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Worship

Road of Hercules

The Road of Hercules is a route in across Southern Gaul that is associated with the path Hercules took during his 10th labor of retrieving the Cattle of Geryon from the Red Isles. Hannibal took the same path on his march towards Italy and encouraged the belief that he was the second Hercules. Primary sources often make comparisons between Hercules and Hannibal. Hannibal further tried to invoke parallels between himself and Hercules by starting his march on Italy by visiting the shrine of Hercules at Gades. While crossing the alps, he performed labors in a heroic manner. A famous example was noted by Livy, when Hannibal fractured the side of a cliff that was blocking his march.

Worship from women

In ancient Roman society women were usually limited to two types of cults. Those that address feminine matters such as childbirth, and cults that required virginal chastity. However, there is evidence suggesting there were female worshippers of Apollo, Mars, Jupiter, and Hercules. Some scholars believe that women were completely prohibited from any of Hercules's cults. Others believe it was only the "Ara Maxima" that they were not allowed to worship at. Macrobius in his first book of Saturnalia paraphrases from Varro's actinology: "For when Hercules was bringing the cattle of Geryon through Italy, a women replied to the thirsty hero that she could not give him water because it was the day of the Goddess Women and it was unlawful for a man to taste what had been prepared for her. Hercules, therefore, when he was about to offer a sacrifice forbid the presence of women and ordered Potitius and Pinarius who where in charge of his rites, not to allow any women from taking part". Macrobius states that women were restricted in their participation in Hercules cults, but to what extent remains ambiguous. He mentions that women were not allowed to participate in Sacrum which is general term used to describe anything that was believed to have belonged to the gods. This could include anything from a precious item to a temple. Due to the general nature of a Sacrum, we can not judge the extent of the prohibition from Macrobius alone. There is also ancient writings on this topic from Aulus Gellius when speaking on how Romans swore oaths. He mentioned that Roman women do not swear on Hercules, nor to Roman men swear on Castor. He went on to say that women refrain from sacrificing to Hercules. Propertius, whom in his poem 4.9 also mentions similar information as Macrobius. This is evidence that he was also using Varro as a source

Worship in myth

There is evidence of Hercules worship in myth in the Latin epic poem "The Aeneid". In the 8th book of the poem Aeneas finally reaches the future site of Rome, where he meets Evander and the Arcadians making sacrifices to Hercules on the banks of the Tiber river. They share a feast, and Evander tells the story of how Hercules defeated the monster Cascus, and describes him as a triumphant hero. Translated from the Latin text of Vergil, Evander stated: "Time brought to us in our time of need the aid and arrival of a god. For there came that mightiest avenger, the victor Hercules, proud with the slaughter and the spoils of threefold Geryon, and he drove the mighty bulls here, and the cattle filled both valley and riverside.

Hercules was also mentioned in the Fables of Gaius Julius Hyginus. For example, in his fable about Philoctetes he tells the story of how Philoctetes built a funeral pyre for Hercules so his body could be consumed and raised to immortality.

Hercules and the Roman triumph

According to Livy (9.44.16) Romans were commemorating military victories by building statues to Hercules as early as 305 BCE. Also, philosopher Piny the Elder dates Hercules worship back to the time of Evander, by accrediting him with erecting a statue in the Forum Boarium of Hercules. Scholars agree that there would have been 5-7 temples in Augustan Rome. There are believed to be related Republican triumphatores, however, not necessarily triumphal dedications. There is two temples located in the Campus Martius. One, being the Temple of Hercules Musarum, dedicated between 187 and 179 BCE by M. Fulvius Nobilior. And the other being the Temple of Hercules Custos, likely renovated by Sulla in the 80s BCE.

Dewitt, N. J. (1941). Rome and the "Road of Hercules". Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, 72, 59–69. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/283041?sid=primo&origin=crossref&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

This article tells the story of how Hannibal tried to convince the people of Carthage that he had walked the "Road of Hercules" in an attempt to compare himself to the mythological hero. It is an excellent example of how Hercules was a prominent figure to the Roman people. I'll be creating a header on the wikipedia page titled "Worship" where I'll be including information about this article to show an example of the importance of Hercules and how his image was used to gain power.

Hirst, G. (1926). The Significance of Augustior as Applied to Hercules and to Romulus: A Note on Livy I, 7, 9 and I, 8, 9. The American Journal of Philology, 47(4), 347–352. Retrieved from https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.acadiau.ca:9443/stable/289995?sid=primo&origin=crossref&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

Loar, M. P. (2017). Hercules, Mummius, and the Roman Triumph in Aeneid 8. Classical Philology, 12(1), 45–62. Retrieved from https://www-journals-uchicago-edu.ezproxy.acadiau.ca:9443/doi/abs/10.1086/689726

This article tells the story of how Aeneas meets Evander and the Arcadians sacrificing to Hercules near the banks of the Tiber river for vanquishing the robber-monster Cacus. Not only does this source explain a myth that isn't currently on wikipedia, but also gives another example of how Hercules was worshiped. I'll be including this information under the "worship" section that I'll be adding to the wikipedia page, under the sub-section "worship in mythology".

Schultz, C. E. (2000). Modern Prejudice and Ancient Praxis: Female Worship of Hercules at Rome. Zeitschrift Für Papyrologie Und Epigraphik, 291–297. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/20190780?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

This paper also follows the theme of how Hercules was worshiped by the Roman people. It explains how Roman women were forbidden from entering "cults" that were not associated with female life. For example, women were not allowed to join cults worshiping Mars because he was the god of war, and women of course did not go to war. However, the paper mentions that women would make cults in secret to worship various figures including Hercules. I am going to create a section on the wikipedia page called "Worship" with a sub-section called "Worship from Women" were I'll explain how and why Hercules was worshiped by women.

Utz, H. (1971). The Labors of Hercules and Other Works by Vincenzo de' Rossi. The Art Bulletin, 53(3), 344–366. Retrieved from https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.acadiau.ca:9443/stable/3048869?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

This source contains information about the history of the 12 labors of Hercules. There is already a section on wikipedia about this topic, so I'll be using this source to cross reference the pre-existing information on wikipedia to see if there is any discrepancies.