Editing Religion in ancient Rome (section)

==== Animal sacrifice ====
{{further|October Horse|Tauromachy|Taurobolium|Haruspicy}}
The most potent offering was [[animal sacrifice]], typically of domesticated animals such as cattle, sheep and pigs. Each was the best specimen of its kind, cleansed, clad in sacrificial regalia and garlanded; the horns of oxen might be gilded. Sacrifice sought the [[pax deorum|harmonisation of the earthly and divine]], so the victim must seem willing to offer its own life on behalf of the community; it must remain calm and be quickly and cleanly dispatched.<ref>Halm, in Rüpke (ed.), 239.</ref>

Sacrifice to deities of the heavens (''di superi'', "gods above") was performed in daylight, and under the public gaze. Deities of the upper heavens required white, infertile victims of their own sex: [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]] a white heifer (possibly a white cow); [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] a white, castrated ox (''bos mas'') for the annual oath-taking by the [[Roman consul|consuls]]. ''Di superi'' with strong connections to the earth, such as Mars, Janus, Neptune and various ''[[Genius (mythology)|genii]]'' – including the Emperor's – were offered fertile victims. After the sacrifice, a banquet was held; in state cults, the images of honoured deities took pride of place on banqueting couches and by means of the sacrificial fire consumed their proper portion (''[[exta]]'', the innards). Rome's officials and priests reclined in order of precedence alongside and ate the meat; lesser citizens may have had to provide their own.<ref name="Scheid, in Rüpke ed, 263–271">Scheid, in Rüpke (ed.), 263–271.</ref>

[[File:AUGUSTUS RIC I 368-711372.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|[[Denarius]] issued under Augustus, with a bust of Venus on the [[obverse]], and ritual implements on the reverse: clockwise from top right, the augur's staff ''([[lituus]])'', libation bowl ''([[patera]])'', [[sacrificial tripod|tripod]], and ladle ''([[simpulum]])'']]
[[Chthonic]] gods such as [[Dis pater]], the ''[[di inferi]]'' ("gods below"), and the collective shades of the departed ''([[Manes|di Manes]])'' were given dark, fertile victims in nighttime rituals. Animal sacrifice usually took the form of a [[holocaust (sacrifice)|holocaust]] or burnt offering, and there was no shared banquet, as "the living cannot share a meal with the dead".<ref>Though the household Lares do just that, and at least some Romans understood them to be ancestral spirits. Sacrifices to the spirits of deceased mortals are discussed below in [[#Funerals and the afterlife|Funerals and the afterlife]].</ref> [[Ceres (Roman mythology)|Ceres]] and other underworld goddesses of fruitfulness were sometimes offered pregnant female animals; [[Terra (mythology)|Tellus]] was given a pregnant cow at the [[Fordicidia]] festival. Color had a general symbolic value for sacrifices. Demigods and heroes, who belonged to the heavens and the underworld, were sometimes given black-and-white victims. [[Robigo]] (or [[Robigus]]) was given red dogs and libations of red wine at the [[Robigalia]] for the protection of crops from blight and red mildew.<ref name="Scheid, in Rüpke ed, 263–271" />

{{anchor|piaculum}}
A sacrifice might be made in thanksgiving or as an [[expiation]] of a sacrilege or potential sacrilege (''[[:wikt:piaculum|piaculum]]'');<ref>Jörg Rüpke, ''Religion of the Romans'' (Polity Press, 2007, originally published in German 2001), p. 81 [https://books.google.com/books?id=fcsynr0fQIoC&dq=piaculum&pg=PA81 online.]</ref>
a ''piaculum'' might also be offered as a sort of advance payment; the [[Arval Brethren]], for instance, offered a ''piaculum'' before entering their [[sacred grove]] with an iron implement, which was forbidden, as well as after.<ref>[[William Warde Fowler]], ''The Religious Experience of the Roman People'' (London, 1922), p. 191.</ref>
The pig was a common victim for a ''piaculum''.<ref>[[Robert E.A. Palmer]], "The Deconstruction of Mommsen on Festus 462/464 L, or the Hazards of Interpretation", in ''Imperium sine fine: T. Robert S. Broughton and the Roman Republic'' (Franz Steiner, 1996), p. 99, note 129 [https://books.google.com/books?id=wEtE8c1jGY4C&dq=piaculum&pg=PA99 online]; Roger D. Woodard, ''Indo-European Sacred Space: Vedic and Roman Cult'' (University of Illinois Press, 2006), p. 122 [https://books.google.com/books?id=EB4fB0inNYEC&dq=piaculum&pg=PA122 online.] The [[Augustus|Augustan]] historian [[Livy]] (8.9.1–11) says [[Publius Decius Mus (consul 340 BC)|P. Decius Mus]] is "like" a ''piaculum'' when he makes his vow to sacrifice himself in battle (''[[devotio]]'').</ref>

The same divine agencies who caused disease or harm also had the power to avert it, and so might be placated in advance. Divine consideration might be sought to avoid the inconvenient delays of a journey, or encounters with banditry, piracy and shipwreck, with due gratitude to be rendered on safe arrival or return. In times of great crisis, the Senate could decree collective public rites, in which Rome's citizens, including women and children, moved in procession from one temple to the next, supplicating the gods.<ref>Hahn, in Rüpke (ed.), 238.</ref>

Extraordinary circumstances called for extraordinary sacrifice: in one of the many crises of the [[Second Punic War]], Jupiter Capitolinus was promised every animal born that spring (see ''[[ver sacrum]]''), to be rendered after five more years of protection from [[Hannibal]] and his allies.<ref>Beard et al., Vol 1, 32-36.</ref> The "contract" with Jupiter is exceptionally detailed. All due care would be taken of the animals. If any died or were stolen before the scheduled sacrifice, they would count as already sacrificed, since they had already been consecrated. Normally, if the gods failed to keep their side of the bargain, the offered sacrifice would be withheld. In the imperial period, sacrifice was withheld following [[Trajan]]'s death because the gods had not kept the Emperor safe for the stipulated period.<ref>Gradel, 21: but this need not imply sacrifice as a mutual contract, breached in this instance. Evidently the gods had the greater power and freedom of choice in the matter. See Beard et al., 34: "The gods would accept as sufficient exactly what they were offered – no more, no less." Human error in the previous annual vows and sacrifice remains a possibility.</ref> In [[Pompeii]], the ''Genius'' of the living emperor was offered a bull: presumably a standard practise in Imperial cult, though minor offerings (incense and wine) were also made.<ref>Gradel, 78, 93</ref>

{{anchor|Exta}}
The ''exta'' were the entrails of a [[animal sacrifice|sacrificed animal]], comprising in [[Cicero]]'s enumeration the gall bladder (''fel''), liver (''iecur''), heart (''cor''), and lungs (''pulmones'').<ref>Cicero, ''De divinatione'' 2.12.29. According to [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] (''Natural History'' 11.186), before 274 BC the heart was not included among the ''exta''.</ref> The ''exta'' were exposed for [[litatio]] (divine approval) as part of Roman liturgy, but were "read" in the context of the ''[[disciplina Etrusca]]''. As a product of Roman sacrifice, the ''exta'' and blood are reserved for the gods, while the meat ''(viscera)'' is shared among human beings in a communal meal. The ''exta'' of bovine victims were usually stewed in a pot (''[[Olla (Roman pot)|olla]]'' or ''aula''), while those of sheep or pigs were grilled on skewers. When the deity's portion was cooked, it was sprinkled with ''[[mola salsa]]'' (ritually prepared salted flour) and wine, then placed in the fire on the altar for the offering; the technical verb for this action was ''[[:wikt:porricere|porricere]]''.<ref>Robert Schilling, "The Roman Religion", in ''Historia Religionum: Religions of the Past'' (Brill, 1969), vol. 1, pp. 471–472, and "Roman Sacrifice", ''Roman and European Mythologies'' (University of Chicago Press, 1992), p. 79; [[John Scheid]], ''An Introduction to Roman Religion'' (Indiana University Press, 2003, originally published in French 1998), p. 84.</ref>