ancient Roman religion Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by the Roman people, people of Rome as well as those who were brought under its rule. The Romans thought of themselves as high ...

, the ''devotio'' was an extreme form of '' votum'' in which a Roman general vowed to sacrifice his own life in battle along with the enemy to chthonic gods in exchange for a victory. The most extended description of the ritual is given by the Augustan

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

, regarding the self-sacrifice of Decius Mus. The English word " devotion" derives from the Latin. ''Devotio'' may be a form of '' consecratio'', a ritual by means of which something was consecrated to the gods. The ''devotio'' has sometimes been interpreted in light of human sacrifice in ancient Rome, and

Walter Burkert Walter Burkert (; 2 February 1931 – 11 March 2015) was a German scholar of Greek mythology and cult. A professor of classics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, he taught in the UK and the US. He has influenced generations of student ...

saw it as a form of

scapegoat In the Bible, a scapegoat is one of a pair of kid goats that is released into the wilderness, taking with it all sins and impurities, while the other is sacrificed. The concept first appears in the Book of Leviticus, in which a goat is designate ...

or '' pharmakos'' ritual. By the 1st century BC, ''devotio'' could mean more generally "any prayer or ritual that consigned some person or thing to the gods of the underworld for destruction."

The invocation

Livy preserves the prayer formula used for making a ''devotio''. Although Livy was writing at a time when the religious innovations of

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

were often cloaked in old-fashioned

piety Piety is a virtue which may include religious devotion or spirituality. A common element in most conceptions of piety is a duty of respect. In a religious context, piety may be expressed through pious activities or devotions, which may vary amon ...

and appeals to

tradition A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common e ...

, archaic aspects of the prayer suggest that it is not an invention, but represents a traditional formulary as might be preserved in the official pontifical books. The attending '' pontifex'' dictates the wording. The syntax is repetitive and disjointed, unlike prayers given literary dress during this period in the poetry of

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

and others. The deities invoked—among them the

Archaic Triad The Archaic Triad is a hypothetical divine triad, consisting of the three allegedly original deities worshipped on the Capitoline Hill in Rome: Jupiter (mythology), Jupiter, Mars (mythology), Mars and Quirinus. This structure was no longer clearly ...

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

, and

Quirinus In Roman mythology and Roman religion, religion, Quirinus ( , ) is an early god of the Ancient Rome, Roman state. In Augustus, Augustan Rome, ''Quirinus'' was also an epithet of Janus, Mars (mythology), Mars, and Jupiter (god), Jupiter. Name ...

—belong to the earliest religious traditions of Rome. Livy explains that he will record the archaic ritual of ''devotio'' at length because "the memory of every human and religious custom has withered from a preference for everything novel and foreign." The prayer is uttered by Publius Decius Mus, the

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

of 340 BC, during the

Samnite Wars The First, Second, and Third Samnite Wars (343–341 BC, 326–304 BC, and 298–290 BC) were fought between the Roman Republic and the Samnites, who lived on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains south of Rome and north of the Lucanian tribe. ...

. He vows to offer himself as a sacrifice to the infernal gods when a battle between the Romans and the senones and samnites has become desperate:

The '' pontifex'' instructed him to don the '' toga praetexta'', to veil his head and, with one hand held out from under his toga touching his chin, to stand on a spear laid under his feet and speak as follows: ' Janus, Jupiter, Mars Pater, Quirinus, Bellona,
Lares Lares ( , ; archaic , singular ) were Tutelary deity#Ancient Rome, guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an ama ...
, divine Novensiles, divine Indigetes, gods whose power extends over us and over our enemies, divine
Manes In ancient Roman religion, the ''Manes'' (, , ) or ''Di Manes'' are chthonic deities sometimes thought to represent souls of deceased loved ones. They were associated with the '' Lares'', '' Lemures'', '' Genii'', and '' Di Penates'' as deities ...
, I pray to you, I revere you, I beg your favour and beseech you that you advance the strength and success of the
Roman people The Roman people was the ethnicity and the body of Roman citizens (; ) during the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire. This concept underwent considerable changes throughout the long history of the Roman civilisation, as i ...
… As I have pronounced in these words … I devote the legions and auxiliaries of the enemy along with myself, to the divine Manes and to
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
.'

Both the Lares and the Manes are often regarded in ancient sources as the deified dead.

Macrobius Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, usually referred to as Macrobius (fl. AD 400), was a Roman provincial who lived during the early fifth century, during late antiquity, the period of time corresponding to the Later Roman Empire, and when Latin was ...

says that the general who offers himself "touches the earth while saying Tellus, and raises his hands toward heaven when pronouncing the name of Jupiter."

''Evocatio''

Another ''votum'' that might be made in the field by a general was the ''

evocatio The vocabulary of ancient Roman religion was highly specialized. Its study affords important information about the religion, traditions and beliefs of the ancient Romans. This legacy is conspicuous in European cultural history in its influence on ...

'', a ritual by means of which the

tutelary deity A tutelary (; also tutelar) is a deity or a Nature spirit, spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept ...

of the enemy, particularly that of a city under siege, might be induced to come over to the Roman cause by the promise of superior cult.

Other ''devotiones''

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

refers to the magic charms uncovered in connection with the poisoning of

Germanicus Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 15 BC – 10 October AD 19) was a Roman people, Roman general and politician most famously known for his campaigns against Arminius in Germania. The son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia the Younger, Germanicu ...

as ''devotiones'', indicating that the word had expanded its meaning to include other ritual acts in which an individual sought to harm and even kill another.Rives, "Magic, Religion, and Law," pp. 47, 61.

References

{{italictitle Ancient Roman religion Military of ancient Rome Ancient Roman rituals