| Tellus | |
|---|---|
Goddess of the earth, earthquakes, fertility, nature, marriage and agriculturepersonification of theEarth | |
| Member ofdi selecti | |
 | |
| Other names | Terra orTierra |
| Abode | Earth |
| Symbol | Fruit, flowers, cornucopia, cattle |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents | Aether andDies |
| Siblings | Caelus |
| Consort | Caelus |
| Children | Saturn,Ops,Janus |
| Equivalents | |
| Greek | Gaia |
Inancient Roman religion andmythology,Tellus,Terra orTierra[a] ("Mother Earth") is thepersonification of theEarth. Although Tellus and Terra are hardly distinguishable during theImperial era,[1]Tellus was the name of the original earth goddess in the religious practices of theRepublic or earlier.[2][3] The scholarVarro (1st century BC) lists Tellus as one of thedi selecti, the twenty principal gods of Rome, and one of the twelve agricultural deities.[4][5]: 7.2 She is regularly associated withCeres in rituals pertaining to the earth and agricultural fertility.
The attributes of Tellus were thecornucopia, bunches of flowers, or fruit. She was typically depicted reclining, or rising, waist high from a hole in the ground.[6] Her male complement was a sky god such asCaelus (Uranus) or a form ofJupiter. HerGreek counterpart isGaia,[7] and among theEtruscans, her name wasCel. Michael Lipka has argued that theTerra Mater who appeared during the reign ofAugustus, is a direct transfer of the GreekGe Mater into Roman religious practice, while Tellus, whose ancient temple was within Rome's sacred boundary (pomerium), represents the original earth goddess cultivated by the state priests.[8]: 151–152 ff
The two wordsterra andtellus are thought to derive from the formulaic phrasetersa tellus, meaning "dry land".[citation needed] Theetymology oftellus is uncertain; it is perhaps related toSanskrittalam, "plain ground".[10]
The 4th century AD Latin commentatorServius distinguishes between use oftellus andterra.Terra, he says, is properly used of theelementum, earth as one of the fourclassical elements with air (Ventus), water (Aqua), and fire (Ignis).Tellus is the goddess, whose name can be substituted (ponimus ... pro) for her functional sphere the earth, just as the nameVulcanus is used for fire,Ceres for produce, andLiber for wine.[11]: 1.171 Tellus thus refers to the guardian deity of Earth and by extension the globe itself.[12] Tellus may be an aspect of thespirit calledDea Dia by theArval priests,[14] or at least a close collaborator with her as "divinity of the clear sky."[15]: 114
Varro identifiesTerra Mater with Ceres:
Not without cause was the Earth (Terra) calledMater andCeres. It was believed that those who cultivated her led a pious and useful life (piam et utilem ... vitam), and that they were the sole survivors from the line ofKing Saturn.[17]
Ovid distinguishes between Tellus as thelocus ("site, location") of growth, and Ceres as itscausa ("cause, agent").[18]: 1.671–674 [19]Mater, the Latin word for "mother," is often used as an honorific for goddesses, including Vesta, who was represented as a virgin. "Mother" therefore is an honorific that expresses the respect one would owe any good mother. Tellus and Terra are both regarded as mothers in both the literal and honorific sense; Vesta in the honorific only.
TheTemple of Tellus was the most prominent landmark of theCarinae,[20][11]: 8.361 a fashionable neighborhood on theOppian Hill.[21]: 71, 378 [23] It was near homes (domūs) belonging toPompey[25][26][27][21]: 133, 378 and to theCicero family.[28][29]: 2.3.7 [21]: 378
The temple was the result of avotum made in 268 BC by Publius Sempronius Sophus when an earthquake struck during a battle with thePicenes.[30][21]: 378 Others[31] say it was built by the Roman people. It occupied the former site of a house belonging toSpurius Cassius, which had been torn down when he was executed in 485 BC for attempting to make himself king.[32][33][34][35] The temple constructed by Sophus more than two centuries later was most likely a rebuilding of the people's.[21]: 378 The anniversary (dies natalis) of its dedication was December 13.
A mysterious object called themagmentarium was stored in the temple,[36][37][21]: 379 which was also known for a representation of Italy on the wall, either a map or an allegory.[4]: 1.2.1 [38][21]: 378–379
A statue ofQuintus Cicero, set up by hisbrother Marcus, was among those that stood on the temple grounds.[29]: 3.1.6, 3.1.14 [39][40] Cicero claims that the proximity of his property caused some Romans to assume he had a responsibility to help maintain the temple.[41]
Festivals celebrated for Tellus were mainly concerned with agriculture and often connected withCeres. In January, both goddesses were honored as "mothers ofproduce"[42] at themoveable feast (feriae conceptivae) ofSementivae, a festival of sowing.[44] On December 13, the anniversary of the Temple of Tellus was celebrated along with alectisternium (banquet) for Ceres, who embodied "growing power" and the productivity of the earth.[45]
Tellus received thesacrifice of a pregnant cow at theFordicidia, a festival pertaining to fertility andanimal husbandry[46]: 45 held April 15, in the middle of theCerialia (April 12–19).[16]: 163 Festivals for deities of vegetation and the earth cluster in April on theRoman calendar.[13]: 67 The institution of the Fordicidia was attributed toNuma Pompilius, theSabine secondking of Rome. During a time when Rome was struggling with harsh agricultural conditions, Numa was instructed by the rustic godFaunusin a dream that a sacrifice to Tellus was needed. As is often the case withoracles, the message required interpretation:
"By the death of cattle, oh King, Tellus must be placated: two cows, that is. Let a single heifer yield two lives (animae) for the rites."[47]
Numa solved the riddle by instituting the sacrifice of a pregnant cow.[48] The purpose of the sacrifice, as suggested by theAugustan poetOvid and by the 6th-centuryantiquarianJohn Lydus, was to assure the fertility of the planted grain already growing in the womb of Mother Earth in the guise of Tellus.[18]: 4.633 ff [49][46]: 53 This public sacrifice was conducted in the form of aholocaust on behalf of thestate at theCapitol, and also by each of the thirtycuriae, the most ancient divisions of the city made byRomulus from theoriginal three tribes.[13]: 71, 303 [50] The state sacrifice was presided over by theVestals, who used the ash from the holocaust to preparesuffimen, a ritual substance used later in April for theParilia.[18]: 4.731–734 [51][13]: 71 [46]: 53, 383
During theSecular Games held by Augustus in 17 BC, Terra Mater was among the deities honored in theTarentum in theCampus Martius. Her ceremonies were conducted by "Greek rite" (ritus graecus), distinguishing her from the Roman Tellus whose temple was within thepomerium. She received the holocaust of a pregnant sow.[8]: 151–152, 157 The Secular Games of 249 BC had been dedicated to the underworld deitiesDis pater andProserpina, whose underground altar was in the Tarentum. Under Augustus, the Games (ludi) were dedicated to seven other deities, invoked as theMoerae, Iuppiter,Ilithyia, Iuno, Terra Mater,Apollo andDiana.[8]: 150
Thesacrum ceriale ("cereal rite") was carried out for Tellus and Ceres by aflamen, probably theFlamen Cerialis, who alsoinvoked twelve malehelper gods.[52][53][8]: 57, 69 According toVarro,[54] the two goddesses jointly received theporca praecidanea, a pig sacrificed in advance of the harvest.[57] Some rites originally pertaining to Tellus may have been transferred to Ceres, or shared with her, as a result of her identification with GreekDemeter.[58]
Tellus was felt to be present duringrites of passage, either implicitly, or invoked. She was perhaps involved in the ceremonies attending the birth of a child, as the newborn was placed on the ground immediately after coming into the world.[citation needed] Tellus was also invoked at Roman weddings.[59][60]
Dedicatory inscriptions to either Tellus or Terra are relatively few,[22]: 304 butepitaphs during the Imperial period sometimes contain formulaic expressions such as "Terra Mater, receive me."[61] In theprovincial mining area ofPannonia, at present-dayLjubija, votive inscriptions record dedications to Terra Mater fromvilici, imperial slave overseers who ran operations at ore smelting factories (ferrariae).[62][63]: 58–59
These are all dated April 21, when the founding day (dies natalis, "birthday") of Rome was celebrated, perhaps reflecting the connection between the Parilia on April 21 and the Fordicidia as a feast of Tellus.[63]: 59–60 The emperorSeptimius Severus restored a temple of Terra Mater atRudnik, a silver mining area ofMoesia Superior.[64][63]: 59 (note 29), 78 Measuring 30 by 20 meters, the temple was located at the entrance to the work zone.[63]: 78
Tellus is often identified as the central figure on the so-calledItalia relief panel of theAra Pacis, which is framed bybucrania (ornamental ox heads) and motifs of vegetative and animal fertility and abundance.[65][66] Terra long remained common as apersonification, if not exactly treated as a goddess. She often formed part of sets of the personifiedFour Elements, typically identified by acornucopia, farm animals, and vegetable products.
Male counterparts namedTellumo orTellurus are mentioned, although rarely.Augustine of Hippo identified Tellumo as the male counterpart of Tellus.[5]: 7.23 A Tellurus is named byCapella[67] but by no other source.[68][69]
In several modernRomance languages,Terra orTerre is the name of planetEarth. Earth is sometimes referred to as "Terra" by speakers of English to match post-classicalLatinastronomical naming conventions, and to distinguish the planet from the soil covering part of it. It is also, rarely, called "Tellus", mainly via the adjective "tellurian".[70]
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