Supplicatio
Encyclopedia
Supplicatio in ancient Rome
was a solemn thanksgiving
or supplication to the gods decreed by the senate
: all the temples were opened, and the statues of the gods placed in public upon couches (pulvinaria
) to which the people offered up their thanksgivings and prayers.
A Supplicatio was decreed for two different reasons:
Rome
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...
was a solemn thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
or supplication to the gods decreed by the senate
Roman Senate
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
: all the temples were opened, and the statues of the gods placed in public upon couches (pulvinaria
Pulvinaria
Pulvinaria is a genus of fungi within the class Sordariomycetes. The relationship of this taxon to other taxa within the class is unknown ....
) to which the people offered up their thanksgivings and prayers.
A Supplicatio was decreed for two different reasons:
- As a thanksgiving, when a great victory had been gained: it was usually decreed as soon as official intelligence of the victory had been received by a letter from the general in command. The number of days during which it was to last was proportioned to the importance of the victory. Sometimes it was decreed for only one day but more commonly for three or five days. A supplication of ten days was first decreed in honour of PompeyPompeyGnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
at the conclusion of the war with MithridatesMithridates VI of PontusMithridates VI or Mithradates VI Mithradates , from Old Persian Mithradatha, "gift of Mithra"; 134 BC – 63 BC, also known as Mithradates the Great and Eupator Dionysius, was king of Pontus and Armenia Minor in northern Anatolia from about 120 BC to 63 BC...
and one of fifteen days after the victory over the BelgaeBelgaeThe Belgae were a group of tribes living in northern Gaul, on the west bank of the Rhine, in the 3rd century BC, and later also in Britain, and possibly even Ireland...
by CaesarJulius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
, an honour which Caesar himself says had never been granted to any one before. Subsequently a supplicatio of twenty days was decreed after his conquest of VercingetorixVercingetorixVercingetorix was the chieftain of the Arverni tribe, who united the Gauls in an ultimately unsuccessful revolt against Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars....
. From this time the senate seems to have frequently increased the number of days out of mere compliment to the general. We thus find mention of thanksgivings for forty days, fifty days and even sixty. A supplicatio was usually regarded as a prelude to a triumphRoman triumphThe Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...
but it was not always followed by one, as CatoCato the YoungerMarcus Porcius Cato Uticensis , commonly known as Cato the Younger to distinguish him from his great-grandfather , was a politician and statesman in the late Roman Republic, and a follower of the Stoic philosophy...
reminds CiceroCiceroMarcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
, to whose honour a supplicatio had been decreed. This honour was conferred upon Cicero on account of his suppression of the conspiracy of CatilineCatilineLucius Sergius Catilina , known in English as Catiline, was a Roman politician of the 1st century BC who is best known for the Catiline conspiracy, an attempt to overthrow the Roman Republic, and in particular the power of the aristocratic Senate.-Family background:Catiline was born in 108 BC to...
, which had never been decreed to any one before in a civil capacity (togatus) as he frequently takes occasion to mention.
- A Supplicatio, a solemn supplication and humiliation, was also decreed in times of public danger and distress and on account of prodigies to avert the anger of the gods.