Fetiales

English > Greek (Woodhouse)

Φητιαλεῖς, οἱ.

Wikipedia EN

A fetial (plural fetiales) was a type of priest in ancient Rome. They formed a collegium devoted to Jupiter as the patron of good faith.

The duties of the fetials included advising the senate on foreign affairs and international treaties, making formal proclamations of peace and of war, and confirming treaties. They also carried out the functions of traveling heralds or ambassadors (Pater Patratus).

The first mention of the fetials by Livy occurs in the context of the war between Alba Longa and Rome, during which the Roman king Tullus Hostilius appointed Marcus Valerius as a fetial and Spurius Fusius as pater patratus, for the purpose of binding Rome and Alba Longa by a treaty.

According to Livy, the ritual by which the fetials were to declare war, the ritual of rerum repetitio, was introduced to Rome by Ancus Marcius, borrowing on the traditions of the Aequicolae. However, he had already described the ritual actions of the fetials when recording the wars of Tullus Hostilius. Thus some scholars think the mentions of the Aequi may be a misinterpretation due to a folk etymology connecting Aequi to aequus, the Latin adjective for fair. On the other hand ancient sources support the tradition that the priesthood was created under the influence of Aequian king Fertor Resius.

According to some scholars, the name derives from the noun root *feti-, which means 'foundation' and not 'stipulation'. It is allied to the basic religious concept of fas, both being rooted in IE *dh(e)s, originally meaning 'to set, setting'. This root has given the verb facere, 'to do, make' by a semantic shift. Both fetial and fas preserve the original sense of 'foundation' here, as in Vedic dhaman, dhatu in its religious sense.

Wikipedia DE

Die Fetialen (lateinisch fetiales; Singular fetialis) waren eine Priesterschaft im antiken Rom, die vor allem in früher Zeit (frühe und mittlere Römische Republik) für die völkerrechtlichen Außenbeziehungen Roms und deren Zeremonien verantwortlich waren (ius fetiale). In früher Zeit übten sie auch eine Richtertätigkeit (iudices) in völkerrechtlichen Fragen aus, aber diese Funktion ging im Verlauf der frühen Republik an den Senat verloren. Die Anzahl der in Kooptation ergänzten Priesterschaft betrug 20 Priester. Die Priesterschaft war wahrscheinlich auch Plebejern zugänglich. Die Gründung der Priesterschaft wird in der Überlieferung verschiedenen römischen Königen (Numa Pompilius, Tullus Hostilius oder Ancus Marcius) zugeschrieben. Der rechtsarchäologische Befund und die Überlieferung zu den Insignien bzw. Werkzeugen der fetiales (sagmina und vasa vom Kapitol genommen) legt eine Datierung des überlieferten ius fetiale in das 6. Jahrhundert v. Chr. nahe.

Wikipedia FR

Le collège des Fétiaux ou Féciaux est un collège de prêtres de la Rome antique, principalement chargé, dans les relations entre Rome et les autres peuples (déclarations de guerre, traités), de faire en sorte que la pax deorum ne soit pas brisée.

Wikipedia IT

I Feziali (Fetiales o Feciales) costituivano un collegio sacerdotale dell'antica Roma, nominati per cooptazione, scelti in principio solo fra i patrizi e solo nella tarda età repubblicana anche fra i plebei. Si potrebbe sostenere che fossero incaricati di preservare gli aspetti formali del diritto internazionale e del diritto bellico dell'Urbe.

Wikipedia RU

Фециа́лы (от лат. fetiales) — древнеримская жреческая коллегия (лат. sodalitas), состоявшая из 20 пожизненных членов, избиравшихся путём кооптации, и занимавшая в ряду римских жречеств по значению и рангу первое место после четырёх главнейших жреческих коллегий (sacerdotum quatuor amplissima collegia — понтификов, авгуров, квиндецемвиров священнодействий и эпулонов).