Blitzlehre

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The doctrine of lightning was a central part of the religious teachings and practices of the Etruscans , who were referred to by the Romans as Etrusca disciplina . Other important fortune-telling practices were the liver inspection and the interpretation of the flight of birds. The practice of divination was reserved for the priests ( haruspices ). A priest who observed and interpreted lightning was also called a fulgurator ( Latin ; plural: fulguratores, rarely also fulguriator or fulgerator ). The Romans essentially adopted the doctrine of lightning from the Etruscans, but it was not of great importance in the Roman cult .

etymology

Haruspex and Fulguriator on an inscription. Including in Etruscan script netšvis and trutnvt frontac (1st century BC).

The Etruscan name for a priest in the Blitzschau and interpretation has not been conclusively clarified and was trutnvt or trutnvt frontac . The Latin fulgurator is derived from the verb fulgurare (to flash) and the derivative syllable -ator, which designates the person who performs a corresponding action. Fulgurator therefore literally means lightning slingshot . Accordingly, the Romans worshiped their highest god Jupiter as Iuppiter Fulgurator or Iuppiter Fulgerator . The variant Fulgerator can be traced back to the old Latin form fulgus for fulgur (lightning) with the genitive fulgeris . The term fulgurator for a fortune teller interpreting lightning was u. a. used by Cicero . The spelling Fulguriator can be found together with trutnvt frontac on a bilingual inscription in the Archaeological Museum of Pesaro .

Lightning interpretation among the Etruscans

Lightning interpretation according to the 16 regions of the sky

In the Etruscan religion there was a strong conviction that human fate was inevitably subject to a divine will and that this was recognizable in natural phenomena and earthly events ( divination ). In addition, the Haruspices carried out the intestinal inspection, especially the liver inspection , interpreted lightning, the flight of birds and unusual heavenly and earthly phenomena. The characteristic costume of the Haruspices included a fabric or fur hat with a cylindrical top and a fringed coat. Another priestly attribute was the lituus , a curved stick, which was not reserved for the haruspices alone.

According to ancient belief, the Fulguratores were able to interpret and atone for lightning. First, the lightning shower observed where the lightning came from, where it led and where it might have struck. For this purpose, the sky was divided into four quadrants, each with four sectors. The lightning gods lived in these 16 regions of the Temple of Heaven ( templum caeleste ). The procedure for the flash review and interpretation was recorded in the fulgural books ( libri fulgurales ).

First the lightning interpreter had to choose the correct location on earth, transfer the division of heaven to earth and thereby make the location a sacred area ( templum ). To this end, the Blitzdeuter took up position at the intersection of the Cardo , which runs from north to south, with the Decumanus , which runs from west to east , so that he looked south. To the east was the pars familiaris , the friendly part, and to the west, the pars hostilis , the hostile part. Hence, a lightning bolt on the left was considered beneficial and one on the right was considered ominous, with a lightning bolt in the northern half being considered more influential than one in the southern half. A lightning bolt coming from the northeast and remaining there was judged to be particularly favorable. When lightning was falling, the point of impact was of decisive importance.

The decisive question was which of the nine possible deities had sent the lightning, whereby only the main god Tinia had three different lightning bolts. This resulted in eleven different types ( manubia ) of lightning according to the region of the sky, duration and time of day and season. Lightning from the clouds was also distinguished from earthly lightnings that had risen from the earth. The lightning bolts could have a advising or advising, approving or warning meaning, depending on whether they were observed before or after the execution of an action. The third type of lightning did not refer to any undertaking and could mean a threat, promise, or warning.

Of the Tinia's three flashes, those it sent alone were a gentle warning. The lightning bolts, which he hurled with loud thunder after consulting the twelve supreme gods of the Etruscans ( dei consentes ), promised good things, but often combined with an injustice. The lightning bolts, about which the supreme and veiled gods of fate ( dei superiores et involuti ) had been asked, came with fire and heralded tremendous changes in the entire present state.

Lightning has been observed and interpreted in private and public affairs. The significance of lightning in private matters did not extend beyond ten years. Excepted from this were so-called family flashes at birth or marriage, which were significant for the rest of life. The effectiveness of lightning in public affairs was limited to 30 years, except for the creation of new cities.

After the observation and interpretation of the lightning, the atonement of the lightning followed if necessary. This was apparently always necessary when lightning struck a certain place. The main act of atonement was the "burial" of lightning ( fulmen condere ), which was performed on objects struck by lightning under mourning prayers and sacrificial rituals or perhaps on stone wedges that were supposed to embody lightning. The spot where lightning had struck was fenced off and consecrated to the god who sent lightning. The place where a person was struck by lightning was apparently considered cursed and was not to be entered or looked at.

Since, according to Etruscan belief, the all-determining will of the gods was not determined, fate could be influenced by suitable rituals. Therefore the Fulguratores tried to prevent or bring about lightning through prayers, sacrifices and incantations, so that a misfortune was averted or a favorable circumstance was brought about. However, there were two types of lightning, which the Fulguratores were powerless to face, which meant unavoidable misfortune.

According to tradition, the Etruscan king Lars Porsenna could call lightning bolts just like Numa Pompilius , the legendary king of Rome, had before him . According to legend, his successor Tullus Hostilius was struck by lightning when he made a mistake while invoking it. This myth of the lightning conjuration was apparently more widespread in central Italy. The rituals for the lightning interpretation and conjuring were demanding and meticulous to adhere to. Knowledge of regions of the sky, lightning phenomena, lightning interpretation, lightning atonement and lightning conjuration therefore required the lightning interpreters to study the records extensively.

The intestinal inspection was communicated to the Etruscans by Tages , the god of wisdom, whereas the Blitzlehre was communicated by the Lasa Vecu , which the Romans called Vegoia or Begoe . In Etruscan mythology, the Lasen were winged beings from the entourage of Turan, the goddess of love .

Lightning interpretation in the Roman Empire

The Romans also tried to research the divine will using special signs ( prodigies ). To this end, the augurs , cult officials appointed by the magistrate , carried out auspices in all official matters . Among the signs that the Augur had to observe, in addition to the flight of birds, were lightning bolts. In the art of lightning interpretation, the Romans had evidently adopted some of the Etruscans and also had them instruct them. The doctrine of lightning does not seem to have been of great importance, since only two types of lightning were distinguished. Those that occurred during the day were ascribed to Jupiter , those during the night to Summanus . Another source names four distinguishable lightning bolts from the gods Jupiter, Juno , Minerva and Vulcanus . As with the Etruscans, the lightning bolts in the northern half of the sky were considered to be more significant by the Romans. Jupiter could apparently throw its lightning bolts from all regions of the sky. The first three regions of the sky from north to northeast were reserved for his lightning bolts. If lightning had struck, the lightning marks ( bidentalia ) were framed with a puteal .

Etruscan haruspices were used as early as the Roman royal era to advise and atonement unusual signs. In the Roman Republic , Haruspices repeatedly assisted the Senate in interpreting Prodigia. These haruspices also come from distinguished Etruscan families. Roman generals and provincial governors also took advice from Haruspices.

The Romans had great respect for Etruscan fortune tellers, whereas they were skeptical of their own. The fulguratores of Faesulae were considered to be particularly skilled . The College of 60 Haruspices of Tarquinia was highly valued . Even in the Roman Republic, haruspices were viewed by some as swindlers. The Roman Senate also showed a certain distrust of the Haruspices by repeatedly disregarding their interpretations and prophecies.

The approach of the lightning interpreters is illustrated by an ancient anecdote about a lightning strike in the monument of Augustus shortly before the end of his life. The lightning had destroyed the letter C of Caesar . Augustus had taken this name from his adoptive father Gaius Iulius Caesar . The summoned Haruspices prophesied that Augustus would only live a hundred days, since the letter C in the Roman numerals stands for 100 , and that in future he would be counted among the gods, since the remaining aesar in Etruscan means "god". However, there is no aesar in Etruscan . A similar spelling is aiser and means "gods", the singular ais stands for "god".

During the Roman Empire , under Emperor Claudius (10 BC – 54 AD), the Etruscan teachings were restored with a reorganization of the College of 60 Haruspices. Claudius also wrote a 20-volume work on the Etruscans, the Tyrrheniká , which has, however, been lost. However, under the influence of the Stoa, people also looked for rational explanatory models for natural phenomena such as lightning and thunder. The Etruscan lightning bolt interpretation and evocation was handed down and practiced until late antiquity . The Haruspices followed the Libri Tarquitani , a Latin translation of the Etruscan ritual books, since the Etruscan language was already extinct.

After Emperor Constantine (324–337) and his successors had banned the Etruscan sign interpretation several times, the last pagan emperor Julian (361–363) lifted this ban again. His Christian successors Valentinian I (364–375), Valens (364–378) and Gratian (367–383) sought a balance between pagans and Christians and allowed the interpretation of signs again. Emperor Theodosius I (347–395) made Christianity the state religion and in 385 banned all pagan religious practice and all related practices.

The pagan cults seem to have hardly been persecuted by the state, since in the early 5th century Etruscan haruspices are said to have offered the city of Rome to avert the threatened plundering by the Visigoth army king Alaric I with the help of lightning and thunder. They had already succeeded in doing this when the Visigoths besieged the city of Narnia . Pompeianus, commander of the city, brought the matter before Pope Innocent I , who secretly gave his approval. But since no one wanted to take part publicly in the pagan rituals, the Haruspices were released again.

Ancient sources

Marcus Tullius Cicero

The knowledge about the intestinal inspection ( haruspicinum ) and the lightning interpretation were passed down by the Etruscans in the books of the Etrusca disciplina , as the Romans called them. The Etrusca disciplina included the libri haruspicini , the libri fulgurales and the libri rituales . None of these works have survived, although Roman writers took over some of the Latin translations of these books. Since numerous Roman works have also been lost, the remaining literature on the Etruscans is fragmentary, selective and in some cases tendentious.

One of the most important ancient sources for the Etruscans' interpretation of lightning is the second book of the dialogue De divinatione by Cicero (106–43 BC). In the Naturales quaestiones , Seneca (approx. 1–65 AD) also described the Etruscan lightning theory in Book II (Thunderstorm Book), which he contrasted with a rational explanation of these natural phenomena. Also Pliny the Elder (23 / 24-79 n. Chr.) Was in its Naturalis historia in the treatment of meteorological a phenomena on the flash interpretation by the Etruscans.

Notes and additions to the Etruscan doctrine of lightning can be found in the commentaries on Horace of Acron (2nd century AD) and Virgil's Aeneid by Servius (end of 4th century AD), as well as in the Res gestae by Ammianus Marcellinus (330-395 / 400). Martianus Capella , a Roman encyclopedia of the 5th or early 6th century, assigned Roman god names to the 16 heavenly regions in his work De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii . This assignment was u. a. the division of the sky according to the Etruscan lightning theory.

Research in Modern Times

Karl Otfried Müller (1797-1840) dealt in 1828 in his two-volume work The Etruscans in the treatment of the Etruscan theory of lightning in detail with ancient sources and believed that eight of the nine lightning gods of the heavenly regions could be proven by means of Roman sources: Jupiter , Juno , Minerva , Veiovis , Summanus , Vulcanus , Saturnus and Mars . The Etruscan names of these deities were sometimes given by Müller.

Bronze liver from Piacenza
Schematic representation

With the discovery of the bronze liver from Piacenza in 1877 it became possible to identify the lightning gods of the 16 regions of the sky as far as possible. The bronze liver named after the place where it was found is a replica of a sheep's liver and probably served as a teaching model for Etruscan priests to inspect the entrails. Wilhelm Deecke (1831–1897) and later Carl Olof Thulin (1871–1921) were able to demonstrate that the 16 surrounding fields on the edge of the bronze liver represent the 16 heavenly regions of the Etruscan lightning theory. A systematic comparison with the deities of the heavenly regions by Martianus Capella showed a relatively high degree of correspondence with ancient sources, so that the books of the Etrusca disciplina could be concluded as a common source for both classifications.

There are a total of 14 deities in contrast to the ancient nine gods of lightning. According to Roman sources and in agreement with Martianus Capella, some Etruscologists assigned Tinia to three regions of the sky, which are arranged from north to northeast.

Deities of the 16 heavenly regions according to Martianus Capella (outside) and the bronze liver of Piacenza (inside)

Deecke already assumed that the first two regions of the Tinia are to be assigned to the western half and ended his count with these two zones in the north. Thulin followed this approach, as lightning from these two regions heralded a disaster according to ancient sources, and suspected a shift of the zones of Jupiter to the east in Roman times. Undoing this shift resulted in more convincing matches. This approach is pursued in modern research.

Alternative assignment of the deities in 16 regions of the sky (inside) with corresponding deities after Martianus Capella (outside) partially rotated

The division into quadrants results in a coherent scheme: In the northeast half are the residences of the highest heavenly deities. The gods of nature follow in the southeast and the earth deities in the southwest, while the gods of the underworld live in the north-west, which is disastrous according to the Etruscan view. From here Tinia hurled two ominous bolts of lightning.

The lightning gods of the bronze liver

The table follows the designations and attributions of Friedhelm Prayon.

region inscription Etruscan deity Deity and region according to Martianus Capella
1 Tins / thne Tinia ( Jupiter ) - supreme lightning god Jupiter (III)
2 Uni / Mae Uni ( Juno ) - goddess of fertility Juno (II)
3 Tec / vm Tecum = Menrva ( Minerva ) - daughter of Tinia and Uni Minerva (III)
4th Lvsl Lusa -? ?
5 Neth Nethuns ( Neptune ) - god of the sea ?
6th Cath Cavtha ( Eos ) - sun deity Solis filia (VI)
7th Fuflu / ns Fufluns ( Dionysus ) - god of wine Liber (VII)
8th Selva Selvans ( Silvanus ) - nature deity Veris fructus (VIII)
9 Lethn Lethans -? ?
10 Tluscv Tluscu -? ?
11 Cels Cel - earth goddess ?
12 Cvl / Alp Culsu / Culsans ( Janus ) - god of gates ?
13 Vetisl Vetis ( Veiovis ) - god of the underworld Veiovis (XV)
14th Cilensl Cilens - goddess of fate Nocturnus (XVI)
15th Tin / Cil / en Tinia with the goddess of fate Cilens Jupiter with Nocturnus (I)
16 Tin / Thvf Tinia in a punitive capacity Jupiter (II)
quadrant Group of gods Etruscan deities
Northeast Deities of heaven (1) Tinia (2) Uni (3) Tecum (4) Lusa
Southeast Deities of nature (5) Nethuns (6) Cavtha (7) Fufluns (8) Selvans
southwest Deities of the earth (9) Lethans (10) Tluscu (11) Cel (12) Culsu / Culsans
northwest Deities of the underworld (13) Vetis (14) Cilens (15) Tinia and Cilens (16) Tinia in a punitive capacity

It is unclear whether Culsu or Culsans (Etruscan cul for gate) stands at the entrance to the underworld. Culsu is a female, and Culsans is a male deity. Cilens , often equated with the night god Nocturnus , seems to be a female deity of fate. Accordingly, Tinia hurled his destructive lightning bolts from heaven region 15, which in accordance with the ancient sources - there, however, after the advice of the veiled gods ( dei superiores et involuti ) - heralded an inevitable fate. The characters Thvf in field 16 could stand for the underworld deity Thufultha . It is more obvious that a punishing quality of Tinia should be described, which corresponds to the middle position between the destructive and the more positive region of the sky. According to Roman tradition, Tinia hurled these lightning bolts after consulting the twelve supreme gods of the Etruscans ( dei consentes ).

Individual deities such as Lusa , Lethans and Tluscu have not yet been clearly identified. It also remains unclear why important deities such as the underworld rulers Aita ( Hades ) and Phersipnai ( Persephone ) as well as Apulu ( Apollon ) or Turan ( Aphrodite ), who were of great importance in cult and the visual arts, are missing among the lightning gods .

Between 1906 and 1909, Carl Olof Thulin tried to reconstruct the Etrusca disciplina with the help of ancient sources and published three volumes to match the three books of the Disciplina, including a volume on the theory of lightning, which is still used today as a collection of material and a critical interpretation of the literary sources are decisive.

literature

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Massimo Pallottino: Etruscology: History and culture of the Etruscans. P. 318.
  2. ^ Karl Ernst Georges : Comprehensive Latin-German concise dictionary. 8th edition. Hanover 1918, p. 2868: fulgurator .
  3. ↑ Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum III 1596, 1680, 3953, 3954, 6342
  4. ^ Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum VI 377.
  5. ^ Manu Leumann , Johann Baptist Hofmann , Anton Szantyr : Latin grammar. First volume. Latin phonetics and forms. New edition. CH Beck, Munich 1977, ISBN 3406014267 , p. 83.
  6. ↑ Cicero, De divinatione 1,109.
  7. ^ Massimo Pallottino: Etruscology: History and culture of the Etruscans. P. 325 and p. 377.
  8. ↑ Pliny, Naturalis historia 2,143; Cicero, De divinatione 2.42.
  9. ^ Massimo Pallottino: Etruscology: History and culture of the Etruscans. P. 316.
  10. ↑ Varro , De lingua Latina VII. 6.
  11. ^ Herbert Alexander Stützer: The Etruscans and their world. P. 162.
  12. ↑ Pliny, Naturalis historia 2,143-144.
  13. ↑ Pliny, Naturalis historia 2,138.
  14. ↑ Seneca, Naturales quaestiones II, 39.
  15. ^ Servius , Commentary on Virgil's Aeneid 8,429.
  16. ↑ Seneca, Naturales quaestiones II, 41.
  17. ↑ Pliny, Naturalis historia 2,139.
  18. ↑ Lukan , De bello civili I, 605-608.
  19. ↑ Scholion to Persius , II. 26.
  20. ↑ Lukan, De bello civili I, 863.
  21. ↑ Ammianus Marcellinus , Res gestae 23,5,13.
  22. ↑ Pliny, Naturalis historia 2,140.
  23. ↑ Seneca, Naturales quaestiones II, 50.
  24. ↑ Pliny, Naturalis historia 2,140.
  25. ^ Cicero, De divinatione 2.50.
  26. ^ Herbert Alexander Stützer: The Etruscans and their world. P. 163.
  27. ↑ Ammianus Marcellinus, Res gestae 17,10,2; Servius, Commentary on Virgil's Aeneid 6.72.
  28. ^ Herbert Alexander Stützer: The Etruscans and their world. P. 96.
  29. ↑ Cicero, De divinatione 1.92.
  30. ↑ Pliny, Naturalis historia 2,138.
  31. ^ Servius, Commentary on Virgil's Aeneid 1.42.
  32. ↑ Servius, Commentary on Virgil's Aeneid 2,693.
  33. ^ Servius, Commentary on Virgil's Aeneid 8,427.
  34. ↑ Acron , Commentarii in Q. Horatium Flaccum 1,12,18.
  35. ^ Livy , Ab urbe condita 1.31.
  36. ↑ Livy, Ab urbe condita 24.10 and 40.2.
  37. ↑ Tacitus , Annales 11:15.
  38. ↑ Livy, Ab urbe condita 8.9 and 27.16.
  39. ^ Herbert Alexander Stützer: The Etruscans and their world. P. 161.
  40. ↑ Silius , Punica 8,477.
  41. ^ Massimo Pallottino: Etruscology: History and culture of the Etruscans. P. 329.
  42. ↑ Cicero, Divinations 2.51 and 1.36.
  43. ↑ Cicero, De divinatione 1.97.
  44. ^ Suetonius , De vita Caesarum , Augustus 97; Cassius Dio , Roman History 56.29.4.
  45. ↑ Dieter H. Steinbauer: New manual of the Etruscan. Scripta Mercaturae Verlag 1999, p. 395.
  46. ^ Massimo Pallottino: Etruscology: History and culture of the Etruscans. P. 2 and 243.
  47. ↑ Seneca, Naturales quaestiones II.
  48. ↑ Ammianus Marcellinus, Res gestae 15,2,7.
  49. ↑ Carl Olof Thulin: The Etruscan Discipline: III. The ritual books , pp. 140–141.
  50. ^ Sozomenos , Historia Ecclesiastica IX, 6.
  51. ↑ Zosimos , Historia nea 5,41,1–5.
  52. ↑ Cicero, De divinatione 1.72.
  53. ^ Herbert Alexander Stützer: The Etruscans and their world. P. 155 ff.
  54. ↑ Martianus Capella, De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii I, 41-61.
  55. ^ Karl Otfried Müller: The Etruscans. Volume 2, pp. 162–178 and p. 43 ff.
  56. ^ Herbert Alexander Stützer: The Etruscans and their world. P. 157.
  57. ^ Wilhelm Deecke: Etruscan research ; Carl Olof Thulin: The gods of Martianus Capella and the bronze liver of Piacenza .
  58. ^ Nancy Thomson de Grummond: Etruscan Myth, Sacred History, and Legend. Pp. 48-51.
  59. ^ Wilhelm Deecke: Etruscan research. P. 101.
  60. ↑ Carl Olof Thulin: The gods of Martianus Capella and the bronze liver of Piacenza. Pp. 32-33.
  61. ^ Friedhelm Prayon: The Etruscans. History, religion, art. Pp. 68-69.
  62. ^ Friedhelm Prayon: The Etruscans. History, religion, art. P. 68–76 and The Etruscans: Concepts of the afterlife and ancestor cult. Pp. 76-78.
  63. ↑ Friedhelm Prayon: The Etruscans: Concepts of the afterlife and ancestor cult. Pp. 76-78.
  64. ↑ Carl Olof Thulin: The Etruscan Discipline: I - III. Gothenburg 1906–1909.