and children, in order to “supplicate” the gods. They threw themselves on their knees
before them in order to beseech or thank them, in a manner indicating their sub-
mission. Incense and wine were offered and matrons knelt down to sweep the steps
of the temples with their hair. This supplication dramatized the initial ritual of liba-
tion at a sacrifice, which was a solemn address to the gods, extending it, in a spec-
tacular and “realist” way, to all the gods in Rome.
The study of known rituals (which is generally concerned with public rites), ritual
vocabulary, and those comments gleaned from ancient sources show that Roman
sacrifice was, to ancient eyes, first and foremost, a banquet. To sacrifice was to eat
with the gods, conforming to the principles of reciprocity which governed ancient
society. To sacrifice was to divide food into two parts, one of which was returned
to the gods, the other given to mortals. A sacrifice established and represented,
through the sharing of food between gods and men, the superiority and immortal-
ity of the former and the mortality and pious submission of the latter. The tradi-
tional Roman sacrifice did not commemorate a particular event (as, for example, some
rites of Ceres, Mithraic sacrifice, or the Christian Mass), it did not symbolize com-
plete subjection to the god, nor did it attempt to incarnate the divinity. A sacrifice
was a banquet, which offered men the opportunity to become familiar with their
divine counterparts, to define their respective qualities and status, and, together, to
address the matters in hand. Men could take advantage, for example, of the meet-
ing to apologize for an accidental or unavoidable insult to the protecting role or
dignity of the divinity (expiation), to make a request or give thanks (supplications),
or even to contract agreements (vota). Epigraphic and archaeological evidence reveal
that this practice was widespread and that it consisted, in most cases, of a promise
for a sacrifice to a god in return for a favorable outcome. Unless they are themselves
the object on which the agreement is recorded, votive offerings generally indicate
the fulfillment of a votive promise, and thus divine benevolence.Funerary Sacrifices
During Roman funerals, the separation between the living and the deceased was also
marked by a sacrifice, and even, from the beginning of the first centuryad, about
which we have the most information, by several sacrifices. According to the sources,
it appears that as soon as the body of the deceased was carried to the necropolis,
the funeral rites proper began with a sacrifice (see Scheid 2005c, forthcoming a).
Up to the time of Cicero, a sacrifice of a sow was made to Ceres in the presence of
the corpse, and then divided between the goddess, the bereaved family, and the
deceased. The portion assigned to the deceased was placed on a stake and cremated
along with the body. The portion allotted to Ceres was burned on an altar and the
family ate theirs on the spot. The offering was, in principle, a sow, but customs
varied according to the date, the particular region in Italy, or the social milieu. For
more modest funerals, a simple libation of wine, incense, and fruit or crops was
sufficient. How these libations were divided between the participants is not known.
However, the principle of the sacrifice was no doubt the same: the deceased had not
270 John Scheid