The Fratres Arvales, or Arval Brothers or Brethren, in the Roman world were the priests who supervised the worship of the goddess Dia, the “luminous” goddess who protected the final maturation of cereals (fruges) with her beneficial light. The goddess Dia was later also identified with the Ceres. The Arval priests were 12 high-ranking senators […]
Acta Arvalium
The acta Arvalium or acta fratrum Arvalium are the records of the rites performed by the Arval priests. These documents are the only known evidence to date of how the worship practices of Roman priests functioned. The members of the priestly college of the Arvals drafted the acta first on codices, which were wax tablets […]
The Circus
The circus was one of the buildings forming the complex of the sanctuary of the Arval brethren, today located at Magliana Vecchia, at the foot of the sacred grove of the goddess Dia, where the Arvals held rites to propitiate the fertility of the fields and a good cereal harvest. Unfortunately, the circus was not […]
The Thermal Baths
The thermal baths, or balneum, of the Fratres Arvales consisted in one of the buildings twitch formed the Arval complex today located at Magliana Vecchia, at the foot of the sacred grove of the goddess Dia. The magister and the other Arval brethren went to the baths of the lucus deae Diae (the grove of […]
Papiliones
Papilio, papiliones in the plural, means butterfly in Latin. In a military context, the papiliones were the soldiers’ multicoloured tents, perhaps due to the “butterfly-wing” shape they had when laid out on the ground before being pitched. Another hypothesis is that papilio referred to a wing, intended as the side of a larger structure (as […]
Via Campana
It is named after latin Campus Salinarum Romanum, the salt pans the mouth of the Tiber river, today known as Stagni di Maccarese. Known since the 8th century BC, the road started at the Forum Boarium, where salt trade was held since the origins. It exited the city through the Porta Trigemina along the Servian […]
Damasian Basilica
From the beginning of the 4th century for about 80 years, the pagan worship of the goddess Dia and the Christian one of the Portuensian Martyrs coexisted, with the temple of the goddess Dia at a very short distance from the Catacomb of Generosa. Possibly the latter prevailed over the former, anyway without completely replacing […]
Tempio di Fors Fortuna
Il primo luogo di culto nell’area della odierna Magliana vecchia è un tempio fondato nel 293 a.C.dal console Carvilius con una parte del bottino della guerra vittoriosa contro Etruschi e Sanniti. Questo tempio era dedicato a Fors Fortuna, la cui festa si celebrava il 24 giugno con un primo sacrificio in un altro tempio a […]
Basilica damasiana
Dall’inizio del IV secolo per circa 80 anni il culto pagano della dea Dia e quello cristiano dei Martiri portuensi convissero, con il tempio della dea Dia a brevissima distanza dalla catacomba di Generosa, e con una probabile prevalenza del secondo sul primo, ma senza sostituirlo completamente. Nel 382 d.C decadde l’immunitas, che secondo il […]
Via Campana
Prende il nome da Campus Salinarum Romanum, le saline alla foce del Tevere, oggi Stagni di Maccarese. Presente fin dal VIII secolo a.C., la via cominciava dal Foro Boario, dove fin dalle origini aveva luogo il commercio del sale. Usciva dalla Porta Trigemina lungo le mura Serviane e incontrava il tempio di Fors Fortuna al […]