Editing Jupiter (god) (section)

== Role in the state ==
The Romans believed that Jupiter granted them supremacy because they had honoured him more than any other people had. Jupiter was "the fount of the [[auspices]] upon which the relationship of the city with the gods rested."{{sfnp|Beard|North|Price|1998|p=59|loc=Vol. 1}} He personified the divine authority of Rome's highest offices, internal organization, and external relations. His image in the [[Roman Republic|Republican]] and [[Roman Empire|Imperial]] Capitol bore [[regalia]] associated with [[Kings of Rome|Rome's ancient kings]] and the highest [[Roman consul|consular]] and [[Imperial cult (ancient Rome)|Imperial honours]].<ref>Orlin, in {{harvp|Rüpke|2007|p=58}}.</ref>

The consuls swore their oath of office in Jupiter's name, and honoured him on the annual ''[[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#feria|feriae]]'' of the Capitol in September. To thank him for his help, and to secure his continued support, they sacrificed a white ox ''(bos mas)'' with gilded horns.<ref>Scheid, in {{harvp|Rüpke|2007|pp=263–271}}; {{harvp|Dumézil|1977|p=181}} citing [[Jean Bayet]] ''Les annales de Tite Live'' édition G. Budé vol. III 1942 Appendix V p. 153 and n. 3.</ref> A similar sacrificial offering was made by [[Roman Triumph|triumphal generals]], who surrendered the tokens of their victory at the feet of Jupiter's statue in the Capitol. Some scholars have viewed the ''triumphator'' as embodying (or impersonating) Jupiter in the triumphal procession.<ref>{{harvp|Dumézil|1977|p=259 note 4}}: cf. Servius ''Eclogae'' X 27 "''unde etiam triumphantes habent omnia insignia Iovis, sceptrum palmatamque togam''" "wherefore also the triumphing commanders have all the insignia of Jupiter, the sceptre and the toga palmata'". On the interpretation of the triumphal dress and of the triumph, Larissa Bonfante has offered an interpretation based on Etruscan documents in her article: "Roman Triumphs and Etruscan Kings: the Changing Face of the Triumph" in ''Journal of Roman Studies'' '''60''' 1970 pp. 49–66 and tables I–VIII. [[Mary Beard (classicist)|Mary Beard]] rehearses various views of the ''triumphator'' as god or king in ''The Roman Triumph'' (Harvard University Press, 2007), pp. 226–232, and expresses skepticism.</ref>

Jupiter's association with kingship and sovereignty was reinterpreted as Rome's form of government changed. Originally, [[Kings of Rome|Rome was ruled by kings]]; after the monarchy was abolished and the [[Roman Republic|Republic]] established, religious prerogatives were transferred to the ''patres'', the [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patrician ruling class]]. Nostalgia for the kingship ''(affectatio regni)'' was considered treasonous. Those suspected of harbouring monarchical ambitions were punished, regardless of their service to the state. In the 5th century BC, the ''triumphator'' [[Marcus Furius Camillus|Camillus]] was sent into exile after he drove a chariot with a team of four white horses ''([[quadriga]])''—an honour reserved for Jupiter himself. When [[Marcus Manlius Capitolinus|Marcus Manlius]], whose defense of the Capitol against the [[Sack of Rome (387 BC)|invading Gauls]] had earned him the name ''Capitolinus'', was accused of regal pretensions, he was executed as a traitor by being cast from the [[Tarpeian Rock]]. His house on the Capitoline Hill was razed, and it was decreed that no patrician should ever be allowed to live there.<ref>{{harvp|Dumézil|1977}} citing Livy V 23, 6 and VI 17, 5.</ref> Capitoline Jupiter represented a continuity of royal power from the [[Roman Kingdom|Regal period]], and conferred power to the [[Roman Magistrates|magistrates]] who paid their respects to him.{{sfnp|Dumézil|1977|p=177}}

During the [[Conflict of the Orders]], Rome's [[plebs|plebeians]] demanded the right to hold political and religious office. During their first ''[[Secessio plebis|secessio]]'' (similar to a [[general strike]]), they withdrew from the city and threatened to found their own. When they agreed to come back to Rome they vowed the hill where they had retreated to Jupiter as symbol and guarantor of the unity of the Roman ''res publica''.<ref>{{harvp|Dumézil|1977}} citing Dionysius of Halicarnassus ''Roman Antiquities'' VI 90, 1; Festus s.v. p. 414 L 2nd.</ref> Plebeians eventually became eligible for all the [[Roman Magistrates|magistracies]] and most priesthoods, but the high priest of Jupiter ''([[Flamen Dialis]])'' remained the preserve of patricians.{{sfnp|Forsythe|2005–2006|p=159 ''et passim.''}}

=== Flamen and Flaminica Dialis ===
{{Main|Flamen Dialis}}
[[File:Ara pacis fregio lato ovest 2 B.JPG|thumb|left|Detail of [[relief]] from the [[Ara Pacis|Augustan Altar of Peace]], showing ''flamines'' wearing the pointed ''[[Apex (headdress)|apex]]''|alt=Bas-relief of five Roman priests]]
[[File:Jupiter statue, Vaticana.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Statue of Jupiter, Vatican, Rome.]]
[[File:Jupiter cameo Louvre Bj1820.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Jupiter's head crowned with laurel and ivy. Sardonyx cameo ([[Louvre]])]]
[[File:Wall painting - Zeus and Eros - Herculaneum (ins or II basilica-augusteum) - Napoli MAN 9553.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Jupiter-Zeus with thunderbolt and sceptre in the clouds. Fresco in [[Herculaneum]], 1–37 AD]]
[[File:Lens - Inauguration du Louvre-Lens le 4 décembre 2012, la Galerie du Temps, n° 058.JPG|thumb|Decor Fragment of a triumphal arch: ''The Emperor's Guards, The [[Praetorian Guard]]'', featured in a [[Praetorians Relief|relief]] with an [[Aquila (Roman)|eagle]] grasping a [[thunderbolt]] through its claws; in reference to [[ancient Roman religion|Roman]] [[interpretatio graeca|equivalent]] form of ''Jupiter''.]]
Jupiter was served by the patrician Flamen Dialis, the highest-ranking member of the ''[[Flamen|flamines]]'', a [[Collegium (ancient Rome)|college]] of fifteen priests in the official public cult of Rome, each of whom was devoted to a particular deity. His wife, the Flaminica Dialis, had her own duties, and presided over the sacrifice of a ram to Jupiter on each of the ''[[Roman calendar#Nundinal cycle|nundinae]]'', the "market" days of a calendar cycle, comparable to a week.<ref>[[Macrobius]], ''Saturnalia'' 1.16.</ref> The couple were required to marry by the exclusive patrician ritual ''[[confarreatio]]'', which included a sacrifice of [[spelt]] bread to Jupiter Farreus (from ''far'', "wheat, grain").<ref>Matthew Dillon and [[Lynda Garland]], "Religion in the Roman Republic", in ''Ancient Rome: From the Early Republic to the Assassination of Julius Caesar'' (Routledge, 2005), pp. 127, 345.</ref>

The office of Flamen Dialis was circumscribed by several unique ritual prohibitions, some of which shed light on the sovereign nature of the god himself.<ref>Most of the information about the Flamen Dialis is preserved by [[Aulus Gellius]], ''Attic Nights'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Gellius/10*.html#15 X 15.]</ref> For instance, the ''flamen'' may remove his clothes or ''[[Apex (headdress)|apex]]'' (his pointed hat) only when under a roof, in order to avoid showing himself naked to the sky—that is, "as if under the eyes of Jupiter" as god of the heavens. Every time the Flaminica saw a lightning bolt or heard a clap of thunder (Jupiter's distinctive instrument), she was prohibited from carrying on with her normal routine until she placated the god.<ref>Macrobius ''Saturnalia'' I 16, 8: ''flaminica quotiens tonitrua audisset feriata erat, donec placasset deos.'' The adjective ''feriatus'', related to ''[[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#feria|feriae]]'', "holy days", pertains to keeping a holiday, and hence means "idle, unemployed", not performing one's usual tasks.</ref>

Some privileges of the ''flamen'' of Jupiter may reflect the regal nature of Jupiter: he had the use of the [[curule chair]],<ref>Livy I 20, 1–2.</ref> and was the only priest ''([[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#sacerdos|sacerdos]])'' who was preceded by a [[lictor]]<ref>Plutarch ''Quaestiones Romanae'' 113.</ref> and had a seat in the [[Roman senate|senate]].<ref>Livy XXVII 8, 8.</ref> Other regulations concern his ritual purity and his separation from the military function; he was forbidden to ride a horse or see the army outside the sacred boundary of Rome ''([[pomerium]]).'' Although he served the god who embodied the sanctity of the oath, it was not religiously permissible ''([[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#fas|fas]])'' for the Dialis to swear an oath.<ref>Aulus Gellius, 10.15.5: ''item iurare Dialem fas numquam est''; [[Robert E.A. Palmer]], "The Deconstruction of Mommsen on Festus 462/464L, or the Hazards of Interpretation", in ''Imperium sine fine: T. Robert S. Broughton and the Roman Republic'' (Franz Steiner, 1996), p. 85; Francis X. Ryan, ''Rank and Participation in the Republican Senate'' (Franz Steiner, 1998), p. 165. The [[Vestals]] and the Flamen Dialis were the only Roman citizens who could not be compelled to swear an oath (Aulus Gellius 10.15.31); Robin Lorsch Wildfang, ''Rome's Vestal Virgin: A Study of Rome's Vestal Priestesses in the Late Republic and Early Empire'' (Routledge, 2006), p. 69.</ref> He could not have contacts with anything dead or connected with death: corpses, funerals, funeral fires, raw meat. This set of restrictions reflects the fulness of life and absolute freedom that are features of Jupiter.{{sfnp|Dumézil|1977|p=147}}

=== Augurs ===
The ''augures publici'', [[augurs]] were a college of ''sacerdotes'' who were in charge of all inaugurations and of the performing of ceremonies known as ''auguria''. Their creation was traditionally ascribed to [[Romulus]]. They were considered the only official interpreters of Jupiter's will, thence they were essential to the very existence of the Roman State as Romans saw in Jupiter the only source of state authority.

=== Fetials ===
The [[fetials]] were a college of 20 men devoted to the religious administration of international affairs of state.{{sfnp|Dumézil|1977|pp=94–96, 169, 192, 502–504}}{{sfnp|Wissowa|1912|p=104}}<ref>Dionysius of Halicarnassus ''Rom. Ant.'' I 21, 1; Livy I 32, 4. See also ''[[ius gentium]].''</ref> Their task was to preserve and apply the fetial law ''(ius fetiale)'', a complex set of procedures aimed at ensuring the protection of the gods in Rome's relations with foreign states. [[Iuppiter Lapis]] is the god under whose protection they act, and whom the chief fetial ''(pater patratus)'' invokes in the rite concluding a treaty.<ref>Livy I 24, 8.</ref> If a [[declaration of war]] ensues, the fetial calls upon Jupiter and [[Quirinus]], the heavenly, earthly and [[chthonic]] gods as witnesses of any potential violation of the ''ius''. He can then declare war within 33 days.<ref>Livy I 32, 10.</ref>

The action of the fetials falls under Jupiter's jurisdiction as the divine defender of good faith. Several emblems of the fetial office pertain to Jupiter. The ''silex'' was the stone used for the fetial sacrifice, housed in the Temple of [[Feretrius|Iuppiter Feretrius]], as was their sceptre. Sacred herbs ''(sagmina)'', sometimes identified as [[vervain]], had to be taken from the nearby [[Arx (Roman)|citadel ''(arx)'']] for their ritual use.{{sfnp|Dumézil|1977|pp=502–504 & 169}}<ref>{{harvp|Wissowa|1912|page=104}}, citing Paulus p. 92 M.; Servius ''Aeneis'' XII 206; Livy I 24, 3–8; IX 5, 3; XXX 43, 9; Festus p. 321 M.; Pliny ''Naturalis historia'' XXII 5; Marcianus apud ''Digesta'' I 8, 8 par. 1; Servius ''Aeneis'' VIII 641; XII 120.</ref>

=== Jupiter and religion in the secessions of the plebs ===
The role of Jupiter in the [[conflict of the orders]] is a reflection of the religiosity of the Romans. On one side, the patricians were able to naturally claim the support of the supreme god as they held the [[auspices]] of the State. On the other side, the [[pleb]]s (plebeians) argued that, as Jupiter was the source of justice, they had his favor because their cause was just.

The first secession was caused by the excessive debt burden on the plebs. The legal institute of the ''[[nexum]]'' permitted a debtor to become a slave of his creditor. The plebs argued the debts had become unsustainable because of the expenses of the wars wanted by the patricians. As the senate did not accede to the proposal of a total debt remission advanced by dictator and augur [[Manius Valerius Maximus]] the plebs retired on the Mount Sacer, a hill located three Roman miles to the North-northeast of Rome, past the Nomentan bridge on river [[Anio]].<ref>Varro in his ''Lingua Latina'' V writes of "Crustumerian secession" ("''a secessione Crustumerina''"）.</ref> The place is windy and was usually the site of rites of divination performed by haruspices. The senate in the end sent a delegation composed of ten members with full powers of making a deal with the plebs, among whom were [[Menenius Agrippa]] and Manius Valerius. It was Valerius, according to the inscription found at Arezzo in 1688 and written on the order of Augustus as well as other literary sources, that brought the plebs down from the Mount, after the secessionists had consecrated it to ''Jupiter Territor'' and built an altar (''ara'') on its summit. The fear of the wrath of Jupiter was an important element in the solution of the crisis. The consecration of the Mount probably referred to its summit only. The ritual requested the participation of both an augur (presumably Manius Valerius himself) and a pontifex.<ref>F. Vallocchia "Manio Valerio Massimo dittatore ed augure" in ''Diritto @ Storia'' '''7''' 2008 (online).</ref>

The second secession was caused by the autocratic and arrogant behaviour of the ''[[decemviri]]'', who had been charged by the Roman people with writing down the laws in use till then kept secret by the patrician magistrates and the ''sacerdotes''. All magistracies and the tribunes of the plebs had resigned in advance. The task resulted in the XII Tables, which though concerned only private law. The plebs once again retreated to the Sacer Mons: this act besides recalling the first secession was meant to seek the protection of the supreme god. The secession ended with the resignation of the ''decemviri'' and an amnesty for the rebellious soldiers who had deserted from their camp near Mount Algidus while warring against the Volscians, abandoning the commanders. The amnesty was granted by the senate and guaranteed by the ''pontifex maximus'' Quintus Furius (in Livy's version) (or Marcus Papirius) who also supervised the nomination of the new tribunes of the plebs, then gathered on the Aventine Hill. The role played by the ''pontifex maximus'' in a situation of vacation of powers is a significant element underlining the religious basis and character of the ''tribunicia potestas''.<ref>C. M. A. Rinolfi "Plebe, pontefice massimo, tribuni della plebe: a proposito di Livio 3.54.5–14" in ''Diritto @ Storia'' '''5''' 2006 (online).</ref>