Editing Religion in ancient Rome (section)

=== Prayers, vows, and oaths ===
All sacrifices and offerings required an accompanying prayer to be effective. [[Pliny the Elder]] declared that "a sacrifice without prayer is thought to be useless and not a proper consultation of the gods."<ref>Pliny, ''Natural History'' 28.10.</ref> Prayer by itself, however, had independent power. The spoken word was thus the single most potent religious action, and knowledge of the correct verbal formulas the key to efficacy.<ref>Halm, in Rüpke (ed.), 235–236 ''et passim''. The Roman belief in the power of the word may be reflected also in the importance of persuasive speech, formally oratory, in political life and the law courts.</ref> Accurate naming was vital for tapping into the desired powers of the deity invoked, hence the proliferation of cult epithets among Roman deities.<ref name="Halm, in Rüpke ed, 241–2">Halm, in Rüpke (ed.), 241–2.</ref> Public prayers (''[[:wikt:prex|prex]]'') were offered loudly and clearly by a priest on behalf of the community. Public religious ritual had to be enacted by specialists and professionals faultlessly; a mistake might require that the action, or even the entire festival, be repeated from the start.<ref>Hahn, in Rüpke (ed.), 239–45.</ref> The historian [[Livy]] reports an occasion when the presiding magistrate at the [[Feriae Latinae|Latin festival]] forgot to include the "Roman people" among the list of beneficiaries in his prayer; the festival had to be started over.<ref>Livy, 41.16.1.</ref> Even private prayer by an individual was formulaic, a recitation rather than a personal expression, though selected by the individual for a particular purpose or occasion.<ref>Hahn, in Rüpke (ed.), 235–6.</ref>

Oaths—sworn for the purposes of business, [[Patronage in ancient Rome|clientage and service, patronage and protection]], state office, treaty and loyalty—appealed to the witness and sanction of deities. Refusal to swear a lawful oath ''([[sacramentum (oath)|sacramentum]])'' and breaking a sworn oath carried much the same penalty: both repudiated the fundamental bonds between the human and divine.<ref name="Halm, in Rüpke ed, 241–2" /> A ''[[votum]]'' or vow was a promise made to a deity, usually an offer of sacrifices or a votive offering in exchange for benefits received.