Editing Jupiter (god) (section)

=== 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>