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Altar of Consus

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The Altar of Consus (Latin: Ara Consi) was an ancient Roman altar dedicated to the gods Consus and Mars, as well as the lares, which were ancient Roman household guardians. It was located beneath the Circus Maximus.[1][2] The altar may have also served as the first turning post of the Circus Maximus.[3][4][5] It is possible the subterranean location of this altar is connected to the Roman practice of storing wheat underground[6][7] and specifically paralleled by the ancient mundus of Ceres supposedly instituted by Romulus at the founding of the city.[8] This is in turn associated with the modern interpretation of Consus as an agrarian deity.[9] Dionysus of Halicarnassus wrote that some ancient Romans believed the altar was located underground because they thought that the god Consus corresponded to Poseidon, who was also a god of earthquakes. He also claims that other Romans believed that the altar was dedicated to an unamenable god who presided over hidden councils.[9][10][11] This explanation is associated with the ancient connections between Consus and secrecy and hidden councils.[9][12] Tacitus mentions the altar as a landmark of his conjectural reconstruction of the pomerium,[13] the sacred border of the city of Rome proper, as originally established by Romulus's sulcus primigenius.[14][15]

Location of the Altar of Consus in the city of Rome. The altar is highlighted in red.

The site was covered for most of the year, although it was uncovered during religious occasions for sacrifices and rituals.[16][10][17] Roman author Tertullian stated that public priests made sacrifices at the altar on 7 July during the Caprotinia.[15] He also wrote that the Flamen Quirinalis and a group of virgins, potentially the Vestal Virgins, made sacrifices at the altar on 21 August.[18][19][20] This was in celebration of the Consualia,[21] a Roman holiday which honored Consus. As part of this holiday,[22] games commemorating the Rape of the Sabine Women were held at this altar.[23][24][25]

Tertullian wrote that it bore an inscription which read:[26][27]

Consus consilio, Mars duello, Lares coillo potentes

This translates to:

Consus is mighty in counsel, Mars in war, the Lares in coillo

This inscription may not be authentically archaic. Many modern scholars are critical of the potential etymological link between Consus and consilium, the Latin word for counsel.[28][29] The German classical philologist Georg Wissowa argued that in a genuine ancient inscription from this time period the names of the gods would be expected to be in the dative case, not in the nominative, which is the case used in the inscription.[9] Theodor Mommsen, a German classical scholar, believed that Tertullian may have incorrectly transcribed the Latin words coitu or cubiclo when he utilized the word coillo.[29] Alternatively, it may have been a transcription of the Greek word for the Lacus Curtius.[30] Coillo could possibly be a synonym of Compito.[27] The Latin word compito means crossroads, and the Lares were frequently worshipped at these crossroads. Similarly, consilio has been theorized to be a misreading of consivio, meaning "gathering of the harvest." This theory has been criticized for being unsupported by Tertullian, who appears to have directly derived the word consilio from his source.[31]

References

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  1. ^ Daly, Kathleen N.; Rengel, Marian (1 January 2004). Greek & Roman Mythology A-Z. Infobase Publishing. p. 32. ISBN 978-1-4381-1992-2.
  2. ^ Saunders, Catharine (1913). "The Site of Dramatic Performances at Rome in the Times of Plautus and Terence" (PDF). Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association. 44: 87–97. doi:10.2307/282545. ISSN 0065-9711. JSTOR 282545. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 November 2023.
  3. ^ Mahoney, Anne (1 January 2001). Roman Sports and Spectacles: A Sourcebook. Hackett Publishing. pp. 7–8. ISBN 978-1-58510-606-6.
  4. ^ Christesen, Paul; Stocking, Charles H. (31 August 2022). A Cultural History of Sport in Antiquity. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 58. ISBN 978-1-350-28295-7.
  5. ^ Holden, Antonia (1 January 2008). "The Abduction of the Sabine Women in Context: The Iconography on Late Antique Contorniate Medallions". American Journal of Archaeology. 112 (1): 121–142. doi:10.3764/aja.112.1.121. ISSN 0002-9114. S2CID 162253485.
  6. ^ Phillips, C. Robert (22 December 2015), "Consus", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.1798, ISBN 978-0-19-938113-5, retrieved 23 November 2023
  7. ^ Georg Wissowa (1912). Religion und Kultus der Römer (in German) (2nd ed.). pp. 201–204.
  8. ^ Fowler, W. Warde (1912). "Mundus Patet. 24th August, 5th October, 8th November". The Journal of Roman Studies. 2: 25–33. doi:10.2307/295939. ISSN 1753-528X. JSTOR 295939. S2CID 163222877.
  9. ^ a b c d Miano, Daniele (2015). "The Goddess Ops in Archaic Rome" (PDF). Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies. 58 (1): 98–127. doi:10.1111/j.2041-5370.2015.12005.x. ISSN 0076-0730. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 April 2022.
  10. ^ a b Dionysus. Roman Antiquities. II. 31
  11. ^ Lee-Stecum, Parshia (1 January 2010), "Mendacia Maiorum: Tales Of Deceit In Pre-Republican Rome", Private and Public Lies, Brill, pp. 254–257, ISBN 978-90-04-18883-9, retrieved 23 November 2023
  12. ^ Maurus Servius Honoratus. In Vergilii Aeneidem commentarii [Commentary on Virgil's Aeneid]. 8.636. Consus autem deus est consiliorum.
  13. ^ Tacitus. Annals. XII. 24
  14. ^ Orlin, Eric M. (2002). "Foreign Cults in Republican Rome: Rethinking the Pomerial Rule". Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome. 47: 10. doi:10.2307/4238789. ISSN 0065-6801. JSTOR 4238789 – via JSTOR.
  15. ^ a b Flower, Harriet I. (26 September 2017). The Dancing Lares and the Serpent in the Garden: Religion at the Roman Street Corner. Princeton University Press. pp. 112–114. ISBN 978-1-4008-8801-6.
  16. ^ Platner, Samuel Ball (21 May 2015). A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Cambridge University Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-1-108-08324-9.
  17. ^ Zaleski, John (11 November 2013), Christesen, Paul; Kyle, Donald G. (eds.), "Religion and Roman Spectacle", A Companion to Sport and Spectacle in Greek and Roman Antiquity (1 ed.), Wiley, p. 596, doi:10.1002/9781118609965.ch40, ISBN 978-1-4443-3952-9, retrieved 23 November 2023
  18. ^ DiLuzio, Meghan J. (28 April 2020). A Place at the Altar: Priestesses in Republican Rome. Princeton University Press. pp. 60–62. ISBN 978-0-691-20232-7.
  19. ^ Michels, Agnes K. (1990). "ROMAN FESTIVALS: July - September". The Classical Outlook. 67 (4): 115. ISSN 0009-8361. JSTOR 43936677 – via JSTOR.
  20. ^ Michels, Agnes K. (1990). "ROMAN FESTIVALS: October—December". The Classical Outlook. 68 (1): 11–12. ISSN 0009-8361. JSTOR 43919166 – via JSTOR.
  21. ^ Belayche, Nicole (1 January 2004), "Pagan Festivals in Fourth-Century Gaza", Christian Gaza in Late Antiquity, Brill, pp. 10–11, ISBN 978-90-474-0541-2, retrieved 23 November 2023
  22. ^ Middleton, John Henry (1892). The Remains of Ancient Rome. A. and C. Black. p. 41.
  23. ^ Ovid (5 March 2015). Fastorum libri sex [The Fasti of Ovid: Commentary on Books 3 and 4] (in Latin). Vol. 3. Translated by Frazer, James. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-08248-8.
  24. ^ Hölscher, Tonio (22 June 2018). Visual Power in Ancient Greece and Rome: Between Art and Social Reality. University of California Press. p. 127. ISBN 978-0-520-96788-5.
  25. ^ Varro, Marcus (1938). De Lingua Latina [On the Latin language] (in Latin). Translated by Kent, Roland Grubb. London : W. Heinemann. LCCN 38021516. OCLC 848014271. OL 6373636M.
  26. ^ Tertullian (1931). De spectaculis [On the Spectacles] (in Latin). Translated by Glover, Terrot; Rendall, Gerald. London Heinemann. p. 246. OCLC 1040001141. OL 23278382M.
  27. ^ a b Liddel, Peter Philip; Low, Polly (26 September 2013). Inscriptions and Their Uses in Greek and Latin Literature. OUP Oxford. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-19-966574-7.
  28. ^ Noonan, J. D. (1990). "Livy 1.9.6: The Rape at the Consualia". The Classical World. 83 (6): 496. doi:10.2307/4350674. ISSN 0009-8418. JSTOR 4350674 – via JSTOR.
  29. ^ a b Johnson, Van L. (1967). "Agonia, Indigetes, and the Breeding of Sheep and Goats". Latomus. 26 (2): 335. ISSN 0023-8856. JSTOR 41525221 – via JSTOR.
  30. ^ Dušanić, Slobodan; Petković, Žarko (2002). "The Flamen Quirinalis at the Consualia and the Horseman of the Lacus Curtius". Aevum. 76 (1): 64. ISSN 0001-9593. JSTOR 20861291 – via JSTOR.
  31. ^ Tertullian (2010). Disciplinary, Moral, and Ascetical Works. CUA Press. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-8132-1140-4.
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