The ''Ficus Ruminalis'' was a wild

fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

tree that had

religious Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

and

mythological Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

significance in

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, 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 ...

. It stood near the small cave known as the

Lupercal The Lupercal (from Latin ''lupa'' "female wolf") was a cave at the southwest foot of the Palatine Hill in Rome, located somewhere between the temple of Magna Mater and the Sant'Anastasia al Palatino. In the legend of the founding of Rome, Rom ...

at the foot of the

Palatine Hill The Palatine Hill (; la, Collis Palatium or Mons Palatinus; it, Palatino ), which relative to the seven hills of Rome is the centremost, is one of the most ancient parts of the city and has been called "the first nucleus of the Roman Empire." ...

and was the spot where according to tradition the floating makeshift cradle of

Romulus and Remus In Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus (, ) are twin brothers whose story tells of the events that led to the founding of the city of Rome and the Roman Kingdom by Romulus, following his fratricide of Remus. The image of a she-wolf sucklin ...

landed on the banks of the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by th ...

. There they were nurtured by the she-wolf and discovered by

Faustulus In Roman mythology, Faustulus was the shepherd who found the infant Romulus (the future founder of the city of Rome) and his twin brother Remus along the banks of the Tiber River as they were being suckled by the she-wolf, Lupa. According to lege ...

. The tree was sacred to Rumina, one of the birth and childhood deities, who protected

breastfeeding Breastfeeding, or nursing, is the process by which human breast milk is fed to a child. Breast milk may be from the breast, or may be expressed by hand or pumped and fed to the infant. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that bre ...

in humans and animals.

St. Augustine 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 Afr ...

mentions a Jupiter Ruminus.

Name

The wild fig tree was thought to be the male, wild counterpart of the cultivated fig, which was female. In some Roman sources, the wild fig is ''caprificus'', literally "goat fig". The fruit of the fig tree is pendulous, and the tree exudes a milky sap if cut. ''Rumina'' and ''Ruminalis'' ("of Rumina") were connected by some Romans to ''rumis'' or ''ruma'', "teat, breast," but some modern linguists think it is more likely related to the names ''Roma'' and ''Romulus,'' which may be based on ''rumon'', perhaps a word for "river" or an archaic name for the Tiber.

Legend

The tree is associated with the legend of

, and stood where their cradle came to rest on the banks of the

, after their abandonment. It was thought to be located in the

Velabrum The Velabrum () is the low valley in the city of Rome that connects the Forum with the Forum Boarium, and the Capitoline Hill with the western slope of the Palatine Hill. The name Velabrum may translate to "place of mud." It was believed that befor ...

, a short distance from the

. The tree offered the twins shade and shelter in their suckling by a she-wolf, just outside the nearby

cave, until their discovery and fostering by the shepherd

and his wife

Acca Larentia Acca Larentia or Acca Larentina was a mythical woman, later goddess of fertility, in Roman mythology whose festival, the Larentalia, was celebrated on December 23. Myths Foster mother In one mythological tradition (that of ...

. Remus was eventually killed by Romulus, who went on to found Rome on the

, above the cave.

History

A statue of the she-wolf was supposed to have stood next to the ''Ficus Ruminalis''. In 296 BC, the

curule aedile ''Aedile'' ( ; la, aedīlis , from , "temple edifice") was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings () and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enf ...

s Gnaeus and Quintus Ogulnius placed images of Romulus and Remus as babies suckling under her teats. It may be this sculpture group that is represented on coins. The Augustan

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

says that the tree still stood in his day, but his younger contemporary

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

observes only ''vestigia'', "traces," perhaps the stump. A textually problematic passage in

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

seems to suggest that the tree was miraculously transplanted by the

augur An augur was a priest and official in the classical Roman world. His main role was the practice of augury, the interpretation of the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds. Determinations were based upon whether they were flying ...

Attus Navius In Roman mythology, Ancient Roman mythology, Attus Navius was a famous augur during the reign of Tarquinius Priscus. When Tarquinius desired to increase the number of the equestrian (Roman), equestrian centuries, and to name them in his own honour ...

to the

Comitium The Comitium ( it, Comizio) was the original open-air public meeting space of Ancient Rome, and had major religious and prophetic significance. The name comes from the Latin word for "assembly". The Comitium location at the northwest corner of th ...

. This fig tree, however, was the ''Ficus Navia'', so called for the augur.

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

refers to the ''Ficus Navia'' as the ''Arbor Ruminalis'', an identification that suggests it had replaced the original ''Ficus Ruminalis'', either symbolically after the older tree's demise, or literally, having been cultivated as an offshoot. The ''Ficus Navia'' grew from a spot that had been struck by lightning and was thus regarded as

sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

. Pliny's obscure reference may be to the statue of Attus Navius in front of the

Curia Hostilia The Curia Hostilia was one of the original senate houses or "curiae" of the Roman Republic. It was believed to have begun as a temple where the warring tribes laid down their arms during the reign of Romulus (r. c. 771–717 BC). During the early ...

: he stood with his ''

lituus The word ''lituus'' originally meant a curved augural staff, or a curved war-trumpet in the ancient Latin language. This Latin word continued in use through the 18th century as an alternative to the vernacular names of various musical instruments ...

'' raised in an

attitude Attitude may refer to: Philosophy and psychology * Attitude (psychology), an individual's predisposed state of mind regarding a value * Metaphysics of presence * Propositional attitude, a relational mental state connecting a person to a propo ...

that connected the ''Ficus Navia'' and the accompanying representation of the she-wolf to the ''Ficus Ruminalis'', "as if" the tree had crossed from one space to the other. When the ''Ficus Navia'' drooped, it was taken as a bad omen for Rome. When it died, it was replaced. In 58 AD, it withered, but then revived and put forth new shoots. In the archaeology of the Comitium, several irregular stone-lined shafts in rows, dating from

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

phases of pavement, may have been apertures to preserve venerable trees during rebuilding programs. Pliny mentions other sacred trees in the

Roman Forum The Roman Forum, also known by its Latin name Forum Romanum ( it, Foro Romano), is a rectangular forum ( plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancie ...

, with two additional figs. One fig was removed with a great deal of ritual fuss because its roots had undermined a statue of Silvanus. A

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

on the ''Plutei'' of Trajan depicts

Marsyas In Greek mythology, the satyr Marsyas (; grc-gre, Μαρσύας) is a central figure in two stories involving music: in one, he picked up the double oboe ('' aulos'') that had been abandoned by Athena and played it; in the other, he challenged ...

the satyr, whose statue stood in the Comitium, next to a fig tree that is placed on a

plinth A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...

, as if it too were a sculpture. It is unclear whether this representation means that sacred trees might be replaced with artificial or pictorial ones. The apertures were paved over in the time of Augustus, an event that may explain Ovid's ''vestigia''.Rabun Taylor, "Roman Oscilla: An Assessment," in ''RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics'' 48 (2005), pp. 91–92. Taylor conjectures that '' oscilla'' were hung from such trees.

References

External links

*
Ruminalis''. In: Samuel Ball Platner, Thomas Ashby: ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome''. Oxford University Press, London 1929. (online, LacusCurtius)
{{Roman Forum 8th century BC in the Roman Kingdom Roman mythology Topography of the ancient city of Rome Trees in religion Romulus and Remus

Name

Legend

History

See also

References

External links