Like Cato’s prayer for purification and protection of a farm, this prayer opens with
an invocation, here to the chief god of the Roman state. The petition for the wel-
fare of the imperial household, which constitutes the primary objective of the prayer,
is stated in the form of a series of conditional clauses. Each of these is a repetition
of the basic request for health and safety, expressed in different ways and accord-
ingly similar to the references in Cato’s prayer to the different aspects of the pros-
perous operation of an estate. What characterizes this prayer as a vow is the inclusion
of a promise to make a sacrifice to Jupiter in the future if the petition is favorably
answered. By contrast, Cato’s prayer refers only to the sacrifice that accompanies the
prayer. A striking addition to this imperial prayer is the phrase “we intend,” repeated
in two variants, which calls attention to the speaker’s interest in avoiding possible
misunderstandings caused by a poor choice of words. A similar concern for preci-
sion appears in the careful specification of the temporal framework of the petition
and in the naming of the Roman people. Particularly noteworthy is the addition of
the phrase “or in a better state,” so as not to restrict the possible blessings of the god.
In both of these petitionary prayers there is throughout a sense of religious
anxiety before the dangerous powers of the gods, who brought both good and evil.
Further evidence of that worry appears in the cautionary formulae frequently appear-
ing at the conclusion of a vow and detailing the conditions under which the vow
would be considered fulfilled. The petitioner would name various situations that might
potentially invalidate the discharge of the vow and declare that these factors would
not affect the validity of the vow’s fulfillment. In this way, a traditional prayer for
the self-sacrifice of a commander concludes with the words “at that time whoever
should accomplish this vow and wherever, let it be properly done with three black
sheep” (Macr. Sat.3.9.11).
Oath
Livy offers a vivid description of the ritual for ratifying a treaty in his description of
the preparations between Rome and Alba Longa before the battle of triplet warriors:
Then after the terms had been read aloud, [the pater patratus] said: “Hear Jupiter; hear
pater patratusof the Alban people; hear you Alban people. Just as those words have
been recited publicly from first to last from those tablets of wax without evil intent and
just as they have been here today most correctly understood, the Roman people will
not be the first to violate those terms. If they will have violated them first with evil
intent and official deliberation, then on that day, Jupiter, may you strike the Roman
people, as I here today strike this pig; and may you strike them with as much greater
force as you are able and powerful.” (1.24.6 – 8)This passage illustrates another important variant of petitionary prayer, the oath,
a prayer requesting that a divine power witness a statement or action and (usually)
inflict a punishment on the party who lies or misbehaves – supplementing the inca-
pability of the human parties to immediately test the truth or effectively sanction the
failure of a promise. This form of prayer appears in a wide variety of contexts, not
Performing the Sacred 241