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In the Roman Empire of the second to fourth centuries, taurobolium [2] referred to practices involving the sacrifice of a bull, which after mid-second century became connected with the worship of the Great Mother of the Gods; though not previously limited to her cult, after AD 159 all private taurobolia inscriptions mention the Magna Mater. [3]
The suovetaurilia was an ancient Roman sacrifice where in which a pig, sheep, and a bull were sacrificed. The suovetaurilia or suovitaurilia was one of the most sacred and traditional rites of Roman religion: the sacrifice of a pig (sus), a sheep (ovis) and a bull (taurus) to the deity Mars to bless and purify land . [1] [2] [3]
In ancient Roman religion, the devotio was an extreme form of votum in which a Roman general vowed to sacrifice his own life in battle along with the enemy to chthonic gods in exchange for a victory. The most extended description of the ritual is given by the Augustan historian Livy, regarding the self-sacrifice of Decius Mus. [1]
[184] [185] In some periods under Roman rule, Jews were legally exempt from official sacrifice, under certain conditions. Judaism was a superstitio to Cicero, but the Church Father Tertullian described it as religio licita (an officially permitted religion) in contrast to Christianity.
216 BC: Second known case of human sacrifice in Ancient Rome: a pair of Vestal Virgins, Gauls, and Greeks were buried alive at Forum Boarium following defeat at Cannae. [10] 114 BC: Last human sacrifice occurred in Roman Republic: pair of Gauls and Greeks were buried alive at Forum Boarium. [10] 97 BC: Roman senate outlawed human sacrifice. [10]
The sacra publica were undertaken pro populo, i.e., collectively, (1) by the curia, pagi, or vici, into which the community was divided, whence such sacrifices were called sacra popularia; or (2) by the individual gentes and societies, i.e., the sodalitas, to which the superintendence of a particular cult had been committed by the State; or (3) by the magistrates and priests of the Roman State.
Victimarii on a slab in the Roman Forum. The victimarius was a Roman slave or freedman [1] who helped perform the actual killing and handling of the animal during animal sacrifice. In depictions of Roman animal sacrifice, the victimarius is identifiable by his attire, size, and tools he carries.
Most animal sacrifice in the public religion of ancient Rome resulted in a communal meal and thus involved domestic animals whose flesh was a normal part of the Roman diet; [7] the dog occurs as a victim most often in magic and private rites for Hecate and other chthonic deities, [8] but was offered publicly at the Lupercalia [9] and two other ...