Prayer to Carmenta

The incense offering in the modern order of the Carmentalia. The text is a modern composition — for the general explanation see carmenta-001.

But this case should be distinguished from the others. The Latin here is built on a genuine formula of Cato's: bonas preces precor, uti sis volens propitius mihi domo familiaeque meae is almost verbatim De agricultura 134, where it addresses Janus and Jupiter (compare janus-002). Only the name has been substituted.

And this, unlike carmenta-004 or carmenta-011, is a legitimate procedure in principle. Roman prayer formulae were built to be substitutable: one frame served different gods, with the name and the victim changing. The reconstructor did exactly what a Roman would have done.

The fault lies elsewhere, and is small: volens propitius has been left in the masculine while addressing a goddess. A Roman would have written propitia.