Argei (dolls)
Encyclopedia
The rituals of the Argei were ancient
religious observances in ancient Rome
that took place on March 16 and 17 and again on May 14 or 15. By the time of Augustus
, the meaning of these rituals had become obscure even to those who practiced them. For the May rites, a procession of pontiffs
, Vestals, and praetor
s made its way around a circuit of 27 stations (sacella or sacraria
), where at each they retrieved a figure fashioned from rush, reed, and straw into human form. After all the stations were visited, the procession moved to the Pons Sublicius
, the oldest known bridge in Rome, where the gathered figures were tossed into the Tiber River.
Both the figures (effigies or simulacra) and the stations or shrines were called Argei, the etymology
of which remains undetermined.
The continuation of these rites into the later historical period when they were no longer understood demonstrates how strongly traditionalist
the Romans were in matters of religion.
. The effigies were thought to absorb pollution within the area, and their subsequent sacrifice was a ritual purification
of the city. The pontiffs
and Vestals
were the main celebrants. The exact route of the procession
among the stations is unclear.
According to Ovid
, the ritual had been established as a sacrifice to the god Saturn
as the result of a responsum from Jupiter
Fatidicus, the oracle
of Dodona
. But the meaning of the ritual had already become obscure, and Ovid offers an antiquarian
range of explanations. The responsum, delivered even before the founding of Rome
, had actually demanded human sacrifice
, one man for each one of the gentes
(families or clans) living near the banks of the Tiber. This early population was traditionally believed to have been of Greek
origin (Argivi hence Argei), specifically the companions of Evander
and later those of Hercules
who had decided to stay on and live there. Thus one view was that early inhabitants of the area that became Rome had actually practiced human sacrifice, but, Ovid insists, Hercules had put an end to it and it was never a practice of the Romans themselves.
Ovid puts another interpretation in the mouth of Tiber, the god who personified the river. Since these early inhabitants were of Greek origin, he said, they grew homesick in their old age and asked to be buried in the river as a kind of symbolic return to their homeland in death. While this last interpretation appears irreconcilable with the previous, it may be reminiscent of burial practices in water which are attested in many parts of the world among primitive peoples.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus
also explains the ritual in terms of human sacrifice, saying that Tiber was the recipient of these regular offerings. The victims were men over sixty, hence the Roman expression sexagenarios de ponte, "sexagenarians from the bridge."
Alternative modern interpretations include a pre-Imperial
rainmaking
rite, or an annual re-enactment of the execution
by drowning of 27 Greek
war captives.
Archaic
Archaic may refer to a period of time preceding a "classical period":*List of archaeological periods**Archaic Greece**Archaic period in the Americas**Early Dynastic Period of Egypt*Archaic Homo sapiens, people who lived about 300,000 to 30,000 B.P...
religious observances in ancient Rome
Religion in ancient Rome
Religion in ancient Rome encompassed the religious beliefs and cult practices regarded by the Romans as indigenous and central to their identity as a people, as well as the various and many cults imported from other peoples brought under Roman rule. Romans thus offered cult to innumerable deities...
that took place on March 16 and 17 and again on May 14 or 15. By the time of Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
, the meaning of these rituals had become obscure even to those who practiced them. For the May rites, a procession of pontiffs
College of Pontiffs
The College of Pontiffs or Collegium Pontificum was a body of the ancient Roman state whose members were the highest-ranking priests of the polytheistic state religion. The college consisted of the Pontifex Maximus, the Vestal Virgins, the Rex Sacrorum, and the flamines...
, Vestals, and praetor
Praetor
Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, usually in the field, or the named commander before mustering the army; and an elected magistratus assigned varied duties...
s made its way around a circuit of 27 stations (sacella or sacraria
Sacellum
In ancient Roman religion, a sacellum is a small shrine. The word is a diminutive from sacer . The numerous sacella of ancient Rome included both shrines maintained on private properties by families, and public shrines...
), where at each they retrieved a figure fashioned from rush, reed, and straw into human form. After all the stations were visited, the procession moved to the Pons Sublicius
Pons Sublicius
The earliest known bridge of ancient Rome, Italy, the Pons Sublicius, spanned the Tiber River near the Forum Boarium downstream from the Tiber Island, near the foot of the Aventine Hill. According to tradition, its construction was ordered by Ancus Martius around 642 BC, but this date is...
, the oldest known bridge in Rome, where the gathered figures were tossed into the Tiber River.
Both the figures (effigies or simulacra) and the stations or shrines were called Argei, the etymology
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
of which remains undetermined.
The continuation of these rites into the later historical period when they were no longer understood demonstrates how strongly traditionalist
Mos maiorum
The mos maiorum is the unwritten code from which the ancient Romans derived their social norms. It is the core concept of Roman traditionalism, distinguished from but in dynamic complement to written law. The mos maiorum The mos maiorum ("ancestral custom") is the unwritten code from which the...
the Romans were in matters of religion.
Interpretations
Before the ritual commenced, an effigy was placed in each of the 27 (or in some sources 24) shrines of the Argei (sacra Argeorum) throughout the Servian regionsServian Wall
The Servian Wall was a defensive barrier constructed around the city of Rome in the early 4th century BC. The wall was up to 10 metres in height in places, 3.6 metres wide at its base, 11 km long, and is believed to had 16 main gates, though many of these are mentioned only from...
. The effigies were thought to absorb pollution within the area, and their subsequent sacrifice was a ritual purification
Ritual purification
Ritual purification is a feature of many religions. The aim of these rituals is to remove specifically defined uncleanliness prior to a particular type of activity, and especially prior to the worship of a deity...
of the city. The pontiffs
College of Pontiffs
The College of Pontiffs or Collegium Pontificum was a body of the ancient Roman state whose members were the highest-ranking priests of the polytheistic state religion. The college consisted of the Pontifex Maximus, the Vestal Virgins, the Rex Sacrorum, and the flamines...
and Vestals
Vestal
Vestal can refer to:* Pertaining to Vesta , a Roman goddess, the Sacred fire of Vesta, or the Temple of Vesta* Vestal Virgin* Vestal, New York* HMS Vestal, the name of eight ships of the Royal Navy* USS Vestal , ship...
were the main celebrants. The exact route of the procession
Procession
A procession is an organized body of people advancing in a formal or ceremonial manner.-Procession elements:...
among the stations is unclear.
According to Ovid
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...
, the ritual had been established as a sacrifice to the god Saturn
Saturn (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Saturn was a major god presiding over agriculture and the harvest time. His reign was depicted as a Golden Age of abundance and peace by many Roman authors. In medieval times he was known as the Roman god of agriculture, justice and strength. He held a sickle in...
as the result of a responsum from Jupiter
Jupiter (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
Fatidicus, the oracle
Oracle
In Classical Antiquity, an oracle was a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods. As such it is a form of divination....
of Dodona
Dodona
Dodona in Epirus in northwestern Greece, was an oracle devoted to a Mother Goddess identified at other sites with Rhea or Gaia, but here called Dione, who was joined and partly supplanted in historical times by the Greek god Zeus.The shrine of Dodona was regarded as the oldest Hellenic oracle,...
. But the meaning of the ritual had already become obscure, and Ovid offers an antiquarian
Antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...
range of explanations. The responsum, delivered even before the founding of Rome
Founding of Rome
The founding of Rome is reported by many legends, which in recent times are beginning to be supplemented by scientific reconstructions.- Development of the city :...
, had actually demanded human sacrifice
Human sacrifice
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more human beings as part of a religious ritual . Its typology closely parallels the various practices of ritual slaughter of animals and of religious sacrifice in general. Human sacrifice has been practised in various cultures throughout history...
, one man for each one of the gentes
Gens
In ancient Rome, a gens , plural gentes, referred to a family, consisting of all those individuals who shared the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a stirps . The gens was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italy during the...
(families or clans) living near the banks of the Tiber. This early population was traditionally believed to have been of Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
origin (Argivi hence Argei), specifically the companions of Evander
Evander
In Roman mythology, Evander , also spelled Euander, was a deific culture hero from Arcadia, Greece, who brought the Greek pantheon, laws and alphabet to Italy, where he founded the city of Pallantium on the future site of Rome, sixty years...
and later those of Hercules
Hercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
who had decided to stay on and live there. Thus one view was that early inhabitants of the area that became Rome had actually practiced human sacrifice, but, Ovid insists, Hercules had put an end to it and it was never a practice of the Romans themselves.
Ovid puts another interpretation in the mouth of Tiber, the god who personified the river. Since these early inhabitants were of Greek origin, he said, they grew homesick in their old age and asked to be buried in the river as a kind of symbolic return to their homeland in death. While this last interpretation appears irreconcilable with the previous, it may be reminiscent of burial practices in water which are attested in many parts of the world among primitive peoples.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus
Dionysius of Halicarnassus
Dionysius of Halicarnassus was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Caesar Augustus. His literary style was Attistic — imitating Classical Attic Greek in its prime.-Life:...
also explains the ritual in terms of human sacrifice, saying that Tiber was the recipient of these regular offerings. The victims were men over sixty, hence the Roman expression sexagenarios de ponte, "sexagenarians from the bridge."
Alternative modern interpretations include a pre-Imperial
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
rainmaking
Rainmaking
Rainmaking refers to the act of attempting to artificially induce or increase precipitation, usually to stave off drought.In the US, rainmaking was attempted by traveling showmen. It was practiced in the old west but may have reached a peak during the dust bowl drought of the American West and...
rite, or an annual re-enactment of the execution
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
by drowning of 27 Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
war captives.
Further reading
- William Warde FowlerWilliam Warde FowlerWilliam Warde Fowler was an English historian and ornithologist, and tutor at Lincoln College, Oxford. He was best known for his works on ancient Roman religion....
, The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic (London, 1908), pp. 113–120.http://books.google.com/books?id=MB3Ha1nz5SIC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false