vota pro salute aliquiis

7/25/2019 Vota Pro Salute Aliquiis

1/6

merican Philological ssociation

Vota publica pro salute alicuiusAuthor(s): Lloyd W. DalySource: Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 81 (1950),pp. 164-168Published by: The Johns Hopkins University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/283577.

Accessed: 21/11/2014 06:03

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at.http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

American Philological Associationand The Johns Hopkins University Pressare collaborating with JSTOR to

digitize, preserve and extend access to Transactions and Proceedings of the American PhilologicalAssociation.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 193.145.150.119 on Fri, 21 Nov 2014 06:03:34 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=jhuphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/283577?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/283577?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=jhup


2/6

164

Lloyd

W. Daly

[1950

XV.-Vota

publicapro

alute licuius

LLOYD W. DALY

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

In the history

f Roman religion

he taking

of vows in times of

stress,

trouble,

and danger is a feature

as characteristic

s it is

ancient.

Individuals

had always, among

the

Romans as among the

Greeks, ought

to

win

the favorof

theirgods,

when faced

by perils

such as those of

warfare,

hipwreck,

r sickness,by promising

o

make specific fferingsf their prayers hould be heard. The in-

numerable

x-votos

from emplesbear

witness

o the practice.

So

too the

Roman

state,

as

a

corporate ntity, ook

vows

for ts pres-

ervation

from he threats

of

war, plague

and the

like. Such

vota

publica

were also

early taken

pro saluterei publicae

at

five nd ten

year

ntervals

vota

uinquennalia

nd decennalia)

nd

also

annually

on

the

first f

January

when the new magistrates

ook

office.'

Thus, for he

Republic

we know

of privatevows for

he welfare

of individualsand publicvows forthe welfareofthe state,but in

the Empire

the

two

practices

ombine

n

public

vows for

he welfare

of

an individual,

he

emperor.

We first ncounter

uch

vowsamong

the honors

paid

Caesar. Dio

(44.6)

states that

vows were

taken

annually

on

Caesar's behalf.

The practice

did

not become

firmly

established

until the

time of

Augustus.

In the

Res

Gestae

(? 9)

Augustus

reports

hat the

senate decreed

that vows

for

his

health

(valetudo)2

hould

be taken

by

the

consuls

and

priests

very

fourth

year (quinto uoque nno), an observancewhichwas begun n28

B.C.

and

regularly epeated

but not

extended beyondAugustus'

reign.3

Augustus

does

not,

however,

mention he

annual

nuncupatio

otorum

pro

salute mperatoris

hichwas

established pparently

n the

year

30.4

The

taking

and fulfillmentf these

annual

vows was

con-

tinued

beyond Augustus

and becomes

a

commonplace

of the

Acta

1

Cf.

in general

Marquardt-Wissowa,

Romische

Staatsverwaltung

(Leipzig

1885)

3.264-9 and

J. Toutain,

Votum,

DS

5.975.

2

The restoration is probably correct in this detail. While one might expect

salutis

(so Bergk),

the Greek

has

ammnTplav,

nd the well

known

fact

of Augustus'

frail health,

referred

to by

Suetonius

(Aug.

?

81),

could easily

justify

the

use of

valetudinis.

3

Cf. Mommsen,

Res

Gestae,

p.

42.

4

Cf. Mommsen,

CIL

12,

p.

305.

The

date

is based on

Dio

(51.19)

who

reports,

under the

year

30,

that Augustus

was

included

in the

vows

on behalf

of

the people

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/6

Vol. lxxxi]

Vota

publica

pro

salute

alicuius

165

Fratrum

Arvalium

under his successors. Public sentiment

would,

it

seems,

have

been inclined

o

extend

this form f

flattery

o

other

prominent

ut private

individuals,

s in

the case

of

Sejanus- Dio

58.2.8), but thispractice, ike that ofswearingby thegeniusofthe

emperor,

ell

under the law

of

treason.5

These

annual vota

pro

salute

mperatoris

ad,

then,

become con-

ventionaland

routine,

ut

there

were

othervota

publica

which

may

be

described as

extraordinaria.

Such

notably

are

those

recorded

by the Arval Brethren n

occasion

of the

birthday

f

the

emperor

and of

members f the

imperial

family,

r

on

occasion of the em-

peror's

arrival

n

the

city.

Into

this class

fall

the vows taken

for

therecovery f theemperor rom ll health. In thepassage ofthe

Res

Gestae

immediately

following he one

previously

mentioned,

Augustus

reports

sacrificesmade

pro

valetudine

mea,

and

while

those

sacrifices

re not

described

as

votive

they

are

obviously

closely related

if

not identical. We cannot

identify ny

of

the

occasions on

which

such sacrificeswere

made,

but

Augustus

was

ill

frequently'

nough,e.g., at

the time

of

the

dedication of the

temple

of

the deified

Julius

n

29, and

again

at the

celebration

f

the

votive games in 28, so that he was unable to participate n the

ceremonies.6

It must remain

something

f a

question

in

the

case

of

the

Augustan

vows

whether

aletudo

as

any

special

significance

or

whether he

word

is

used in its

neutral

sense

as a

synonym

or.

salus.

There is

a

somewhatclearer

instance of such

vows

taken for

Claudius

as

recorded n an

entry of

the Acta

Fratrum

Arvalium

which

is

dated

between

50 and 54.

There we

read:

Neronem

Clau[dium etc. s]alvom incolumemque on[serveset in reliquom

malae

v]aletudinis

primo

quoque

[tempore

praestes

expertem]. 7

In

the year 54

again,

whenClaudius

was on

his

deathbed,

Tacitus

says8

that the

senatewas

convened

nd thatthe

consuls

and priests

took

vows

pro

incolumitaterincipis.

So

also for

Nero the

Acta

record

under

the

year

66:

propter

[

.........

et

valetludinem

C[aesaris

Augusti

vota

nuncupavit n

C]apitolio. 9

and

the senate,

but

it is not

usually noted

that in

the

statement

which

introduces

this

list of honors, Dio says: Fvb5 -robrc

K

a I

I 7-

* 7rp

6

7r

p

o v.

. .

o'L

k

oTKc

'PWxAuao.

v4-14paOaPTO

KTX.

5

Mommsen,

Staatsrecht

(Leipzig

1888)

2.811.

6

Dio

51.22.9

and

53.1.6.

7

CIL

6.2034;

Henzen, p.

LVIII.

8

Ann.

12.68.

9

CIL

6,2044

g

and

h;

Henzen, p.

LXXXIII.



4/6

166

Lloyd

W. Daly

[1950

In general,

hen,one

gets the impression

hat

vows including

he

name

of

any

individual

are

a phenomenon

eculiar

to the

Empire,

something

losely

allied

to emperorworship,

nd part

of the

ritual

of flattering omp and circumstance hat mushroomed o rapidly

on the

decomposing

oil

of the Republic.

One need

not

necessarily

suspect

the sincerity

fvows

forthehealth

of

Augustus,

but

vows

for he

health

ofNero

in66 are

surely perversion

f whathad

once

been

an honest

formof pious

prayer

for the welfare

of the

state.

Such

epiphenomena

f

the

process

of decline

are worth

nvestigating

in

their

own

right.

The

whole

point

is

that the

beginning

of this perversion

of

publicvows is to be found n thelate yearsoftheRepublic. After

Caesar's

death

the

first

nstance,

to whichattention

eems

not

to

have

been

called

in

this

connection,

s the taking

of public

vows

for the

recovery

of A.

Hirtius.

In

the

seventh

Philippic

(?

12)

Cicero

says

of

Hirtius:

Aequum,

credo,

putavit

vitam,

quam

populi

Romani votis

retinuisset,

ro

libertate

populi

Romani

in

discrimen

dducere.

And

again

in

the tenth

Philippic

(? 16)

he

says of

him:

nondum

ex longinquitate

gravissimi

morbi

recreatus

quidquid habuitvirium, d in eorum ibertatem efendendam on-

tulit,

quorum

votis

iudicavit

se a

morte

revocatum.

That

vows

were taken

forHirtius'

valetudo

r

salus

is clear

from

hese

passages.

Hirtius

had been

seriously

ll

since

the

summer

f

4410

nd

was

not

entirely

ecovered

by the

beginning

f the next

year.

It

might

be

supposed

that

the vows

referred

o

by

Cicero

were

takenon

the

first

f

January

43

as a continuation

f the annual

honor

so paid

to Caesar,

but

it seems rather

unlikely

that,

in the brief

nterval

between the first f Januaryand Hirtius' departureforMutina,

enough

mprovement

n his health

could

have

taken

place

to justify

Cicero's

attribution

f

t to the

effect

f the

vows.

It is much

more

likely,

hen,

that

these

were

vota

extraordinaria

nd

that they

were

taken

sometime

n

the

second

half

of the

year

44.

Ifwe

can

inter-

pret

Cicero's

words

n

the

first

hilippic

(?

37)

as

referring

o

these

vota,

s

I

feel

sure we

must,

then

they

were

taken

before

he begin-

ning

of

September,

n

which

date

that

oration

was delivered.

There

Cicero says:

hoc contemnitis,

uod

sensistis

tam

caram

populo

Romano

vitam

A. Hirti

fuisse? He is comparingthis public

demonstration

n

behalf

of

Hirtius,

whatever

it was,

with

the

applause

for

Brutus

at the

Ludi

Apollinares,

nd sees a it something

10

Cic.

Ear. 12.22.2.

11

Cic.

Phil.

7.12.

Delivered

in

January.

Cf.

Gelzer,

Tullius,

RE

7A

(1939)

1062.



5/6

Vol.

lxxxi]

Vota

publica

pro

salute licujus

167

much

more

mpressive

han the

applause.

The vows

suit

the

situa-

tion

very

well,

and if we

do not

believe

that

it is

the

vows

to

which

Cicero

hererefers, e must

uppose

that therewas some

other

public

demonstration fwhichwe knownothing. The fact that Caesar's

name had

already been

included

n

the

public

vows

would make it

more

natural that

this

should be done for

Hirtius,

and the

hope

that was

at

the time

being

reposed

in

the consul

designate

would

have

lent a

tone

of real

sincerity

o the

prayers

for his

recovery.

There is not,

to my

knowledge,

ny other

or earlier

nstance of

vota

publica

pro

valetudine

licuius at

Rome,

but there

s

a familiar

and

highly

ignificant

ncidentthat

bears

directlyupon

the

origin

of the practice. The occasionwas late in 50 when Pompeywas

sufferingrom

critical

llness

at

Naples. It became

a

rhetorical

commonplace o exclaim

howmuchbetter ff e

would

have been

f

he

had

then

uccumbed

nd notsurvived o

face

defeat nd

ignominious

death.'2

In

any

case, Naples

and

some of

the

surrounding

munici-

palities

put on quite a

show of

public concern for his

recovery.

Cicero

mentions

pecifically

aples

and

Pozzuoli as

well as

oppida;

with Juvenal

it becomes

multae

urbes, nd with

Velleius

universa

Italia. The point is that Cicero tells us explicitlythat public

vows were

made

at this time. 3

His

reaction

to the

display

was

that it was

utterly

nsincere,

silly

business

and

typicallyGreek.'4

Thus we

see that

at this

time twas

outlandish,

f

not unheard

of,

for

respectableRoman to

receive uch

honors.

It was,

of course,

by

no

means

unheardof

that

Greek

states

should

pay

fulsome nd

effusive

onors o

a

Roman

official.

The

votingofpublic

honors o

individuals

was

an

artwhich

the Greeks

had

cultivated

ntensively

at least since the time of Alexander,'5 ut a respectableRoman

sneered at

it,

as

Cicerodid at

the honors

paid

Verresby

the

Syra-

cusans.'6

We

need

not,

however,rely on

any

such

impressions

as

to the

novelty

and

unprecedented

haracterof the

vows

taken

for

Pompey'srecovery

y

the

municipalities

f

Italy.

Dio tellsus

in

unequivocal terms

that this

was the

first ime

anything f

the

sort

had been

done.

So

well

disposed to

him,

says Dio,

were

12

Cic. Tusc.

1.86;

Vell.

2.48;

Sen.

Cons. Marc.

20.4;

Juv.

10.283-5.

A tt.

8.16.1:

municipia

.

. .

de illo aegroto vota faciebant. Cf. Att. 9.5.3 as

well

as

Velleius

and

Juvenal.

14

Tusc.

1.86 and

Aft. 9.5.3.

lb Cf.

Pfister,

Soteria,

RE

3A

(1927)

1221-31

and

the

inscription

cited

there

from

Nesos

recording

the celebration

in

honor of

the

recovery

of

Thersippus

(IG

12.2.645,

.

320

B.C.).

16

Verr.

2.2.154.



6/6

168

Lloyd W.

Daly

[1950

practically

ll

the

municipalities

n Italy that,

when,a short

time

before, hey

heard

thathe was

critically

ll, theytook

public

vows

for his recovery.

That this

was a

great and brilliant

distinction

theyconferred pon himno one could deny,for there s no other

individual,

with the

exception

of

those

who

thereafter

cquired

supreme

power, for

whom

such

an honor

was ever decreed. '17

This sweeping

tatement

eaves

out

of account

the

public

vows at

Rome

forHirtius,

but they

were

obviously

ess

famous.

So too,

in

speaking

of

Hirtius,

Cicerodisregards

ompey.

In the

first

hilip-

pic (? 37)

he

says ofHirtius:

In whose

case do

we recall

such

con-

cern on the

part

of the boni,

such

fear on the

part

of all? Surely

in none. He is thinking nly of thosevows taken at Rome and

can disregard

hose

for

Caesar

because

they

were

annual and

not

extraordinary.

This,

then,

eems to

be the

history f

vota

publicapro

valetudine

(or

salute)

alicuius.

The

municipalities,

ed

by

the Neapolitan

Greeks,

pointed

the

way

with

vows

for

Pompey's

recovery

n 50.

Not

to be outdone,

the Roman

senate

included

Caesar's name

in

the

old

annual

vows

for

the

welfare

of the state.

In 44

public

vows were taken at Rome forthe recovery f Hirtius,the consul

designate.

And

so

we

are

fully

prepared

for

the use of

public

vows

which

we

find

prevalent

under

the

Empire.

The whole

prac-

tice

is

clearly

part

and

parcel

of

the

development

f the

great-man

complex,

which

s so

closely

associated

with the

collapse

of the

Re-

public.

One

has

only

to

compare

the

spirit

n

which

such

honors

as vows

were

then

accepted

with the earlier

humility

f a

Curius

Dentatus

refusing

amnite

gold

in order to

appreciate

Cicero's

feeling hatthevowsforPompey'srecoverywerea typicallyGreek

form

of

flattery

nd

unbecoming

Roman. The

rapidity

with

which

his

feeling

f

contempt

roke

down

may

perhaps

be

measured

to

some

degree

by

the

complacency

with which Cicero

repeatedly

refers o

the

vows

on

behalf

of Hirtius'health

a few

years

ater.'8

17

Dio

41.6.3-4.

Velleius

(2.48),

if

correctly

nterpreted,

also

gives

the

same

infor-

mation.

He says,

Italia

vota

pro

salute

eius,

primi

omnium

civium,

suscepit, '

which

Hainsselin

and

Watelet

properly

translate:

pour

la

premiere

fois

l'Italie

entiere

faire

des

voeux pour

le

salut

d'un

citoyen

(Velleius

Paterculus

et

Florus,

Paris

1932).

18

It must, of course, be remembered that the Tusculan Disputations were written

in

45/4,

and

that different

pinions

expressed

by

Cicero

at

different

imes

on

the

same

subject

are

as apt to represent

his

varying

reaction

to

expediency

as

they

are to

repre-

sent

any

real change

of

mind

or

heart.


vota pro salute aliquiis

Documents