ritual · Roman

The devotio of Carthage

Dis Pater · Veiovis · the Manes · Earth · Jupiter

Dis Pater, Veiovis, and Di Manes, or with any other name by which it is proper to call You, since all in this city of Carthage and its army, who, I feel, fled before me in terror only because you filled them with alarm and fright, everyone who opposes our legions and the wall of shields of our army, and our missiles are carried forward on them by your hand, in this way you led away the enemy army and their soldiers. Their city and fields, and those who are in this place and this region, the lands and cities that they inhabit, you have now deprived them of the supreme light, their hostile army, their city and their lands. I feel to say that it was you who has devoted and consecrated this city and its lands, from the beginning and all time, that by law, who and when are made over and devoted as the highest sacrifices. Therefore, I who am victorious, by my faith as a magistrate of the people of Rome, and as commander of the armies, I give this vow on behalf of the people of Rome, our armies and legions, that you may retain everything born to this land and that grew in healthy by your aid. If you will make this happen, so that I may know, sense and derive that this has happened, then by whatever vow will have been made, wherever it will have been made, may it be properly made with sheep sacrificed upon the tribal altars. I call upon Tellus, Mother Earth, and You mighty Jupiter, to act as witnesses to my vow.

Commentarius · Commentary

The second half of the rite performed over a doomed city: the tutelary gods have already been called away (macrobius-evocatio-001), and now what remains is devoted to the powers below. The formula is ascribed to Scipio Aemilianus at the taking of Carthage in 146 BC.

It differs from the devotio of Decius Mus (livy-deciusmus-001) in direction. There a Roman gave the infernal gods himself; here a general gives them someone else's city, army, fields, and everyone living in those places. The same rite turned outward.

Sive quo alio nomine fas est nominare — "or by whatever other name it is lawful to name you". The reservation is standard, but here it is especially needed: the gods below have many names, and to speak the wrong one is more dangerous than to speak none.

Abducatis lumine supero privetis — take them away and deprive them of the light above. Annihilation is named by circumlocution, as a transfer: the people are not killed, they are moved to another jurisdiction.

To be read with caution. Macrobius wrote around AD 400, more than five centuries after the event, reconstructing archaic formulae as a learned antiquarian from books that have not reached us. He is the sole source for both formulae, there is nothing to check him against, and the language of the text has passed through the hands of late copyists.

Fons · Source

AuthorMacrobius

WorkSaturnalia

Section3.9.10-11

Periodlate 4th / early 5th c. AD (preserving archaic Roman formula)

Occasiondevotio of Carthage to the infernal gods by Scipio Aemilianus — consecration of the enemy city and its army to Dis Pater and the Manes

Classificatio · Taxonomy

CultureRoman

Formritual

DeitiesDis Pater, Veiovis, the Manes, Earth, Jupiter

FunctionsDedication · Oath

SphereMilitary · Civic