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ARVAL BROTHERS (Fratres Arvales)

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Originally appearing in Volume V02, Page 711 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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ARVAL See also:

BROTHERS, RICHARD (1757-1824)

BROTHERS (Fratres Arvales) , in See also:

ROMAN

Roman antiquities, a See also:

COLLEGE (Collegium)

college or priesthood, consisting of twelve members, elected for See also:

LIFE

life from the highest ranks in See also:

Rome, and always apparently, during the See also:

EMPIRE

empire, including the See also:

EMPEROR (Fr. empereur, from the Lat. imperator)

emperor. Their See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief See also:

DUTY (from " due," that which is owing, O. Fr. deu, dil, past participle of devoir; Lat. debere, debitum; cf. " debt ")

duty was to offer annually public See also:

SACRIFICE (from Lat. sacrificium; sacer, holy, and facere, to make)

sacrifice for the fertility of the See also:

FIELDS, JAMES THOMAS (1817-1881)

fields (See also:

Varro, L. L. v. 85). It is generally held that the college was founded by See also:

ROMULUS

Romulus (see Acca LARENTIA). This See also:

LEGEND (through the French from the med. Lat. legenda, things to be read, from legere, to read)

legend probably arose from the connexion of Acca Larentia, as mater Larum, with the See also:

LARES (older form Lases)

Lares who had a See also:

PART

part in the religious ceremonies of the Arvales. But apart from this, there is See also:

PROOF (in M. Eng. preove, proeve, preve, &°c., from O. Fr . prueve, proeve, &c., mod. preuve, Late. Lat. proba, probate, to prove, to test the goodness of anything, probus, good)

proof of the high antiquity of the college, which was said to have been older than Rome itself, in the verbal forms of the See also:

SONG

song with which, down to See also:

LATE

late times, a part of the ceremonies was accompanied, and which is still preserved. It is clear also that, while the members were them-selves always persons of distinction, the duties of their See also:

OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")

office were held in high respect. And yet it is singular that no mention of them occurs in See also:

CICERO

Cicero or See also:

LIVY [Thus L1v1us] (59 B.C.—A.D: 17)

Livy, and that altogether See also:

LITERARY

literary allusions to them are very scarce. On the other See also:

hand, we possess a See also:

long See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of the actor or minutes of their proceedings, See also:

DRAWN

drawn up by themselves, and inscribed on See also:

stone. Excavations, commenced in the 16th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century and continued to the 19th, in the See also:

grove of the Dea Dia about 5 m. from Rome, have yielded 96 of these records from A.D. 14 to 241.

The brotherhood .appears to have languished in obscurity during the See also:

REPUBLIC (Lat. respublica, a commonweal or common-wealth)

republic, and to have been revived by See also:

AUGUSTUS (a name 1 derived from Lat. augeo, increase, i.e. venerable, majestic, Gr. Ee0avr6s)

Augustus. In his See also:

time the college consisted of a See also:

MASTER (Lat. magister, related to tnagis, more, as the corresponding minister is to minus, less; the English form is due partly to the O. Eng. maegister, and partly to O. Fr. maistre, mod. maitre; cf. Du. meester, Ger. Meister, Ital. maestro)

master (magister), a See also:

VICE

vice-master (promagister), a See also:

FLAMEN (from flare, " to blow up " the altar fire)

flamen, and a See also:

PRAETOR (Lat. prae-itor, " he who goes before," "a leader")

praetor, with eight See also:

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary members, attended by various servants, and in particular by four See also:

CHORUS (Gr. xopbs)Z

chorus boys, sons of senators, having both parents alive. Each wore a See also:

WREATH (O. Eng. wry, from wriian, to twist)

wreath of See also:

corn, a See also:

white See also:

FILLET (through Fr. filet, from the med. Lat. filettum, diminutive of filum, a thread)

fillet and the praetexta. The See also:

election of members was by co-optation on the See also:

motion of the See also:

PRESIDENT (Fr. president, from Lat. praesidens, post-Augustan Lat. for praeses, director, ruler, from praesidere, to sit in front of, preside)

president, who, with a flamen, was himself elected for one See also:

YEAR

year. The See also:

GREAT

great See also:

ANNUAL

annual festival which they had to conduct was held in See also:

HONOUR (Lat. honos or lwnor, honoris; in English the word was spelled with or without the u indifferently until the 17th century, but during the 18th century it became fashion-able to spell the word " honor "; Johnson's and Webster's Dictionaries stereoty

honour of the See also:

ANONYMOUS

anonymous Dea Dia, who was probably identical with See also:

CERES

Ceres. It occupied three days in May. The ceremony of the first See also:

day took See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place in Rome itself, in the See also:

house of the magister or his See also:

DEPUTY (through the Fr. from a Late Lat. use of deputare, to cut off, allot; putare having the original sense of to trim, prune)

deputy, or on the See also:

PALATINE (from Lat. palatium, a palace,)

Palatine in the See also:

temple of the emperors, where at sunrise fruits and See also:

INCENSE

incense were offered to the goddess. A sumptuous banquet took place, followed by a See also:

DISTRIBUTION (Lat. distribuere, to deal out)

distribution of doles and garlands. On the second and See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal day of the festival the ceremonies were conducted in the grove of the Dea Dia. They included a See also:

dance in the temple of the goddess, at which the song of the brotherhood was sung, in See also:

LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua)

language so antiquated that it was hardly intelligible (see the See also:

TEXT (Lat. textum, woven fabric, from texere, to weave)

text and See also:

TRANSLATION

translation in See also:

MOMMSEN, THEODOR (1817–1903)

Mommsen, His'. of Rome, bk. i. ch. xv.) even to See also:

Romans of the time of Augustus, who regarded it as the See also:

OLDEST

oldest existing document in their See also:

MOTHER

mother-See also:

TONGUE (O. Eng. lunge)

tongue. Especial mention should be made of the ceremony of purifying the grove, which was held to be defiled by the See also:

FELLING

felling of trees, the breaking of a bough or the presence of any See also:

IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

iron tools, such as those used by the See also:

LAPIDARY

lapidary who engraved the records of the proceedings on stone. The song and dance were followed by the election of See also:

OFFICERS

officers for the next year, a banquet and races.

On the third day the sacrifice took place in Rome, and was of the same nature as that offered on the first day. The Arvales also offered sacrifice and See also:

SOLEMN (Lat. sollemnis, sollemnis, less correctly solennis, yearly, annual; from sollus = totus, whole, entire, Gr. Mos., and annus, year)

solemn vows on behalf of the imperial See also:

FAMILY

family on the 3rd of See also:

JANUARY

January and on other extraordinary occasions. The brotherhood is said to have lasted till the time of See also:

THEODOSIUS

Theodosius. The See also:

BRITISH

British Museum contains a bust of See also:

MARCUS

Marcus Aurelius in the See also:

DRESS (from the Fr. dresser, to set out, arrange, formed from Lat. directus, arranged, dirigere, to direct, arrange)

dress of a See also:

FRATER, FRATER HOUSE

Frater Arvalis. See also:

MARINI (or MARINO), GIAMBATTISTA (1569-1625)

Marini, Atti e Monumenti de' Fratri Arvali (1795) ; See also:

Hoffmann, See also:

Die A.' (1858) ; Oldenberg, De Sacris Fratrum A. (1875); See also:

BERGK, THEODOR (1812—1881)

Bergk, Das Lied der Arvalbruder (1856) ; See also:

BREAL, MICHEL JULES ALFRED (1832— )

Breal, " Le See also:

CHANT (derived through the Fr. from the Lat. cantare, to sing; an old form is " chaunt ")

Chant See also:

des See also:

ARVALS, ARVELS

Arvals " in Minn de to See also:

Soc. de Linguistique (1881) ; Edon, Nouvelle Etude sur le Chant Limural (1884); Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, vi. 2023-2119; Henzen, Acta Fratrum Arvalium (1894).

End of Article: ARVAL BROTHERS (Fratres Arvales)

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