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Lapis manalis
open-in-new
<h2 id="gate-to-the-underworld">Gate to the underworld</h2> <p class="note">See also: <a href="/facts/Mundus_cerialis/z8aja7rQ">Mundus cerialis</a></p> <p>One such stone covered the <i><a href="/facts/Glossary_of_ancient_Roman_religion/GTKkzEdB">mundus</a> <a href="/facts/Ceres_(mythology)/z8aja7rQ">Cereris</a></i>, a pit thought to contain an entrance to the <a href="/facts/Underworld/DaB7uJsa">underworld</a>. Most cities of <a href="/facts/Latium/BNslyoU0">Latium</a> and <a href="/facts/Etruria/eX6593Hm">Etruria</a> contained a similar pit or ditch; <a href="/facts/Plutarch/p3bywktN">Plutarch</a> describes the custom of a <i>mundus</i> as being of <a href="/facts/Etruscans/yw3dmLgd">Etruscan</a> origin, and states that it was used as a place where first-fruits were deposited.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> The Latin word <i>mundus</i> meant "<a href="/facts/World/ceMeHvG3">world</a>". Festus, quoting <a href="/facts/Cato_the_Elder/cFSyAE4N">Cato</a> this time, explains that: </p> <blockquote> <p><i>Mundo nomen impositum est ab eo mundo qui supra nos est.</i> </p><p> (The <i>mundus</i> gets its name from that world which is above us.)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> </p></blockquote> <p>The Roman <i>mundus</i> was located in the <a href="/facts/Comitium/USFQQ1Q7">Comitium</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> This stone was ceremonially opened three times a year, during which spirits of the blessed dead (the <i>Manes</i>) were able to commune with the living. The three days upon which the <i>mundus</i> was opened were August 24, October 5, and November 8. Fruits of the harvest were offered to the dead at this time.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> <a href="/facts/Macrobius/f11D3xkT">Macrobius</a>, quoting <a href="/facts/Marcus_Terentius_Varro/k5okbKrf">Varro</a>, says of these days that: </p> <blockquote> <p><i>Mundus cum patet, deorum tristium atque inferum quasi ianua patet.</i> </p><p> (When the <i>mundus</i> is open, it is as if a door stands open for the sorrowful <a href="/facts/Di_inferi/vTaEd45a">gods of the underworld</a>.)</p></blockquote> <p>Accordingly, he reports that military and public matters were not transacted upon them, even though they were not <i><a href="/facts/Nefasti/S2KvUajY">dies nefasti</a></i>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="charm-to-make-rain">Charm to make rain</h2> <p>The other was used as part of a ceremony called the <i>aquaelicium</i> (Latin: "calling the waters") which sought to produce <a href="/facts/Rain/MLqcQEyx">rain</a> in times of <a href="/facts/Drought/LVW0rfuV">drought</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> During the ceremony, the <i><a href="/facts/Pontifex/TWNQy8a7">pontifices</a></i> had the stone brought from its usual resting place, the <a href="/facts/Temple_of_Mars_in_Clivo/XazzjyUV">Temple of Mars in Clivo</a> near the <a href="/facts/Porta_Capena/v2lzPmKo">Porta Capena</a>, into the <a href="/facts/Roman_Senate/NXK83zU9">Senate</a>. Offerings were made to <a href="/facts/Jupiter_(mythology)/JPetM2m9">Jupiter</a> petitioning for rain, and water was ceremonially poured over the stone.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Lemuria_(festival)/SuG0UDaj">Lemuria</a>, another Roman festival for the dead.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Lemures/3aHB91nb">Lemures</a>, hostile ghosts in Roman mythology.</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Sextus Pompeius Festus, De verborum significatione, sub. tit. manalis (Latin and French text) <a href="http://remacle.org/bloodwolf/erudits/Festus/m.htm" target="_blank">http://remacle.org/bloodwolf/erudits/Festus/m.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Plutarch, Life of Romulus ch. 11. <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Romulus*.html#11" target="_blank">https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Romulus*.html#11</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>W. Warde Fowler, "Mundus Patet", Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 2 (1912), pp 25‑33. <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/journals/JRS/2/Mundus*.html" target="_blank">https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/journals/JRS/2/Mundus*.html</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Plutarch, supra. <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Lesley Adkins and Roy A. Adkins, Dictionary of Roman Religion (Facts on File, 1996) ISBN 0-8160-3005-7 <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Fowler, above <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Macrobius, Saturnalia I 16.18 <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Macrobius/Saturnalia/1*.html#16.18" target="_blank">https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Macrobius/Saturnalia/1*.html#16.18</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Sir James Frazer, The Golden Bough ch. 5, "Magical Control of the Weather" (Abridged edition, MacMillan, 1922) <a href="/wiki/James_Frazer" target="_blank">/wiki/James_Frazer</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Cyril Bailey, The Religion of Ancient Rome, ch. 2 (Archibald, Constable & Co., London, 1907) <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18564/18564-8.txt" target="_blank">http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18564/18564-8.txt</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>