Location of the Altar of Consus in the city of Rome. The altar is highlighted in red.

The Altar of Consus was an ancient Roman altar dedicated to the gods Consus and Mars, as well as the lares, which were ancient Roman household guardians. It was located beneath the Circus Maximus.[1][2] The altar may have also served as the first turning post of the Circus Maximus.[3][4][5] It is possible the subterranean location of this altar is connected to the Roman practice of storing wheat underground.[6][7][8] This is in turn associated with the modern interpretation of Consus as an agrarian deity.[9] Dionysus of Halicarnassus wrote that some ancient Romans believed the altar was located underground because they thought that the god Consus corresponded to Poseidon, who was also a god of earthquakes. He also claims that other Romans believed that the altar was dedicated to an unamenable god who presided over hidden councils.[9][10][11] This explanation is associated with the ancient connections between Consus and secrecy and hidden councils.[9][12] Tacitus mentions the altar as an important marking point on the pomerium,[13] which was the border of the city of Rome. He describes it as part of the original boundary markers of the city, as ordained by Romulus.[14][15]

The site was covered for most of the year, although it was uncovered during religious occasions for sacrifices and rituals.[16][10][17] Roman author Tertullian stated that public priests made sacrifices at the altar on the 7th of July during the Caprotinia.[15] He also wrote that the Flamen Quirinalis and a group of virgins, potentially the Vestal Virgins, made sacrifices at the altar on the 21st of August.[18][19][20] This was in celebration of the Consualia,[21] a Roman holiday which honored Consus. As part of this holiday,[22] games commemorating the Rape of the Sabine Women were held at this altar.[23][24][25]

Tertullian wrote that it bore an inscription which read:[26][27]

Consus consilio, Mars duello, Lares coillo potentes

This translates to:

Consus is mighty in counsel, Mars in war, the Lares in the home

This inscription may be not be authentically archaic. Many modern scholars are critical of the potential etymological link between Consus and consilium, the Latin word for counsel.[28][29] The German classical philologist Georg Wissowa argued that in a genuine ancient inscription from this time period the names of the gods would be expected to be in the dative case, not in the nominative, which is the case used in the inscription.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Daly, Kathleen N.; Rengel, Marian (2004-01-01). Greek & Roman Mythology A-Z. Infobase Publishing. p. 32. ISBN 978-1-4381-1992-2.
  2. ↑ Saunders, Catharine (1913). "The Site of Dramatic Performances at Rome in the Times of Plautus and Terence" (PDF). Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association. 44: 87–97. doi:10.2307/282545. ISSN 0065-9711. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 23, 2023.
  3. ↑ Mahoney, Anne (2001-01-01). Roman Sports and Spectacles: A Sourcebook. Hackett Publishing. pp. 7–8. ISBN 978-1-58510-606-6.
  4. ↑ Christesen, Paul; Stocking, Charles H. (2022-08-31). A Cultural History of Sport in Antiquity. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 58. ISBN 978-1-350-28295-7.
  5. ↑ Holden, Antonia (2008-01-01). "The Abduction of the Sabine Women in Context: The Iconography on Late Antique Contorniate Medallions". American Journal of Archaeology. 112 (1): 121–142. doi:10.3764/aja.112.1.121. ISSN 0002-9114.
  6. ↑ Phillips, C. Robert (2015-12-22), "Consus", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-1798, ISBN 978-0-19-938113-5, retrieved 2023-11-23
  7. ↑ Fowler, W. Warde (1912). "Mundus Patet. 24th August, 5th October, 8th November". The Journal of Roman Studies. 2: 25–33. doi:10.2307/295939. ISSN 1753-528X.
  8. ↑ Georg Wissowa (1912). Religion und Kultus der Römer (in German) (2nd ed.). pp. 201–204.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Miano, Daniele (2015). "The Goddess Ops in Archaic Rome" (PDF). Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies. 58 (1): 98–127. ISSN 0076-0730. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 10, 2022.
  10. 1 2 Dionysus. Roman Antiquities. II. 31
  11. ↑ Lee-Stecum, Parshia (2010-01-01), "Mendacia Maiorum: Tales Of Deceit In Pre-Republican Rome", Private and Public Lies, Brill, pp. 254–257, ISBN 978-90-04-18883-9, retrieved 2023-11-23
  12. ↑ Maurus Servius Honoratus. In Vergilii Aeneidem commentarii [Commentary on Virgil's Aeneid]. 8.636. Consus autem deus est consiliorum.
  13. ↑ Orlin, Eric M. (2002). "Foreign Cults in Republican Rome: Rethinking the Pomerial Rule". Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome. 47: 10. doi:10.2307/4238789. ISSN 0065-6801 – via JSTOR.
  14. ↑ Tacitus. Annals. XII. 24
  15. 1 2 Flower, Harriet I. (2017-09-26). The Dancing Lares and the Serpent in the Garden: Religion at the Roman Street Corner. Princeton University Press. pp. 112–114. ISBN 978-1-4008-8801-6.
  16. ↑ Platner, Samuel Ball (2015-05-21). A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Cambridge University Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-1-108-08324-9.
  17. ↑ Zaleski, John (2013-11-11), Christesen, Paul; Kyle, Donald G. (eds.), "Religion and Roman Spectacle", A Companion to Sport and Spectacle in Greek and Roman Antiquity (1 ed.), Wiley, p. 596, doi:10.1002/9781118609965.ch40, ISBN 978-1-4443-3952-9, retrieved 2023-11-23
  18. ↑ DiLuzio, Meghan J. (2020-04-28). A Place at the Altar: Priestesses in Republican Rome. Princeton University Press. pp. 60–62. ISBN 978-0-691-20232-7.
  19. ↑ Michels, Agnes K. (1990). "ROMAN FESTIVALS: July - September". The Classical Outlook. 67 (4): 115. ISSN 0009-8361 – via JSTOR.
  20. ↑ Michels, Agnes K. (1990). "ROMAN FESTIVALS: October—December". The Classical Outlook. 68 (1): 11–12. ISSN 0009-8361 – via JSTOR.
  21. ↑ Belayche, Nicole (2004-01-01), "Pagan Festivals in Fourth-Century Gaza", Christian Gaza in Late Antiquity, Brill, pp. 10–11, ISBN 978-90-474-0541-2, retrieved 2023-11-23
  22. ↑ Middleton, John Henry (1892). The Remains of Ancient Rome. A. and C. Black. p. 41.
  23. ↑ Ovid (2015-03-05). Fastorum libri sex [The Fasti of Ovid: Commentary on Books 3 and 4] (in Latin). Vol. 3. Translated by Frazer, James. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-08248-8.
  24. ↑ Hölscher, Tonio (2018-06-22). Visual Power in Ancient Greece and Rome: Between Art and Social Reality. University of California Press. p. 127. ISBN 978-0-520-96788-5.
  25. ↑ Varro, Marcus (1938). De Lingua Latina [On the Latin language] (in Latin). Translated by Kent, Roland Grubb. London : W. Heinemann. LCCN 38021516. OCLC 848014271. OL 6373636M.
  26. ↑ Tertullian (1931). De spectaculis [On the Spectacles] (in Latin). Translated by Glover, Terrot; Rendall, Gerald. London Heinemann. p. 246. OCLC 1040001141. OL 23278382M.
  27. ↑ Liddel, Peter Philip; Low, Polly (2013-09-26). Inscriptions and Their Uses in Greek and Latin Literature. OUP Oxford. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-19-966574-7.
  28. ↑ Noonan, J. D. (1990). "Livy 1.9.6: The Rape at the Consualia". The Classical World. 83 (6): 496. doi:10.2307/4350674. ISSN 0009-8418 – via JSTOR.
  29. ↑ Johnson, Van L. (1967). "Agonia, Indigetes, and the Breeding of Sheep and Goats". Latomus. 26 (2): 335. ISSN 0023-8856 – via JSTOR.
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