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, 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. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

, 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, proce ...

, during a prolonged "war festival" that marked the beginning of the season for military campaigning 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 Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * ...

''(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 The Regia ("Royal house") was a two-part structure in Ancient Rome lying along the Via Sacra at the edge of the Roman Forum that originally served as the residence or one of the main headquarters of kings of Rome and later as the office of the ...

, 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 The Quirinal Hill (; la, Collis Quirinalis; it, Quirinale ) is one of the Seven Hills of Rome, at the north-east of the city center. It is the location of the official residence of the Italian head of state, who resides in the Quirinal Pala ...

, 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 regis'' ("house of the king"), which in the historical period was at the top of the

Via Sacra The Via Sacra (, "''Sacred Street''") was the main street of ancient Rome, leading from the top of the Capitoline Hill, through some of the most important religious sites of the Forum (where it is the widest street), to the Colosseum. The ro ...

, near the

arch of Titus The Arch of Titus ( it, Arco di Tito; la, Arcus Titi) is a 1st-century AD honorific arch, located on the Via Sacra, Rome, just to the south-east of the Roman Forum. It was constructed in 81 AD by the Emperor Domitian shortly after the death of ...

, 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 Piazza Navona () is a public open space in Rome, Italy. It is built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian, built in the 1st century AD, and follows the form of the open space of the stadium. The ancient Romans went there to watch the '' agones' ...

, 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 race Chariot racing ( grc-gre, ἁρματοδρομία, harmatodromia, la, ludi circenses) was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine sports. In Greece, chariot racing played an essential role in aristocratic funeral games from ...

s 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 The calends or kalends ( la, kalendae) is the first day of every month in the Roman calendar. The English word "calendar" is derived from this word. Use The Romans called the first day of every month the ''calends'', signifying the start of a ne ...

of March (a day sacred also to

his mother ''His Mother'' is a 1912 American silent film produced by Kalem Company. It was directed by Sidney Olcott with Gene Gauntier and Jack J. Clark in the leading roles. It was one of more than a dozen films produced by the Kalem Company filmed in Ir ...

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 ...

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 Masurius Sabinus, also Massurius, was a Roman jurist who lived in the time of Tiberius (reigned 14–37 AD). Unlike most jurists of the time, he was not of senatorial rank and was admitted to the equestrian order only rather late in life, by virtu ...

, the Liberalia was called the ''Agonium Martiale'' by the

pontiffs A pontiff (from Latin ''pontifex'') was, in Roman antiquity, a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term "pontiff" was late ...

. 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 William Warde Fowler (16 May 1847 – 15 June 1921) was an England, English historian and ornithologist, and tutor at Lincoln College, Oxford, Lincoln College, Oxford. He was best known for his works on religion in ancient Rome, ancient Roman ...

, concurring with

Georg Wissowa Georg Otto August Wissowa (17 June 1859 – 11 May 1931) was a German classical philologist born in Neudorf, near Breslau. Education and career Wissowa studied classical philology under August Reifferscheid at the University of Bresla ...

, ''Roman Festivals'', p. 54.

Notes

References

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