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In ancient Roman religion
Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by the people of Rome as well as those who were brought under its rule.
The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, ...
, Pales was a deity of shepherds, flocks and livestock. Regarded as male by some sources and female by others, ''Pales'' can be either singular or plural in Latin, and refers at least once to a pair of deities.
Pales' festival, called the Parilia, was celebrated on April 21. Cattle were driven through bonfires on this day. Pales and the Parilia were strictly connected to the foundation of Rome which took place on the day of their festival.
Marcus Atilius Regulus built a temple to Pales in Rome following his victory over the Salentini in 267 BC. It is generally thought to have been located on 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." ...
, but, being a victory monument, it may have been located on the route of the triumphal procession, either on the Campus Martius or the Aventine Hill
The Aventine Hill (; la, Collis Aventinus; it, Aventino ) is one of the Seven Hills on which ancient Rome was built. It belongs to Ripa, the modern twelfth ''rione'', or ward, of Rome.
Location and boundaries
The Aventine Hill is the sou ...
. According to the '' Fasti Antiates Maiores'', there was a festival for "the two Pales" (''Palibus duobus'') on July 7, probably to mark the dedication of this temple.
Scholarship has suggested the Pales deities are related to Sicilian pair of gods Palici, and both sets of brother may be reflexes of the Indo-European mytheme
In structuralism-influenced studies of mythology, a mytheme is a fundamental generic unit of narrative structure (typically involving a relationship between a character, an event, and a theme) from which myths are thought to be constructed—a mi ...
of the Divine twins.
References
Sources
*Richardson, L. (1992). ''A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome''. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press. (p. 282) *Scullard, H.H. (1981). ''Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic''. London: Thames and Hudson. (p. 104–105) {{Authority control Roman gods Roman goddesses Agricultural deities Roman deities