Supplicationes Gajusza Juliusza Cezara

Religion played a very important role in the public life of ancient Rome. One of the most peculiar rites which combined a religious aspect with the policy of the Roman state were the supplicationes. They were organised mostly for three reasons: a) to propitiate the gods and to avert their anger, whose results included military failures, epidemics, the action of the elements (this function was also performed by prodigia); b) for precatory reasons; c) in order to render thanks, for example after the achievement of a military victory or after important political events. The supplicationes were public in nature; they consisted of prayers to the gods combined with a procession, making an offering and religious feasts. These rites attracted many Romans, and frequently invoked strong emotional reactions in them. In the period of the decline of the Roman Republic the most important supplicationes, as far as the duration (number of days) and their nature was concerned, were the ones decreed by the senate in order to celebrate Caesar’s victories. Supplicationes were decreed in 57, 55 and 52 BC in honour of Caesar and to celebrate his military achievements. A peculiar feature of the rites organised in 55 BC was their prolongation to last 20 days. The supplicationes which were decreed during the civil war were even longer: after the battle of Thapsus (40 days) and after the battle of Munda (50 days). The supplicationes which were decreed on 1 September 44 BC were extraordinary in nature, for they were organised not for the sake of the gods but for the sake of Caesar. We may surmise from the fragments of Cicero’s first philippic that these were rites in which prayers were directed not to gods but directly to Caesar. This meant that the senate recognised his divinity since it consented to prayers and rituals being directed to him without an intermediary party.