Evocatio

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Bronze statuette of Juno Regina , whose religious cult is said to have come to Rome through an evocatio from Veii . Late second century a. Z., State Collections of Antiquities , Munich

Evocatio , from Latin e-voco or e-vocare , refers to the “calling out” of the local gods of an area, especially the calling of the dead of the underworld to make them appear . Furthermore, the term Evocatio referred to the recall of former, already dismissed legionaries to the service of the Legion of the Imperium Romanum , see Evocatus . The evocatio as “ summons ” was also a term in Roman law without any obvious reference to its magical-religious aspect, which still plays a role in jurisprudence as a technical term to this day .

Religious significance in ancient times

The expression “call a god” is from the 1st century BC. . BC to the 6th century occupied. Primarily, this custom referred to the ancient practice of luring the patron deity of a besieged city ​​out through a magical conjuration in order to offer it new accommodation in Rome , and thus, so to speak, to rob the besieged city of its livelihood. For this reason, the name of the patron deity of the city of Rome and the actual, actual name of this city were kept secret in antiquity in order to make the cursing impossible for the enemy.

As a tactic of psychological warfare , evocatio undermined the enemy's self-confidence , threatened the sanctity of its city walls (→ Pomerium ) and other forms of divine protection. Usually, however, evocatio was just a method of legitimizing the otherwise vicious looting of sacred objects .

literature

See also

Wiktionary: Evocation  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. Jürgen von Ungern-Sternberg : Roman studies historical consciousness - age of Gracchen - crisis of the republic . Walter de Gruyter, 2006, ISBN 978-3-11-093871-5 , p. 55 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed July 30, 2015]).
  2. Eric Orlin: Foreign Cults in Rome: Creating a Roman Empire . Oxford University Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-19-978020-4 , pp. 38 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed July 30, 2015]).
  3. evocare: German »Latin: PONS.eu. (JavaScript) PONS GmbH, Stuttgart, accessed on August 11, 2012 .
  4. Wolfgang Schaffler: Cultic reactions to failure and failure in ancient Greece. (PDF) The relationship between humans and the gods. (No longer available online.) Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, September 29, 2011, p. 6 ff. , Archived from the original on July 10, 2016 ; Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
  5. ^ Theodor Mommsen : Roman State Law . tape 3 . Cambridge University Press, 2010, ISBN 1-108-00993-X , pp. 1197 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  6. Livy : 1.55, 5.21, 5; Pliny the Elder : Naturalis historia 24.160; 28.18; Sextus Pompeius Festus : De verborum significatione, sv Peregrina sacra, Novae curiae, Tauri ludi; Servius : Aeneid 2.244, 351; 9,446; Macrobius : Saturnalia 3.9
  7. Thomas Köves : Pliny on the fall of the city of Pometia. (PDF; 6.8 MB) Nat. Hist. VII, 68/69. University of Cologne, February 29, 2008, p. 24 ff. , Accessed on August 11, 2012 .
  8. Angelo Brelich, The secret protector of Rome. Zurich, 1949.
  9. Volker Michael Strocka : Art theft in antiquity. (PDF; 3.5 MB) Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, May 5, 2008, p. 9 ff. , Accessed on August 12, 2012 : “The Roman generals and their armies were not inhibited by religious considerations when they were preying. "