Everything about Fratres Arvales totally explained
Arval Brethren (latin:
Fratres Arvales) or
Arval brothers were a body of priests in ancient
Rome who offered annual
sacrifices to
lares and gods to guarantee good
harvests. The term can be translated as "Brothers of the fields" . The modern world knows them mainly from stone carved records of their oaths, rituals and sacrifices.
Origin
Roman legend held that the priestly college was originated by
Romulus, who took the place of a dead son of his nurse
Acca Laurentia, and formed the priesthood with the remaining eleven sons. They were also connected originally with the
Sabine priesthood of
Sodales Titii and were probably originally their counterpart among the Sabines.
The brethren dated back to the time of
Numa Pompilius, second king of Rome, and persisted to the imperial period. Their task was the worship of
Dea Dia, an old fertility goddess and probably an aspect of
Ceres. On the three days of her May festival, the
Ambarvalia, they offered sacrifices and led a procession chanting the
Carmen Arvale, the exact meaning of which was no longer understood in later times. The master of the college selected the exact three days of the celebration by an unknown method. The celebration began in Rome on the first day, was transferred to a sacred grove outside the city wall on the second day and ended back in the city on the third day.
Structure and duties
Arval Brethren formed a college of twelve priests, although archaeologists have found only up to nine names at a time in the inscriptions. They were appointed for life and didn't lose their status even in
exile. Their sign was a white band with the chaplet of ears of corn.
The Brethren assembled in the
Regia.
Their other duties included ritual thanksgivings and
ambarvalia, the sacrifices done at the borders of Rome. Before the sacrifice, the sacrificial victim was led three times around a cornfield where a chorus of farmers and farm-servants danced and sang praises for Ceres and offered her libations of milk, honey and wine.
Restoration of the priesthood
The importance of Arval Brethren apparently dwindled during the
Roman Republic, but emperor
Augustus revived their practices to enforce his own authority. After Augustus' time emperors and senators frequented the festivities. At least two emperors,
Marcus Aurelius and
Elagabalus, were formally accepted as members of the Brethren. The first full descriptions of their rituals also originate from this time.
The last inscriptions about the Arval Brethren date from about
325 AD. They were abolished along with other pagan priesthoods in
400 AD.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Fratres Arvales'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://arval_brethren.totallyexplained.com">Arval Brethren Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
