Catullus 63
The circumstances under which the cult
of Cybele was brought to Rome were unusual in that whereas the other Eastern
cults were not brought to Rome with official sanction, the cult of Cybele,
Magna Mater, was introduced to Rome (from Asia Minor) by magistrates and given
an official position. Cybele was considered the mother of all living things, a
universal Mother Earth deity. What this cult did share with other popular Roman
cults, though, was that its central myth was a vehicle for promising
immortality to its initiates; it revolved around the death and resurrection of
Cybele’s consort Attis (think Isis and Orisis, for example).
In 205 B.C., the Romans were distressed
by their inability to defeat the Carthaginians (during the Second Punic War).
The Senate consulted the Sibylline books, a collection of oracular responses,
and its members were told that the Romans would drive enemy forces out of Italy
if Magna Mater were to be brought to Rome. Without delay, a delegation was sent
to Phrygia to obtain a black meteoric stone, which was the symbol of the
goddess. The stone was carried into Rome on the 4th of April 204
B.C. Livy’s Ab Urbe Condita contains a passage describing the
dramatic arrival of Cybele to Italy; it can be found in Book 29.
Ginny
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