated with a wreath was placed. On the day of the Terminalia holiday, the owners of adjacent fields gathered at their boundary stones, decorating them with flowers, and sacrificed cake, honey and wine to the god Terminus. Then a cheerful and friendly feast began. The most important incarnation of the god Terminus was the sacred stone located at the Capitoline Temple.

Diana was the patron goddess of animals, flowering fields, green groves and forests, where she sometimes hunted. She was especially revered by rural residents, for whom she made hard work easier and helped in healing diseases of people and animals.

King Servius Tullius erected the first temple of Diana on the Aventine Hill in Rome, and since this hill was inhabited by people of average income or simply the poor, she became the patroness of the lower classes (plebeians and slaves). At the same time, she was revered as the goddess of the Moon and the giver of light and life. Near the temple of Diana in Aricia, not far from Rome, healing springs flowed, and the priests of the goddess successfully treated many diseases. There was even a special hospital set up where Diana’s fans, who believed in her healing power, flocked in search of healing. Those who received help from the goddess brought her, in addition to the usual gifts, also images of body parts healed by her, made of clay. The sanctuary of Diana of Aricia itself was located not far from a beautiful lake[*], surrounded by wooded mountains. Here, behind the temple, there was a green grove at the source of the nymph Egeria. Any fugitive slave or criminal could take refuge in this grove, but in order to gain refuge, he had to become a priest of the goddess by plucking a branch from the sacred tree. At the same time, he was obliged to engage in battle with the priest who guarded the sacred grove and kill him in order to take the vacated place. This bloody rite undoubtedly retained the features of the primitive cult of Diana Nemorenzis, who once demanded human sacrifices. He brought the cult of Roman Diana very close to the cult of Greek Artemis in Tauris.

[*Modern Lake Nemi.]

Venus was the patroness of flowering gardens, the goddess of spring, fertility, growth and flowering of all fruit-bearing forces of nature. She was revered as a deity of women and as a benefactor of happy marital love on the Kalends (first days) of April, the month dedicated to Venus. In honor of the beautiful goddess, solemn sacrifices were made, prayers were offered to her for the extension of youth, beauty and for the achievement of marital happiness. According to legend, Venus (Aphrodite) was the mother of the Trojan hero Aeneas, who sailed from Troy to Italy, whose descendants founded Rome. Therefore, the Romans revered Venus as the ancestor of the Roman people. There were a great many of her sanctuaries and altars in Rome, but the most luxurious temple to Venus the Progenitor was built in the 1st century. BC e. Julius Caesar[*]. After all, the Yuliev family originated from the son of Aeneas, Askania-Yul, who was the grandson of the goddess Venus herself. The symbols of the goddess were the dove and the hare (as a sign of fertility); the plants dedicated to her were poppy, rose, and myrtle. The Romans revered the son of Venus, the god of love Cupid, in the same way as the Greeks revered Eros.

[* Caesar, Gaius Julius (102 or 100 - 44 BC) - commander, statesman and dictator of Ancient Rome.]

The young goddess of blooming flowers, who rules over all living beings with the arrival of spring - this was Flora in the minds of the Romans. In honor of this goddess, the legendary Roman kings erected a temple, where the cult of Flora was led by a priest - the flamen. Special festivals were established, which were called floralia and lasted from April 28 to May 3. On these days, the doors of all houses were decorated with flower garlands and wreaths, women in colorful colorful dresses (which was strictly prohibited on ordinary days), wearing fragrant wreaths, indulged in merry dances and jokes. All the people at the festivals in honor of the beautiful and joy-giving goddess had fun and feasted. On one of the days of the floralia, games and competitions were organized.

Tellura, mother earth, was one of the oldest Italic goddesses. She personified that fertile land on which everything grows, everything that a person needs for existence. She was considered the mistress of earthquakes and the ruler of the living and the dead. According to legend, the first servant of Tellura (she was also called the “Bright Goddess”) was the wife of the shepherd Faustulus (who found and raised the twins Romulus and Remus), whose name was Acca Larentia. She had 12 sons of her own, and all of them unanimously helped their mother during sacrifices in honor of the goddess Tellura. When one of the brothers died, Romulus took his place. Having become the Roman king, Romulus established a priestly college of 12 people, which was called the college of the Arval brothers (from the Latin word arvum - arable, field). Once a year, a solemn ritual of sacrifice was performed to the “Bright Goddess” so that she would send down a good harvest to the fields of Roman farmers. The time of this festival, which usually fell in the second half of May, before the harvest, was announced in advance by the head of the Arval brothers. The ritual was observed very strictly, since the slightest violation could displease the goddess and, consequently, threaten the harvest. The entire ceremony lasted three days. On the first and last day, the priests gathered in the city, in the house of the head of the Arval brothers. In ceremonial robes, they offered sacrifice to Tellura with wine and incense. Then the ceremony of blessing the loaves, crowned with laurel leaves, and the ears of the past and new harvest took place. Somewhat later, a common meal of the priests was arranged with joint prayers and libations of wine on the altar of Tellura. At the end of the ceremony, the participants offered roses to each other with wishes of happiness. On the second day, the holiday was transferred to the sacred grove of the “Bright Goddess”, where her temple and a building with a feast hall for sacred meals were located. Early in the morning, the head of the college brought a cleansing sacrifice - two pigs and one heifer. In the afternoon, wearing crowns of ears of grain and covering their heads, they all went to the grove, where they sacrificed a fat sheep, incense and wine. Then a libation was poured out, and the Arval brothers went to the nearest field to get some ears of corn, cut them and passed them on, transferring them from their left hand to their right. This procedure was repeated twice, after which it was done with the bread, which the priests, upon entering the temple, distributed among themselves. Having locked the temple and removed all strangers from there, the Arval brothers began a sacred dance, while singing a hymn, the words of which they themselves no longer understood. And since it was difficult to remember them, and a mistake threatened the wrath of the goddess, everyone had special liturgical records, which they strictly followed. Of course, these were ancient spells about sending down the harvest, addressed to the earth.

The goddess of the harvest, the patroness of fertility, Ceres was deeply revered by Roman farmers. In her honor, solemn cerealia celebrations were held, beginning on April 11 or 12 and lasting 8 days. Cerealia were observed especially zealously by the lower classes - the plebeians. They dressed up in white clothes (as opposed to ordinary work clothes), decorated themselves with wreaths, and after ceremonial sacrifices (they offered pigs, fruits, honeycombs), they had fun with horse racing in the circus for eight days. The Roman people hosted festive meals, inviting everyone passing by to appease Ceres, who provided hearty food. Gradually, the cult of the goddess Ceres merged with the cult of the “Bright Goddess” (Tellura) and the Greek Demeter, but the festival of Cerealia with its fun and wide hospitality was preserved.

Bacchus is the patron god of vineyards, winemaking and wine, revered under the name Liber[*]. His wife was the goddess Libera, who helped winegrowers and winemakers. The holiday in honor of this married couple was celebrated on March 17 and was called liberalia. In the cities on this day, in addition to solemn sacrifices, theatrical performances were held, and in the countryside it was marked by cheerful processions, jokes, dances and feasts with an abundance of libations for Bacchus Liber, who frees a person from all kinds of worries with his wonderful drink, and his kind and beautiful wife Libere. During liberalism, sacrifices were also made to the goddess Ceres. The sanctuary of Liber and Libera was located in the temple of Ceres. The cult of Bacchus-Liber was very close to the cult of the Greek Dionysus.

[* Liber – in Latin means “free”. Apparently, this name contained a hint of some freedom and licentiousness in the festivities held in honor of Bacchus.]

Vertumnus and Pomona

Vertumnus was the god of the change of seasons and the transformations that occur with earthly fruits - first they bloom, then ripen and, finally, fall from the branches bent under their weight. Vertumnus sent down to the earth the flowering of spring, the summer harvest and the abundance of autumn fruits. But the young and hardworking goddess Pomona carefully took care of the fruit trees, especially apple trees. She managed to trim dry branches in all the gardens, plant new cuttings, and water drying trees with clear water. Busy with her chores, she completely did not notice how such field and forest deities as Picus[*], who lived in a grove near the Aventine Hill, and Silvanus, as well as playful satyrs, tried to attract her attention. But most of all, the god Vertumnus was captivated by the young beauty of Pomona. Using his gift of transformation, he began to appear to Pomona in a variety of guises - from a warrior to a fisherman and a simple gardener, offering her his love, but no one could capture Pomona’s heart and even for a moment distract her from her favorite business. Vertumnus decided to influence the stubborn woman with the power of someone else’s persuasion. Having turned into a decrepit old woman, he came to Pomona and, while she was offering the venerable guest fresh fruit, began in a rattling old voice to convince her to marry the glorious god Vertumnus. Pomona resolutely refused here too, citing the fact that she had never seen God and could not judge his merits. Then Vertumnus appeared before the embarrassed Pomona in all the splendor of his beauty. His curls shone with gold, his eyes burned with love. In one hand the young man held a garden knife, in the other - a full basket of fragrant fruits. Captivated by the beautiful god, young Pomona agreed to become his wife. Having united forever, they passionately continued to take care of the prosperity and freshness of the fruitful gardens of the Italian land. The Romans deeply revered this young divine couple. The temple of Vertumnus was erected on the Aventine Hill, and Pomona had its own priest, the Flaminus. When the fruits began to ripen, gardeners made sacrifices to these gods, and on August 13 a festival took place in honor of Vertumnus and his beautiful wife.

[* Deity of fields and forests, possessing the gift of divination. Pieck rejected the love of the sorceress Circe (Circe), and as punishment she turned him into a woodpecker, which the Romans considered a bird.]

Faun was a kind, cheerful and active god of forests, groves and fields. He vigilantly guarded the shepherds' flocks from predators, for which the shepherds revered him under the name of the god Luperk (protector from wolves) [*] and sacrificed goats and goats to appease him. Every year on February 15, all of Rome celebrated the sacred Lupercalia, established, according to legend, by Romulus and Remus, who in infancy were fed by a she-wolf and themselves grew up among shepherds. The Sanctuary of Faun - Lupercal - was located near the grotto on the Palatine Hill, in which the infants Romulus and Remus were found by a shepherd. The celebration of Lupercalia began with the sacrifice of goats and goats, and two young men stood near the altar, to whose foreheads the priests, the Luperci, touched a sacrificial knife covered in blood and immediately erased these bloody stripes with goat hair soaked in milk. At the same time, the young men had to laugh. Having completed the ritual of sacrifice and sacred feast, the priests, having cut loincloths - aprons and belts called februa [**] from the skins of the sacrificed goats, ran out of Lupercal with screams and noise and rushed around the Palatine Hill, striking everyone they encountered with belts. This was an ancient cleansing and atonement rite, and the Romans willingly exposed themselves to the blows of the sacred belts, as if removing from them all the filth that had accumulated over the year. Women who wanted to preserve marital happiness, peace in the family and increase their family, were sure to get hit by the goat belt and went out to meet the running Luperci. Loving and honoring the god Faun, who was disposed towards them, Roman farmers and shepherds also celebrated faunalia, which they celebrated on December 5 in the open air. The sacrifices, consisting of wine, milk and slaughtered goats, ended with a cheerful feast, in which the cheerful and kind Faun himself symbolically took part. On this day, cattle were allowed to roam the fields and forests without shepherds, arable animals rested, and slaves were allowed to have fun in the meadows and crossroads. Although Faun was a benevolent deity, sometimes he liked to have fun and scare a person who wandered into the depths of the forest and disturbed his peace. He loved to whisper all sorts of scary stories to those sleeping. To those to whom he was favorable, the Faun communicated his predictions with a special rustle of leaves. After all, Faun was the son of the god Peak and inherited the prophetic gift from him. If a person wanted to get an answer to the questions that tormented him, he had to, without fear, being in a sacred grove, lie down on the skin of a sacrificed sheep and receive the Faun’s prophecy in a dream.

[* "Wolf" is "lupus" in Latin.]

[** Hence the name of the month – february (February).]

Silvan was very close to the god Faun, who was revered as the patron god of the forest. He, like the Faun, protected the herds grazing in the forests, and loved the simple shepherd's pipe. His constant companion was a dog - a faithful assistant to the shepherds. Silvan also had the gift of prophecy, and sometimes from the depths of the forest the loud and fear-inducing voice of a god would be heard, foreshadowing important events. Only men were allowed to participate in the festivities in honor of the god Silvanus. This was strictly prohibited for women.

Under the patronage of the goddess Faun there were fields, forests and gardens, which she generously endowed with fertility, being the wife of the god Faun and sharing his concerns with him. Under the name of the "Good Goddess" (Bona Dea), she showed special favor to women who celebrated two solemn holidays in her honor. One of them took place on the first of May in the temple of the goddess, located on the Aventine Hill, where crowds of Roman women flocked who wanted to honor their high patroness and make her the customary sacrifices. The second celebration took place in the first days of December and was celebrated in the house of one of the highest officials (consul or praetor). The men had to leave the house all night. The sacraments of the ceremony were supervised by the priestesses of the goddess Vesta and the mistress of the house where the service was performed. Only women could be present, and they kept the secrets of this ritual so sacredly that to this day no one has been able to find out what exactly happened there. It was only known that the tent where the image of the goddess stood was decorated with vines, sacred earth was poured at the feet of the statue, and all sacrifices were accompanied by music and the singing of hymns. In the history of this cult, only a single case is known when a young man tried to enter the house where the sacrament was taking place, dressing in a woman’s dress and posing as a musician. The deception was exposed by the maids, and the culprit was accused of sacrilege[*].

[* This insolence was allowed by the young Roman aristocrat Clodius, who bribed one of the servants in the house of Julius Caesar, where the sacrament in honor of the “Good Goddess” took place. Clodius was accused of impiety, and a wave of indignation broke out about this. Then Julius Caesar divorced his wife. He was asked why he did this, because she was not to blame for anything. Caesar responded with a phrase that became a proverb: “I did it because Caesar’s wife should be above suspicion.”]

The goddess of the hearth and the fire that burned in it, Vesta was revered as the patroness of the state, and the fire that burned in her temple was considered eternal and unquenchable. He was the incarnation of the greatest goddess herself, which is why there was no statue of her in the temple. In the secret place of the temple, called “Pen” (Pentralia), sacred objects were kept, among which were penate images of the patron gods, brought, according to legend, by the hero Aeneas from the destroyed Troy. Only the high priest - the great pontiff and the vestals - priestesses of the goddess Vesta knew about these objects.

The main duty of the Vestals (there were six of them) was to maintain an unquenchable flame in the temple of the goddess. The priestesses were selected very carefully, from good families, without physical disabilities. The Great Pontiff himself selected six girls from 6 to 10 years old out of 20 chosen by lot. They entered into training with the elder Vestal Virgins for ten years, first undergoing an initiation ceremony to Vesta. Their hair was cut off, which was hung as a sacrifice to the goddess on a sacred tree, then they were dressed in white clothes and given the name Amata, which was added to their own. After studying for ten years, the young priestesses began their duties, which they were expected to perform over the next decade. The most serious offense of the Vestal Virgin was “desecrating the fire of Vesta” - violating her vow of chastity. The culprit was punished with a terrible death - she was buried alive in the ground. Near the Collin Gate, near the city wall, a small cellar was dug in an earthen rampart, into which one descended along earthen steps. In this cellar they made a bed, placed a lighted lamp and left a small supply of food - bread, water, a jug of milk and a little butter. This was done in order not to offend the goddess by starving the sacred person of her priestess. The Vestal Virgin who broke her vow was placed in complete silence on a stretcher tightly closed and tied with leather straps. Even her voice could not be heard from there. The whole city was plunged into deep sadness. When the stretcher reached the place of imprisonment, the straps were untied. The Great Pontiff offered prayers, raising his hands to heaven before carrying out the terrible sentence, then led the Vestal Virgin, wrapped from head to toe in a veil, from the bier, to the fatal steps, straight into the grave. The doomed woman silently went down, and the hole was closed, covering it with earth.

For other offenses, the young Vestals were mercilessly flogged, and if the sacred fire of some negligent priestess was extinguished, then the Great Pontiff himself flogged her. An extinguished fire on Vesta’s hearth was considered a bad omen for the state, and it could only be rekindled by rubbing wood sticks, which testified to the deep antiquity of the ritual, for in this way fire was produced in primitive times. Having served for ten years, the Vestals had to devote another ten years to the upbringing and training of newly accepted girls. Thus, for thirty years the Vestals served their goddess. After this, they had the right to return to their home and even get married. But for the most part, the Vestals remained at the temple, since they occupied an extremely honorable position in Rome. When they were driving down the street, everyone had to give way to them. Their testimony in court was crucial. Insulting a vestal virgin was punishable by death. If the Vestal Virgin met a criminal condemned to execution, the execution was canceled. Statues were erected to especially respected Vestal Virgins who provided any important services[*]. The eldest among them was called the chief vestal and led all the others. In Rome, annually on June 9, festivities were celebrated in honor of the goddess - the guardian of the state and the family hearth. They were called vestals and were accompanied by rituals and sacrifices consisting of yearling heifers, fruits, wine, water and oil. Vesta was a symbol that united Roman citizens into one big family around a common hearth. That is why the cult of this goddess was so important in the life of the Roman state. While the fire of Vesta burned in her sanctuary and sacred relics were kept in her temple, Rome, protected by these shrines, was strong and powerful.

[* Several similar statues were found, and although their faces were damaged, all the details of the clothes and headdresses of these priestesses were perfectly preserved.]

The Romans’ veneration of the god Vulcan is also associated with the state cult of fire and hearth. There was no Temple of Vulcan in the city itself, but in the center of Rome, on an elevation above the forum, there was a sacred platform, the so-called volcano, where, as if at a state hearth, meetings of the Senate were held. All the temples of Vulcan, as a deity associated with fire and fires, were located outside the city walls. Vulcan, like the Greek god Hephaestus, was a skilled blacksmith and patron of artisans and jewelers. His wife was the beautiful goddess Venus. The festivities held in honor of Vulcan took place on August 23 and were celebrated with sacrifices and noisy games in a large circus. Vulcan was also revered as the god of underground fire, which always threatened with eruptions. It was believed that his divine forge was located in the depths of Mount Etna in Sicily, where he was helped in his work by giant Cyclopes.

Penates, lares, manas

The cult of the Penates, good household gods who protected the unity and well-being of each family, was also associated with the veneration of the hearth. Their images were usually placed in a closed cabinet near the fireplace, where all family members gathered. During joyful events in the family, thanksgiving sacrifices were made to the penates. The guardians of the house were the Lares, good spirits who never left the house, unlike the Penates, who could be taken with them when moving to another place. The laras were also kept near the hearth in a special cabinet-lararium, the doors of which were opened during family holidays so that the laras could take part in the general fun and meal. Food and drink were placed in front of them in special dishes, and on the birthdays of their family members they were decorated with flowers. When the son put on a man's toga for the first time, he dedicated his children's amulet - bulla [*] to the laras, while making libations and prayers. Upon entering her husband's house, the newlywed would certainly make a sacrifice to the laras, under whose protection she came. Lars protected all family members both during travel and military campaigns. One just had to remember about sacrifices. In addition to household lares, the lares of the Roman state were especially revered, embodying the spirits of ancient heroes - Romulus, Remus, Titus Tatius, who were considered the founders and defenders of the city of Rome. Akka Larentia, who together with her husband raised Romulus and Remus, was also counted among the Lares. On the solemn holiday of Larentalia, celebrated on December 23, a funeral sacrifice was specially brought to her. In addition, since the chapels of the Lares, guarding the inhabitants of the streets, stood at crossroads, they were also given honors, their altars were decorated with flowers on the holiday of compitalia, and libations of wine and oil were made. At the same time, the poor of the Roman quarters had a lot of fun, watching the performances of comedians and acrobats, athletic competitions and taking part in entertainment in honor of the good lari.

[* Bulla is a golden round medallion-ball that contained an amulet. It was worn on a ribbon around the neck by all freeborn Roman boys.]

Manas were also good patrons of the family, but they embodied the souls of deceased ancestors. They were propitiated with libations of water, wine and milk, and on February 21 with a general celebration - February and a solemn meal in honor of their dead ancestors.

The Muns lived in the underworld, and on the Palatine Hill there was a deep hole covered with stone, which was called the Mundus. This was the sacred abode of the manas. It was opened three times a year to perform solemn ceremonies to appease the mana gods. Sacrifices were made - wine, water, milk, the blood of black sheep, bulls and pigs. At the time when festivals were held in honor of the manas, the temples of all other gods were closed, and wedding ceremonies were prohibited. The entire state offered prayers to the beneficent and benevolent manas.

But not only the good spirits of the dead were supposed to make sacrifices. The evil and vengeful spirits of dead bad people were not only tormented themselves. but they also took out their suffering on the living. At night, these evil spirits, called larvas, left the underworld and pursued those whom they considered their enemies, tormenting them with nightmares and terrible visions. The Romans also called them lemurs[*]. On the days of Lemuria, the festival of the dead, which was celebrated for three days, or rather nights (9, 11 and 13 May), in order to appease the evil spirits roaming the earth in crowds at this time, the head of each family had to perform the same ancient rite. Exactly at midnight he got up, walked barefoot around all the rooms and walked out the threshold. Having washed himself with spring water, the owner threw black beans over his shoulder nine times, without looking back, repeating each time: “I give these beans to you and with these beans I redeem myself and my loved ones.” It was believed that the lemurs followed him and willingly ate the sacrificial beans. Then the head of the house again washed himself with water and, in order to drive the lemurs away from the house, struck one copper basin against another, repeating nine times the request to the evil spirits to leave his home. This rite, repeated three times without any changes, testified to the fact that many primitive magical features were preserved in the Roman religion.

[* Lemurs are scary ghosts that appear in the form of skeletons or vampires and suck blood from living people.]

Geniuses and Junos

Each Roman had his own genius - a deity that accompanied him throughout his life - from cradle to grave, prompting a person to take the actions that he performed along the path of life. Therefore, on his birthday, every Roman made sacrifices to his genius - flowers, fruits, incense and libations. All significant events in life were marked by sacrifice to genius. The Romans feasted with friends, wanting to bring joy to the genius. After the death of a person, his genius remained on earth, staying near his grave. The same role in the life of Roman women was played by their Junos - female geniuses. There were geniuses under whose patronage the state, city, and even individual localities were. Usually a beautiful snake was considered the genius of the area, to which ripe beautiful fruits were sacrificed.

In addition to the genius, the child in infancy was surrounded by caring gods and goddesses. Some helped the newborn make his first cry, others guarded the cradle, taught him to drink, eat, move, speak, leave the house and come back. The life of nature was viewed in the same way - that’s why the Romans had so many gods and goddesses who seemed to care about the same thing - so that the grain would be thrown into the ground, so that the grains would rise, spike and be harvested, so that they would bloom flowers, garden trees bore fruit, vineyards bore fruit. For the Roman, the whole world was filled with deities with whom he constantly encountered and whom he had to please in order for his life to proceed well. To do this, it was necessary to know exactly which deity and how to turn, so as not to receive punishment instead of the expected mercy. It was practically impossible to remember all these institutions, the order of making sacrifices and saying prayers, and therefore it was necessary to turn to priests who firmly knew the rules of communication with the deity. Priests and priestesses of various gods - pontiffs, flamines, fetials, Luperci, Salii, Vestals, Arval brothers, augurs[*], haruspices[**] played a huge role in the public and private life of the Romans. They knew exactly the formulas of prayers, everything that should be done and promised to God in order to get what they wanted from him. The main thing in relation to the deity was the strict fulfillment of prescribed rituals, loyalty, piety and observance of the prohibitions imposed by the gods. Carefully observing all the conditions prescribed by the deity, the Roman believer expected an equally scrupulous fulfillment of what he asked from God. All this resembled a business agreement between the worshiper and God. At the same time, the worshiper had to indicate exactly what he was sacrificing so that the gods would not misunderstand him. So, for example, when making a libation, one should say: “Take this wine that I bring you,” so that the deity would not think that he was promised all the wine that was in the praying person’s cellar. When offering prayer, the Roman covered his head with a cloak in order to better concentrate and comply with all formalities. And even when turning to Jupiter, the most important deity of the Romans, well known to everyone, the most prudent petitioners were careful, using the following formula: “Mighty Jupiter, or how to call you by another name, the one that you like more...” Thus, all Roman religion came down to strictly developed rituals and sacred formulas, which only people who were specially involved in this could know, that is, priests. They took upon themselves the interpretation of magical spells and rituals that came from ancient times and were preserved in the religion of the Romans.

[* Priests who predicted the future by the flight of birds and their attitude towards sacred food.]

[** Priests who predicted the future from the entrails of animals, interpreted the secret meaning of lightning strikes in accordance with the location of their impact and color. The haruspices from Etruria, which was generally the cradle of all sorts of superstitions and magical rituals that passed into Roman beliefs, were especially famous.]

HEROES AND LEGENDS

[Based on the poem “Aeneid” by the Roman poet Publius Maro Virgil (1st century BC) and “Roman History from the Founding of the City” by Titus Livius (59 BC – 17 AD) .]

The powerful and beautiful wife of the thunderer Jupiter, the goddess Juno, has long hated the Trojans for the indelible insult inflicted on her by Prince Paris: he awarded the golden apple not to her, the mistress of the gods, but to the goddess Venus. In addition to this insult, Juno knew about a prediction that promised her beloved city of Carthage, rich and famous for its valor, which she herself patronized, would die from the descendants of the Trojans who had escaped from Troy destroyed by the Greeks. Moreover, the Trojan Aeneas, who became the head of the surviving inhabitants of Troy, was the son of Venus, who disgraced Juno in the dispute between the goddesses for the title of the most beautiful. Overwhelmed by the desire to avenge old grievances and prevent future ones, the goddess Juno rushed to the island of Aeolia, the homeland of clouds and fogs. There, in an immense cave, the king of the winds, Aeolus, kept “internecine winds and thunderous storms” chained in heavy chains. She began to ask Aeolus to unleash the winds and sink the Trojan ships in a terrible storm. Aeolus obediently fulfilled the request of the great goddess. He struck the wall of a huge cave of winds with a trident, and with a roar and howl they all rushed into the sea, raising the waves high, pushing them against each other, driving menacing clouds from everywhere, circling and scattering the Trojan ships like pitiful splinters. Aeneas, overwhelmed with horror, watched as his comrades in arms perished, as the Trojan ships disappeared one after another in the bubbling abyss. Occasionally, drowning swimmers, torn sails, and planks of ships appeared on the surface of the waves. And all this was swallowed up by the abyss of the sea without a trace. Three ships were thrown onto the sandbank by a huge wave, and the fragments of oars, masts and corpses of the Trojans were covered with sand, three were thrown onto the coastal rocks. The ruler of the seas, Neptune, disturbed by a frantic storm that broke out without his knowledge, rising to the surface and seeing the ships of Aeneas scattered across the waves, realized that this was Juno’s machinations. With a powerful blow of the trident, he tamed the fury of the waves and the madness of the winds and with a menacing cry: “Here I am!” - ordered them to immediately return to the cave to Eol. Neptune himself, rushing through the waves in a chariot drawn by hippocamps[*], calmed the agitated surface of the sea, with his trident he removed the ships that had settled in them from the rocks, carefully moved the rest from the shoal and commanded the waves to drive the Trojan ships to the coast of Africa. Here stood the magnificent city of Carthage, founded by Queen Dido, who fled from Sidon[**], where she suffered great grief - her beloved husband Sychaeus was treacherously killed near the altar by her own brother. The Trojans, led by Aeneas, landed on the shore, warmly greeted by the inhabitants of Carthage. The beautiful Dido hospitably opened the doors of her magnificent palace for them.

[* Hippocampi are aquatic horses from Neptune's team, with a fish tail and webbed feet instead of front legs with hooves.]

[** City in Phenicia.]

At a feast organized in honor of the surviving Trojans at the request of Dido, Aeneas began to talk about the capture of Troy by the Greeks thanks to the cunning of King Odysseus, the destruction of the ancient stronghold of the Trojans and his flight from the city engulfed in fire at the behest of the shadow of Hector, who appeared to Aeneas in a prophetic dream on the night of the treacherous attack of the Greeks on the sleeping Trojans. Hector's shadow ordered Aeneas to save the Trojan Penates from their enemies and bring his father, the elderly Anchises, and his little son Ascanius-Yul out of the city[*]. Aeneas passionately described to the excited Dido a terrible picture of a night battle in a city captured by enemies. Aeneas woke up from the groans and clanking of weapons that he heard through his sleep. Having climbed onto the roof of the house, he understood the meaning of the destructive gift of the Danaans (Greeks), and he also understood the terrible meaning of his dream. Seized with rage, Aeneas gathered young warriors around him and rushed at the head of them to a detachment of Greeks. Having destroyed their enemies, the Trojans put on the armor of the Greeks and destroyed many who were misled by this trick. However, the fire flared up more and more, the streets were filled with blood, corpses lay on the steps of churches and on the thresholds of houses. Crying, cries for help, the clang of weapons, screams of women and children - what could be more terrible! The flames of the conflagration, tearing out bloody scenes of murder and violence from the darkness of the night, aggravated the horror and confusion of the survivors. Aeneas, throwing on a lion's skin, placed his father Anchises on the shoulders, who did not have the strength to walk, and took little Ascanius by the hand. Together with his wife Creusa and several servants, he made his way to the gate and left the dying city. When they all reached the temple of Ceres, which stood far away on a hill, Aeneas noticed that Creusa was not among them. In desperation, leaving his companions in a safe place, he again made his way to Troy. There Aeneas saw a terrible picture of complete defeat. Both his own home and Priam's palace were plundered and set on fire by the Greeks. Women and children stood humbly, awaiting their fate; in the temple of Juno, treasures looted by the Greeks from sanctuaries and palaces were piled up. Wandering among the charred ruins, Aeneas tirelessly called upon Creusa, hoping that she would respond. He decided that his wife had gotten lost in the dark or had simply fallen behind on the way. Suddenly, the shadow of his wife appeared before Aeneas and quietly asked him not to grieve for her, since the gods had destined him for a kingdom in a foreign land, and his wife should be of royal descent. Creusa, looking at Aeneas with tenderness, bequeathed to him the care of his little son. Aeneas tried in vain to hold her in his arms; it dissipated in the air like a light mist.

[* The name Yul is not accidental, since he was considered the founder of the Julian family, to which the Roman emperor Octavian Augustus belonged, whose divine origin Virgil praised in his poem.]

Ancient Roman mythology in its classical version is closely related to ancient Greek. The Romans completely borrowed many mythological images and subjects from the Greeks; sculptural images of gods were made according to Greek models. But Greek myths began to penetrate into Rome only at the end of the 6th - beginning of the 5th century BC. e. And in more ancient times, the Romans had a different, original idea of ​​the gods.

Jupiter was the god of the sky, daylight and thunderstorms, Saturn - the god of the harvest, Juno - the goddess of marriage and motherhood, Mars - the god of war, Minerva - the goddess of crafts and art, Venus - the goddess of gardens and vegetable gardens, Cupid - the god of love, Vulcan - fire, Diana is the goddess of vegetation.

The ancient Romans believed that every object and phenomenon - regardless of its significance - has a special patron god.

In the Roman pantheon there were the god of sowing and the god of seed growth, the god of the birth of a child, the god of his first cry, the god of going for a walk, the god of returning home, and so on. The Christian writer Augustine the Blessed wrote about the Roman gods who guarded the doors of the house: “They (the Romans) placed three whole gods here: the doors were given under the care of Forculus, the hinges - to the goddess Cordea, and the threshold - to the god Limect. Apparently, this Forculus did not know how to guard the hinges and the threshold at the same time.”

Unlike most ancient peoples, the Romans extremely rarely depicted their gods and did not create myths about them - about their birth and family ties, relationships with each other and with people, quarrels and love affairs.

Polish writer Jan Parandowski, author of the popular book “Mythology,” writes: “This absence of legends, in which we now see a certain lack of creative imagination, was considered by the ancients to be a virtue of the Romans, who were reputed to be the most religious people.(...) This religion (...) had no myths , defaming the honor and dignity of the gods."

The Romans deliberately refused to give their gods any appearance or character. Often even their gender and name remained uncertain. In prayers, the deity was addressed as follows: “Are you a God or a goddess, are you a man or a woman,” and if they still called God by name, they added: “or whatever other name you wish to be called.”

However, some scientists believe that such impersonal worship of the gods was cultivated by priests, and traditional myths were widespread among the people, but they have not reached our time.

There is an assumption that the Romans once had a myth about the creation of the world by the god Janus. His name means "door", "gate".

He was the god of entry and exit, as well as every beginning, the new year, the beginning of war, the first day of the month, the birth of the man. Janus was depicted with keys, three hundred and sixty-five fingers (according to the number of days in the year) and with two faces, meaning that one face is turned to the past, the other to the future.

The Romans, like all ancient peoples, deified the forces of nature, worshiped trees and springs, animals and birds. Of the trees, they most revered the oak and fig tree, among animals - the wolf, among birds - the eagle and woodpecker.

Faun was considered the god of fields, forests and pastures, the patron of animals, whose cult was associated with the cult of the wolf. In honor of Faun, the Lupercalia festival was held (“lupus” means “wolf”). At this festival, a goat was sacrificed to Faun, and then the Luperc priests ran around the sanctuary, waving belts cut from the skin of the sacrificial goat and whipped them at women passing by, which was supposed to ensure their fertility. The faun was especially revered by shepherds, as he helped protect the flock from wolves.

Silvan, the god of the forest and wild nature, was close to Faun. His name comes from the word “silva” - “forest”. Silvanus had no official cult, but was very popular among the people, especially among peasants and slaves. They thanked him for healing from illness, for unexpected luck, for liberation from slavery. Silvanus was depicted in peasant clothes, accompanied by a goat and a dog.

The god of water sources was Fone. On his holiday - fontanalia - wells were decorated with flowers, and flower garlands were thrown into the springs. Fone, like Silvanus, was a deity of the common people: his servants, according to tradition, were recruited from slaves. The goddess Pomona patronized the ripening tree fruits; a sacred grove was dedicated to her.

The god of all kinds of changes - changes of seasons, stages of fruit ripening, mood swings of a person - was Vertumnus.

Among the gods directly related to human life and activity, the brothers Pilumnus and Picumnus are known - the patrons of marriage and birth. In addition, it was believed that Pilumnus invented the pestle for crushing grain, and Picumnus taught people to fertilize fields with manure (his other name is Sterculin, which means “dung”).

Fortune was also originally the patroness of birth; later she was revered as the goddess of fate, happiness and good fortune. Fortune was depicted standing on a ball or wheel - a symbol of the instability of happiness.

Among the Romans, numerous deities who patronized the hearth were especially revered. His main patron was the goddess Vesta. The entrance to the house was dedicated to her (hence the “lobby”). In the Temple of Vesta, a fire was constantly burning on the altar, which was extinguished on the first day of each year and immediately rekindled by rubbing the sacred wood. From this fire they lit the fire in the hearths of all Roman curiae - associations of several patrician - privileged - families.

The unquenchable fire in the temple was maintained by the priestesses of Vesta - the Vestals. They were chosen from young girls and had to serve the goddess for thirty years: the first decade they studied service, the second they served, the third they trained young Vestal Virgins.

During these thirty years, the Vestals were required to observe chastity; those who violated the ban were walled up alive in a dungeon. At the end of the service, the priestess of Vesta could get married, but it was believed that a Vestal wife brought misfortune to the house.

The hearth was also patronized by special deities - Lares; each house had its own. Laras were turned to for help during the most important events in the family: before marriage, during childbirth, in the event of the death of one of the household members. Lars monitored the observance of correct relationships in the family and protected slaves from the unjust anger of their owners.

The Laras also patronized good neighborly relations. Their sanctuaries were placed at crossroads with as many entrances as there were dwellings around this crossroads.

The servants of the Lar cult were slaves.

Sometimes the Lares are identified with the Penates. The Penates were also guardians of the hearth, but they were primarily in charge of food supplies.

Just like the Lares, each family had its own penates. But, in addition, there were penates of the entire Roman people. According to legend, the image of these penates was brought from Troy by Aeneas, the founder of the Roman state. The image of the state penates was kept in the temple of Vesta, and only Vestals and special priests could approach it. In addition to the Lares and Penates, each person had his own patron spirit: men - genius, women - Juno. (Unlike the goddess Juno, the patroness of all women, the spirit-Juno patronized only one) The geniuses and junos of deceased people became manas - benevolent deities in whom the souls of ancestors were revered. But if a person died a violent death or did not receive a proper burial, then his patron spirit could turn into an evil lemur (the prototype of later vampires).

Various fortune-telling and prophecies occupied a large place in the life of the ancient Romans.

Fortune telling was carried out by special priests - augurs, who interpreted the will of the gods in numerous ways by the flight of birds, by the entrails of animals, by thunder and lightning, etc.

There is a legend about the prophetess Sibyl, who could predict a thousand years in advance. She wrote down her prophecies on palm leaves and compiled them into nine books. The Sibyl offered to buy these books to the Roman king Tarquin, but he refused, wanting the prophetess to lower the price. Then Sibyl burned six books in front of Tarquin, and he, without bargaining, bought the remaining three.

In Rome, in the Temple of Jupiter, three books of prophecies were actually kept, which were called the Sibylline books. They were used until the 5th century AD.

The worldview of the ancient Romans was based on the idea that the gods destined Rome to rule the world. This contributed to the emergence of the cult of Rome itself and the formation of the so-called “Roman myth,” reflecting the legendary Roman history. Researchers divide the plots of the “Roman myth” into three groups. The first is associated with the founding of the Roman state by the legendary hero Aeneas, the second with the emergence of Rome itself and the so-called “time of kings.”

The famous German historian Oskar Jaeger wrote: “Later Roman writers exaggerate the importance of the tiny state to the extreme in their stories about the “time of the kings” (753-510 BC). (...) Much in these stories is bright and attractive. In reality, in relation to these first centuries of Rome, it is possible to establish only very few events, and the development of the political and social life of Rome can only be traced in the most general terms.

Tradition names the names of seven successive Roman kings. Although some of them may have had historical prototypes, they are mainly mythological figures in which gods are involved in the tales about them.

Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome and the first of the Roman kings, was the son of the god Mars, and after his death he himself began to be revered in the form of the god Quirinus. Another king, Numa Pompilius, was married to the nymph of the stream Egeria and, on her advice, introduced most of the religious institutions of Rome. The second-to-last of the seven kings, Servius Tullius, who is credited with reforming the state that united patricians and plebeians into a single Roman people and aimed at giving every Roman the opportunity to advance through personal merit rather than birth, was the son of a Larus and lover of the goddess Fortuna.

The third group of subjects of the “Roman myth” is associated with the establishment and early stage of the existence of the Roman Republic. These tales tell of heroes sacrificing themselves for the glory and prosperity of Rome. The Romans regarded such self-sacrifice not only as a manifestation of patriotism, but also as the fulfillment of the will of the gods, who destined Rome for a dominant position in the world.

Therefore, most researchers classify the tales of the valiant Romans not as historical legends, but as myths. Over time, Greek culture, including Greek mythology, began to penetrate into Rome. Many native Roman deities were identified with the Greek Olympian gods: Jupiter - with Zeus, Juno - with Hera, Minerva - with Athena, Vulcan - with Hephaestus, Diana - with Artemis, Cupid - with Eros, Venus - with Aphrodite.

Roman poets began to create works based on themes from Greek mythology, and sculptors began to make copies of famous Greek sculptures depicting gods.

Jan Parandovsky writes: “In the end, all Greek mythology moved to Rome. (...) The clumsy Roman gods came to life, united in married couples, and accepted all the Greek legends as their own. Greek mythology filled the void left by the harsh Roman religion.”

At the end of the 1st century BC. e. There was a revolution in the political life of Rome, the republic was replaced by an empire. Emperors began to identify themselves with gods, and empresses with goddesses. Soon the emperors began to be officially deified. The first Roman god-emperor was Julius Caesar (100-44 BC). The “Roman myth” glorifying the republic was relegated to the background at this time.

The Roman Empire fought numerous and, as a rule, victorious wars. She united a vast territory under her rule. But while conquering and conquering various peoples, the Romans absorbed their culture, including religious ideas and mythology.

In the end, the Roman pantheon included a myriad of gods of various origins, the religion of the ancient Romans lost its integrity and originality and after some time was replaced by Christianity. Rome became the first center of the Christian world.

43. Wanderings of Aeneas

Aeneas is a hero of Greek and Roman mythology, the legendary founder of the Roman state.

At the turn of the 6th–5th centuries BC. e. Greek legends about Aeneas penetrated the Apennine Peninsula, where they combined with local legends. The legend of Aeneas took its final form in the poem “Aeneid,” written in the second half of the 1st century BC. e. the great ancient Roman poet Virgil. Aeneas's mother was the goddess of love Aphrodite (in the Roman version - Venus), and her father was the Trojan Anchises, a descendant of the Phrygian king Dardan, the son of Zeus himself.

Until the age of five, Aeneas was raised by nymphs, and then sent to Troy to his father. As an adult, Aeneas took part in the Trojan War. Homer in the Iliad names Aeneas among the most glorious Trojan heroes. When the victorious Greeks burst into Troy, Aeneas decided to fight until his last breath, but the gods appeared to him and ordered him to leave the doomed city to go in search of a new homeland, where he was destined to become the founder of a great state.

Aeneas obeyed the will of the gods and fled from the burning Troy, taking with him his wife Creusa, his young son Ascanius and carrying his old father on his back.

Aeneas, having safely passed the enemy troops, got out of the city wall, but then he saw that Creusa was not with him. Aeneas hid the old man and the boy in a ravine, and he himself returned to Troy. But in vain he called for his wife, running through the streets full of enemy soldiers, looking in vain for Creusa near his burned-out home. Kreusa was no longer alive.

Suddenly her shadow appeared before Aeneas and said prophetic words:

...you are not allowed to take Creusa away from here. (...) You will be in exile for a long time, roaming the seas and expanses of water. Ido Hesperia you will reach the earth. (...) Happiness to you and the kingdom and the royal family spouse There are prepared...

Bursting with tears, Aeneas tried to hold onto Creusa’s shadow, but it slipped out of his hands and melted into the air.

Returning to the ravine where Anchises and Ascanius remained, Aeneas was surprised to find there, besides them, many other Trojans, men and women, who also managed to escape from the city. They all decided to go with Aeneas in search of a new homeland.

The Trojans began to build twenty ships. Soon, having looked for the last time at Troy lying in ruins, they set sail from their native shores and set off on an unknown journey.

Old Anchises advised Aeneas to entrust himself to the will of fate and sail where the fair wind carried the ship. After some time, Aeneas' ships sailed to Thrace. The Trojans went ashore, confident that they were destined to settle here.

Aeneas founded the city and named it by his own name - Eneada. Wanting to make a sacrifice to the gods, he went to the nearest hill to break green branches to decorate the altar. But as soon as he began to break off the bush, drops of blood appeared on the broken branches. Aeneas was afraid, but continued his work.

“Oh, Aeneas! Don’t disturb me in my grave!”

Aeneas asked, trembling:

“I am Prince Polydorus, son of the Trojan king Priam. My father sent me to Thrace to protect me from the dangers of war, but the local king was flattered by the gold that I brought with me and villainously killed me.”

Aeneas returned to his companions and told them about what he had seen and heard. The Trojans unanimously decided to leave the shore where the villainous murder was committed and look for another place to settle. They solemnly honored the memory of Polydor, having performed the required rites, raised the sails and set sail again.

This time the Trojan ships stopped near the island of Delos, where the oracle of Apollo was located.

Aeneas turned to God in prayer, then asked: “Oh, wise Apollo! Where should we go? Where will we find shelter? As a sign that God heard him, the leaves of the laurel trees in the sacred grove rustled, the walls of the temple trembled, and a menacing roar came from underground. The Trojans fell on their faces, and a mysterious voice said:

...the one who was born for the first time from the tribe of ancestors The earth gave birth to you - the same joyful abundance Will welcome you back.

The Trojans thanked Apollo, but they did not know where to look for the land of their ancestors.

Old Anchises said: “Listen to me, noble Trojans! I heard from my grandfather that our distant ancestors, in those immemorial times, when there was still a deserted valley on the site of Troy, arrived there from the island of Crete. Let’s send our ships to Crete!” Filled with hope, the Trojans set off and landed in Crete three days later. It seemed that they had reached the goal of their wanderings. The island was beautiful, its land was fertile. The Trojans built a city, plowed the fields and sowed them with grain, Aeneas drew up laws.

But suddenly there was a drought, and then the plague began. The barely sprouted crops dried up, people began to die from a terrible disease.

Aeneas was in despair. He wanted to return to Delos and pray to Apollo for deliverance from the disaster, but then the Penates - the gods of his home - appeared to him in a dream and said: “You misunderstood the words of the oracle. Your ancestral home, noble Aeneas, is not the island of Crete, but the Italian land, which is otherwise called Hesperia. Your distant ancestor, the son of Zeus Dardan, was born there.”

Such a clear indication delighted Aeneas, and the Trojans set off again.

But the sea became restless, and soon a storm completely raged. For three days Aeneas's ships carried the ships across the sea, and then washed up on the shores of the Strophadian islands, where monstrous harpies lived - birds of prey with women's heads.

Aeneas and his companions went ashore, lit a fire and prepared food for themselves. But before they had time to start eating, the harpies swooped in like a cloud and devoured everything without a trace.

Then one of the harpies sat down on a ledge of rock and ominously shouted: “When you reach blessed Italy, such hunger will overtake you there that you will gnaw the tables on which the food was laid.”

Flapping her wings, the harpy flew away, and the Trojans' blood froze in their veins with horror.

Struck by the gloomy prophecy, they raised their sails and hastened to leave the Strofad Islands. Aeneas sent his ships to the coast of Epirus, where the wise soothsayer Helen lived, and asked him: “Is it true that we are facing an unprecedented famine?” Gehlen replied: “The gods did not reveal this to me. But I know that after many trials you will reach the Italian land and find your homeland, happiness and glory there.”

The Trojans wandered the sea for a long time, experienced many adventures, overcame many dangers. One day they were caught in a severe storm and were forced to stop to repair ships on the coast of Libya, not far from the city of Carthage.

The beautiful Queen Dido ruled in Carthage. She was a widow, but continued to be faithful to her deceased husband. Aeneas and his companions appeared before the queen. And then Aeneas’s mother, Venus, surrounded him with a bright radiance and endowed him with such brilliant beauty that Dido, once looking at him, could no longer take her eyes off. Dido invited the Trojans to her palace, arranged a luxurious feast for them and asked Aeneas to tell about his adventures. While Aeneas was telling his story, his son, little Ascanius, sat on Dido’s lap. A golden arrow came from somewhere in Askania’s hands, and he, playing, pricked the queen right in the heart. It was Cupid's arrow, which Venus quietly slipped to the child - and Dido fell in love with Aeneas. Aeneas spent six months in Carthage, enjoying the love of the beautiful queen. Dido invited him to become her husband and king of Carthage. But then the gods sent their messenger, Mercury, to Aeneas.

Mercury said: “Alas, Aeneas! You have forgotten your purpose. But if you are ready to give up your own glory, then think about your son Ascanius. You must leave the Italian lands to him as a legacy, his descendants are destined to become kings of a great state!” Aeneas was ashamed and began to get ready for the journey. The Trojans began to prepare the ships for departure. Dido, seeing these preparations, realized that Aeneas would soon leave her, and began to beg him.

If I deserved anything good, there was anything It’s nice to you in me, above me and the dying house Have compassion when there is still room for requests, change your mind!

But Aeneas replied:

Never those services that count You could have a lot in your speech, I won’t deny it, queen () Stop tormenting me and yourself with your reproaches! It is not of my own free will that I sail to Italy.

Dido learned that the gods commanded Aeneas to continue his journey. The queen asked him to wait at least a little so that she could get used to the thought of separation, and the kind-hearted Aeneas was ready to give in, but the gods strengthened his spirit: just as the wind cannot crush a mighty oak, so Dido’s tears could not shake Aeneas’s resolve, and he continued fees.

Everything around the queen was dressed in darkness. When she made a sacrifice to the gods, the sacred wine seemed to her like blood, at night Dido heard the cries of an owl, reminiscent of a funeral song, and in a dream her late husband appeared to her and called her to him.

Finally the day of separation arrived. As soon as it was dawn, the Trojans sailed from Carthage. Dido realized that from now on life would only be suffering for her, and decided to die. She ordered a high funeral pyre to be built on the seashore, decorated it with flowers and fresh herbs, climbed onto it and pierced herself with a sword.

Aeneas saw from his ship the reflection of fire and black smoke rising to the sky...

After a few days of travel, the Trojans stopped where the Tiber River flows into the sea and decided to rest on the shore. They settled down under a tall oak tree and began to dine on vegetables and wheat cakes. To make eating more convenient, the Trojans put vegetables on flatbreads, and after eating the vegetables, they ate the flatbreads themselves. Little Ascanius exclaimed. “Look! We ate the tables on which the food lay!” And it became clear to everyone that the prophecy had been fulfilled and that the Trojans had finally reached Italy, which would become their new homeland. The Italian lands were ruled by the son of the forest god Faun, a king named Latinus. He had a daughter, Lavinia, who was betrothed to Turnus, the leader of the neighboring Rutuli tribe.

One day Latinus was making a sacrifice to the gods under a tall laurel. Lavinia stood next to the sacrificial fire. And suddenly the flames engulfed the girl, but did not cause her any harm, and a crown sparkled on Lavinia’s head.

At night, his father Faun appeared to Latinus in a dream and ordered him to marry Lavinia to a stranger who would soon arrive on Italian soil.

This stranger turned out to be Aeneas. Latin gave him his daughter in marriage, and Aeneas began to rule Italy together with Latin.

But Lavinia’s former fiancé, Turnus, wanting to return the bride, began a war with Aeneas, which was not inferior in scale to the Trojan war. If the story of Aeneas' search for Italy is compared to the Odyssey, then the description of his war with Turnus is called the Roman Iliad.

In the end, Aeneas killed Turnus in a duel, but he himself went missing. According to one version, he drowned in the river, another - he was taken to heaven by the gods.

Aeneas's heir was his son Ascanius (in Italy he received the Latin name Yul). Ascanius founded the city of Alba Longa, which became the capital of Italy.

The descendants of Aeneas ruled there for many centuries, until the city of Rome became Alba Longa's successor.

44. FOUNDING OF ROME

The king of Alba Longa Procas Silvius had two sons - the elder Numitor and the younger Amulius. Numitor was supposed to inherit his father's throne, but as soon as Procas Silvius died, Amulius plotted and forced his brother to abdicate the throne.

Amulius became king, and Numitor became his subject. But there was no peace for the usurper king. He was afraid that Numitor's son, having matured, would overthrow him from the throne and return the kingdom to his father. Amulius called his nephew to hunt - and killed him.

However, having committed this crime, Amulius did not find peace. Numitor is survived by his daughter, Rhea Silvia. She grew up to be a beauty, suitors began to woo her, and Amulius thought that if Rhea Silvia married and gave birth to a son, he would become the legal heir of his grandfather and lay claim to the throne.

Amulius decided to make sure that Rhea Silvia would never marry. According to custom, the Vestal Virgins, the priestesses of the goddess Vesta, were supposed to remain unmarried. The goddess herself chose priestesses for herself. She showed a sign to special priests, and they interpreted the will of the goddess and announced it to the people.

Amulius threatened the priests to declare Rhea Silvia the chosen one of Vesta, and the girl became a vestal virgin, taking a vow of chastity.

But the gods prepared a different fate for her.

The Temple of Vesta stood on a hill. One day, Rhea Silvia went down to the Tiber to collect water for a temple sacrifice. When she was returning, a strong thunderstorm broke out, and the girl took refuge from it in a cave. Suddenly, in a flash of lightning, under the peals of thunder, the god of war, Mars, appeared in front of her in shining armor. He said to the shocked girl: “Hail, noble Rhea Silvia! The gods have destined you to be my wife.”

A year later, Rhea Silvia gave birth to two twin boys. And although she solemnly swore that the father of her sons was the great Mars and, by becoming his wife, she fulfilled the will of the gods, Amulius ordered to deal with Rhea Silvia as they usually did with the Vestals who violated the vow of chastity. The unfortunate woman was walled up in a dungeon, and she died there. And Amulius ordered the newborn twins to be drowned in the Tiber.

It was spring, the waters of the Tiber rose high and flooded the banks. The servants of Amulius, to whom he entrusted the evil deed, took pity on the innocent babies and, instead of throwing them into the river, they put them in an oak trough and let them into the creek that formed on the shore.

As soon as the king's servants left, the water began to recede. Soon the Tiber returned to its banks, and the trough in which the babies lay turned out to be in a dry place, under a tall fig tree.

Not far from this fig tree there was a she-wolf's den. She had just whelped and was feeding her wolf cubs. Suddenly the plaintive cry of human cubs reached her ears. The she-wolf got out of the den, found the crying twins and, seeing that they were as small and helpless as her cubs, began to come to them every day and feed them with her milk.

One day, while the sons of Rhea Silvia were suckling the she-wolf, a shepherd named Faustulus passed by. He saw a she-wolf feeding the twins and thought: “The wild beast took pity on these children, so won’t I, a man, take pity on them?” When the twins were satisfied and the she-wolf ran away, the shepherd took the boys in his arms and carried them to his hut.

Favstul's wife had given birth the day before, but the child died as soon as it was born. The shepherd said to his wife: “The gods took our son, but sent us two others.” These good people guessed that the twins were the sons of Rhea Silvia, condemned to death by the cruel king, they kept them and began to pass them off as their children. The twins were named Romulus and Remus.

Years passed. Romulus and Remus led a peaceful life as shepherds, tending flocks with their named father. When they became mature youths, Faustulus said to them: “My wife and I love you as our sons, but the time has come to tell you the truth: your father is the great Mars, and your mother is Rhea Silvia, daughter of Numitor, the rightful king of Alba Longa, overthrown by his cruel brother."

Having learned about their royal origin, Romulus and Remus decided to go to Alba Longa to punish the usurper and restore the justice he had violated.

Having said goodbye to those whom they had previously considered parents, the brothers went to Numitor. At first glance, he recognized the twins as the sons of Rhea Silvia, his grandchildren. Romulus and Remus said to their grandfather: “Give us weapons and people loyal to you, and we will take revenge on Amulius for all his crimes.”

At the head of a small detachment that Numitor gave them, the brothers broke into the royal palace. The confused guards were unable to detain them; Amulius tried to escape, but was killed.

Romulus and Remus proclaimed their grandfather, old Numitor, king, and the people of Alba Longa joyfully welcomed him as their rightful ruler.

Numitor asked Romulus and Remus. “What do you want as a reward?” The brothers replied: “Give us the lands along the banks of the Tiber, where we almost died as children, but were saved by a good she-wolf and a generous shepherd.”

Numitor fulfilled the brothers' wishes and sent with them those residents of Alba Longa who wanted to move to a new place. The brothers chose seven hills to build the future capital on them, but then a dispute arose between them over whose name it should be named - Romulus or Remus, and which of them would become king there.

Finally they decided: “Let the gods judge us.”

The brothers climbed two hills and began to wait for a sign. They didn’t have to wait long: the flapping of wings was heard in the sky - and six kites flew over Remus’s head, and twelve over Romulus’s head. And everyone who saw this shouted: “The gods chose Romulus! Twice as many birds flew over him.”

Romulus harnessed two oxen to a plow and plowed a deep furrow, the border of the future city.

The wounded Remus mockingly said: “You have erected mighty fortifications!” - and stepped over the furrow.

Then Romulus fell into great anger, drew his sword and struck his brother in the very heart. Remus fell dead, and Romulus said: “So you will be everyone who invades my city by force!” The city was named after Romulus - Roma. In Russia it is called Rome.

In the 1st century BC. e. The Roman mathematician and astrologer Tarutius tried to calculate the exact date of the founding of Rome based on the location of the stars. He succeeded - April 23, 753 BC. e.

The tale of Romulus and Remus was recounted by the Roman writer Diocles, the author of the first book about the founding of Rome, who presumably lived in the 3rd century BC. e. The famous Greek historian of the 1st century AD Plutarch wrote about this book: “Some consider it a work of a fabulous, mythical nature. Nevertheless, there is no reason not to trust her, seeing what fate does, and taking into account that Rome would never have been so powerful if there had not been a will from above, a will for which nothing is impossible (...) " .

45. KIDNAPPING OF THE SABINE WOMEN

Rome was an impregnable fortress, and the Romans were harsh and warlike people. They jealously guarded their land, but most of them had neither wives nor children, and therefore the city had no future.

The King of Rome, Romulus, sent an embassy to neighboring nations in order to woo brides for the Romans, but the neighbors did not trust the Romans, considered them strangers who had come from nowhere, and no one agreed to give them their daughters as wives.

Then Romulus decided to resort to cunning. He organized sports games in Rome and invited the Sabines to them - a mountain tribe whose women were famous for their beauty. The Sabines accepted the invitation and came to Rome. Many brought wives, daughters and sisters with them.

Romulus warned the Romans to take a closer look at the girls, and each would choose the one he liked best.

When the games were in full swing and the Sabines, not noticing anything around, were watching what was happening in the arena, Romulus gave the agreed sign, taking off and putting on his purple cloak again. At this sign, the Romans picked up the Sabine women in their arms and began to run. (It is believed that it was then that the custom that still exists today arose, according to which the husband carries the newlywed into his house in his arms.) The girls screamed and resisted, the Sabines, stunned by the surprise, tried to recapture them from the kidnappers, but could not and were forced to return home, leaving his daughters and sisters in Rome.

Wanting to comply with generally accepted moral rules, the Romans tried to kidnap only unmarried girls, but among them, by chance, there was one husband’s wife, Hersilia, whom Romulus himself took as his wife.

Romulus addressed the abducted Sabine women with a speech, explaining to them that violence was a necessary measure, and assured that, having settled in the houses of the Romans, they would enjoy honor and universal respect, and the Romans would become good husbands for them. The kidnapped people accepted their fate and agreed to marry their kidnappers.

The Romans began to establish family life; the Sabine women, as befits good wives, gave birth to children and ran the household.

But the Sabines, having lost their daughters and sisters, felt insulted. The Sabine king Titus Tatius gathered an army and went to war against the Romans. The onslaught of the Sabines was so powerful and swift that the Romans had to retreat and take refuge behind the walls of Rome.

The Roman army was led by the commander Spirius Tarpeus, who had a daughter, Tarpeia. One day Tarpeia saw the Sabine king Titus Tatius from the city wall. The girl was struck by the beauty and stature of the enemy commander and fell in love with him so much that she decided to betray her city.

The anniversary of its founding was celebrated in Rome, and a truce was declared on that day. Tarpeia, taking the opportunity to leave the city, went to the enemy camp and handed over the keys to Rome to Titus Tatius.

Titus Tatius considered Tarpeia's act unseemly and ordered her execution, but nevertheless took advantage of her betrayal - and the Sabines entered Rome.

A bloody battle began. The Sabine women watched in horror as their husbands fought with their fathers and brothers, sobbing and wringing their hands. But Romulus’s wife Hersilia exclaimed: “This is not the time to give in to despair! We must stop the bloodshed!" The women let down their hair as a sign of grief and, taking small children in their arms, rushed between the fighters.

Plutarch wrote: “From all sides, those who ran screaming and screaming, through weapons and corpses, appeared to their husbands and fathers, like frantic, kidnapped daughters of the Sabines (...) they called the Sabines and the Romans by the most tender names.” The Sabine women shouted: “Stop! Better turn your anger against us, for we are the cause of discord!” The opponents were confused and lowered their weapons.

And the women were already greeting their fathers and brothers, holding out their children to them, the Sabines were taking their grandchildren and nephews in their arms.

The stern Romans were moved to see the universal joy, and both peoples concluded eternal peace among themselves.

46. ​​HORATIA'S BROTHERS

After the death of Romulus, there were six kings on the Roman throne. This ancient period of the history of Rome, according to tradition, is called “royal”, although most historians consider both the kings themselves and the stories about their reign to be legends, only to some extent reflecting the real processes of the formation of the Roman state.

The third king after Romulus was Tullus Hostilius. He is credited with the subjugation of ancient Alba Longa to Rome.

The rulers of Alba Longa jealously watched the rise of Rome, and the Romans, conscious of their own strength and believing in the glorious future of their city, treated the old capital with disdain. Between both cities, with varying success, there was a long war for supremacy in the Italian lands.

Finally, Tullus Hostilius and the king of Alba Longa, whose name the legend does not mention, decided to end the war by staging a duel between the best warriors of Rome and Alba Longa, and, depending on its outcome, forever establish the superiority of one city over the other.

To participate in the duel, the Romans chose three twin brothers from the glorious Horatii family. Among the Albanians they found worthy opponents - three young men from the Curiatii family. They were the same age as the Horatii and also twin brothers.

The Horatii and the Curatii knew each other from childhood; they were bound by bonds of friendship; the Horatii's sister was the bride of one of the Curiatii. But the Horaces, like true Romans, obeying the dictates of duty, abandoned friendly and family feelings and became determined to defend the glory of Rome at any cost.

In the face of both armies - Roman and Albanian - the opponents met on the battlefield, three against three.

Tullus Hostilius and the Albanian king gave a sign, and the duel began. The Horatii and Curatii were equally strong and courageous, but luck leaned on the side of the Albanians: two Horatii brothers, pierced by swords, fell, and the last of them F.A. Bruni fought one against three. The Albanians, already confident of victory, rejoiced, the Romans in despair expected that the last Horace was about to die and Rome would have to submit to Alba Longa.

But Horace, seeing that the honor and glory of his native city now depended on him alone, fought with triple courage and threw three of his opponents to the ground lifeless.

Horace returned to Rome in triumph. He walked ahead of the army, and in front of him were carried his trophies - weapons, armor and cloaks of the defeated curiatii. The Romans stood along the streets and greeted the hero with joyful cries.

Suddenly a girl ran out of the crowd. This was the sister of the Horatii, the bride of one of the Curatii. Her hair was loosened as a sign of mourning, she sobbed and wringed her hands, and when she saw her fiancé’s bloody cloak among her brother’s trophies, she screamed loudly. The girl called the deceased affectionate names and cursed the brother who killed him.

Horace exclaimed: “Come to your senses, sister! You mourn the enemy of Roman glory! The girl replied: “It would be better if Rome lost its glory than for my beloved to die!” Then Horace pulled out a sword, still wet with blood, and plunged it into his sister’s chest. The girl fell lifeless, and Horace continued his triumphal procession.

According to Roman law, the murder of any free Roman was punishable by death. The murdered girl was a Roman, and the court sentenced Horace to death.

But all the Romans unanimously rebelled against the sentence, and the judges, obeying public opinion, pardoned Horace. Since then, the laws of Rome have established the right of Roman citizens to appeal to the people's assembly against a court decision.

As a sign of cleansing from sin, Horace walked under the logs that were fortified over the road. Subsequently, for a long time, the Horatii family had a tradition of an annual sacrifice to Juno, performed in an area called “Sister’s Log.” Some researchers believe that the legend about the murdered sister arose only to explain this tradition that came from nowhere.

47. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC

The last of the legendary Roman kings was Tarquinius, nicknamed the Proud. According to legend, it was his despotism and cruelty that led to the collapse of royal power in Rome.

Tarquinius was married to the daughter of the previous king, Servius Tullius, and decided to seize power by force, overthrowing his father-in-law from the throne; Tarquinius's wife participated in the conspiracy.

One day, when Servius Tullius was sitting in the Senate, conspirators burst in, led by Tarquinius, who had previously dressed himself in royal robes. He gave a sign to his accomplices - and the old king was killed. Tarquin ordered his body to be thrown into the street.

Tarquin's wife hurried to the Senate to congratulate her husband on his successful seizure of power. Near the Senate building, the horses harnessed to her chariot stopped: the corpse of Servius Tullius lay on their way. But Tarquin's wife ordered the coachman to drive - and drove over her father's corpse.

The shocked Romans nicknamed this street Zlodeyskaya.

Tarquin was arrogant, unjust, and ruled Rome despotically. Remembering the way in which he himself came to the throne, Tarquin was constantly afraid of a conspiracy and brutally dealt with anyone who attracted his suspicions.

One day, on his orders, the noble Roman Marcus Junius was executed along with his eldest son. But the youngest son of the executed man, Lucius, still just a child, was spared by Tarquin and raised along with his sons.

However, as Lucius grew older, Tarquin began to fear him. Meanwhile, Lucius, in order not to suffer the fate of his father and older brother, pretended to be weak-minded and even received the nickname “Brutus,” which means “fool.”

However, Tarquin was increasingly overcome by forebodings. He wanted to address the question of the future fate of power in Rome to the famous Delphic oracle, but, not daring to leave Rome even for a short time, he sent his sons to Delphi. They were accompanied by Lucius Junius.

Presenting themselves before the oracle, the young men asked who would have power in Rome. The oracle replied: “To the one of you who first kisses his mother.”

The sons of Tarquin took the oracle's answer literally and hurried home.

Lucius, knowing that the oracle usually speaks allegorically, pretended that he stumbled, fell and kissed the earth - the mother of all living things.

Some time later, the eldest son of Tarquin was inflamed with an unholy passion for the wife of a noble Roman, the beautiful and virtuous Lucretia. Knowing that her husband was not at home, he appeared under the guise of a guest and took possession of Lucretia by force.

The rapist was sure that the woman would not want publicity and his crime would remain hidden. But noble Lucretia called on her husband, as well as her father, and, asking to bring two faithful family friends as witnesses, Lucretia herself announced her shame. Lucretia said: “My body is defiled, but my soul is innocent. I do not admit my sin, but I do not exempt myself from punishment. Let no one, having lost honor, live citing the example of Lucretia!” And she plunged the dagger into her heart.

One of the witnesses to this was Lucius Junius. While her husband and father wept over the body of the unfortunate woman, Lucius took a bloody dagger from her wound and swore on it that Lucretia would be avenged.

The news of the crime of Tarquin's son and the death of the noble Lucretia quickly spread throughout the city. The Romans' patience ran out and they rebelled.

The uprising was led by Lucius Julius.

Tarquinius and his family were expelled, and a republic was proclaimed in Rome.

The Roman people decided from now on to elect two consuls annually, entrusting them with supreme power over Rome.

Lucius Junius and Lucretia's husband Callatinus were elected first consuls.

48. TALES OF THE VALORABLE ROMANS

The Romans highly valued personal valor and the ability to sacrifice oneself for the sake of the fatherland. The legendary times of the first years of the Roman Republic gave rise to tales of heroes that became the ideal for many generations of the Romans and the European peoples who inherited their culture.

King Tarquin, having been expelled by the Roman people, did not accept the loss of power. He entered into an alliance with the Etruscan king Porsena and began a war against the Roman Republic.

Porsena brought a large, strong army to the aid of Tarquin.

The approaches to Rome were protected by a natural barrier - the wide, deep Tiber. The only bridge across the river was guarded by a detachment of Roman soldiers.

Seeing an entire army heading towards the bridge, the Roman detachment wavered and was ready to retreat under the protection of the city walls.

And only one of the warriors, named Horace Cocles, did not lose courage. He blocked the path of his comrades who were ready to flee and exclaimed: “Stop! There are many enemies before us, but we will not allow them to enter Rome. There are too few of us to protect the bridge, so let's destroy it so that the enemy cannot use it! And he was the first to rush to cut the bridge piles. Others followed suit.

But the enemies were already very close. Then Horace Cocles and his two comrades came out to meet them and stood shoulder to shoulder. The three of them repelled the enemy onslaught while the rest of the warriors destroyed the bridge. When it was almost destroyed, Horace Cocles ordered his two comrades to cross to the other, safe shore - and he was left alone.

He shouted, addressing the soldiers of Porsena: “Pitiful slaves! You are submissive to the arrogant king and you do not know the sweetness of freedom! We have tasted it, and we will not allow anyone to take this priceless gift from us!” At this time, the bridge behind Horace Cocles collapsed, and he was cut off from the city by the water flow. Porsena's warriors raised their bows, and a cloud of arrows flew at the brave hero. But Horace Cocles jumped into the water, swam across the Tiber unharmed and joined his squad.

In memory of the feat of Horace Cocles, his statue was subsequently erected in Rome.

Porsena realized that he would not be able to take Rome by storm, and began a long siege. Enemies surrounded the city on all sides. In Rome, food supplies began to run low and the Romans were in danger of starvation.

Then a noble Roman youth named Gaius Mucius decided to sneak into the enemy camp and kill Porsena, believing that the army, left without a leader, would lift the siege.

Gaius Mucius appeared in the Senate and announced his decision. The city fathers approved of his bold plan, and when this became known in the city, three hundred Roman youths swore that if Gaius Mucius was unable to fulfill his plan and died, then all of them - one after another - would repeat his attempt until one of them will not kill Porsena and will not save Rome.

Under the cover of night darkness, Gaius Mucius swam across the Tiber and found himself in the camp of enemies. Morning has come. There was excitement in Porsena's army: on this day the soldiers were supposed to receive their salaries. Gaius Mucius, unnoticed by anyone, mixed with the crowd and, together with everyone else, went to where Porsena and the military treasurer had already begun to give money to the soldiers.

Gaius Mucius did not know Porsena by sight and mistook the treasurer for him - a man with a majestic bearing and rich clothes. Approaching the treasurer closely, Gaius Mucius drew his sword and struck him in the very heart.

Gaius Mucius was immediately captured and disarmed. The brave young man appeared before Porsena; he was not afraid of death and only regretted that blind fate had directed his sword past its intended target.

Porsena asked Gaius Mucius who he was and by whom he was sent.

Gaius Mucius replied: “I am a Roman citizen and I came here to kill you. If it weren’t for my unfortunate mistake, you would already be dead.”

Porsena, wanting to frighten Gaius Mucius with a cruel execution, ordered a fire to be lit.

But when the fire flared up, Gaius Mucius extended his right hand and fearlessly put it into the flame.

He said to the king: “Look how little those who defend their freedom value their bodies. I will die, but others will replace me. Neither death nor torment will frighten us, and in the end you will be destroyed, arrogant king!” Shocked, Porsena ordered Gaius Mucius to be pulled away from the fire and said: “You treated yourself more cruelly than I would have done. Although you are my enemy, I am ready to praise your courage! Porsena released Gaius Mucius, and soon lifted the siege of Rome and made peace with the Romans. Tarquinius, having lost the support of an ally, was forced to abandon further struggle against the Roman Republic and died in exile.

Gaius Mucius, who lost his right hand, received the nickname Scaevolla, which means “left-handed.” This nickname became a family name, and was proudly worn by many generations of the descendants of Gaius Mucius.

Rome flourished.

But one day a huge abyss suddenly opened up in its central square. Every day it became larger and larger, threatening to engulf the entire city.

The soothsayers announced that the Romans would save Rome if they threw their main asset into the abyss.

The Romans carried all the gold and silver in the city to the abyss and threw it down, but the abyss continued to grow.

Then a brave young man named Curtius exclaimed: “The main asset of Rome is the valiant Romans!” He put on battle armor, took a weapon, jumped on his horse and rushed into the abyss.

Its edges immediately closed, engulfing the valiant Curtius.

Thus Roman valor saved Rome again.

49. CUPID AND PSYCHE

The story of Cupid and Psyche is of Greek origin, but is best known as told by the Roman writer of the 2nd century AD - Apuleius. It is included as an insert novella in his famous novel “The Golden Ass”. The character of the novel, an old servant woman, before starting to tell this story, says: “I know a lot of interesting fairy tales from the good old days.” Thus, Apuleius emphasizes the folklore, popular origins of the legend of Cupid and Psyche.

Apuleius calls the gods by Roman names: Cupid, Venus, Jupiter, but the name Psyche is Greek and means “soul.” In later times, the story of Cupid and Psyche was interpreted as an allegory of the wanderings of the human soul, striving to merge with love.

In a certain country there lived a king and a queen. They had three beautiful daughters, and the youngest, Psyche, was so beautiful that she surpassed Venus herself in beauty.

The goddess was annoyed with the mortal beauty and decided to punish her severely. Venus called on her son, the god of love, Cupid, and told him: “Make Psyche fall in love with the most insignificant of people and be unhappy with him all her life.”

Cupid flew to carry out his mother's orders, but everything did not turn out the way Venus wanted. Seeing Psyche, Cupid was struck by her beauty, and the beautiful princess, without suspecting it, stung the god of love himself with love. Cupid decided that the beauty should become his wife, and began to discourage all suitors from her.

The king and queen were perplexed: the two eldest daughters had already been successfully married, but Psyche, despite her beauty, still lived in her parents’ house and not a single groom had wooed her.

The king turned to the oracle, and the oracle announced (of course, at the instigation of Cupid) that the princess was destined for an unusual fate; he ordered that Psyche be dressed in a wedding dress, taken to a high mountain and left there waiting for the unknown husband destined for her.

The king and queen grieved for a long time, but they did not dare to disobey the will of the gods and did everything as the oracle ordered.

Unhappy Psyche in her wedding dress found herself alone on the top of the mountain. She looked around in horror, expecting that some monster was about to appear.

But suddenly a light, gentle Zephyr breeze flew in, picked up Psyche, carried her from the inhospitable rock to a green valley and lowered her onto the silky grass.

A shady grove grew nearby, and among the trees stood a white marble palace. Seeing that nothing bad had happened to her so far, the princess perked up and wanted to take a closer look at the palace. The doors opened of their own accord in front of her, and the princess, timidly, went inside.

Psyche had never seen such luxury before. The walls shone with gold and silver, the ceiling was made of ivory, and the floor, which she trampled under her feet, was paved with precious stones.

Suddenly, a friendly voice was heard from somewhere: “Hello, princess! Be the boss here."

Psyche walked around the palace all day, but was never able to explore all its rooms. Invisible servants accompanied the princess, fulfilling her every desire, as soon as she had time to think about it, and in the evening, tired, Psyche went to bed, and under the cover of darkness Cupid came down to her bed. Psyche did not see, but only felt her unknown husband, but, nevertheless, she fell in love with him dearly. In the morning, before it was dawn, Cupid left, only to come again when it got dark.

Psyche was happy in her luxurious palace, with her beloved, although unknown to her, husband. Only one thing worried her: she knew that her parents and sisters were grieving, considering her dead.

One night Psyche said to Cupid: “My beloved husband! I cannot be calm and happy when my family is in grief. Let me send them news that I am alive and well.”

But Cupid replied, “It’s better not to do this, so as not to cause big trouble.”

Psyche did not dare to insist, but from that day on she became sad and thoughtful, and cried, even indulging in the caresses of her husband.

Cupid, unable to see his beloved wife in sadness, said: “I will fulfill your wish. See your sisters, but be careful - they may give you bad advice."

He sent Zephyrs for Psyche's sisters, and they carried them on their wings to the palace.

Coming to their senses after traveling by air and seeing that their younger sister was alive and well, the sisters were very happy. But when Psyche told them how happy she was, walked around the palace and showed her wealth, envy awoke in their hearts.

When the sisters began to ask her about her husband, the simple-minded Psyche replied that her husband was kind and affectionate, and, apparently, young and handsome, although she could not say this for sure, because he visits her only under cover of darkness.

Here the sisters were filled with even greater envy, since one of them had a husband who was old and bald as a pumpkin, while the other’s was crooked from rheumatism and constantly smeared himself with stinking ointment.

Returning home, the sisters did not even tell their parents that Psyche was alive, and they drew up an insidious plan to ruin her happiness.

Soon Psyche again wanted to see her sisters, and they, like the last time, flew to visit her on the wings of the Zephyrs.

Seeing Psyche, the sisters depicted feigned grief on their faces and exclaimed: “Oh, unfortunate one! Your husband is a disgusting and evil snake. The local farmers have more than once seen him crawling on his belly across the river and hiding in your palace. Beware! One day he will sting you - and you will die a terrible death! And they both began to sob loudly.

Frightened and confused, Psyche asked: “What should I do?” The sisters said: “Hide a sharp knife under the bed, and when your husband comes to you tonight, kill him.”

The treacherous sisters returned home, leaving Psyche in fear and sadness.

After thinking about it, she doubted the sisters’ words and decided, before killing her husband, to look at him to make sure that he really was a snake. She filled the lamp with oil and hid it near the bed.

At night, Cupid, as usual, came to Psyche’s bed. When he fell asleep, Psyche slowly got up, lit the lamp and, frozen with horror, looked at her husband. Imagine her amazement and joy when, instead of the disgusting snake, she saw the golden-haired god of love.

Psyche's hand trembled, the lamp tilted, and a drop of hot oil fell on the sleeping man's shoulder. Cupid immediately woke up. Seeing Psyche with a lamp in her hands, he exclaimed in anger and grief: “You listened to the advice of your envious sisters and ruined our happiness. I could punish you severely, but I will punish you only by separation from me.”

He flapped his wings and flew away.

The unfortunate Psyche was left alone, crying bitterly and cursing her gullibility. Then she left the luxurious palace and went to wander around the world in search of her husband.

Cupid, meanwhile, flew to the palace of his mother Venus. His burned shoulder hurt badly, he moaned and complained loudly.

Venus was angry with her son, who dared to marry the one she wished harm without her knowledge, but the goddess was even more angry with Psyche. Venus strictly forbade gods and people to help the unfortunate woman, to give her shelter and consolation.

Psyche wandered for a long time, rejected by everyone, and finally came to the palace of Venus.

The goddess greeted her with abuse and ridicule. She said that Psyche was only worthy of being a servant, and immediately gave her a job: she mixed millet, barley, poppy seeds and lentils in one pile and ordered her to separate one from the other.

Psyche began to cry, not daring to even begin this endless work, but the ant took pity on her. He called his hardworking people, and the ants quickly and well fulfilled Venus’ task.

Then the goddess ordered Psyche to go to the grove where the golden fleece rams were grazing and bring their wool. But the rams were angry and pugnacious and did not let anyone near them. Psyche stopped on the bank of the stream, not daring to approach the grazing herd.

But then the coastal reed rustled and said: “Wait until noon. The sheep will fall asleep, and you will walk through the grove and find many tufts of their wool tangled in the branches of bushes and trees.”

Psyche listened to the advice and brought Venus an armful of golden wool.

But the goddess did not relent and ordered Psyche to bring water from a spring gushing at the top of a steep cliff.

When Psyche, holding a crystal vessel in her hands, stood at the foot of the rock and looked with despair at the impregnable peak, an eagle flew past. He picked up the crystal vessel and, rising on his wings to the top of the rock, scooped up water from the source.

Frustrated, Venus came up with a new task: she ordered Psyche to go down underground into the kingdom of death, ask its mistress Proserpina for a casket and, without opening it, bring it to Venus.

The miserable Psyche thought that it was easier to die than to complete this task. She climbed a high tower to throw herself down and put an end to her torment. Her grief was so great that the cold stones from which the tower was built took pity on her. They spoke and showed Psyche the way to the underworld, teaching her to bribe the ferryman across the river separating the world of the living from the world of the dead with two coins and appeasing the dog guarding the entrance to the underworld with two pieces of bread.

Proserpina gave Psyche the casket. Psyche remembered that she should not look into it, but she could not control her curiosity. As soon as she emerged from the underground kingdom into the light, she opened the lid.

The casket contained a dream similar to death. He enveloped Psyche in black fog, she fell to the ground and fell asleep.

Meanwhile, Cupid's burned shoulder healed, and along with the pain, his anger towards Psyche passed away. He found her, immersed in an enchanted sleep, and woke her with a kiss. Psyche told her husband how cruelly Venus oppresses her, and Cupid promised that from now on this would come to an end.

He flew to Jupiter himself and began to ask him to establish peace between his mother and wife.

Jupiter called Venus and said to her: “Oh, most beautiful! Do not complain that your son chose not a goddess, but a mortal as his wife. I will give her immortality, and she will become equal to the gods.” He filled the goblet with ambrosia - the drink of the gods - and gave it to Psyche to drink.

Psyche became immortal, like her husband. The gods sang praises to her beauty and good disposition, Venus had to humble herself and recognize Psyche as her daughter-in-law.

Soon Cupid and Psyche had a daughter, whose name is Pleasure.

The love story of Cupid and Psyche served as the basis for many works of art - sculptures, paintings, poems and plays. In European literature, the most famous adaptation of this plot is the poetic story of the 17th century French poet J. La Fontaine. Russian poet of the 18th century I.F. Bogdanovich also created a poem about Cupid and Psyche. He called his poem “Darling”, literally and at the same time very figuratively translating the name “Psyche” into Russian.

Jupiter shaking With a reasonable head, Cupid gave the charter, By the force of old rights, So that the century will be captivated by spiritual beauty And Darling would always be his match.

Ancient Roman mythology in its classical version is closely related to ancient Greek. The Romans completely borrowed many mythological images and subjects from the Greeks; sculptural images of gods were made according to Greek models. But Greek myths began to penetrate into Rome only at the end of the 6th - beginning of the 5th century BC. e. And in more ancient times, the Romans had a different, original idea of ​​the gods.

Jupiter was the god of the sky, daylight and thunderstorms, Saturn was the god of the harvest, Juno was the goddess of marriage and motherhood, Mars was the god of war, Minerva was the goddess of crafts and art, Venus was the goddess of gardens and vegetable gardens, Cupid was the god love, Vulcan - fire, Diana - the goddess of vegetation.

The ancient Romans believed that every object and phenomenon - regardless of its significance - has a special patron god.

In the Roman pantheon there were the god of sowing and the god of seed growth, the god of the birth of a child, the god of his first cry, the god of going for a walk, the god of returning home, and so on.

The Christian writer Augustine the Blessed wrote about the Roman gods who guarded the doors of the house: “They (the Romans) placed three whole gods here: the doors were given under the care of Forculus, the hinges - to the goddess Cordea, and the threshold - to the god Limect. Apparently, this Forculus did not know how to guard the hinges and the threshold at the same time.”

Unlike most ancient peoples, the Romans extremely rarely depicted their gods and did not create myths about them - about their birth and family ties, relationships with each other and with people, quarrels and love affairs.

Polish writer Jan Parandowski, author of the popular book “Mythology,” writes: “This absence of legends, in which we now see a certain lack of creative imagination, was considered by the ancients to be a virtue of the Romans, who were reputed to be the most religious people.(...) This religion (...) had no myths , defaming the honor and dignity of the gods."

The Romans deliberately refused to give their gods any appearance or character. Often even their gender and name remained uncertain. In prayers, the deity was addressed as follows: “Are you a God or a goddess, are you a man or a woman,” and if they still called God by name, they added: “or whatever other name you wish to be called.”

However, some scientists believe that such impersonal worship of the gods was cultivated by priests, and traditional myths were widespread among the people, but they have not reached our time.

There is an assumption that the Romans once had a myth about the creation of the world by the god Janus. His name means "door", "gate".

He was the god of entry and exit, as well as every beginning, the new year, the beginning of war, the first day of the month, the birth of the man. Janus was depicted with keys, three hundred and sixty-five fingers (according to the number of days in the year) and with two faces, meaning that one face is turned to the past, the other to the future.

The Romans, like all ancient peoples, deified the forces of nature, worshiped trees and springs, animals and birds. Of the trees, they most revered the oak and fig tree, among the animals - the wolf, among the birds - the eagle and the woodpecker.

Faun was considered the god of fields, forests and pastures, the patron of animals, whose cult was associated with the cult of the wolf. In honor of Faun, the Lupercalia festival was held (“lupus” means “wolf”). At this festival, a goat was sacrificed to Faun, and then the Luperc priests ran around the sanctuary, waving belts cut from the skin of the sacrificial goat and whipped them at women passing by, which was supposed to ensure their fertility. The faun was especially revered by shepherds, as he helped protect the flock from wolves.

Silvan, the god of the forest and wild nature, was close to Faun. His name comes from the word “silva” - “forest”. Silvanus had no official cult, but was very popular among the people, especially among peasants and slaves. They thanked him for healing from illness, for unexpected luck, for liberation from slavery. Silvanus was depicted in peasant clothes, accompanied by a goat and a dog.

The god of water sources was Fone. On his holiday - fontanalia - wells were decorated with flowers, and flower garlands were thrown into the springs. Fone, like Silvanus, was a deity of the common people: his servants, according to tradition, were recruited from slaves. The goddess Pomona patronized the ripening tree fruits; a sacred grove was dedicated to her.

The god of all kinds of changes - changes of seasons, stages of fruit ripening, mood swings of a person - was Vertumnus.

Among the gods directly related to human life and activity, the brothers Pilumnus and Picumnus are known - the patrons of marriage and birth. In addition, it was believed that Pilumnus invented the pestle for crushing grain, and Picumnus taught people to fertilize fields with manure (his other name is Sterculin, which means “dung”).

Fortune was also originally the patroness of birth; later she was revered as the goddess of fate, happiness and good fortune. Fortune was depicted standing on a ball or wheel - a symbol of the instability of happiness.

Among the Romans, numerous deities who patronized the hearth were especially revered. His main patron was the goddess Vesta. The entrance to the house was dedicated to her (hence the “lobby”). In the Temple of Vesta, a fire was constantly burning on the altar, which was extinguished on the first day of each year and immediately rekindled by rubbing the sacred wood. From this fire they lit fires in the hearths of all Roman curiae - associations of several patrician - privileged - clans.

The unquenchable fire in the temple was maintained by the priestesses of Vesta - the Vestals. They were chosen from young girls and had to serve the goddess for thirty years: the first decade they studied service, the second they served, the third they trained young Vestal Virgins.

During these thirty years, the Vestals were required to observe chastity; those who violated the ban were walled up alive in a dungeon. At the end of the service, the priestess of Vesta could get married, but it was believed that a Vestal wife brought misfortune to the house.

The hearth was also patronized by special deities - lars, they were in every house. Laras were turned to for help during the most important events in the family: before marriage, during childbirth, in the event of the death of one of the household members. Lars monitored the observance of correct relationships in the family and protected slaves from the unjust anger of their owners.

The Laras also patronized good neighborly relations. Their sanctuaries were placed at crossroads with as many entrances as there were dwellings around this crossroads.

The servants of the Lar cult were slaves.

Sometimes the Lares are identified with the Penates. The Penates were also guardians of the hearth, but they were primarily in charge of food supplies.

Just like the Lares, each family had its own penates. But, in addition, there were penates of the entire Roman people. According to legend, the image of these penates was brought from Troy by Aeneas, the founder of the Roman state. The image of the state penates was kept in the temple of Vesta, and only Vestals and special priests could approach it. In addition to the Lares and Penates, each person had his own patron spirit: men - genius, women - Juno. (Unlike the goddess Juno, the patroness of all women, the spirit-Juno patronized only one) The geniuses and Junos of deceased people became mannas - benevolent deities in whom the souls of ancestors were revered. But if a person died a violent death or did not receive a proper burial, then his patron spirit could turn into an evil lemur (the prototype of later vampires).

Various fortune-telling and prophecies occupied a large place in the life of the ancient Romans. Fortune telling was carried out by special priests - augurs, who interpreted the will of the gods in numerous ways by the flight of birds, by the entrails of animals, by thunder and lightning, etc.

There is a legend about the prophetess Sibyl, who could predict a thousand years in advance. She wrote down her prophecies on palm leaves and compiled them into nine books. The Sibyl offered to buy these books to the Roman king Tarquin, but he refused, wanting the prophetess to lower the price. Then Sibyl burned six books in front of Tarquin, and he, without bargaining, bought the remaining three.

In Rome, in the Temple of Jupiter, three books of prophecies were actually kept, which were called the Sibylline books. They were used until the 5th century AD.

The worldview of the ancient Romans was based on the idea that the gods destined Rome to rule the world. This contributed to the emergence of the cult of Rome itself and the formation of the so-called “Roman myth,” reflecting the legendary Roman history. Researchers divide the plots of the “Roman myth” into three groups. The first is associated with the founding of the Roman state by the legendary hero Aeneas, the second with the emergence of Rome itself and the so-called “time of kings.”

The famous German historian Oskar Jaeger wrote: “Later Roman writers exaggerate the importance of the tiny state to the extreme in their stories about the “time of the kings” (753-510 BC). (...) Much in these stories is bright and attractive. In reality, in relation to these first centuries of Rome, it is possible to establish only very few events, and the development of the political and social life of Rome can only be traced in the most general terms.

Tradition names the names of seven successive Roman kings. Although some of them may have had historical prototypes, they are mainly mythological figures in which gods are involved in the tales about them.

Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome and the first of the Roman kings, was the son of the god Mars, and after his death he himself began to be revered in the form of the god Quirinus. Another king, Numa Pompilius, was married to the nymph of the stream Egeria and, on her advice, introduced most of the religious institutions of Rome. The second-to-last of the seven kings, Servius Tullius, who is credited with reforming the state that united patricians and plebeians into a single Roman people and aimed at giving every Roman the opportunity to advance through personal merit rather than birth, was the son of Larus and lover of the goddess Fortuna.

The third group of subjects of the “Roman myth” is associated with the establishment and early stage of the existence of the Roman Republic. These tales tell of heroes sacrificing themselves for the glory and prosperity of Rome. The Romans regarded such self-sacrifice not only as a manifestation of patriotism, but also as the fulfillment of the will of the gods, who destined Rome for a dominant position in the world.

Therefore, most researchers classify the tales of the valiant Romans not as historical legends, but as myths. Over time, Greek culture, including Greek mythology, began to penetrate into Rome.

Many native Roman deities were identified with the Greek Olympian gods: Jupiter with Zeus, Juno with Hera, Minerva with Athena, Vulcan with Hephaestus, Diana with Artemis, Cupid with Eros, Venus - with Aphrodite.

Roman poets began to create works based on themes from Greek mythology, and sculptors began to make copies of famous Greek sculptures depicting gods.

Jan Parandovsky writes: “In the end, all Greek mythology moved to Rome. (...) The clumsy Roman gods came to life, united in married couples, and accepted all the Greek legends as their own. Greek mythology filled the void left by the harsh Roman religion.”

At the end of the 1st century BC. e. There was a revolution in the political life of Rome, the republic was replaced by an empire. Emperors began to identify themselves with gods, and empresses with goddesses. Soon the emperors began to be officially deified. The first Roman god-emperor was Julius Caesar (100-44 BC). The “Roman myth” glorifying the republic was relegated to the background at this time.

The Roman Empire fought numerous and, as a rule, victorious wars. She united a vast territory under her rule. But while conquering and conquering various peoples, the Romans absorbed their culture, including religious ideas and mythology.

In the end, the Roman pantheon included a myriad of gods of various origins, the religion of the ancient Romans lost its integrity and originality and after some time was replaced by Christianity. Rome became the first center of the Christian world.

Roman mythology is part of such a broad topic as. And we talked about reading, about the importance of books among citizens in those days in the article.

But let's return to.

First of all, it should be said that Roman religion and mythology were subordinated to the politics, moral principles of Rome and civic duty. Citizens should not have doubts about the structure of their lives and the difference between classes. All rulers are the chosen ones of the gods, and the sons of the gods. Therefore, they are closer to the celestials and they know better what life should be like. Many myths and legends of ancient Rome glorified heroism, were epic. And, of course, there were mostly emperors.

It should be noted that if among the Greeks religion played a more divine meaning, then among the Romans the gods were an integral part of everyday life. They were necessary for plowing the land, sowing, successful germination, rich harvest, etc. The gods each patronized a certain type of activity among people, certain natural phenomena and needed sacrifices. In other words, rituals and cult occupied a central place in the religion of the ancient Romans. This could not but affect myths and legends.

This situation was partly due to the fact that religious scriptures were hidden from members of the Roman Senate. They were accessible only to the priests, who sometimes quoted the scriptures as recommendations for senators.

Many emperors supported poets, artists and sculptors who created their works based on myths and legends of ancient Rome. This contributed to the consolidation of power.

At the end of the 6th - beginning of the 5th century. BC. the ancient Romans began to borrow, assigning Roman names to the Greek gods. So, the Romans got the Greek Zeus, whose name changed to Jupiter, the Greek goddess Aphrodite turned into Venus, Ares became Mars, etc. At the same time, the famous Roman myth about the twin brothers Romulus and Remus appeared.

The essence of the legend is that the boys, even in infancy, tried to drown their uncle, the king of one of the Latin cities, in fear of losing his power when the boys turned into young men and gained strength. The newborns were placed in a basket and thrown into the Tiber. But the basket got caught on a tree branch and was found by the she-wolf. She fed the children with her own milk. The boys were later found by a shepherd. He raised and educated them. The brothers became strong and mighty warriors. They rebelled against the king and killed him. Romulus and Reme decided to found a new city. But a dispute arose between them over the location of the building and who would be the ruler in the future. The result was a quarrel, during which Romulus killed Reme. In the place where the she-wolf once found the brothers, Romulus founded a city and named it in his honor, i.e. Rome.

This myth is of great importance for historians, because... The Romans counted from the legendary year of the founding of Rome, i.e. 753 BC Now in one of the Roman museums you can see a statue of the same wolf that once fed two twin brothers. This statue stood on the Capitoline Hill in Rome for a long time. It should be added that the myth of Rome in Virgil appears as an idea about the destiny of Rome to justly rule the world.

To the famous myths and legends of ancient Rome you can also add the myth about the hero of the Trojan War Enes, the legend about the battle of the Horatii and Curiatii, the myth about how geese saved Rome.

Main sources myths and legends of ancient Rome are:

• "Aeneid"
• Livy, first history books
• Ovid "Fasti"
• Propertius, 4th book of elegies

In general, the Romans borrowed gods not only from the Greeks, but also from all the peoples they conquered. They worshiped foreign gods as well as their own. The culture of Ancient Rome was intertwined with the achievements of other peoples. It cannot be said that the Romans blindly copied other people’s legends in their works. Much was processed, some were brought to perfection and surpassed in beauty the original sources.

Read myths and legends of ancient Rome no less interesting than fairy tales. Moreover, many of them are still pearls of literary art, on the creation of which many of the greatest ancient Roman poets spent many years. For example, “The Aeneid” took 10 long years to write. Subsequently, this work inspired many artists and poets to create their masterpieces. It should be remembered that the entire Western European culture was based on ancient art until the 19th century.

Happy reading!