An Agonalia or Agonia was an obscure archaic

religious observance Religious Observance includes all overt kinds of religious behavior. Research in this area shows the extent and patterning of religious activities in various populations and makes it possible to test theories about the causes of religious behavior ...

celebrated in

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

several times a year, in honor of various divinities. Its institution, like that of other religious rites and ceremonies, was attributed to

Numa Pompilius Numa Pompilius (; 753–672 BC; reigned 715–672 BC) was the legendary second king of Rome, succeeding Romulus after a one-year interregnum. He was of Sabine origin, and many of Rome's most important religious and political institutions are a ...

, the semi-legendary second

king of Rome The king of Rome ( la, rex Romae) was the ruler of the Roman Kingdom. According to legend, the first king of Rome was Romulus, who founded the city in 753 BC upon the Palatine Hill. Seven legendary kings are said to have ruled Rome until 509 ...

Ancient calendars Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...

indicate that it was celebrated regularly on January 9, May 21, and December 11. A festival called Agonia or ''Agonium Martiale'', in honor of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

, was celebrated March 17, the same day as the

Liberalia In ancient Roman religion, the Liberalia (March 17) was the festival of Liber Pater and his consort Libera.T.P. Wiseman, ''Remus: a Roman myth'', Cambridge University Press, 1995, p.133. The Romans celebrated Liberalia with sacrifices, processio ...

, during a prolonged "war festival" that marked the beginning of the season for

military campaign A military campaign is large-scale long-duration significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of interrelated military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war. The term derives from the ...

ing and

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

Purpose

The object of this festival was a disputed point among the ancients themselves, but as J.A. Hartung observed, the offering was a ram ''(aries)'', the usual victim sacrificed to the guardian gods of the state; the presiding priest was the ''

rex sacrificulus In ancient Roman religion, the ''rex sacrorum'' ("king of the sacred things", also sometimes ''rex sacrificulus'') was a senatorial priesthood reserved for patricians. Although in the historical era, the '' pontifex maximus'' was the head of Ro ...

'', and the site was the Regia, both of which could be employed only for ceremonies connected with the highest gods that affected the wellbeing of the whole state.

Etymology

The etymology of the name was also a subject of much dispute among the ancients. The various etymologies proposed are given at length by

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

. None of these, however, is satisfactory. One possibility is that the sacrifice in its earliest form was offered on the Quirinal Hill, which was originally called ''Agonus'', at the

Colline gate The Colline Gate (Latin ''Porta Collina'') was a landmark in ancient Rome, supposed to have been built by Servius Tullius, semi-legendary king of Rome 578–535 BC. The gate stood at the north end of the Servian Wall, and past it were two impo ...

, ''Agonensis''. The sacrifice is explicitly located at the Regia, or the ''

domus In Ancient Rome, the ''domus'' (plural ''domūs'', genitive ''domūs'' or ''domī'') was the type of town house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. It was found in almost all the ma ...

regis'' ("house of the king"), which in the historical period was at the top of the Via Sacra, near the arch of Titus, though one ancient source states that in earliest times, the Regia was on the Quirinal. The Circus Agonensis, as it is called, is supposed by some to have occupied the place of the present Piazza Navona, and to have been built by the emperor

Alexander Severus Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – 21/22 March 235) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222. Alexander himself was ...

on the spot where the victims were sacrificed at the Agonalia. It may not, however, have been a

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

at all, and Humphrey omits the site in his work on Roman circuses.

January 9

An ''Agonium'' occurs on January 9 in the ''

Fasti Praenestini In ancient Rome, the ''fasti'' (Latin plural) were chronological or calendar-based lists, or other diachronic records or plans of official and religiously sanctioned events. After Rome's decline, the word ''fasti'' continued to be used for simil ...

'', albeit in mutilated form. In

's poem on the Roman calendar, he calls it once the ''dies agonalis'' ("agonal day") and elsewhere the Agonalia, and offers a number of etymologies of varied plausibility.

Festus Festus may refer to: People Ancient world *Porcius Festus, Roman governor of Judea from approximately 58 to 62 AD *Sextus Pompeius Festus (later 2nd century), Roman grammarian *Festus (died 305), martyr along with Proculus of Pozzuoli *Festus (h ...

explains the word ''agonia'' as an

archaic Latin Old Latin, also known as Early Latin or Archaic Latin (Classical la, prīsca Latīnitās, lit=ancient Latinity), was the Latin language in the period before 75 BC, i.e. before the age of Classical Latin. It descends from a common Proto-Italic ...

term for ''

hostia Sacramental bread, also called Communion bread, Eucharistic bread, the Lamb or simply the host ( la, hostia, lit=sacrificial victim), is the bread used in the Christian ritual of the Eucharist. Along with sacramental wine, it is one of two elemen ...

'', a sacrificial victim.

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...

thought the Romans had a god named Agonius, who might then have been the god of the Colline part of the city (see "Etymology" above).

December 11

This third occurrence of the Agonia or Agonalia shares the date of December 11 with the

Septimontium The Septimontium was a proto-urban festival celebrated in ancient Rome by ''montani'', residents of the seven ''(sept-)'' communities associated with the hills or peaks of Rome ''(montes)'': Oppius, Palatium, Velia, Fagutal, Cermalus, Caelius, an ...

or ''Septimontiale sacrum'', which only very late Roman calendars take note of and which depends on a textual conjecture. The relation between the two observances, if any exists, is unknown. A fragmentary inscription found at Ostia that reads: "Agonind" testifies that this festival was dedicated to Sol Indiges. It was indeed the second festival celebrating this deity, after that of August 10.

''Agonium Martiale''

The Agonia to Mars occurs during a period of festivals in March (Latin ''Martius''), the namesake month of Mars. These were the chariot races of the Equirria February 27, a ''

feria In the liturgy of the Catholic Church, a feria is a day of the week other than Sunday. In more recent official liturgical texts in English, the term ''weekday'' is used instead of ''feria''. If the feast day of a saint falls on such a day, the ...

'' on the Kalends of March (a day sacred also to his mother

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods *Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Ju ...

), a second Equirria on March 14, his Agonalia March 17, and the

Tubilustrium In Ancient Rome the month of March was the traditional start of the campaign season, and the Tubilustrium was a ceremony to make the army fit for war. The ceremony involved sacred trumpets called ''tubae''. Johannes Quasten, however, argues t ...

March 23. A note on the holiday from

Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (; 116–27 BC) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Vergil and Cicero). He is sometimes calle ...

indicates that this Agonia was of more recondite significance than the

held on the same day. Varro's source is the books of the Salian priests surnamed ''Agonenses'', who call it the Agonia instead. According to Masurius Sabinus, the Liberalia was called the ''Agonium Martiale'' by the pontiffs. Modern scholars are inclined to think that the sharing of the date was a coincidence, and that the two festivals were unrelated. William Warde Fowler, concurring with Georg Wissowa, ''Roman Festivals'', p. 54.

Notes

References

* * {{Roman religion (festival) Ancient Roman festivals January observances May observances December observances Festivals of Mars