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                <title xml:lang="la">Taurobolium</title>
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                <publisher><ref target="https://site.unibo.it/lares/">LARES Project</ref></publisher>
                <date when="2023"/>
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                <p>Born digital document.</p>
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                <change when="2023-05-26" who="Haowei Zhang">encoded in XML</change>
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            <div type="edition" xml:lang="en">
                <div type="textpart" n="Morphology">
                    <head>Morphology</head>
                    <p>Greek: <foreign><ref corresp="https://logeion.uchicago.edu/%CF%84%CE%B1%CF%85%CF%81%CE%BF%CE%B2%CF%8C%CE%BB%CE%B9%CE%BF%CE%BD">τό ταυροβόλιον, n. </ref></foreign>
                        Latin: <foreign><ref corresp="https://logeion.uchicago.edu/taurobolium">taurobolium, ii, n. </ref></foreign></p>
                </div>
                <div type="textpart" n="Etymology">
                    <head>Etymology</head>
                    <p>The etymology of taurobolium was in Greek <foreign>ταυροβόλιον</foreign>, which was made of <w>ταύρος</w>, the bull and <w>βάλλειν</w>, which means "to throw". What βάλλειν exactly means in this context still not certain, but it could be assumed as a kind of rite. The taurobolium was a kind of animal sacrifice in Roman times and as a ritual of the cult of <persName type="divine" key="Cybele">Cybele</persName> (the <persName type="divine" key="Mater Magna" >Mater Magna</persName>). And the main reason why taurobolium is still remembered, even as a part of the study of ancient religions, is the description of taurobolium by the Christian poet, <persName key="Prudentius">Prudentius</persName>, during Late Antiquity (4th-5th century A.D.). Although the plausibility of his description of the ritual is open to discussion, it thus leaves us with the question: for what reason Christian authors at that time would like to describe a ritual of the cult of <persName type="divine" key="Cybele">Cybele</persName>? Perhaps behind their description of the taurobolium is the rivalry between Christianity and the cult of <persName type="divine" key="Cybele">Cybele</persName> at that time.</p>
                   <p>To clarify this relationship, the development and changes of taurobolium should be traced. The history of taurobolium can be roughly divided into three phases. In the first phase, taurobolium was simply a ritual associated with the bull chase, hunting, and sacrifice in <placeName key="Asia Minor">Asia Minor</placeName> in Greek times. Taurobolium could be ascribed in a religious context, but there is no evidence that the ritual was associated with a particular deity. As the people spread and cultures intermingled, taurobolium was introduced from the Greek region to <placeName key="Italy">Italy</placeName> and the second phase of its development can be observed. At this time taurobolium was incorporated as part of the cult of <persName type="myth" key="Mater Magna" >Mater Magna</persName> and became a public ritual (while being a private ritual in some places) that circulated in <placeName key="Rome">Italy</placeName> and beyond. In its final phase, as the competition between Christianity and paganism intensified, the taurobolium, which was part of the traditional cult of <persName type="divine" key="Mater Magna" >Mater Magna</persName>, eventually became a “tool” of the competition and disappeared with the failure of the pagan revival in the fourth century. Therefore, the meaning of taurobolium has always been changing. Underlying these changes is how the taurobolium as a foreign ritual adapted to Roman religious concepts and integrated into the Roman cultural milieu.</p>
                </div>
                <div type="textpart" n="Testimonies">
                    <head>Testimonies</head>
                    <div type="textpart" n="origin in hellenistic asia_minor">
                    <p><emph rend="italics">Origin in Hellenistic Asia Minor</emph></p>
                    <p>The first phase of taurobolium development history dates from ca. 135 B.C. to 159 A.D. Taurobolium certainly originated in <placeName key="Asia Minor">Asia Minor</placeName>. The early taurobolium is testified in eight inscriptions and one literary source (RUTTER 1968, 227). There are three  inscriptions in this phase valuable for the analysis of the original performance of taurobolium.</p>
                    <p>The first inscription comes from <placeName key="Ilion">Ilion</placeName> of the first century B.C. It documented a man called <persName type="attested" key="Agathes">Agathes</persName> who paid twice for the ταυροβόλιον involving more than forty bulls – once for the sake of the excellence of the festival Panathenaea and once for good service towards the goddess, who is presumed <persName type="divine" key="Athena">Athena</persName>. The second inscription comprises three fragments from <placeName key="Pergamon">Pergamon</placeName> and is dated in 105 A.D. Although it is hard to recognize what was documented in these fragments, from the different names of people and expenses in it, it can be assumed that this is a list of contributors to taurobolium. In addition, Pergamon's inscription records the killing of bulls by stoning (<ref type="ins">IGRR IV 494</ref> <foreign>ταυροβόλιον λιθαστέντων</foreign>). The last inscription from <placeName key="Pednelissos">Pednelissos</placeName> describes various structures for the performance of the ταυροβόλιον and the most convincing interpretation is that the ταυροβόλιον was some sort of bull chase.</p>
                    <p>As can see from the first phase of development, the ταυροβόλιον was not associated with any specific cult in Hellenistic times and early Imperial period and did not take the form of blood baptism. According to the available sources, ταυροβόλιον as bull chase was performed in a public context.</p>
                </div>
                <div type="textpart" n="development in the western part of the imperium romanum">
                    <p><emph rend="italics">Development in the western part of the Imperium Romanum</emph></p>
                    <p> In the 2nd century A.D., with migration, some cultural, social and religious activities from <placeName key="Asia Minor">Asia Minor</placeName> gradually flowed into <placeName key="Italy">Italy</placeName>, which in turn spread in the western part of the <placeName key="Roman Empire">Roman Empire</placeName>, in areas such as <placeName key="Gallic">Gallic</placeName>, <placeName key="Spain">Spain</placeName> and <placeName key="Germany">Germany</placeName>. Taurobolium entered the Roman Empire as one of the rituals, and this was the second phase of its development (middle of the 2nd cent. A.D. - end of the 3rd cent. A.D.). As Rutter says (RUTTER 1968, 231), the taurobolium underwent some fundamental changes at this phase. But these changes did not happen suddenly either.</p>
                    <p>As evidence of the transition between the two phases, it is clear from a very short inscription in Latin found at <placeName key="Puteoli">Puteoli </placeName>, a city in the Italian region of <placeName key="Campania">Campania</placeName>, that the taurobolium which first entered the Roman world, was still in much the same form as it was in the <placeName key="Asia Minor">Asia Minor</placeName> period.</p>
                    <quote><ref type="ins"><ref corresp="https://kb.osu.edu/handle/1811/100947">CIL 10.1596</ref></ref> Inscription from Puteoli, 134 A.D.
                    <foreign>L. [Iulio Ur]so Serviano // Co(n)s(ule) III non(is) oct(obribus) / ecitium taurobolium / Veneris Caelestae et panteliu(m) / Herennia Fortunata imperio deae / per Ti. Claudium Felicem sacerd(otem) / iterate est.</foreign></quote>
                    <p>The woman in the text acted as a dedicant, offering sacrifices to goddess <persName type="divine" key="Venus Caelestis">Venus Caelestis</persName> by way of taurobolium and the taurobolium was still a private ritual. The inscription, however, does not indicate the purpose or motive of this woman's sacrifice to the goddess.</p>
                    <p>By 159 A.D., a fundamental could be observed. For in this year the emperor <persName type="emperor" key="Antoninus Pius">Antoninus Pius</persName> issued the decree making the taurobolium a Roman public rite and incorporating it into the cult of <persName type="divine" key="Mater Magna">Mater Magna</persName>, who was worshipped originally as <persName type="divine" key="Cybele">Cybele</persName> in Asia Minor, imported in the 3th. century B.C. to <placeName key="Rome">Rome</placeName>, where she was given the name <persName type="divine" key="Mater Magna">Mater Deum Magna Idaea</persName>. In this way, a ritual from <placeName key="Asia Minor">Asia Minor</placeName> was linked to a goddess originating from <placeName key="Asia Minor">Asia Minor</placeName>, but who had been romanised and integrated into the Roman pantheon. Thus, the taurobolium was associated now with specific deity.</p>
                    <p><persName type="emperor" key="Antoninus Pius">Antoninus Pius</persName> was a Roman emperor from 138 to 161 and an avid observer of rites of religion and of formal celebrations, both Roman and foreign. The following fragment of decree is a regulation of <persName type="emperor" key="Antoninus Pius">Antoninus</persName>, as a part of his reform. Because of his reform the taurobolium became a public ritual (public taurobolium) in common, and the private taurobolium was also allowed.</p>
                    <quote><ref type="lit"><ref corresp="http://www.ostia-antica.org/~atexts/fragmen.htm">Fragmenta Vaticana 148</ref></ref> Decree by emperor Antoninus Pius, 159 A.D.
                    <foreign>Is qui in Portu pro salute imperatoris sacrum facit ex vaticinatione archigalli a tutelis excusatur.</foreign>
                    He who sacrifices in the harbour for the well-being of the Emperor on the basis of foretelling by the high-priest of Cybele receives an exemption from the guardianship.</quote>
                    <p>The imperator is <persName type="ruler" key="Antoninus Pius">Antoninus Pius</persName> and the sacrum is meant to the public taurobolium for the well-being of the emperor. It is also significant that this decree mentioned the priest, the archigallus, who was responsible for the activities of the <persName type="myth" key="Mater Magna">Mater Magna</persName>. After the taurobolium became a rite of <persName type="myth" key="Mater Magna" >Mater Magna</persName>, these galli were likewise responsible for it. In addition to this, Rutter noticed that <persName type="myth" key="Attis">Attis</persName> had also first appeared on a Roman coin in this year (RUTTER 1968, 234). <persName type="divine" key="Attis">Attis</persName> was the male companion and consort of <persName type="myth" key="Mater Magna" >Mater Magna</persName> and was regarded as a very significant figure in the cult of <persName type="divine" key="Mater Magna">Mater Magna</persName>.</p>
                    <p>The association is clear now that Antoninus’ decree had bound the taurobolium to the cult of <persName type="divine" key="Mater Magna">Mater Magna</persName> and taurobolium became therefore part of the public activity sacrifice of the time in Italy.</p>
                    <p>With Antoninus’ reform, the celebration of taurobolium gradually spread throughout the Empire. The following year, a <placeName type="ethnic" key="Gallic">Gallic</placeName> city, <placeName key="Lyon">Lugdunum</placeName>, celebrated the taurobolium. A related inscription recorded this ritual. This inscription is the best preserved and is the best proof available for today's study of Antoninus’ reform. This inscription was a dedication to <persName type="divine" key="Mater Magna">Mater Magna</persName>, which was inscribed on a taurobolium altar. <ref corresp="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Autel_taurobolique_Lyon.jpg">Three sides of this altar showing <w lemma="bucranium">bucrania</w>and a sacrificial knife.</ref></p>
                   <quote><ref type="ins">CIL 13.1751</ref> Inscription from Lugdunum, 160 A.D.
                   <foreign>Taurobolio Matris d(eum) m(agnae) Id(aeae) / quod factum est ex imperio Matris [d(eum)] / pro salute imperatoris [C]aes(aris) T(i(i) Aeli / Hadriani Antonini Aug(usti) Pii p(atris) p(atriae) / liberorumque eius / et status coloniae [L]ugudun(ensium) / L(ucius) Aemilius Carpus IIIIIIvir Aug(ustalis) item / dendrophorus / vires excepti et a Vaticano trans/tulit ara(m) et bucranium / suo inpendio consacravit / sacerdote / Q(uinto) Sammio Secundo ab XV viris / occabo et corona exornato / cui sanctissimus ordo Lugudunens(ium) Perpetuitatem sacerdoti(i) decrevit / App(io) Annio Atilio Bradua T(ito) Clod(io) Vibio / Varo co(n)s(ulibus) / L(ocus) d(atus) d(ecreto) d(ecurionum)</foreign></quote>
                    <p>Compared with the taurobolium in early times, we could find three new features. First of all, this taurobolium was undertaken at the command of the <persName type="divine" key="Mater Magna">Mater Magna</persName>, which means it was certainly a part of the <persName type="divine" key="Mater Magna">Mater Magna</persName> cult. Secondly, this taurobolium was performed for the well-being of the emperor and a public taurobolium for enlisting the benevolence of <persName type="divine" key="Mater Magna">Mater Magna</persName>, which was the aim of the taurobolium. Finally, this inscription did not mention anything about the sort of bull chase but the <foreign>vires</foreign> (probably bull testicles) and bucranium of the bull that was consecrated by the dedicant. Thus, we can assume that the taurobolium at that time meant the sacrifice of a bull and the dedication of certain parts of it.</p> 
                    <p>As a complement, Duthoy Robert analyses most of the Latin inscriptions related to taurobolium and examines the rite from an etymological point of view, dividing them into three categories (DUTHOY 1969, 109-117): taurobolium <foreign><w lemma="facio">facere</w></foreign> (160-250 A.D.), <foreign><w lemma="accipio">accipere</w>/<w lemma="trado">tradere</w></foreign> (228-319 A.D.) and <foreign><w lemma="percipio">percipere</w>/tauroboliati</foreign> (305-390 A.D.). The different categories correspond to the different stages of the taurobolium ritual process. From this we can see that the terms modifying taurobolium are increasingly nuanced and opening for the public. Combined with the context of Antoninus' reform described above, it is not difficult to understand the reason of it.</p>
                    <p>However, due to the influence of the Christian-pagan tensions at the end of the 4th. century., this may have been intended as a counterstatement to the fact that Christian authors such as <persName type="literary" key="Prudentius">Prudentius</persName> had a taurobolium's vilification, which will be discussed in the next part.</p>
                </div>
                <div type="textpart" n="taurobolium in late antiquity">
                    <p><emph rend="italics">Taurobolium in Late Antiquity</emph></p>
                    <p>In the third stage of tauroboliums’ development in the late Antiquity, the taurobolium was hampered by the competition between Christianity and the <persName type="myth" key="Cybele">Cybele</persName> cult. It ceased to be a public ritual and became a completely private celebration. The following short inscription from <placeName key="Subura">Subura</placeName> (a vast and neighborhood in Rome) recorded the intention of the private taurobolium.</p>
                   <quote> <ref type="ins">CIL 6.510</ref> Inscription from Rome, Subura, 376 A.D.
                   <foreign>…taurobolio criobolioq(ue) in aeternum renatus aram sacravit…</foreign></quote>
                    <p>It is clear from this inscription that the taurobolium returned to the way it was first celebrated when it first entered <placeName key="Rome">Rome</placeName> - a person or a group praying for itself. No mention of the cult of <persName type="divine" key="Mater Magna">Mater Magna</persName> appeared, nor did it describe the whole process in detail. But we can assume that taurobolium was performed by the non-Christian aristocracy. After all, the emperor was a Christian and that is why the taurobolium could not be performed for the emperors.</p>
                    <p>As a supplement, there is an inscription that stated by <persName type="literary" key="Vermaseren">Vermaseren</persName> to have been set up in the gardens of the <placeName key="Villa Mattei">Villa Mattei (Villa Celimontana)</placeName> on the <placeName key="Caelian hill">Caelian hill</placeName> in <placeName key="Rome">Rome</placeName> in 387 A.D.</p>
                    <quote><ref type="ins"><ref corresp="https://kb.osu.edu/handle/1811/98962">CIL 6.1778</ref></ref> Inscription from Rome, 387 A.D.
                   <foreign>Agorii / Vettio Agorio Praetextato v(iro) c(larissimo) // pontifici Vestae / pontifici Soli(s) / quindecemviro / auguri / tauroboliato / curiali / neocoro / hierofantae / patri sacrorum // quaestori / candidato / praetori urbano / correctori Tus/ciae et Umbriae / consulari / Lusitaniae / proconsuli / Achaiae / praefecto urbi / prae(ecto) praet(orio) II / Italiae et Illyrici / consuli / designato // Dedicata Kal(endis) Febr(uariis) / d(omino) n(ostro) Fl(avio) Valentiniano Aug(usto) III / et Eutropio conss(ulibus)</foreign></quote>
                    <p>By this example, it is confirmed that the taurobolium was infused with the meaning of personal renewal and rebirth (<quote><foreign>in aeternum renatus</foreign></quote>). And sometimes the criobolium, substituting a ram for the bull, was also practiced, sometimes together with the taurobolium. Thus, the taurobolium at this point became a private ritual in both form and intention.</p>
                    <p> From the Christian side, several Christian authors showed us the polemics of Christianity and paganism, such as <persName type="attested" key="Tertullian">Tertullian</persName> and <persName type="literary" key="Minucius Felix">Minucius Felix</persName>, who had already condemned the cult of <foreign>Jupiter Latiaris</foreign>, and their very bloody and exaggerated depiction of pagan rituals.</p>
                    <p>The Magna Mater cult, also a traditional cult, was not immune to this competition. As Lennon says (LENNON 2010, 382), the taurobolium also became a focal point of Christian polemic. The most well-known and the most vivid description of taurobolium came from <persName type="literary" key="Prudentius">Prudentius</persName> in <title>Peristephanon</title>. <persName type="literary" key="Prudentius">Prudentius</persName>was a fervent Christian poet of the late 4th. century. As he was born and educated in a Christian family, his poetry is influenced by Christian belief and places great emphasis on a redemptive power of God. He also saw pagans as adversaries, including their rituals - one of which was the taurobolium. That is the reason, why this poem was full of exaggerated descriptions - especially of the priest’s acceptance and handling of blood - and reveals an element of simplicity but violence and barbarism.</p>
                    <quote><ref type="lit"><ref corresp="http://monumenta.ch/latein/xanfang.php?n=48">Prud. perist. 10,1011–1050</ref></ref>
                   <foreign> <lb/>Summus sacerdos nempe sub terram scrobe
                    <lb/>acta in profundum consecrandus mergitur,
                    <lb/>mire infulatus festa vittis tempora
                    <lb/>nectens, corona tum repexus aurea,
        <lb/> 1015 cinctu Gabino sericam fultus togam.
                    <lb/>Tabulis superne strata texunt pulpita
                    <lb/>rimosa rari pegmatis conpagibus,
                    <lb/>scindunt subinde vel terebrant aream
                    <lb/>crebroque lignum perforant acumine,
         <lb/> 1020 pateat minutis ut frequens hiatibus.
                    <lb/>Huc taurus ingens fronte torva et hispida
                    <lb/>sertis revinctus aut per armos floreis
                    <lb/>aut inpeditis cornibus deducitur,
                    <lb/>nec non et auro frons coruscat hostiae
         <lb/> 1025 saetasque fulgor brattealis inficit.
                    <lb/>Hic ut statuta est inmolanda belva,
                    <lb/>pectus sacrato dividunt venabulo;
                    <lb/>eructat amplum vulnus undam sanguinis
                    <lb/>ferventis inque texta pontis subditi
         <lb/> 1030 fundit vaporum flumen et late aestuat.
                    <lb/>Tum per frequentes mille rimarum vias
                    <lb/>inlapsus imber tabidum rorem pluit,
                    <lb/>defossus intus quem sacerdos excipit
                    <lb/>guttas ad omnes turpe subiectans caput
         <lb/> 1035 et veste et omni putrefactus corpore.
                    <lb/>Quin os supinat, obvias offert genas,
                    <lb/>supponit aures, labra, nares obicit,
                    <lb/>oculos et ipsos perluit liquoribus,
                    <lb/>nec iam palato parcit et linguam rigat,
         <lb/> 1040 donec cruorem totus atrum conbibat.
                    <lb/>Postquam cadaver sanguine egesto rigens
                    <lb/>conpege ab illa flamines retraxerint,
                    <lb/>procedit inde pontifex visu horridus,
                    <lb/>ostentat udum verticem, barbam gravem,
         <lb/> 1045 vittas madentes atque amictus ebrios.
                    <lb/>Hunc inquinatum talibus contagiis,
                    <lb/>tabo recentis sordidam piaculi,
                    <lb/>omnes salutant atque adorant eminus,
                    <lb/>vilis quod illum sanguis et bos mortuus
         <lb/> 1050 foedis latentem sub cavernis laverint.</foreign></quote>
                </div>
                </div>  
                <div type="textpart" n="Discussion/Interpretation">
                    <p>Although <persName type="attested" key="Prudentius">Prudentius</persName> did not mention the term taurobolium in this poem, his reference like <foreign>consecrandus</foreign> at the beginning and the imageries that appears in the poem such as <foreign>taurus, illum sanguis et bos mortuus</foreign>, etc., could reasonably link his description to the sacrifice of a bull, i.e. taurobolium. On the one hand, the taurobolium by Prudentius’ description is a kind of bloody baptism, which is quite different from the taurobolium before. On the other hand, we have also no archaeological evidence to proof what <persName type="attested" key="Prudentius">Prudentius</persName> wrote. Therefore, some of today’s studies do not take <persName type="attested" key="Prudentius">Prudentius</persName>(MCLYNN 1996, 320).</p>
                    <p>But it does not follow that <persName type="attested" key="Prudentius">Prudentius</persName> could be dismissed entirely, and it is only appropriate to speculate that the taurobolium may for some reason have undergone a major change towards the end of the 4th. century. In the context of the competition between Christianity and paganism at that time, <persName type="attested" key="Prudentius">Prudentius</persName> may have deliberately and exaggeratedly distorted the process of the taurobolium to achieve a confrontational effect and highlight the elegant, holy side of the Christian rituals. For example, although sacrifices are also required in Christian liturgy, they are often sacred and systematic, with clerics taking on different roles and following a prescribed process to complete such as Holy Baptism. In contrast, the process of taurobolium is much more barbaric from the Christian authors’ side. <persName type="attested" key="Prudentius">Prudentius</persName> used some pejorative descriptions for this pagans’ ritual like <foreign>eructat amplum vulnus undam <w lemma="sanguis">sanguinis</w>, omni putrefactus corpore</foreign> etc. Thus, for Christian authors the taurobolium became a symbol of the pagan superstition and a sign that pagans were demoniac.</p>
                    <p>The taurobolium eventually disappeared as a result of the failure of the pagan revival in the West at the end of the 4th. century.</p>
              </div>
                <div type="textpart" n="Catalogue of occurrences">
                    <p><emph rend="italics">Inscriptions</emph></p>
                    <p>CIL 6.1778</p>
                    <p>CIL 6.510</p>
                    <p>CIL 10.1596</p>
                    <p>CIL 13.1751</p>
                    <p>Fragmenta Vaticana 148</p>
                    <p><emph rend="italics">Literary source</emph></p>
                    <p>Prud. perist. 10,1011–1050</p>
                </div>
              </div>
            <div type="bibliography">
                <p>BEARD M. et al. (1998). <title>Religions of Rome, 2 vol.</title>, Cambridge.</p>
                <p>DUTHOY, R. (1969), <title>The Taurobolium: Its Evolution and Terminology</title>, Leiden. </p>
                <p>GASPARRO, G. S. (1985), <title>Soteriology and Mystic Aspects in the Cult of Cybele and Attis</title>, Leiden.</p>
                <p>LENNON, J. (2010), <title>Jupiter Latiaris and the “Taurobolium”: Inversions of Cleansing in Christian Polemic</title>, Historia 3: 381-384.</p>
                <p>MCLYNN, N. (1996), <title>The Fourth-Century Taurobolium</title>, Phoenix 50: 312-330.</p>
                <p>PRICE, S. R. F., "Taurobolium", in <title>Der Neue Pauly</title>(http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_dnp_e1201730).</p>
                <p>RUTTER, J. B. (1968), <title>The Three Phases of the Taurobolium</title>, Phoenix 22: 226-249.</p>
                <p>WACHSMUTH, D. (1975), "Taurobolium", in <title>Der Kleine Pauly</title> 5, Sp. 543 f.</p>
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