Chapters
The cult of Hercules in Rome was nationalized in 312 BCE, i.e. in the year of his censorship by the reformer Appius Claudius Caecus, builder of Via Appia and the first aqueduct in Rome – Aqua Appia.
Hercules was worshipped as Victor (“the winner”) and Invictus (“undefeated”). The first and most important temple of the hero was Ara Maxima at the Forum Boarium (near Circus Maximus). According to legend, it was built by Evander, and Hercules himself was to perform the first sacrifice in honour of his father. From that time, for many centuries, the priests of this tabernacle were performed by members of different families. Dionisius writes that the altar itself was not a lofty and enormous building, in fact, it was very modest. Linguists and historians, therefore, believe that the word “maxima” in this case meant not “greatest” but “oldest”.
Other known temples of Hercules were:
- temple on the Field of Mars next to the Circus of the Flaminius, built on the orders of the Sibylline books and dedicated to Hercules, the Great Guardian of the City;
- temple in Tibur (Tivoli) near Rome.
In Roman mythology, Hercules was a deified hero. Later, his cult merged completely with the Greek Heracles, but even then the Romans retained some of their own myths about this character. Roman legend attributes Hercules to killing the giant Cacus and King Faunus. Hercules was to be hosted by Evander in his country, and after the death of the hero, he established his cult.
Initially, Hercules was worshipped in Rome as a guardian of property, guardian of entrances, and guardian of travellers and traders. Farmers and merchants tithed him of the profits and the crops.
lira. He was often presented with her in the company of Apollo and the musician.
the Feast of Hercules fell in Rome; On June 4, the Feast of Hercules the Great Protector (Hercules Magnus Custos) was celebrated.
As the cult of the hero was extremely popular, in almost every town in the country there were chapels, altars and temples. In the Forum Boarium itself, next to Ara Maxima, there were three more chapels or small temples. Games were organized in honour of the hero and sacrifices were made to him in the Greek way. Once a year, the city praetor, with his head uncovered, crowned with a poplar wreath, offered a sacrifice of a young bull, who had not yet known the yoke, on the high altar. Then he performed a sacred libation (libatio – an offering to the deity in the form of pouring valuable liquids on the ground) with wine from a wooden chalice covered with tar, which Hercules was said to have used in Italy. The hero’s friends, who longed for him, threw themselves into the abyss of the Tiber, and a chapel was erected in every district of Rome as patrons of the Eternal City. In March each year, sacrifices were made to them.
could not be worshipped by women. They were so punished that they drove the hero out of the sacred grove of the Good Goddess (Bona Dea) on the Aventine Hill, where they prayed in her honour. So women could not swear by this god or pronounce the spell “mehercle”, which is popular in speech.
Hercules was especially popular among – merchants and travellers (for protecting them while travelling, especially in the mountains); – young Roman knights (as the most powerful and invincible hero); – chiefs and triumphs (they asked him for help in victory and gave him a part of the spoils of war).
A very popular form of hero worship was the ancient custom of giving away a tenth of your profits from successful transactions. In return for the favours received, many Romans even tithed to Hercules of their fortune. For example, the famous rich man Lukullus, in order to fulfil his promise, made costly sacrifices almost continuously. Chief Lucius Mummius, after subjugating Greece and conquering Corinth, erected a temple to Hercules Victor in Rome.
Patron of a victorious war
The cult of Hercules, especially as the patron of the victorious war, was most popular during the republic. Emperor Octavian Augustus, as part of “moral renewal”, stopped supporting the cult of the son of Jupiter, contrasting him with the no less popular Mars, who has since become a traditional pa