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.(Valerius 3.3.1)I believe that he hated his right arm because he had failed to useit in killing the king, and consequently, thrusting it into the sacri-ficial flame, suffered it to be burnt up.The gods accept and gaze greedily upon this ritual substitution, pleased, thereader gathers, indeed with Mucius worship: The immortal gods certainlygazed with more eager eyes upon no other offering brought to their altars (nullum profecto di inmortales admotum aris cultum adtentioribus oculis uiderunt;3.3.1).Readers may observe an analogous reaction in Porsenna, whose desirefor revenge melts into astonished respect.Mucius pious intent (piumpropositum) also earns him eternal glory in the name Scaevola, Lefty (aeternaegloriae cognomine).The vocabulary of sacrifice is incorporated even when not strictly relevantto descriptions of the aborted ritual.Had Porsenna finished his sacrifice,haruspices might have examined the animals entrails in order to determinenot only whether or not the gods had accepted the offering, but also whether125 RITUAL VOCABULARY AND MORAL IMPERATIVESor not prospects were happy or sad, that is, good or bad.The standard Latinterms are laetus and tristis.Divination was of course a standard component ofancient sacrifice.Returning to Porsenna s sacrifice, a (pious) Roman usurpersubstitutes his own arm upon the altar.The gods are present.They pay veryclose attention.Is there an omen? Attention to the language of sacrificereveals an omen in the rhetoric of Valerius:Mucius tristior Porsennae salute quam sua laetior urbi se cumaeternae gloriae cognomine Scaeuolae reddidit.(Valerius 3.3.1)Mucius sadder in Porsenna s safety than happier in his own betookhimself to the city with a nickname of eternal glory: Lefty. Valerius uses the language of sacrificial divination to conclude his anecdotewith glorious lessons for all time.Such deployment of religion is not merelyrhetorical, but integral to a world view where gods observe human actions,and foster approved behaviors (which in Valerius correspond to state-sanc-tioned conduct).Valerius can also use ritual scenes as a context and background againstwhich the moral of an action can be contrasted.In depicting vice, scenes ofpious sacrifice can be used ironically as rhetorical commentary.Creditors, forexample, kill an urban praetor for his efforts on behalf of debtors.Themurderous tribune acting on the creditors behalf contrasts unfavorably withthe religiosity of the humane praetor:[Creditores Sempronium Asellionem praetorem urbanum], quiacausam debitorum susceperat, concitati a L.Cassio tribuno pl.proaede Concordiae sacrificium facientem ab ipsis altaribus fugere extraforum coactum inque tabernula latitantem praetextatum discer-pserunt.(Valerius 9.7.4)Because Sempronius Asellio had taken up the cause of the debtors,the bankers, urged on by Lucius Cassius, tribune of the people,attacked the urban praetor while he was performing a sacrificebefore the shrine of Social Harmony (pro aede Concordiae), compelledhim to flee from the very altars past the forum, and, catching himhiding in a common tavern, they tore him to pieces, still wearinghis magisterial robes.That the lawless crowd should find their victim at the shrine of SocialHarmony (aedes Concordiae) magnifies the irony, while the flight of themagistrate to a tavern and his slaughter there compounds the moral degra-126 RITUAL VOCABULARY AND MORAL IMPERATIVESdation, again, by way of contrast to pious sacrifice before a god s temple.Circumstantial narrative details matter.Of course, impious sacrifice was ofmore than merely narrative concern; the Tiberian senate of Valerius daycondemned in its official decree the sacrifices contrary to divine law (nefaria sacrificia) performed by the alleged assassin of Germanicus (s.c.de Cn.Pisone patre 62 3).For Valerius, sacrifice surely remained both religious andpolitical.Valerius describes another political murder as a grotesque parody of anaborted sacrifice: corrupted soldiers attacked [their appointed general whenhe was] beginning a sacrifice, and they slaughtered him in the manner of asacrificial victim (corrupti milites sacrificare incipientem adorti in modum hostiaemactarunt; 9.7.mil.rom.2).Valerius terms this murder by sacrifice a horriblecrime (tantum scelus), and goes on in the subsequent anecdote to term anarmy that, rather than submit to military discipline, kills its general, wickedly violent (nefarie uiolentus); their morals (mores) are depraved (prauos) and foul (taetros; 9.7.mil.rom.3).The juxtaposition of this secondarmy with the preceding army s impious sacrifice provides a religiouscontext for moral judgment.Valerian rhetoric implies that military disci-pline and sacrifice form a continuity opposed to lawlessness.Religion, ritual,virtuous discipline therefore all stand on the side of order.The funeral of Caesar leads to the lynching of Gaius Helvius Cinna, whom,while he is on his way home, an angry mob mistakes for the conspirator,Cornelius Cinna [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.(Valerius 3.3.1)I believe that he hated his right arm because he had failed to useit in killing the king, and consequently, thrusting it into the sacri-ficial flame, suffered it to be burnt up.The gods accept and gaze greedily upon this ritual substitution, pleased, thereader gathers, indeed with Mucius worship: The immortal gods certainlygazed with more eager eyes upon no other offering brought to their altars (nullum profecto di inmortales admotum aris cultum adtentioribus oculis uiderunt;3.3.1).Readers may observe an analogous reaction in Porsenna, whose desirefor revenge melts into astonished respect.Mucius pious intent (piumpropositum) also earns him eternal glory in the name Scaevola, Lefty (aeternaegloriae cognomine).The vocabulary of sacrifice is incorporated even when not strictly relevantto descriptions of the aborted ritual.Had Porsenna finished his sacrifice,haruspices might have examined the animals entrails in order to determinenot only whether or not the gods had accepted the offering, but also whether125 RITUAL VOCABULARY AND MORAL IMPERATIVESor not prospects were happy or sad, that is, good or bad.The standard Latinterms are laetus and tristis.Divination was of course a standard component ofancient sacrifice.Returning to Porsenna s sacrifice, a (pious) Roman usurpersubstitutes his own arm upon the altar.The gods are present.They pay veryclose attention.Is there an omen? Attention to the language of sacrificereveals an omen in the rhetoric of Valerius:Mucius tristior Porsennae salute quam sua laetior urbi se cumaeternae gloriae cognomine Scaeuolae reddidit.(Valerius 3.3.1)Mucius sadder in Porsenna s safety than happier in his own betookhimself to the city with a nickname of eternal glory: Lefty. Valerius uses the language of sacrificial divination to conclude his anecdotewith glorious lessons for all time.Such deployment of religion is not merelyrhetorical, but integral to a world view where gods observe human actions,and foster approved behaviors (which in Valerius correspond to state-sanc-tioned conduct).Valerius can also use ritual scenes as a context and background againstwhich the moral of an action can be contrasted.In depicting vice, scenes ofpious sacrifice can be used ironically as rhetorical commentary.Creditors, forexample, kill an urban praetor for his efforts on behalf of debtors.Themurderous tribune acting on the creditors behalf contrasts unfavorably withthe religiosity of the humane praetor:[Creditores Sempronium Asellionem praetorem urbanum], quiacausam debitorum susceperat, concitati a L.Cassio tribuno pl.proaede Concordiae sacrificium facientem ab ipsis altaribus fugere extraforum coactum inque tabernula latitantem praetextatum discer-pserunt.(Valerius 9.7.4)Because Sempronius Asellio had taken up the cause of the debtors,the bankers, urged on by Lucius Cassius, tribune of the people,attacked the urban praetor while he was performing a sacrificebefore the shrine of Social Harmony (pro aede Concordiae), compelledhim to flee from the very altars past the forum, and, catching himhiding in a common tavern, they tore him to pieces, still wearinghis magisterial robes.That the lawless crowd should find their victim at the shrine of SocialHarmony (aedes Concordiae) magnifies the irony, while the flight of themagistrate to a tavern and his slaughter there compounds the moral degra-126 RITUAL VOCABULARY AND MORAL IMPERATIVESdation, again, by way of contrast to pious sacrifice before a god s temple.Circumstantial narrative details matter.Of course, impious sacrifice was ofmore than merely narrative concern; the Tiberian senate of Valerius daycondemned in its official decree the sacrifices contrary to divine law (nefaria sacrificia) performed by the alleged assassin of Germanicus (s.c.de Cn.Pisone patre 62 3).For Valerius, sacrifice surely remained both religious andpolitical.Valerius describes another political murder as a grotesque parody of anaborted sacrifice: corrupted soldiers attacked [their appointed general whenhe was] beginning a sacrifice, and they slaughtered him in the manner of asacrificial victim (corrupti milites sacrificare incipientem adorti in modum hostiaemactarunt; 9.7.mil.rom.2).Valerius terms this murder by sacrifice a horriblecrime (tantum scelus), and goes on in the subsequent anecdote to term anarmy that, rather than submit to military discipline, kills its general, wickedly violent (nefarie uiolentus); their morals (mores) are depraved (prauos) and foul (taetros; 9.7.mil.rom.3).The juxtaposition of this secondarmy with the preceding army s impious sacrifice provides a religiouscontext for moral judgment.Valerian rhetoric implies that military disci-pline and sacrifice form a continuity opposed to lawlessness.Religion, ritual,virtuous discipline therefore all stand on the side of order.The funeral of Caesar leads to the lynching of Gaius Helvius Cinna, whom,while he is on his way home, an angry mob mistakes for the conspirator,Cornelius Cinna [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]