Argei
Argei was the name of the Romans for straw dolls and the 27 stations ("Sacellae") where the straw dolls were deposited from March 17th to May 14th. These straw dolls were then thrown into the Tiber at the Pons sublicius , the oldest bridge in Rome .
The celebrations on March 16 and 17 consisted of expiatory sacrifices at 27 shrines (sacraria argeorum) located within the Servian city limits. It is believed that a human-sized straw doll ( simulacrum ) was consecrated for the May ceremony Saturn and placed at each altar. They were supposed to cleanse the city of harmful vapors and were called Argei, as was the entire ritual.
For the main festivities on May 14th, the Senate and the noblest priestly orders gathered under the leadership of the Pontifex maximus and the Rex sacrorum , marched from station to station as a festive procession of priests, vestals and praetors and collected the dolls again. Then they marched solemnly to the Tiber on the Pons Sublicius, where the structures were again consecrated to Saturn and thrown into the river by the Vestals. The Flaminica Dialis appeared as a mourner, with uncombed and unadorned hair she mourned every single straw doll as if it were a person - the only ritual appearance of the Flaminica Dialis.
These anthropomorphic rush dolls were called Argei (derived from the Greek Ἀργεῖος). With this rite , Hercules abolished the murder of 27 prisoners in the myth . They were also thrown from the wooden bridge (" Pons Sublicius "), supposedly in memory of prisoners who had fallen into the Tiber a long time ago.
Others
Today the function of the straw man goes back to these straw dolls, which were sacrificed on behalf of living people .
literature
- Georg Wissowa : Argei . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume II, 1, Stuttgart 1895, Col. 689-700.
- Darja Šterbenc Erker: The Roman cult of the dead and the Argei celebration at Ovid and Dionysius of Halicarnassus. In: Jörg Rüpke , John Scheid (ed.): Burial rituals and cult of the dead in the Roman Empire. Rites funéraires et culte des morts aux temps impériales (= Potsdam contributions to classical studies. Volume 27). Steiner, Stuttgart 2010, pp. 11-23 ( online ).