of the Roman people more prosperous and extensive” (Val. Max. 4.1.10). Taking
the auspices prior to any public business involved specialized prayers offered wher-
ever the magistrate took his place for observation.
The battlefield had its prayers too. After taking the auspices, the commander offered
vows for the successful outcome of the battle, as he might again if the battle did
not go well. Our sources tell of numerous campaigns when the general prayed to
the patron deities of cities about to be attacked, asking those gods to change sides
(evocatio). Take, for example, Livy’s account of the prayer that Camillus made before
leading troops against the city of Veii: “Queen Juno, who now dwell in Veii, I pray
that you follow us as victors into our city, soon to be yours, where a temple worthy
of your greatness will receive you” (5.21.3). There were also special prayers by which
the commander could devote himself and the enemy troops as sacrificial victims to
the chthonic deities (devotio), as Decius Mus did in war against the Latins: “I con-
secrate the legions and auxiliaries of the enemy together with myself to the divine
dead and the goddess Earth” (Livy 8.9.8). Finally, peace treaties also required sanc-
tioning with sacrifice and prayer that Jupiter punish any violators of their terms.
Each of these many occasions and settings had distinctive paradigms of prayer. As
noted above, the Romans made very careful distinctions among ritual performances:
petition, vow, oath, thanksgiving. Although relatively few extant prayers represent
genuine cultic texts, nevertheless, by analyzing those in combination with literary
versions, we are able to describe fairly well the characteristics of Roman prayer, at
least formal, and its varieties. The following sections treat the varieties of perform-
ance by examining exemplary texts.
Petition
Cato the Elder preserves this prayer for the purification and protection of a farm,
which provides an early model for the structure and wording of a traditional peti-
tionary prayer:Father Mars, I pray and beseech you to be favorable and propitious toward me and my
family and household; wherefore I have ordered this sacrifice of a pig, sheep and bull
to be led around my farm, land and estate, so that you may prohibit, avert, and ward
off diseases seen and unseen, barrenness and devastation, destruction and intemperate
weather, so that you may permit the produce, grains, vines, and bushes to grow large
and flourish, that you may keep safe the shepherds and sheep, and that you may grant
health and wellness to me, my family, and household; wherefore, for the purpose
of purifying and making pure my estate, land and farm, as I have spoken, be honored
with the sacrifice of this suckling pig, sheep, and bull. Father Mars, for this purpose, be
honored with the sacrifice of this suckling pig, sheep, and bull. (Agr.141)A petitionary prayer such as this, a simple request of the gods, is the most com-
mon type in extant sources. In fact, the verb precari, which is typically translated
“to pray,” essentially means “to request” and may refer to requests of humans as
Performing the Sacred 239