Compitals
In ancient times, a compitum ( Latin , plural compita ) was a way of the cross , a crossing point of three or more ways. At the Way of the Cross there was a Larenschrein ( lares compitales ) with a cult niche for each of the residents. This shrine as he about the compitum Acili is preserved in Rome, was also named Compitum referred.
The cult celebrations at this shrine were called Compitalien ( compitalia ). They were originally in an old country seasons, which the end of December / beginning of January as hard familia was a common meal and wine celebrated. On the night before or after the Compitalia, a woolen doll was hung in the cult niche for each free member of the familia and a ball of wool for each slave. In addition to victims, there were also games.
The Compitalien were also celebrated in the cities, at the crossing points of the insulae . Especially in the urban environment, the Compitalien developed into a festival that was mainly celebrated by servants and slaves. The games at the Compitalien were organized by the magistri vicorum , who on this occasion had the right to wear the toga praetexta . In the festival committees, the collegia compitalicia , freedmen and slaves in particular came together. 68 BC These colleges were banned as politically active associations. The games were also banned. It was one of the points Cicero made against Lucius Piso that Piso allowed the games to be played again. Apparently the celebrations continued.
During the time of the civil war , the celebrations no longer seem to have been held. In the course of Augustus' reforms , the veneration of the lares compitales was reorganized and became part of the imperial state cult. The Augustals , who were recruited from the freedmen, were charged with carrying it out . These Augustals are not to be confused with the Sodales Augustales, whose task was the cult of the deified emperor and who came from the highest ranks.
In the imperial era, the originally one-day Compitalien became a three-day festival. The date does not seem to have been set precisely. According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus it took place shortly after Saturnalia , Cicero names the calendar of January, i.e. January 1st, but elsewhere January 2nd (4 days before the Nones ).
literature
- Werner Eisenhut: Compitalia. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 1, Stuttgart 1964, Col. 1265 f.