public · Roman

Prayer to Jupiter

O Jupiter, it was through Your omen that I was led while I laid here upon the Palatine Hill, to establish the very first foundations of the city of Rome. Already the Arx, that fortress wickedly bought, is seized by the Sabines. But if You, Father of the Gods and of men, hold back our enemies, at least from this spot, delivering the Romans from their terror, and stay their shameful retreat, then this I vow to You, Jupiter Stator, that a holy precinct and shrine will be built in Your honor as a memorial to remind our descendents of how once the city of Rome was saved by Your aid.

Commentarius · Commentary

Livy puts this prayer in the mouth of Romulus: the Sabines have taken the citadel, the Romans are in flight, and the king halts in the middle of the rout to make a vow.

The vow is faultlessly built, part by part. First a reminder of a favour already granted: "at the command of your birds I laid here the first foundations of the city" — that is, Jupiter chose the site himself, and to lose it is to lose his own. Then a statement of circumstances. Then the request.

And in the request one hears the king bargaining. Hinc saltem arce hostes — "from here at least keep off the enemy": saltem, "at least", concedes that the citadel is not to be recovered and scales the demand down to something achievable. The prayer gives ground as it goes.

The payment is named last, and with calculation: not a sacrifice but a temple which "shall be a memorial to posterity that the city was saved by your present help". The god is offered not food but testimony — permanent, in stone, inscribed with exactly whom Rome has to thank.

This is the temple of Jupiter Stator in which, six hundred years later, Cicero would deliver the First Catilinarian (jupiter-004).

Fons · Source

AuthorLivy

WorkAb Urbe Condita

Section1.12.4-7

PeriodRegal period (recorded by Livy)

Occasionbattle against Sabines — vow of temple

Classificatio · Taxonomy

CultureRoman

Formpublic

DeitiesJupiter

FunctionsPetition · Oath · Dedication

SphereMilitary · Civic