1 Earliest Rome

5.5 Ritual conservatism and innovation
1. Each goddess is supported on two poles - on which they would have been carried.
2. Probabiy the couch {pulvinar) for the sacred banquet. However, the ptesence of the
snake (often a religious symbol of the home - see 4.12) has suggested other interpreta­
tions — for example, that this is intended to represent a marriage bed, under the protec­
tion of the Fortunes.
5.5d Changes in the fetial ritual for declaring war
The fetial ritual for the declaration of war (see 1.4a) provides a striking example
of radical change in the performance of a particular ritual. The traditional
procedure involved the fetial priests travelling to the borders of the enemy territory
and hurling a spear into it. As Rome's territories grew and her enemies
became more distant (often hundreds of miles away across the sea), this practice
could hardly be sustained. This passage (taken from an ancient commentary
on Virgil's Aeneia) reflects the later character of the fetial ritual, while
offering a perhaps fanciful explanation of how exactly the change was made.
See further: Vol 1, 132-4; McDonald and Walbank (1937); Oost (1954);
Rawson (1973a); Rich (1976) 56-60, 104-7*; Riipke (1990) 105-7.
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