Hilaria
Encyclopedia
For the saint of this name, see Saints Chrysanthus and Daria
.
In Ancient Roman religious tradition, the hilaria (Greek
: ; Latin
: hilaris, "hilarious") were festivals celebrated on the vernal equinox to honor Cybele
.
The Romans took this feast originally from the Greeks, who called it ΑΝΑΒΑΣΙΣ, q.d. Ascensus: the eve of that day they spent in tears and lamentations, and denominated it ΚΑΤΑΒΑΣΙΣ
, Descensus. Afterwards, the Greeks took the name ΙΛΑΡΙΑ, from the Romans, as appears from Photius's Bibliotheca
, in his codex of the life of the philosopher Isidore of Alexandria
.
The term seems originally to have been a name which was given to any day or season of rejoicing. The hilaria were, therefore, according to Maximus Monachus either private or public. Among the former, he thinks it the day on which a person married, and on which a son was born; among the latter, those days of public rejoicings appointed by a new emperor. Such days were devoted to general rejoicings and public sacrifices, and no one was allowed to show any symptoms of grief or sorrow.
But the Romans also celebrated hilaria, as a feria
stativa, on the 8th day before the Kalends
of April—March 25—in honour of Cybele, the mother of the gods; and it is probably to distinguish these hilaria from those mentioned above, that the Augustan History
calls them Hilaria Matris Deûm. The day of its celebration was the first after the vernal equinox, or the first day of the year which was longer than the night. The winter with its gloom had died, and the first day of a better season was spent in rejoicings. The manner of its celebration during the time of the republic is unknown, except that Valerius Maximus
mentions games in honour of the mother of the gods. Respecting its celebration at the time of the empire, we learn from Herodian
that, among other things, there was a solemn procession, in which the statue of the goddess was carried, and before this statue were carried the most costly specimens of plate and works of art belonging either to wealthy Romans or to the emperors themselves. All kinds of games and amusements were allowed on this day; masquerades were the most prominent among them, and everyone might, in his disguise, imitate whomsoever he liked, and even magistrates.
The hilaria were in reality only the last day of a festival of Cybele
, which commenced on March 22, and was solemnised by the Galli
with various mysterious rites. It must, however, be observed that the hilaria are neither mentioned in the Roman calendar nor in Ovid
's Fasti
.
The full festival can be tentatively reconstructed (with the days of the festival literally translated) as follows:
15 March. 'The Reed Entered'. It's exact significance is uncertain (the reeds may refer to the river bank where Attis
was exposed as a child and rescued by Cybele
.) A nine day period of abstinence from bread, pomegranates, quinces, pork, fish and probably wine began. Only milk was permitted as a drink.
22 March. 'The Tree Entered' (Arbor intrat). A pine tree from a wood sacred to Cybele
is felled following the sacrifice of a ram at its roots. The tree was carried in procession through the city as if in a funeral to the Temple of Cybele on the Palatine Hill.
23 March. A day of mourning.
24 March. 'The Day of Blood' (Sanguis). Frenzied rites including scourging and whipping. Castration
rituals would take place on this day. the tree is symbolically buried.
25 March. 'The Day of Joy' (Hilaria) celebrating the resurrection of Attis
. This was the hilaria proper (as opposed to the mournful tone of the previous days).
26 March. A day of rest.
27 March. 'The Washing' (Lavatio). Added by Marcus Aurelius.
28 March. Possible ceremony at the Vatican sanctuary. Appears in the Calendar of Philocalus.
Herodian
details an assassination plot by Maternus against Emperor Commodus
that was to occur on the hilaria. Maternus planned to disguise himself and his followers as members of the Praetorian Guard
, and proceed among the true members of the Guard, until they were close enough to kill Commodus. However, one of Maternus's followers revealed the plot ahead of time, betraying him because, according to Herodian, his men "preferred a legitimate emperor to a robber tyrant." On the day of hilaria, he was beheaded and his followers punished. The public celebrated the emperor's safety, and Commodus sacrificed to Cybele for protecting him from harm.
According to the Calendar of Philocalus from 354, a Hilaria of Isis was celebrated on November 3.
Saints Chrysanthus and Daria
Saints Chrysanthus and Daria are saints of the Early Christian period. According to legend, Chrysanthus was the only son of an Egyptian patrician, named Polemius or Poleon, who lived during the reign of Numerian. His father moved from Alexandria to Rome. Chrysanthus was educated in the finest...
.
In Ancient Roman religious tradition, the hilaria (Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
: ; Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
: hilaris, "hilarious") were festivals celebrated on the vernal equinox to honor Cybele
Cybele
Cybele , was a Phrygian form of the Earth Mother or Great Mother. As with Greek Gaia , her Minoan equivalent Rhea and some aspects of Demeter, Cybele embodies the fertile Earth...
.
The Romans took this feast originally from the Greeks, who called it ΑΝΑΒΑΣΙΣ, q.d. Ascensus: the eve of that day they spent in tears and lamentations, and denominated it ΚΑΤΑΒΑΣΙΣ
Catabasis
Katabasis, or catabasis, is a descent of some type, such as moving downhill, or the sinking of the winds or sun, a military retreat, or a trip to the underworld or a trip from the interior of a country down to the coast...
, Descensus. Afterwards, the Greeks took the name ΙΛΑΡΙΑ, from the Romans, as appears from Photius's Bibliotheca
Bibliotheca (Photius)
The Bibliotheca or Myriobiblon was a 9th century work of Byzantine Patriarch Photius, dedicated to his brother and composed of 279 reviews of books which he had read. It was not meant to be used as a reference work, but was widely used as such in the 9th century, and is generally seen as the first...
, in his codex of the life of the philosopher Isidore of Alexandria
Isidore of Alexandria
Isidore of Alexandria was an Egyptian or Greek philosopher and one of the last of the Neoplatonists. He lived in Athens and Alexandria toward the end of the 5th century AD. He became head of the school in Athens in succession to Marinus, who followed Proclus.-Life:Isidore was born in Alexandria...
.
The term seems originally to have been a name which was given to any day or season of rejoicing. The hilaria were, therefore, according to Maximus Monachus either private or public. Among the former, he thinks it the day on which a person married, and on which a son was born; among the latter, those days of public rejoicings appointed by a new emperor. Such days were devoted to general rejoicings and public sacrifices, and no one was allowed to show any symptoms of grief or sorrow.
But the Romans also celebrated hilaria, as a feria
Feria
A feria was a day on which the people, especially the slaves, were not obliged to work, and on which there were no court sessions...
stativa, on the 8th day before the Kalends
Kalends
The Calends , correspond to the first days of each month of the Roman calendar. The Romans assigned these calends to the first day of the month, signifying the start of the new moon cycle...
of April—March 25—in honour of Cybele, the mother of the gods; and it is probably to distinguish these hilaria from those mentioned above, that the Augustan History
Augustan History
The Augustan History is a late Roman collection of biographies, in Latin, of the Roman Emperors, their junior colleagues and usurpers of the period 117 to 284...
calls them Hilaria Matris Deûm. The day of its celebration was the first after the vernal equinox, or the first day of the year which was longer than the night. The winter with its gloom had died, and the first day of a better season was spent in rejoicings. The manner of its celebration during the time of the republic is unknown, except that Valerius Maximus
Valerius Maximus
Valerius Maximus was a Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes. He worked during the reign of Tiberius .-Biography:...
mentions games in honour of the mother of the gods. Respecting its celebration at the time of the empire, we learn from Herodian
Herodian
Herodian or Herodianus of Syria was a minor Roman civil servant who wrote a colourful history in Greek titled History of the Empire from the Death of Marcus in eight books covering the years 180 to 238. His work is not entirely reliable although his relatively unbiased account of Elagabalus is...
that, among other things, there was a solemn procession, in which the statue of the goddess was carried, and before this statue were carried the most costly specimens of plate and works of art belonging either to wealthy Romans or to the emperors themselves. All kinds of games and amusements were allowed on this day; masquerades were the most prominent among them, and everyone might, in his disguise, imitate whomsoever he liked, and even magistrates.
The hilaria were in reality only the last day of a festival of Cybele
Cybele
Cybele , was a Phrygian form of the Earth Mother or Great Mother. As with Greek Gaia , her Minoan equivalent Rhea and some aspects of Demeter, Cybele embodies the fertile Earth...
, which commenced on March 22, and was solemnised by the Galli
Galli
A Gallus was a eunuch priest of the Phrygian goddess Cybele, whose worship was incorporated into the state religious practices of ancient Rome.-About the Galli:...
with various mysterious rites. It must, however, be observed that the hilaria are neither mentioned in the Roman calendar nor in 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...
's Fasti
Fasti
In ancient Rome, the fasti were chronological or calendar-based lists, or other diachronic records or plans of official and religiously sanctioned events...
.
The full festival can be tentatively reconstructed (with the days of the festival literally translated) as follows:
15 March. 'The Reed Entered'. It's exact significance is uncertain (the reeds may refer to the river bank where Attis
Attis
Attis was the consort of Cybele in Phrygian and Greek mythology. His priests were eunuchs, as explained by origin myths pertaining to Attis and castration...
was exposed as a child and rescued by Cybele
Cybele
Cybele , was a Phrygian form of the Earth Mother or Great Mother. As with Greek Gaia , her Minoan equivalent Rhea and some aspects of Demeter, Cybele embodies the fertile Earth...
.) A nine day period of abstinence from bread, pomegranates, quinces, pork, fish and probably wine began. Only milk was permitted as a drink.
22 March. 'The Tree Entered' (Arbor intrat). A pine tree from a wood sacred to Cybele
Cybele
Cybele , was a Phrygian form of the Earth Mother or Great Mother. As with Greek Gaia , her Minoan equivalent Rhea and some aspects of Demeter, Cybele embodies the fertile Earth...
is felled following the sacrifice of a ram at its roots. The tree was carried in procession through the city as if in a funeral to the Temple of Cybele on the Palatine Hill.
23 March. A day of mourning.
24 March. 'The Day of Blood' (Sanguis). Frenzied rites including scourging and whipping. Castration
Castration
Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which a male loses the functions of the testicles or a female loses the functions of the ovaries.-Humans:...
rituals would take place on this day. the tree is symbolically buried.
25 March. 'The Day of Joy' (Hilaria) celebrating the resurrection of Attis
Attis
Attis was the consort of Cybele in Phrygian and Greek mythology. His priests were eunuchs, as explained by origin myths pertaining to Attis and castration...
. This was the hilaria proper (as opposed to the mournful tone of the previous days).
26 March. A day of rest.
27 March. 'The Washing' (Lavatio). Added by Marcus Aurelius.
28 March. Possible ceremony at the Vatican sanctuary. Appears in the Calendar of Philocalus.
Herodian
Herodian
Herodian or Herodianus of Syria was a minor Roman civil servant who wrote a colourful history in Greek titled History of the Empire from the Death of Marcus in eight books covering the years 180 to 238. His work is not entirely reliable although his relatively unbiased account of Elagabalus is...
details an assassination plot by Maternus against Emperor Commodus
Commodus
Commodus , was Roman Emperor from 180 to 192. He also ruled as co-emperor with his father Marcus Aurelius from 177 until his father's death in 180. His name changed throughout his reign; see changes of name for earlier and later forms. His accession as emperor was the first time a son had succeeded...
that was to occur on the hilaria. Maternus planned to disguise himself and his followers as members of the Praetorian Guard
Praetorian Guard
The Praetorian Guard was a force of bodyguards used by Roman Emperors. The title was already used during the Roman Republic for the guards of Roman generals, at least since the rise to prominence of the Scipio family around 275 BC...
, and proceed among the true members of the Guard, until they were close enough to kill Commodus. However, one of Maternus's followers revealed the plot ahead of time, betraying him because, according to Herodian, his men "preferred a legitimate emperor to a robber tyrant." On the day of hilaria, he was beheaded and his followers punished. The public celebrated the emperor's safety, and Commodus sacrificed to Cybele for protecting him from harm.
According to the Calendar of Philocalus from 354, a Hilaria of Isis was celebrated on November 3.