Hi to all,
The Carmen Saeculare of Horace looks a lot like a prayer, but it isn’t exacly like our modern prayers. Did Romans have prayers like ours i.e. in prose?
I’ve heard the rituality connected with the “Rogationes” used by some Christian Denominations is somehow similar to some Pagan rituals that used to be held in Rome. Do we know, for instance, how Romans used to pray during this kind of “religious processions”?
Did Romans have prayers like ours i.e. in prose?
By “ours” I assume you mean Christian. Prayers in the Christian tradition of course vary widely from say prescribed prayers for the Royal family in the Anglican rite to improvised prayers in evangelical churches.
Roman prayers in many ways are quite different from these. The emphasis was on the exact performance of the prayer specified for a particular occasion eg a sacrifice for a God at his temple. If a mistake was made then the whole rite would have been invalid and the sacrifice would have to be repeated. In the Anglican Church if a priest omits or mispronounces a word the prayer would not be regarded as invalid.
Pliny records that:
“We see that our highest magistrates appeal to the gods with set prayers. In order that no word be omitted or spoken out of place, one attendant dictates the prayer in advance from a script, another is assigned to keep a close check on it, and a third is appointed to enforce silence. In addition, a flutist plays so that nothing but the prayer is heard. Remarkable cases of two kinds are recorded, where either ill-omened noises have ruined the ritual or an error has been made in the prayer itself. (Pliny the Elder, Natural History 28.11)”
It’s as well to remember that Roman religion has a long history of over a thousand years and covered a huge geographical space. There were many cults and local practices.
The second volume of Roman religions by Mary Beard, John North and Simon Price is a comprehensive source book. Jörg Rüpke has edited A companion to Roman religion (Blackwell 2008) which gives an extensive overview. Valerie M. Warrior, Roman religion : a sourcebook. The Focus classical sources. Newburyport, MA: Focus Pub./R. Pullins Co, 2002, looks interesting judging by the Bryn Mawr review but I haven’t seen it. The review says it is “compiled for use by non-specialists”, so it might be a good place to start.
Thank you for the answer. I did know the “ecclesia supplet” principle: i.e. in case of mispronunciations as well as a number of other errors, … the organization “supplies”…
There’s a fair amount of words that originated, apparently, from priest’s mispronunciation/mispelling like mumpsimus (sumpsimus, English), busillis (in diebus illis, Italian), sicumera (sicut+erat, Italian).
I didn’t know Romans were so strict when it came to mispelling, though.