O most holy Ceres, nurturing Mother, whose sacred womb gave birth to both Gods and men; You, Vervactor, who first yoked the oxen and placed the ploughshare to virgin soil; You, Reparator, who first prepared furrows in fallow land; You, Imporcitor, who first made wide our furrows; You, Insitor, who first cast Your bounty on the earth and taught the seed to grow; Obarator, Sarritor, Subruncinator, and You, Sterculinia, who first cared for crops; You, Flora, who make the grain to bear fruit; You, Messitor, who first set scythe to grain stalks; You, Convector, who first spread grain on the sacred harvest floor; You, Noduterentor, who first showed us how to thresh, and You, most holy Ceres, whose very breath separates the white chaff from the golden grain; You, Conditor and Tutilina, who guard the grain in storage; You, Promitor, who first milled the grain and distributed its flour for our daily bread; You, eternal savior, Ceres, lavishing Your bounty upon me and mine, to You, flaxen-haired Ceres, gladly I give thanks and praise, and, from the little I have, to You I willingly make an offering. Accept these, the first fruits of my fields. May my offering incline You more towards me. May You ever nourish me and mine with Your bounty, O most holy and nurturing Mother, gentle Ceres.
Commentarius · Commentary
A modern reconstruction, and an unusually well-informed one. The author is named — M. Horatius Piscinus, a modern man's name taken in Roman form.
The value of the card lies in what is listed in the middle. Vervactor, Reparator, Imporcitor, Insitor, Obarator, Sarritor, Subruncinator, Sterculinius are genuine Roman deities, and the list is preserved by Servius on the authority of the pontifical books. Each name denotes one operation: Vervactor the first ploughing of fallow, Reparator the second, Imporcitor the ridging, Insitor the sowing, Obarator the covering, Sarritor the hoeing, Subruncinator the weeding, Sterculinius the manuring.
This is the purest specimen of the Roman understanding of divinity: not a patron of agriculture, but a separate god for each pass of the plough. To avoid error the priest read the names from a list — and the list has come down to us.
That is to say: the theology here is ancient and the prayer is new. The distinction matters for this whole part of the corpus: a modern text may be built on genuine material and still be modern. The modern label speaks to the origin of the words, not to the quality of the work.
Fons · Source
AuthorM. Horatius Piscinus
WorkHarvest Prayer to Ceres (modern reconstruction)
