Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus

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File:Senatus consultum de bacchanalibus.jpg
Reproduction based on a rubbing of the inscription, which is intaglio engraved on bronze. The original is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

The senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus ("senatorial decree concerning the Bacchanalia") is a notable Old Latin inscription[1] dating to AUC 568, or 186 BC.[2] It was discovered in 1640 at Tiriolo, southern Italy. Published by the presiding praetor, it conveys the substance of a decree of the Roman Senate prohibiting the Bacchanalia throughout all Italy, except in certain special cases which must be approved specifically by the Senate.

When members of the elite began to participate, information was put before the Senate by Publius Aebutius and his lover and neighbour Hispala Faecenia, who was also a well-known prostitute, as told in the Ab Urbe Condita Libri of Livy. The cult was held to be a threat to the security of the state, investigators were appointed, rewards were offered to informants, legal processes were put in place and the Senate began the official suppression of the cult throughout Italy. According to the Augustan historian Livy, the chief historical source, many committed suicide to avoid indictment.[3] The stated penalty for leadership was death. Livy stated that there were more executions than imprisonments.[4] After the conspiracy had been quelled the Bacchanalia survived in southern Italy.

Text

The surviving copy is inscribed on a bronze tablet discovered in Calabria in Southern Italy (1640), now at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. The text as copied from the inscription is as follows.[5]

  1. [Q] MARCIUS L F S POSTUMIUS L F COS SENATUM CONSOLUERUNT N OCTOB APUD AEDEM
  2. DUELONAI SC ARF M CLAUDI M F L VALERI P F Q MINUCI C F DE BACANALIBUS QUEI FOIDERATEI
  3. ESENT ITA EXDEICENDUM CENSUERE NEIQUIS EORUM BACANAL HABUISE VELET SEI QUES
  4. ESENT QUEI SIBEI DEICERENT NECESUS ESE BACANAL HABERE EEIS UTEI AD PR URBANUM
  5. ROMAM VENIRENT DEQUE EEIS REBUS UBEI EORUM VER[B]A AUDITA ESENT UTEI SENATUS
  6. NOSTER DECERNERET DUM NE MINUS SENATOR[I]BUS C ADESENT [QUOM E]A RES COSOLORETUR
  7. BACAS VIR NEQUIS ADIESE VELET CEIVIS ROMANUS NEVE NOMINUS LATINI NEVE SOCIUM
  8. QUISQUAM NISEI PR URBANUM ADIESENT ISQUE [D]E SENATUOS SENTENTIAD DUM NE
  9. MINUS SENATORIBUS C ADESENT QUOM EA RES COSOLERETUR IOUSISENT CE[N]SUERE
  10. SACERDOS NEQUIS VIR ESET MAGISTER NEQUE VIR NEQUE MULIER QUISQUAM ESET
  11. NEVE PECUNIAM QUISQUAM EORUM COMOINE[M H]ABUISE VE[L]ET NEVE MAGISTRATUM
  12. NEVE PRO MAGISTRATUD NEQUE VIRUM [NEQUE MUL]IEREM QUISQUAM FECISE VELET
  13. NEVE POST HAC INTER SED CONIOURA[SE NEV]E COMVOVISE NEVE CONSPONDISE
  14. NEVE CONPROMESISE VELET NEVE QUISQUAM FIDEM INTER SED DEDISE VELET
  15. SACRA IN OQVOLTOD NE QUISQUAM FECISE VELET NEVE IN POPLICOD NEVE IN
  16. PREIVATOD NEVE EXSTRAD URBEM SACRA QUISQUAM FECISE VELET NISEI
  17. PR URBANUM ADIESET ISQUE DE SENATUOS SENTENTIAD DUM NE MINUS
  18. SENATORIBUS C ADESENT QUOM EA RES COSOLERETUR IOUSISENT CENSUERE
  19. HOMINES PLOUS V OINVORSEI VIREI ATQUE MULIERES SACRA NE QUISQUAM
  20. FECISE VELET NEVE INTER IBEI VIREI PLOUS DUOBUS MULIERIBUS PLOUS TRIBUS
  21. ARFUISE VELENT NISEI DE PR URBANI SENATUOSQUE SENTENTIAD UTEI SUPRAD
  22. SCRIPTUM EST HAICE UTEI IN COVENTIONID EXDEICATIS NE MINUS TRINUM
  23. NOUNDINUM SENATUOSQUE SENTENTIAM UTEI SCIENTES ESETIS EORUM
  24. SENTENTIA ITA FUIT SEI QUES ESENT QUEI ARVORSUM EAD FECISENT QUAM SUPRAD
  25. SCRIPTUM EST EEIS REM CAPUTALEM FACIENDAM CENSUERE ATQUE UTEI
  26. HOCE IN TABOLAM AHENAM INCEIDERETIS ITA SENATUS AIQUOM CENSUIT
  27. UTEIQUE EAM FIGIER IOUBEATIS UBI FACILUMED GNOSCIER POTISIT ATQUE
  28. UTEI EA BACANALIA SEI QUA SUNT EXSTRAD QUAM SEI QUID IBEI SACRI EST
  29. ITA UTEI SUPRAD SCRIPTUM EST IN DIEBUS X QUIBUS VOBEIS TABELAI DATAI
  30. ERUNT FACIATIS UTEI DISMOTA SIENT IN AGRO TEURANO

Transliteration into classical Latin

The following passage uses classical reflexes of the Old Latin lexical items:[5]

  1. [Quīntus] Mārcius L(ūciī) f(īlius), S(purius) Postumius L(ūciī) f(īlius) cō(n)s(ulēs) senātum cōnsuluērunt N(ōnīs) Octōb(ribus), apud aedem
  2. Bellōnae. Sc(rībendō) adf(uērunt) M(ārcus) Claudi(us) M(ārcī) f(īlius), L(ūcius) Valeri(us) P(ubliī) f(īlius), Q(uīntus) Minuci(us) C (=Gaiī) f(īlius). Dē Bacchānālibus quī foederātī
  3. essent, ita ēdīcendum cēnsuēre: «Nēquis eōrum [B]acchānal habuisse vellet. Sī quī
  4. essent, quī sibī dīcerent necesse esse Bacchānal habēre, eīs utī ad pr(aetōrem) urbānum
  5. Rōmam venīrent, dēque eīs rēbus, ubī eōrum v[e]r[b]a audīta essent, utī senātus
  6. noster dēcerneret, dum nē minus senatōr[i]bus C adessent, [cum e]a rēs cōnsulerētur.
  7. Bacchās vir nēquis adiisse vellet cīvis Rōmānus nēve nōminis Latīnī nēve sociōrum
  8. quisquam, nisi pr(aetōrem) urbānum adiissent, isque [d]ē senātūs sententiā, dum nē
  9. minus senātōribus C adessent, cum ea rēs cōnsulerētur, iussissent. Cēnsuēre.
  10. Sacerdōs nēquis vir esset; magister neque vir neque mulier quisquam esset.
  11. Nēve pecūniam quisquam eōrum commūne[m h]abuisse vellet; nēve magistrātum,
  12. nēve prō magistrātū, neque virum [neque mul]ierem qui[s]quam fecisse vellet,
  13. nēve posthāc inter sē coniūrās[se nēv]e convōvisse nēve cōnspondisse
  14. nēve comprōmīsisse vellet, nēve quisquam fidem inter sē dedisse vellet.
  15. Sacra in occultō nē quisquam fēcisse vellet. Nēve in publicō nēve in
  16. prīvātō nēve extrā urbem sacra quisquam fēcisse vellet, nisi
  17. pr(aetōrem) urbānum adiisset, isque dē senātūs sententiā, dum nē minus
  18. senatōribus C adessent, cum ea rēs cōnsulerētur, iussissent. Cēnsuēre.
  19. Hominēs plūs V ūniversī virī atque mulierēs sacra nē quisquam
  20. fēcisse vellet, nēve inter ibī virī plūs duōbus, mulieribus plūs tribus
  21. adfuisse vellent, nisi dē pr(aetōris) urbānī senātūsque sententiā, utī suprā
  22. scrīptum est.» Haec utī in cōntiōne ēdīcātis nē minus trīnum
  23. nūndinum, senātūsque sententiam utī scientēs essētis, eōrum
  24. sententia ita fuit: «Sī quī essent, quī adversum ea fēcissent, quam suprā
  25. scrīptum est, eīs rem capitālem faciendam cēnsuēre». Atque utī
  26. hoc in tabulam ahēnam inciderētis, ita senātus aequum cēnsuit,
  27. utīque eam fīgī iubeātis, ubī facillimē nōscī possit; atque
  28. utī ea Bacchānālia, sī quae sunt, extrā quam sī quid ibī sacrī est,
  29. (ita utī suprā scrīptum est)[6] in diēbus X, quibus vōbīs tabellae datae
  30. erunt, faciātis utī dīmōta sint. In agrō Teurānō.

Orthography

The spelling of the text of the Senatus consultum differs in many predictable ways from the spelling of Classical Latin. Some of these differences are merely orthographical; others reflect archaic pronunciations or other archaisms in the forms of words.

Geminate consonants

In Classical Latin, geminate (or long) consonants are consistently written with a sequence of two letters: e.g., cc, ll, ss for [kː], [lː], [sː]. These geminate consonants are not represented in the Senatus consultum:

C for cc in HOCE (26:1) hocce
C for cch in BACANALIBVS (2:17) Bacchānālibus, BACANAL (3:7, 4:7) Bacchānal, BACAS (7:1) Bacchās, BACANALIA (28:3) Bacchānālia. The h was probably not pronounced.
L for ll in DVELONAI (2:1) Bellōnae, VELET (3:9 et passim) vellet, VELENT (21:2) vellent, FACILVMED (27:6) facillimē, TABELAI (29:11) tabellae
M for mm in COMOINE[M] (11:5) commūnem
Q for cc in OQVOLTOD (15:3) occultō
S for ss in ADESENT (6:8, 9:4, 18:3) adessent, ADIESE (7:4) adiisse, ADIESENT (8:5) adiissent, ADIESET (17:3) adiisset, ARFVISE (21:1) adfuisse, COMVOVISE (13:8) convōvisse, CONPROMESISE (14:2) comprōmīsisse, CONSPONDISE (13:10) conspondisse, DEDISE (14:9) dedisse, ESE (4:6), ESENT (3:1, 4:1, 5:10, 24:6) essent, ESET (10:4, 10:11), ESETIS (23:6) essētis, FECISE (12:9, 15:6, 16:7, 20:1) fēcisse, FECISENT (24:10) fēcissent, HABVISE (3:8) habuisse, IOVSISENT (9:9) iussissent, NECESVS (4:5) necessus.

Diphthongs

AI is usually used for Classical ae in:

DVELONAI (2:1) Bellōnae, HAICE (22:3) haec, AIQVOM (26:8) aequum and TABELAI DATAI (29:11-12) tabellae datae. But AE is found in AEDEM (1:15).

EI became Classical ī in:

QVEI (2:18, 4:2, 24:7) quī, SEI (3:10, 24:4, 28:4,9) sī, VIREI (19:5, 20:6) virī, CEIVIS (7:6) cīvis, DEICERENT (4:4) dīcerent, EXDEICATIS (22:7) ēdīcātis, EXDEICENDVM (3:3) ēdīcendum, INCEIDERETIS (26:5) incīderētis, PREIVATOD prīvātō (16:1), EEIS (4:9, 5:4, 25:3) eīs, VOBEIS (29:10) vōbīs, FOIDERATEI (2:19) foederātī, OINVORSEI (19:4) ūniversī

EI at the end of a word often corresponds to Classical short i or to no vowel at all. However, in many cases such as sibī, utī, archaizing Classical forms ending in ī are also found, especially in poetry.

IBEI (20:5, 28:11) ibi, NISEI (8:2, 16:9, 21:3) nisi, SIBEI (4:3) sibi, VBEI ubi (5:6), VTEI ut (4:10 et passim), VTEIQVE (27:1) utque.

OV normally became Classical ū in:

CONIOVRA[SE] (13:6) coniūrāsse, NOVNDINVM (23:1) nūndinum, PLOVS (19:2, 20:7,10) plūs. Classical iubeātis and iussissent for IOVBEATIS (27:4) and IOVSISENT (9:9, 18:8) show the influence of the participle iussus, with regular short u in the stem.

OI normally became Classical ū in:

COMOINE[M] (11:5) commūnem, OINVORSEI (19:4) ūniversī

OI exceptionally became Classical oe in:

FOIDERATEI (2:19) foederātī

Short vowels

O appears for Classical Latin e in ARVORSVM adversum, OINVORSEI (19:4) ūniversī
O appears for Classical Latin u in CONSOLVERUNT cōnsuluērunt, COSOLORETVR cōnsulerētur, OQVOLTOD occultō, TABOLAM tabulam, POPLICOD publicō, and QVOM cum.
V appears for Classical Latin i in FACILVMED (27:6) facillimē, CAPVTALEM capitālem and NOMINVS nōminis. The spelling of CAPVTALEM recalls its origin from the noun caput. The ending -umus for -imus occurs frequently in archaic Classical Latin texts; the vowel represented interchangeably by u and i may have been a central vowel distinct in sound from both. Possibly OINVORSEI (19:4) ūniversī belongs here too, if one may read it as oinu(v)orsei.

Archaisms

The archaic ending -ce added to some forms of the pronoun hic is reduced to -c in Classical Latin in most cases:

HAICE (22:3) haec and HOCE (26:1) hoc

The ending -d, found on some adverbs and ablative singulars of nouns and pronouns, is lost in Classical Latin:

Adverbs SVPRAD (21:10, 24:12, 29:3) suprā, EXSTRAD (16:3, 28:7) extrā, FACILVMED (27:6) facillimē.
Ablatives EAD (24:9) eā, SED (13:5, 14:8) sē, COVENTIONID (22:6) cōntiōne, MAGISTRATVD magistrātū (12:3), OQVOLTOD (15:3) occultō, POPLICOD publicō (15:10), PREIVATOD prīvātō (16:1), SENTENTIAD (8:9, 17:7, 21:8) sententiā.

The last two words AGRO TEVRANO (30:7-8) omit the final -d, despite containing the same ablative ending elsewhere written -OD; this fact suggests that at the time of writing, the final -d was no longer pronounced in ordinary speech.

Archaic gn- is found for n- at the beginning of the verb nosco

GNOSCIER (27:7) noscī.

The archaic passive infinitive ending -ier (for Classical ī) is used

FIGIER (27:3) fīgī, GNOSCIER (27:7) noscī.

QVOM (18:4) appears for Classical cum, also known in the archaic Classical form quum.

In Classical Latin the prefixes ex- and dis- become ē- and dī- before voiced consonants. In the Senatus consultum, they are still written EX and DIS:

EXDEICENDVM (3:3) ēdīcendum, EXDEICATIS ēdīcātis (22:7), and DISMOTA (30:4) dīmōta.

Other characteristics

The sequence ve appears as VO in ARVORSVM adversum (24:8) and in OINVORSEI (19:4) ūniversī.

The sequence ul appears as OL in COSOLERETVR (6:12) cōnsulerētur, CONSOLVERVNT (1:11) cōnsuluērunt, TABOLAM (26:3) tabulam and OQVOLTOD (15:3) occultō.

The consonants bl appear as PL in POPLICOD publicō (15:10), recalling its origin from populus.

The prefix ad appears as AR in ARVORSVM adversum (24:8), ARFVISE (21:1) adfuisse, and ARF[VERVNT] (2:3) adfuērunt.

Translation into English

The inscription was translated by Nina E. Weston as follows.[7]

"Quintus Marcius the son of Lucius, and Spurius Postumius, consulted the senate on the nones of October (7th), at the temple of the Bellonae. Marcus Claudius, son of Marcus, Lucius Valerius, son of Publius, and Quintus Minucius, son of Gaius, were the committee for drawing up the report.

Regarding the Bacchanalia it was resolved to give the following directions to those who are in alliance with us.

None of them is to possess a place where the festivals of Bacchus are celebrated: if there are any who claim that it is necessary for them to have such a place, they are to come to Rome to the urban praetor, and the senate is to decide on those matters, when their claims have been heard, provided that not less than 100 senators are present when the affair is discussed. No woman is to be a Bacchantian, neither a Roman citizen, nor one of the Latin name, nor any of our allies unless they come to the praetor urbanus, and she in accordance with the opinion of the senate expressed when not less than 100 senators are present at the discussion, shall have given leave. Carried.

No man is to be a priest; no one, either man or woman, is to be an officer (to manage the temporal affairs of the organization); nor is anyone of them to have charge of a common treasury; no one shall appoint either man or woman to be master or to act as master; henceforth they shall not form conspiracies among themselves, stir up any disorder, make mutual promises or agreements, or interchange pledges; no one shall observe the sacred rites either in public or private or outside the city, unless he comes to the praetor urbanus, and he, in accordance with the opinion of the senate, expressed when no less than 100 senators are present at the discussion, shall have given leave. Carried.

No one in a company of more than five persons altogether, men and women, shall observe the sacred rites, nor in that company shall there be present more than 2 men or 3 women, unless in accordance with the opinion of the praetor urbanus and the senate as written above.

See that you declare it in the assembly (contio) for not less than three market days; that you may know the opinion of the senate this was their judgment: if there are any who have acted contrary to what was written above, they have decided that a proceeding for a capital offense should be instituted against them; the senate has justly decreed that you should inscribe this on a brazen tablet, and that you should order it to be placed where it can be easiest read; see to it that the revelries of Bacchus, if there be any, except in case there be concerned in the matter something sacred, as was written above, be disbanded within ten days after this letter shall be delivered to you.

In the Teuranian field."

Notes

  1. ↑ CIL i2 2, 581.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (The full account is from 39.8-39.18)
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Ernout omits the phrase in his traduction.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.


See also

External links

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