The Meaning of the Games

Following up on the post of the November calendar and the mention there of the Ludi Plebeii, I want to call attention to this excellent post on the E Nos Lases Iuvate blog:

Meaning and Sense of Ludi 

Many rites in the Ancient Roman Religion implied the execution of  Ludi or sport activites and games. These activities, surely showing competitive and sporting features, had a remarkable "sacred" value and importance. For this reason the Ludi had the feature of Res Divinae. Usually an agape, supported by an invitatione daemonum, completed the Ludi.

Read the rest here.

November calendar

The first day of the month is the Kalends, sacred to Juno. The Nones falls on the 5th and the Ides, sacred to Jupiter, falls on the 13th. The 2nd, 6th and 14th are unlucky (ater).

The major event this month is the Ludi Plebeii, the Plebeian Games. Legend places the Ludi in the early history of Rome, but the earliest mention is of the games in 216 BCE. (Livy 23.30). The last games on record were held in 354 CE (Calendar of Philocalus). By 207 BCE, the Ludi were celebrated over several days, from 4-17 November (Fasti Maffeiani).

The Ludi Plebeii began with a great pompa, or procession, led by statues of the Capitoline Triad, proceeding to the Circus, where gods and humans joined to watch the races. Nine days of theatrical performances and four days of racing in the Circus lead up to the central focus of the Ludi, the Epulum Iovis, or feast of Jupiter, on the Ides.

The Jupiter, Juno and Minerva attended in the form of statues. Jupiter reclined on a  couch and Juno and Minerva sat in chairs (reclining to eat being thought undignified for women, even Goddesses) (Source: Valerius Maximus). Food was served, and priests (epulones) and citizens ate with the Gods.
Ideas for celebrating the Plebeian games:

• Cook Roman food and have a Roman dinner. Set a place for Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. (Epulum Iovis)
• Organize, participate in or attend sporting events. Dedicate your participation to Jupiter.
• Organize, participate in or attend theatrical events. Dedicate your participation to Jupiter.

Remember that the Roman religion is based on the community and the family. Make these into events for your family, friends or neighbors. The season of the Plebeian Games is also a good time to make some Roman clothes. Have a tunic-making party and you'll be ready for Saturnalia next month! Tunic instructions are here, and also see the bottom of this page for links to more Roman WikiHow articles.

Get ready for Saturnalia and support this site by purchasing from our shops:

• Saturnalia cards and buttons from our Saturnalia shop.
• Roman cookbooks from our bookshop.

All proceeds from these shops go to supporting the Cultus Deorum.

Interview with Corvus about the attack in Poltava

CultusDeorumRomanorum was recently able to interview M. Octavius Corvus, the leader of the community that is building the temple in Poltava that was recently attacked by Christians. 

CDR: We were all shocked to hear about this attack. First, exactly when did it happen?

MOC: The attack happened early in the morning of September 26, at about 4 AM.

CDR: Were you alone at the time?

MOC: I was at home and all my family was with me.

CDR: Was there any warning? I mean, had there been any unrest in the area or is there any explanation of why this happened when it did?

MOC: Several months ago, threat messages were posted in all topics of the Sarmatia forum. It was saying that all and any pagan altars, shrines and temples will be destroyed. Also, there was a quotation from the Bible with threats to all heathens and the slogan "Die Heathen" - exactly the words that were written on my fence during the attack. That's why I think the authors of those threat messages on our forum and the people who attacked our templum are the same. Avatars that were used for those messages contained the logo of a fighting organization of Russian Orthodox Church - The “Orthodox Gonfalon Bearers”. On the other hand this organization has been active only in Russia and there is no proof that the attackers really belonged to that organization. 

[EDITOR’S NOTE: The far-right Union of Orthodox Banner (Gonfalon) Bearers, (Союза православных хоругвеносцев),  (SPK) is active in Russia where it enjoys the apparent approval of the Orthodox Church. Their anti-evolution, anti-Madonna, anti-Harry Potter and anti-gay protests and book burnings sometimes turn violent. One of their slogans is “Православие или смерть!” (“Orthodoxy or Death”).] 

CDR: How did you first notice that something was happening?

MOC: I heard the squeak of the wheel on the flagpole - someone was lowering the Sarmatian flag in the templum. I looked out of the window and saw a silhouette moving in the templum. Without turning on the light I took my gun and silently went out of the house. But as I advanced, another man who was hiding behind the garage hit me with a wooden stick on the right hand and my head. I managed to fire in the air and both attackers fled over the fence. About 30 minutes Lupus and later Brutus arrived at my house. My wife bandaged me and my friends took me to the hospital.

CDR: There were two of them?

MOC: I saw two of them in my yard.

CDR: Were you able to see either of them clearly?

MOC: No, it was still dark at that time and I just saw the attackers running away.

CDR: Exactly what damage was done? From the photos that we have seen it looks like they spray painted on the fence and they started to spray paint on the altar cover. Was there anything else?

MOC: Yes, they wrote "Die Heathen" on the fence, started drawing the orthodox cross on the altar cover - thank the Gods they didn't notice it was just a cover in the dark! [NOTE: Photo here.] And they managed to tear off the Sarmatian flag and sliced it. Later on we found two "Molotov cocktails" that the attackers did not have the chance to use.

Molotov cocktails that were found later.

CDR: In total, how much time do you think that they spent on your property? Basically, how much time from when you first heard noise until they ran off?

MOC: Starting from the moment I have heard the noise until the attackers disappeared behind my fence it took up to 3 or 5 minutes, I believe. I don't know how much time they spent in my yard before I woke up.

CDR: Has there been any other anti-pagan activity in your area since then?

MOC: No, there was no hostile activity since then and no internet activity either. It is not the first time for christian fanatics desecrate or destroy heathen shrines in Ukraine or Russia, however. There were at least two such accidents in my home town fin the last 10 years.

CDR: How is your community reacting?

MOC: Two armed men of our community stay in my house every night. I am very grateful to my colleagues who protected our Templum and my house while I was in hospital. I want to buy a new dog - my two shepherds suddenly died a month before the attack - now I suspect they were poisoned by the attackers beforehand. And we plan to mount security system devices to protect the Templum from future attacks. I fired my gun in the air last time, and I hope new attackers will think twice before the raid - next time I will not lose my chance to shoot the trespassers directly - I have the full right to do so according to Ukrainian law.

CDR: Could you give a short progress report on the temple? What is the status now?

MOC: This summer we bought the licence for special construction technology to use in the Temple construction. We are preparing construction elements now and we are going to start the construction process in November. This year we plan to build the podium of the Temple. I must consult with the company that sold us the licence if we are allowed to post the pictures of construction in the Internet. This year we have gathered almost $ 4 000 for construction of the Temple, and more than $ 550 were donated by our colleagues and friends from PRO DIIS, Cultus Deorum Romanorum web-site and ResPublica Romana, which I am deeply grateful for. We are also preparing an absolutely new web-site that will help us to find funds for further construction. I hope to present it by Saturnalia.

MOC: I want to give my many thanks to each and every person who supported us, helped us and prayed for us - obviously your prayers have found its way to the Gods' ears - I've recovered very quickly and it looks like we will fulfill our plans on the Temple construction. As the proverb says - every cloud has a silver lining - all problems we have just make our Romanitas grow and our worldwide community stronger. I have the very intense feeling that the Gods of Rome have returned and They are helping us everyday. I have not the slightest doubt in the success of our Sacred Cause!


EDITOR'S NOTE: I met Corvus and the whole community in Poltava and I have no doubt that they will not only survive this attack, but they will also complete the temple in a way that will do them great credit. 

Temple site desecration

These photos just arrived showing the results of the the attack by an orthodox christian mob on the site of the Temple of Jupiter Perennus in Poltava, Ukraine.

Attackers did not notice that they desecrated the altar's cover.

The message says "Die Heathens".

UPDATE: Read an interview with M. Octavius Corvus on the attack.

Temple attacked

26 September (ante diem VI Kalendas Octobres), the anniversary of the founding of the Temple of Venus Genetrix in Caesar's Forum in Rome. News comes that on this day a group of Orthodox Christians attacked the temple of Jupiter Perennus and injured M. Octavius Corvus, who was trying to defend the altar there. Corvus is now hospitalized and we are trying to find out additional information.

M. Moravius Piscinus has posted information about other, similar attacks.

As always, we support the work of the community in Poltava. Donations can be sent to them using the Paypal box on this page.

Further information will be posted here as it becomes known.