Le lac Régille, les Dioscures et Cérès : de la crise romano-latine à la crise patricio-plébéienne

Meunier, Nicolas
(2015) De la crise naquirent les cultes. Approches croisées de la religion, de la philosophie et des représentations antiques — ISBN: [978-2-503-55461-7], p. 147-166, published

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(en) The beginning of the fifth century BC was a period of major crisis in the Roman history. To the institutional crisis (the Tarquins were indeed being expelled at the end of the previous century, while the republican system struggled to be implemented), were added a social crisis (the famous struggle of the orders) and another crisis in the relations with neighboring peoples (especially with the Latins, the Romans had to face during the tough battle of Lake Regillus). Interestingly, during the same period was displayed significant religious activity in terms of consecration of temples and establishment of worships. In this paper, I revisit the issue of two new temples consecrated in this time of crisis: that of the Dioscuri on the one hand, that of Ceres, Liber and Libera on the other hand. It appears that these two sanctuaries are much more closely related than tradition admits not only to the recovery of power in Rome and Latium, by the Latins over the Etruscans, but also to the formation of a new Latin league subsequent to this change in the political situation. Thus the erection of a temple to Castor and Pollux, far from celebrating any Roman victory, would rather be a renewed assertion of belonging to the community of the Latins; because at least until 338 BC, the twin gods were most probably assimilated to the Penates Publici, the latter actually and originally being nothing else than the Penates nominis Latini. As for the temple of Ceres, Liber and Libera, it should be understood as a federal sanctuary directly involved in the functioning of the Latin League, the instigator of the foedus Cassianum, Spurius Cassius, also happening to be - and this is not a coincidence - the dedicatee of the sanctuary. Later, the scheme of the struggle of the orders was clearly of use to the Romans for concealing a posteriori the part played by the Latins in the history of this early period, so that the temple of Ceres was assigned a central role in the plebeian activity, a role that it clearly did not have originally.
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Meunier, N. (2015). Le lac Régille, les Dioscures et Cérès : de la crise romano-latine à la crise patricio-plébéienne. In Cavalieri, Marco; Lebrun, René; Meunier, Nicolas (eds.) (ed.), De la crise naquirent les cultes. Approches croisées de la religion, de la philosophie et des représentations antiques (p. p. 147-166). Brepols. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/189307