Motif
ritual opening of war gates
ritual_opening_of_war_gates
A motif of the Sacred Combat and Ritual Warfare family, within the sub-family Battle Preparation and Ritual. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.
2 occurrences
1 traditions
roman
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The Aeneid of Virgil BOOK SIXTH / THE VISION OF THE UNDER WORLD / BOOK SEVENTH / THE LANDING IN LATIUM, AND THE ROLL OF THE ARMIES OF ITALY; lines 4774-4860 confidence: high
A custom of Hesperian Latium, kept by Alban towns and Rome, is described: the gates of War are consecrated to Mars, guarded by Janus, and opened by the consul when the Fathers decree battle.
The passage describes consecrated gates of War that are opened by an authorized ritual officer to call battle forth, and then narrates Juno opening them.
read in the book → -
The Aeneid of Virgil BOOK SIXTH / THE VISION OF THE UNDER WORLD / BOOK SEVENTH / THE LANDING IN LATIUM, AND THE ROLL OF THE ARMIES OF ITALY; lines 4774-4860 confidence: high
The Latian, Alban, and Roman gates of War are described as sacred to Mars and guarded by Janus; the Consul opens them when battle is decreed; Latinus refuses to open them against the Aeneadae; Juno descends and opens the iron-bound doors.
The gates of War are sacred to Mars, guarded by Janus, and opened by a formal official when battle has been decreed.
read in the book →