Rediculus
Encyclopedia
Rediculus was an ancient Roman divinity
. He had a temple near the Porta Capena
, as well as a campus sacred to him on the Appian Way
.
's lares
, a protector-god of the city. He is said to have appeared to Hannibal as he was camped outside Rome in 211 B.C., urging him to return (redire) to Carthage
. Festus
' account of the incident reports that Hannibal, nearing the city, saw apparitions in the air, filling him with dread and causing him to turn back immediately:
One account has the god's entreaty taking the form of a shower of hail
. After Hannibal's retreat, the Romans erected an altar at the site to "Rediculus Tutanus", the god "who turned back and protected".
Others derive the name of the god from the word ridiculus, signifying a thing to be laughed at. Hannibal's failure to enter Rome made him an object of scorn for the Romans, and in order to perpetuate his shame, they erected a temple to the god of laughter. Varro
give the god the epithet Tutanus (protector), having him speak in his Saturae Menippeae (Hercules tuam fidem, XXXIX):
Other authors, such as Robert Burn, claim that this legend is "altogether unworthy of credit". Some contend that the god was simply a god of safe return for journeys. In any case, it is undeniable that travelers leaving the city would pray at the temple before embarking on the Appian Way.
, has been confused with the Temple of Rediculus; the temple, however, is described by Pliny
as having been on the opposite side of the Appian Way. The temple was dedicated in about A.D. 65.
Curiously, there was a tomb in the campus Rediculi (field of Rediculus) dedicated to a famous talking crow. Pliny the Elder
gives the story in his Natural History (Book X, chapter 60): A cobbler had a stall in the Roman Forum
and possessed a tame crow who, being a favorite among the younger Romans, eventually became a sort of public character. When it was killed by a rival of the cobbler, they executed the rival and gave the bird a public funeral, carrying it on a bier to its burial place in the field of Rediculus.
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...
. He had a temple near the Porta Capena
Porta Capena
The Porta Capena was a gate in the Servian Wall near the Caelian Hill, in Rome, Italy according to Roman tradition the sacred grove where Numa Pompilius and the nymph Egeria used to meet. It was one of the main entries to the city of Rome, since it opened on the Appian Way...
, as well as a campus sacred to him on the Appian Way
Appian Way
The Appian Way was one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, Apulia, in southeast Italy...
.
Origins and nature
This divinity was probably one of RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
's lares
Lares
Lares , archaically Lases, were guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries or fruitfulness, hero-ancestors, or an amalgam of these....
, a protector-god of the city. He is said to have appeared to Hannibal as he was camped outside Rome in 211 B.C., urging him to return (redire) to Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
. Festus
Festus (historian)
Festus was a Late Roman historian whose breviary was commissioned by the emperor Valens in preparation for war against Persia....
' account of the incident reports that Hannibal, nearing the city, saw apparitions in the air, filling him with dread and causing him to turn back immediately:
Rediculi fanum extra portam Capenam fuit, quia accedens ad Urbem Hannibal ex eo loco redierit quibusdam perterritus visis.The [temple] of Rediculus was [outside] the Porta Capena; it was so called because Hannibal, when on the march from Capua, turned back at that spot, being alarmed at certain portentous visions.
One account has the god's entreaty taking the form of a shower of hail
Hail
Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is referred to as a hail stone. Hail stones on Earth consist mostly of water ice and measure between and in diameter, with the larger stones coming from severe thunderstorms...
. After Hannibal's retreat, the Romans erected an altar at the site to "Rediculus Tutanus", the god "who turned back and protected".
Others derive the name of the god from the word ridiculus, signifying a thing to be laughed at. Hannibal's failure to enter Rome made him an object of scorn for the Romans, and in order to perpetuate his shame, they erected a temple to the god of laughter. Varro
Marcus Terentius Varro
Marcus Terentius Varro was an ancient Roman scholar and writer. He is sometimes called Varro Reatinus to distinguish him from his younger contemporary Varro Atacinus.-Biography:...
give the god the epithet Tutanus (protector), having him speak in his Saturae Menippeae (Hercules tuam fidem, XXXIX):
Noctu Hannibalis cum fugavi exercitum,
Tutanus hoc, Tutanus Romae nuncupor.
Hoc propter omnes, qui laborant, invocant.When in the night great Hannibal I beat,
And forc'd his troops from Latium to retreat,
From my defense, Tutanus was my name:
By this the wretched my protection claim.
Other authors, such as Robert Burn, claim that this legend is "altogether unworthy of credit". Some contend that the god was simply a god of safe return for journeys. In any case, it is undeniable that travelers leaving the city would pray at the temple before embarking on the Appian Way.
Temple and campus
The Tomb of Herodes and Regilla, near the Church of Domine Quo VadisChurch of Domine Quo Vadis
The Church of St Mary in Palmis , better known as Chiesa del Domine Quo Vadis, is a small church southeast of Rome, central Italy. It is located about some 800 m from Porta San Sebastiano, where the Via Ardeatina branches off the Appian Way, on the site where, according to the legend, Saint...
, has been confused with the Temple of Rediculus; the temple, however, is described by Pliny
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
as having been on the opposite side of the Appian Way. The temple was dedicated in about A.D. 65.
Curiously, there was a tomb in the campus Rediculi (field of Rediculus) dedicated to a famous talking crow. Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
gives the story in his Natural History (Book X, chapter 60): A cobbler had a stall in the Roman Forum
Roman Forum
The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum...
and possessed a tame crow who, being a favorite among the younger Romans, eventually became a sort of public character. When it was killed by a rival of the cobbler, they executed the rival and gave the bird a public funeral, carrying it on a bier to its burial place in the field of Rediculus.