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{{short description|Ancient Roman religious vow}}
{{Ancient Roman religion}}

In [[Religion in ancient Rome|ancient Roman religion]], a '''{{lang|la|votum}}''' (plural '''{{lang|la|vota}}'''; {{ety|la|voveo, vovere|vow, promise}}) is a [[vow]] or [[promise]] made to [[List of Roman deities|a deity]]. As the result of this verbal action, a {{lang|la|votum}} is also that which fulfills a vow, that is, the thing promised, such as [[Votive offering|offerings]], a statue, or even a [[Roman temple|temple building]]. The {{lang|la|votum}} is thus an aspect of the contractual nature of Roman religion, a bargaining expressed by {{lang|la|[[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#do ut des|do ut des]]}}, "I give that you might give."<ref>[[John Scheid]], "Sacrifices for Gods and Ancestors", in ''A Companion to Roman Religion'' (Blackwell, 2007), p. 270; [[William Warde Fowler]], ''The Religious Experience of the Roman People'' (London, 1922), pp. 200–202.</ref>

==Private ''vota''==
[[File:Silvanus statue Xanten cropped.jpg|thumb|130px|left|Votive statue for the god [[Silvanus (mythology)|Silvanus]]; the inscription ends with the abbreviation V.S.L.M. ''(votum solvit libens merito)'']]
In everyday life, individuals might make [[votive offering]]s to a deity for private concerns. ''Vota [[Privatus|privata]]'' are attested in abundance by [[epigraphy|inscriptions]], particularly for the later [[Roman Empire|Imperial era]]. These are regularly marked with the letters V.S.L.M., ''votum solvit libens merito'', noting that the person making the dedication "He has fulfilled his vow, willingly, as it should." [[William Warde Fowler]] found in these offerings "expressions of … religious feeling" and a gratitude for blessings received that go deeper than contractual formalism.<ref>Fowler, ''Religious Experience'', pp. 201–202.</ref>

==Military ''vota''==
During the [[Roman Republic|Republican era]], the ''votum'' was a regular part of ceremonies conducted at the [[Capitoline Hill|Capitoline]] by a general holding ''[[imperium]]'' before deploying.<ref>J.A. North, and S.R.F. Price, ''Religions of Rome: A History'' (Cambridge University Press, 1998), p. 15.</ref> The [[Roman triumph|triumph]] with its dedication of spoils and animal sacrifices at the Capitol was in part a fulfillment of such a vow.<ref>Friederike Fless and Katja Moede, "Music and Dance: Forms of Representation in Pictorial and Written Sources", in ''A Companion to Roman Religion'', pp. 259–260.</ref> A general who faced an uncertain outcome in battle might make a ''votum'' in the field promising to build a temple out of gratitude for divine aid in a victory. In 311 BC, [[Gaius Junius Bubulcus Brutus|Junius Bubulcus]] became the first [[plebs|plebeian]] general to vow and oversee the building of a temple; he honored the goddess Salus, "Salvation".<ref>Anna Clark, ''Divine Qualities: Cult and Community in Republican Rome'' (Oxford University Press, 2007), p. 50; Richard D. Weigel, "Roman Generals and the Vowing of Temples, 500–100 B.C.", ''[[Classica et Mediaevalia]]'' (Museum Tusculanum Press, 1998), p. 122; Eric M. Orlin, ''Temples, Religion, and Politics in the Roman Republic'' (Brill, 1997), pp. 179–180.</ref> A vow would also be made in connection with the ritual of ''[[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#evocatio|evocatio]]'', negotiations with the enemy's [[tutelary deity]] to offer superior [[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#cultus|cult]]. An extreme form of ''votum'' was the ''[[devotio]]'', the ritual by which a general sacrificed himself in battle and asked the [[chthonic|chthonic deities]] to take the enemy as offerings along with him.<ref>Fowler, ''Religious Experience'', pp. 206–207.</ref>

==Public ''vota''==
{{see also|Decennalia}}
In the Republic, public {{lang|la|vota}} ({{lang|la|vota publica}}) or {{lang|la|vota pro salute rei publicae}} ("vows for the well-being of the republic") were offered on the day the [[Roman consul|consuls]] took office, eventually fixed on 1 January ({{lang|la|[[Kal.]] [[Ian.]]}}).<ref>Frances Hickson-Hahn, "The Politics of Thanksgiving", in ''Augusto augurio: rerum humanarum et divinarum commentationes in honorem Jerzy Linderski'' (Franz Steiner, 2004), pp. 35–36.</ref> These were joined by {{lang|la|vota}} for [[Julius Caesar|Caesar]] ({{lang|la|vota pro Caesare}} or {{lang|la|pro salute Caesaris}}) in 44 BC.{{sfnp|King|2006|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1FChM3QiG5kC&pg=PA243 243] }}

Under the Empire, the [[Roman Senate|Senate]] decreed {{lang|la|vota}} on behalf of Octavian (later [[Augustus]]) as {{lang|la|[[princeps]]}} in 30 BC.<ref>Duncan Fishwick, ''The Imperial Cult in the Latin West'' (Brill, 1987), vol. I,1, p. 89.</ref>{{sfnp|King|2006|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1FChM3QiG5kC&pg=PA243 243] }} These vows for the well-being of the [[imperator|emperor]] ({{lang|la|vota pro salute imperatoris}}, {{lang|la|principis}},<ref>{{citation |last=Reynolds |first=J.M. |jstor=40310628 |contribution=Vota Pro Salute Principis |title=Papers of the British School at Rome |volume=30 |date=1962 |pages=33–36 |location=London |publisher=British School at Rome }}.</ref> or {{lang|la|Augusti}})<ref>{{citation |last=Alföldi |first=Andreas |page=167 |jstor=27686173 |contribution=Stefan Weinstock: Divus Julius |title=Gnomon |volume=47 |issue=2 |date=March 1975 |publisher=Verlag C.H. Beck |location=Munich }}.</ref> were moved to 3 January{{mdash}}the usual date of the [[Compitalia]]{{mdash}}under [[Caligula]] in AD 38.{{sfnp|King|2006|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1FChM3QiG5kC&pg=PA243 243] }} {{lang|la|Vota}} for the state continued to be held on January 1st, while the vows for the emperor came to include his family as well.

During these public vows, offerings were made to [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]], [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]], [[Salus]], and sometimes [[List of Roman deities|other deities]].<ref>[[J. Rufus Fears]], "The Cult of Jupiter and Roman Imperial Ideology", ''[[Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt]]'', II.17.2 (1981), p. 98.</ref> In Rome, these ceremonies were conducted by the consuls and [[College of Pontiffs|pontiffs]], and in the [[Roman province|provinces]] probably by [[Roman governor|governors]] and local priests and officials.<ref>Fishwick, ''The Imperial Cult in the Latin West'', pp. 89–90.</ref> For the {{lang|la|vota}} for the emperor and his family, [[SPQR|the people]] of the capital were assembled to offer collective vows;<ref>Peter Herz, "Emperors: Caring for the Empire and Their Successors", in ''A Companion to Roman Religion'', p. 312; Fowler, ''Religious Experience'', p. 200.</ref> it was refusal to take part in these events and similar rituals that sometimes led to [[persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire|persecution]] of [[Christianity in the Roman Empire|Christians]]. 

Subsequently, the [[dies imperii|anniversary day of each emperor's acclamation]] ({{lang|la|dies imperii}}) were celebrated with similar rituals; larger rituals marked the [[quinquennalia|5 year]] ({{lang|la|quinquennalia}}) and [[decennalia|10 year anniversaries]] ({{lang|la|decennalia}}). Incomplete records have led scholars to debate whether particular {{lang|la|quinquennalia}} and {{lang|la|decennalia}} were celebrated at the beginning of the year, on the {{lang|la|dies imperii}}, or at some other time for specific reasons in each case.

{{lang|la|Vota publica}} continued in Rome even after Christianity had become the official religion of the Empire, possibly as late as the 6th century.<ref>Fritz Graf, "Roman Festivals in Syria Palaestina", in ''The Talmud Yerushalmi and Graeco-Roman Culture'' (Mohr Siebeck, 2002), vol. 3, p. 441.</ref> Because the vows were as much affirmations of political loyalty as religious expressions, they were difficult to abolish without undermining the sacral aura of the emperor's authority.<ref>Fears, "The Cult of Jupiter and Roman Imperial Ideology", pp. 99–105, 119–122. Fears explores the question through the transition from the cult of Jupiter to that of the [[Christian god]]: "Appropriating the central role of Jupiter Optimus Maximus in the theology of victory, the Christian god passed easily into his pre-eminent position in the imperial ideology of the Christian Empire. … Like the theology of victory, the theme of the royal office as an ''[[imitatio Dei]]'' was easily Christianized. … It is precisely in this association of emperor with the high god that we observe most clearly that continuity between pagan and Christian imperial ideology" (pp. 121–122).</ref>

In the [[Eastern Roman Empire]], this festival was known as the ''Vóta'' ({{lang|grc|Βότα}}). The emperors [[Arcadius]] and [[Honorius (emperor)|Honorius]] banned the sacrifices associated with the festival. In 692 the [[Quinisext Council]] forbade Christians from celebrating, but it remained on the court calendar at least until the reign of [[Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus]] (r, 905–959).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Trombley |first1=Frank R. |title=Bota |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-0800 |website=The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium |date=January 2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-504652-6 |access-date=December 24, 2023}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Ex-voto]]

==References==
===Citations===
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===Bibliography===
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* {{citation |last=King |first=Richard Jackson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1FChM3QiG5kC |title=Desiring Rome: Male Subjectivity and Reading Ovid's ''Fasti'' |publisher=Ohio State University Press |location=[[Columbus, Ohio|Columbus]] |date=2006 |isbn=978-0-8142-1020-8 }}.
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[[Category:Ancient Roman religion]]
[[Category:Latin religious words and phrases]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman rituals]]