Editing Janus (section)

=== Rites of the Salii ===
The rites of the Salii marked the springtime beginning of the war season in March and its closing in October. The structure of the [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patrician]] [[Sodales|sodalitas]], made up by the two groups of the Salii Palatini, who were consecrated to Mars and whose institution was traditionally ascribed to Numa (with headquarter on the Palatine), and the Salii Collini or Agonales, consecrated to Quirinus and whose foundation was ascribed to Tullus Hostilius, (with headquarter on the Quirinal) reflects in its division the dialectic symbolic role they played in the rites of the opening and closing of the military season.<ref>The two groups were of twelve people each. They stood under the patronage of the gods of the archaic triad: cf. Servius ''Aen.'' VIII 663 "… the Salii who are under the tutelage of Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus".</ref> So does the legend of their foundation itself: the peace-loving king Numa instituted the Salii of [[Mars Gradivus]], foreseeing the future wars of the Romans<ref>Livy I 20, 4.</ref> while the warmonger king Tullus, in a battle during a longstanding war with the Sabines, swore to found a second group of Salii should he obtain victory.<ref>Dionysius Halicarnasseus III 32, 4.</ref>

The paradox of the pacifist king serving Mars and passage to war and of the warmonger king serving Quirinus to achieve peace under the expected conditions highlights the dialectic nature of the cooperation between the two gods, inherent to their own function.<ref>Tullus's vow included beside the institution of the Salii also that of the [[Saturnalia]] (perhaps along with the [[Consualia]]) and of the [[Opalia]] after the storing of the harvest: all festivals related to peace, fertility and plenty.</ref> Because of the working of the talismans of the sovereign god they guaranteed alternatively force and victory, fecundity and plenty. It is noteworthy that the two groups of Salii did not split their competences so that one group only opened the way to war and the other to peace: they worked together both at the opening and the conclusion of the military season, marking the passage of power from one god to the other. Thus the Salii enacted the dialectic nature present in the warring and peaceful aspect of the Roman people, particularly the ''iuvenes''.<ref>A passage of Statius ''Silvae'' V 2, 128, to be found in a poem in honour of his friend Crispinus, a Salius Collinus, suggests clearly the difference between the functions of the arms of Quirinus and those of Mars (and Minerva): "Mars and the virgin Actea shew the points ... the arms of Quirinus ... shields born from the clouds and arms untouched by slaughter": the arms of Quirinus were peaceful.</ref>

This dialectic was reflected materially by the location of the temple of Mars outside the [[pomerium]] and of the temple of Quirinus inside it.<ref>Servius ''Aen.'' I 292 "Thence in the City there two temples of his, of Quirinus within the Urbs, as if protector but peaceful, another on the ''Via Appia'' outside the ''Urbs'' near the gate, as if warrior, or ''gradivus'' ": the gate is the ''Porta Capena''; VI 860: "Quirinus is the Mars that presides over peace and is worshipped inside the city: in fact the Mars of war has his temple outside it". Regardless of the actual date of their foundation their location is archaic: for Quirinus cf. Paulus p. 303 L and for Mars Festus p. 204 L.</ref> The annual dialectic rhythm of the rites of the Salii of March and October was also further reflected within the rites of each month and spatially by their repeated crossing of the pomerial line. The rites of March started on the first with the ceremony of the ''ancilia movere'', developed through the month on the 14th with [[Equirria]] in the [[Campus Martius]] (and the [[Mamuralia|rite of Mamurius Veturius]] marking the expulsion of the old year), the 17th with the [[Agonium Martiale]], the 19th with the [[Quinquatrus]] in the [[Comitium]] (which correspond symmetrically with the [[Armilustrium]] of 19 October), on the 23rd with the [[Tubilustrium]] and they terminated at the end of the month with the rite of the ''ancilia condere''. Only after this month-long set of rites was accomplished was it [[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#fas|fas]] to undertake military campaigns.<ref>Suetonius ''Othon'' VIII 5: "He started the expedition before it was ritually correct, without any care for religious praescriptions, but with ''ancilia''  ''moved'' and not yet ''stored'' "; Ovid ''Fasti'' III 395f.: "The arms move the fight: the fight is alien to the grooms, when they have been stored the omen shall be more propitious".</ref>

While Janus sometimes is named ''belliger''<ref>[[Lucan]] ''Pharsalia'' I 61–62: "Pax missa per orbem/ ferrea belligeri compescat limina Iani". Statius ''Silvae'' II 3,12: "belligerum Iani nemus".</ref> and sometimes ''pacificus''<ref>Martial VIII 66, 11–12.</ref> in accord with his general function of beginner, he is mentioned as ''Janus Quirinus'' in relation to the closing of the rites of March at the end of the month together with [[Pax (mythology)|Pax]], [[Salus]] and [[Concordia (mythology)|Concordia]]:<ref>Ovid ''Fasti'' III 879–882: "... Janus is to be worshipped together with mild Concord and Safety of the Roman people and the altar of Peace".</ref> This feature is a reflection of the aspect of Janus Quirinus which stresses the ''quirinal'' function of bringing peace back and the hope of soldiers for a victorious return.<ref>Servius ''Aen.'' I 291: "It is a better reason that those who go to war desire the come back."</ref><ref>The ancients give an armed and even military definition of Quirinus: Macrobius I 9 16; Ovid II 475-8; Plutarch ''Romulus '' 29, 1; ''Quaestiones Romanae'' 27; Paulus 43, 1 L. But while his armed character of is not in contradiction with the nature of Quirinus as well as of the gods of the third function, a definitely and exclusively martial character is unacceptable and looks to be a later development, due to the assimilation of Romulus with Quirinus. The legend of Romulus' later life had strong military connotations, which changed the original character of Quirinus. According to Dumezil the interpretation Quirnus-Romulus came about via a different route, i. e. the [[divine twins]] myth, of which [[Romulus and Remus]] are an instance. Their myth is representative and belongs to the category of the gods of the third function, as e.g. the [[Dioskuri]], the [[Ashvins]]. Whatever the original nature of the Sabine Quirinus, in Rome this god did not originally have a military function.</ref>

As the rites of the Salii mimic the passage from peace to war and back to peace by moving between the two poles of Mars and Quirinus in the monthly cycle of March, so they do in the ceremonies of October, the ''Equus October'' ("[[October Horse]]") taking place on the Campus Martius<ref>Festus p. 190 L.</ref> the ''Armilustrium'', purification of the arms, on the [[Aventine Hill|Aventine]],<ref>Varro ''Lingua Latina'' VI 22; V 153; Plutarch ''Quaestiones Romanae'' 23.</ref> and the [[Tubilustrium]] on the 23rd. Other correspondences may be found in the dates of the founding of the temples of Mars on 1 June and of that of Quirinus on 29 June, in the pre-Julian calendar the last day of the month, implying that the opening of the month belonged to Mars and the closing to Quirinus.

The reciprocity of the two gods' situations is subsumed under the role of opener and closer played by Janus as Ovid states: "''Why are you hidden in peace, and open when the arms have been moved?''"<ref>''Fasti'' I 277.</ref> Another analogous correspondence may be found in the festival of the [[Quirinalia]] of February, last month of the ancient calendar of Numa.<ref>C. Koch above; R. Schilling above p. 124 n. 2.</ref> The rite of the opening and closure of the Janus Quirinus would thus reflect the idea of the reintegration of the ''miles'' into civil society, i.e. the community of the ''quirites'', by playing a lustral role similar to the ''Tigillum Sororium'' and the ''{{lang|la|porta triumphalis}}'' located at the south of the Campus Martius. In Augustan ideology this symbolic meaning was strongly emphasised.<ref>Thus Ovid may conclude his passage devoted to Janus with the words "Janus, do make peace and those who administer it (Augustus and Germanicus) eternal." in ''Fasti'' I 287. Horace too mentions that Augustus closed the ''Ianum Quirini'' in ''Carmina'' IV 15, 9 and calls "Janus ... protector of the peace" in ''Epistulae'' II 1, 255.</ref>