Carmen Saliare

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File:Salii2.jpg
Roman bas relief. The Salian priests carry their sacred shields.
File:I salii.jpg
Relief depicting the Salii (National Museum of Rome - Palazzo Altemps, Rome)

The {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} is a fragment of archaic Latin, which played a part in the rituals performed by the Salii (Salian priests, a.k.a. "leaping priests") of Ancient Rome.<ref name="AndoRüpke2006">Template:Cite book</ref> There are 35 extant fragments of the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, which can be read in Morel's FPL.<ref>FPL={{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, originally compiled by W. Morel 1927, 2nd edition by C. Büchner 1982, 3rd and 4th editions by J. Blänsdorf in 1995 and 2011.</ref>

The rituals revolved around Mars and Quirinus, and were performed in March and October. These involved processions in which they donned archaic armour and weapons, performed their sacred dance, and sang the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}. As a body they existed before the founding of the Roman Republic, tracing their origin back to the reign of Numa Pompilius. The Salian priests were chosen from the sons of patrician families whose parents were still living. They were appointed for life, though they were allowed to resign from the Salian priesthood if they achieved a more prestigious priesthood or a major magistracy.

In the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} written by Roman historian Tacitus, it is revealed that several Romans proposed the name of Germanicus to be added to the Salian Song, as a memory of his virtue and goodwill.

Fragments

Two fragments which have been preserved by Marcus Terentius Varro in his {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, 7.26, 27 (fragment 2 and 1 by Maurenbrecher's numbering):<ref>Marcus Terentius Varro, de lingua latina:

Latin (ed. C. O. Muellerus)
  • {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}
  • {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}
Latin (ed. A. Spengel)
  • {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}
  • {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}
Latin (ed. R. G. Kent)
  • {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}
  • {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}
English translation (ed. R. G. Kent)
  • O Planter God,<ref name=epthJan group=lower-alpha>epithet of Janus</ref> arise. Everything indeed have I committed unto (thee as) the Opener.<ref name= epthJan group=lower-alpha/> Now art thou the Doorkeeper, thou art the Good Creator, the Good God of Beginnings. Thou'lt come especially, thou the superior of these kings ...
  • Sing ye to the Father of the Gods, entreat the God of Gods.

The mysterious {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} has attracted several proposals. Julius Pomponius Laetus proposed in his {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} the interpretation {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} "I shall be as a kiss to grief", though his emendations are now dismissed as "editorial fantasy".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> George Hempl restored it more carefully to {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, attested in some manuscripts aside from the spacing, which is good archaic Latin for classical {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} "(thou shalt) come forth with the cuckoo".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

A fragment preserved by Quintus Terentius Scaurus in his {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (fragment 6 by Maurenbrecher's numbering):<ref>Q. Terentii Scauri liber de orthographia; in: Grammatici latini ex recensione Henrici Keilii Vol. VII Scriptores de orthographia […] Lipsiae in aedibus B. G. Teubneri MDCCCLXXX [1880], p. 28. For Theodor Bergk's conjectured reconstruction compare also:

  • Indices lectionum et publicarum et privatarum, quae in Academia Marburgensi per semestre hibernum inde a D. XXV. M. Octobris MDCCCXLVII [1847] usque ad D. XXV. M. Martii MDCCCXLVIII [1848]. Habendae proponuntur. — Inest Theodori Bergkii Commentatio De Carminum Saliarium reliquiis. Marburgi. Typis Elwerti Academicis, pp. XII, XIV ( google])
  • Opuscula philologica Bergkiana edidit Rudolfus Peppmüller. Volumen I. Ad Latinas literas spectantia. Halis Saxonum, in Orphanotrophei libraria. MDCCCLXXXIV. – Kleine philologische Schriften von Theodor Bergk. Herausgegeben von Rudolf Peppmüller. I. Band. Zur römischen Literatur. Halle a. S., Verlag der Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses. 1884, pp. 492, 494 (google-US)</ref>
Latin (ed. H. Keilius) lang}}
Theodor Bergk's conjectured reconstruction lang}}

An excerpt of it:<ref>Elegiac poems of Ovid   edited by J. W. E. Pearce.   Vol. II   The Roman Calendar   Selections from Fasti, Oxford, 1914, p. 146 (IA)</ref>

Latin with metre indicated lang}}
Rendering in classical Latin lang}}
English translation When thou thunderest, O god of Light (Jupiter), men tremble before thee

See also

Notes

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References

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  • B. Maurenbrecher:
    • Carminum Saliarium reliquiae edidit B. Maurenbrecher; in: Jahrbücher für classische Philologie. Herausgegeben von Alfred Fleckeisen. Einundzwanzigster Supplementband. Mit einer Karte. Druck und Verlag von B. G. Teubner, Leipzig, 1894, p. 313ff. (IA)
    • Carminum Saliarium reliquiae edidit B. Maurenbrecher. Commentatio ex supplemento uno et vicesimo Annalium Philologicorum seorsum expressa. Lipsiae in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. MDCCCXCIV [1894] (IA)
  • George Hempl:
    • III.—The Origin of the Latin Letters G and Z. By Prof. George Hempl, in: Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association. 1899. Volume XXX, pp. 26 & 39f. (JSTOR):
    • XII.—The Salian Hymn to Janus. By Prof. George Hempl, in: Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association. 1900. Volume XXXI, pp. 182ff. (JSTOR, IA, google-US)
  • Carmen Saliare (Bibliotheca Augustana)

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