Carmen Saeculare - Horace Flashcards
When was the Carmen Saeculare published/written
17 BCE
Who wrote the Carmen Saeculares
Horace
What is the Carmen Saeculares
‘The song of the new age’
It is a hymn that was performed at the ludi Saeculares
what were the ludi saeculares
They were the ‘games of the new age’
to celebrate the coming of the new golden age, that was prophesised by the Sibylline books
What was Hesiod’s Golden Age
Hesiod was a greek writer who wrote about the prehistoric world.
He said that there was a golden age presided over by Chronos. It ended when Zeus (Jupiter) deposed him and thus began the age of silver, which was worse than the previous and it went downhill from there.
By the time of the Romans they were in the age of Iron - an age of toil and hardship, where the gods barely cared for them due to their impiety.
What was Augustus’ Golden Age
Having secured peace in:
* Rome - battle of Actium
* the east - settlement with Parthia
* the west - Agrippa’s spanish campaign
Peace and prosperity for Rome was now apparent. Augustus had made Rome more pious and moral. Therefore with peace, prosperity, morality and piety they are led into a new Golden Age
What were the Sibylline books
The Sibyl was a preistess of Apollo, whose predictions were collected in the Sibylline books there were 9 but 6 were burned by the Sibyl.
What did the Sibylline books contain
They were said to contained the past and the future of Rome. They were consulted at intervals by the quindecemviri (15 men), they were famously sacred and were prohibited from all but the quindecimviri.
How did Augustus use the Sibylline books
In 17 BCE, Augustus along with the other quindecemviri consulted the Sibylline Books and declared that this was a time prophecised in the books as the ‘new Golden Age’
what happened at the ludi saeculares
who was invited and such
All Romans were invited, Augustus lead the religious rituals, and the hymn was sung by a chorus of youths dressed in white at the temple of Apollo and then at the Capitol
Who is the Carmen Saeculares adressed to
what is it asking
it is adressed to Diana and Apollo.
Horace asks that they answers their prayers
what is the metaphore used to desribe the golden age
Horace describes the sun, which “heralds the day, then hide it, to be born again” like this golden age.
summarise the Carmen Saeculare
Asks the gods to bless Rome and praise Rome’s achievements. The gods are also asked to protect mothers and the sanctity of marriage. The prayer asks for harvests to be blessed and bountiful. The glourious past pf Aeneas and Romulus is referenced. In the new peace wrought by Rome’s military might; Honour, Faith, Modesty and Virtue (personified goddesses) can now return.
