We know that the cult worship of Syrian gods involved sacrifices, but we do not
know how these were performed. In light of certain religious regulations, we might
suppose that they included rules for particular levels of purity. Judging from the equip-
ment found in cult spaces sacred to Isis, it appears that sacrifice was performed there
too. We also know of libations of water and offerings of incense. But the details of
the services are largely unknown. In the case of all the cults imported to Rome, the
processions and spectacular rituals of ecstasisand self-mutilation are better attested
in the sources than the sacrificial rites are, most probably because these practices did
not deviate to any great extent from the traditional Roman sacrifices.
Human sacrifice is not entirely unheard of in Rome. As part of a ritual repeated
several times in the course of the last two centuries of the republic, Roman author-
ities offered to the gods of the Underworld representatives of the enemies of the
Roman people: a pair of Greeks and a pair of Gauls, who were buried alive. It was
in a similar manner that Romans solemnly dedicated besieged towns to the gods of
the Underworld, or even, in the private sphere, with the rituals of defixio, their per-
sonal enemies. These examples clearly show that, on occasion, the Romans resorted
to human sacrifice in order to shift the balance in the relationship between mortals
and immortals, by granting to the latter absolute power over other mortals.
Great sacrificial liturgies often concluded with games (ludi), either theatrical
performances or circus races, which often bore the name of the festival. And so the
Roman Games or the Plebeian Games were in fact the conclusion to the Epulum
Iovis. According to the sources, the epulumof Jupiter was preceded by nine days of
theatrical ludiand followed by four days of chariot racing in the Circus Maximus.
Current archaeology has begun to bring to light the remains of sacrificial rituals
(Legouilloux 2000 (Hecatomb in Paestum); Jouin and Méniel 2001; M. Robinson
2002; Van Andringa 2003). Interpreting these finds is not always easy, and the dif-
ference between the remains of banquets and of sacrificial offerings is still difficult
to distinguish on the ground. But already new questions are being raised, and stages
of development are becoming apparent, for example in the Celtic provinces where
sacrificial practices seem to have changed during the Roman period, from disposing
of victims’ remains in pits to burning parts of the animal on an altar.
The Interpretation of Sacrifice
According to ancient sources, the offerings made in the course of the initial libation
of a sacrifice, the incense and unmixed wine, were closely connected with the nature
of the gods. The act of offering was one of reverence, the incense to the immort-
ality and supremacy of the gods, the wine to their divine sovereignty. By doing so,
the sacrificers ritually proclaimed the immortality and superiority of the gods. It was,
therefore, primarily a sacrificial ritual which did not involve the sharingof food. In
a sense, it involved offering to the gods the food which was reserved for them. Because
of this, a libation of incense and wine could constitute an act of worship in itself.
In times of danger or celebration, for example after a victory, Romans, wearing
wreaths and carrying laurel branches, made a tour of the cult sites with their wivesSacrifices for Gods and Ancestors 269