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17-509: They are attested as Segoviorum on the Arch of Susa . The ethnonym Segovii is a latinized form of Gaulish * Segouioi . It derives from the root sego -, meaning 'victory, force'. It is comparable with the feminine forms Segouia ( Segovia ) and Segauias (now Göfis ). The Segovii dwelled around the towns of Gaesao/Tyrium (modern Cesana Torinese ) and Druantium ( Montgenèvre ; also named * Alpis Cottia and Summae Alpes ). Their territory

34-475: A suovetaurilia was called lustration . If a temple were destroyed, the site of the temple must be purified by a suovetaurilia before a new temple could be reconstructed on the site. When the Capitolium was burnt as a result of a struggle for imperial succession in the year 69, a suovetaurilia was performed to reconsecrate the site. A public suovetaurilia was also offered to bless

51-695: A few other Indo-European peoples, from Iberia to India. The Cabeço das Fráguas inscript (found in Portugal ) describes a threefold sacrifice practiced by the Lusitanians , devoting a sheep, a pig and a bull to what may have been local gods. In the Indian Sautramani , a ram, a bull and a goat were sacrificed to Indra Sutraman; in Iran ten thousand sheep, a thousand cattle and a hundred stallions were dedicated to Ardvi Sura Anahita . Similar to

68-537: The province of Turin . It was originally built at the end of the 1st century BC to record the renewed alliance between Emperor Augustus and Marcus Julius Cottius , a Celto-Ligurian ruler who had been made king and Roman prefect of the Cottian Alps . The arch, together with other remains from the period, such as the Roman amphitheatre and a Roman aqueduct , underscore the importance that the city of Susa had during

85-451: The Roman period. From above, the arch forms a rectangle 11.93 metres long and 7.3 metres wide. It rests on two large bases and there is only one archway. The white marble of the arch was sourced from a nearby quarries at Fornesto and Tre Piloni. The arch has a unique arcade, in which the archivolt is supported by pilasters . The entablature rests on four Corinthian columns placed at

102-663: The arch. The corbels' panels are decorated with roses. On top of that rests the attic , which displays an inscription on both faces. The inscription reads: IMP · CAESARI · AVGVSTO · DIVI · F · PONTIFICI · MAXVMO · TRIBVNIC · POTESTATE · XV · IMP · XIII · M · IVLIVS · REGIS · DONNI · F · COTTIVS · PRAEFECTVS · CEIVITATIVM · QVAE · SVBSCRIPTAE · SVNT · SEGOVIORVM · SEGVSINORVM · BELACORVM · CATVRIGVM · MEDVLLORVM · TEBAVIORVM · ADANATIVM · SAVINCATIVM · ECDINIORVM · VEAMINIORVM · VENISAMORVM · IEMERIORUM · VESVBIANIORVM · QVADIATIVM · ET · CEIVITATES · QVAE · SVB · EO · PRAEFECTO · FVERVNT Marcus Julius Cottius , son of King Donnus , leader of

119-485: The army before a major military campaign. On Trajan's column , the emperor Trajan is depicted as offering a suovetaurilia to purify the Roman army . A suovetaurilia is shown on the right hand panel of The Bridgeness Slab . It was suggested that the sacrifice might have been made at the start of the building of the Antonine Wall . Some religious rites similar to the Roman suovetaurilia were practiced by

136-627: The boundaries of the land to be blessed, pronouncing the following words: "Manius" in this passage may be an obscure minor deity, related to the Manes , or may be the equivalent of English John Doe . Then, before the sacrifice is performed, the following prayer to Mars must be made: The original Latin of this prayer is crudely metrical and incantatory ; even in Old Latin , the prayer contains many rhetorical figures such as alliteration and liberal use of merisms and antithesis . It illustrates

153-442: The extremities of each corner, such that a quarter of each drum is embedded in the monument. The lowest architrave is composed of three bands of which the lowest band is thicker than the middle band, and this in turn is thicker than the top band. Above the architrave, a frieze composed of a bass relief stretches around all four sides. Above that is the cornice which has twenty-two corbels on each face and twelve on each side of

170-423: The festival of Ambarvalia , a festival that involved "walking around the fields." Public suovetaurilias were offered at certain state ceremonies, including agricultural festivals, the conclusion of a census , and to atone for any accidental ritual errors. Traditionally, suovetaurilias were performed at five year intervals: this period was called a lustrum , and the purification sought by

187-509: The following communities: the Segovii , Segusini , Belaci , Caturiges , Medulli , Tebavii , Adanates , Savincates , Ecdinii , Veaminii , Venisamores , Iemerii , Vesubianii , and Quadiates , and the (aforementioned) communities who were under this leader (dedicated this arch) to Imperator Caesar Augustus , son of a god , Pontifex Maximus , awarded tribunician power 15 times, and acclaimed Imperator 13 times. The frieze represents

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204-443: The sacrifice of the suovetaurilia , a sacrifice in which the victims were a pig ( sus ), a sheep ( ovis ) and a bull ( taurus ) with the animals intended for sacrifice of exceptional size, clearly much larger than the men leading them to sacrifice. The scene has a great number of symbolic meanings, however it indicates above all that the sacrifice is the focus. The man performing the sacrifice is perhaps to be identified with Cottius. On

221-403: The sing-song, metrical, and poetic format of polytheistic prayers. Cakes of bread were sacrificed along with the three animals. At the moment the sacrifices were made, the landowner was to say: If favourable omens as a response to the sacrifice were not forthcoming, the landowner was instructed to redo the sacrifice and offer a further prayer: If only one or two of the omens expected after

238-407: The three sacrifices failed to appear, the landowner was instructed to offer an additional swine, saying: The nature of the expected omens is not given by Cato. The omens, however, were likely determined by the art of haruspicy , the examination of the entrails, and especially the livers , of sacrificed animals for divinatory signs. A private rural suovetaurilia was sacrificed each May on

255-509: The western side some representatives of the Cottian communities mentioned in the inscription are depicted. On the southern side a second sacrifice, officiated by Cottius, is depicted. On the eastern side the scene has been completely destroyed by the ravages of time. 45°8′9.8″N 7°2′34.6″E  /  45.136056°N 7.042944°E  / 45.136056; 7.042944 Suovetaurilia The suovetaurilia or suovitaurilia

272-644: Was located south of the Belaci , north of the Brigianii and Quariates , and east of the Ucenni . The settlement of Ad Fines (modern Fenils) may have been the border between the territories of the Segovii and Belaci. They are mentioned on the Arch of Susa , erected by Cottius in 9–8 BC. Arch of Augustus (Susa) The Arch of Augustus is an important monument constructed in the city of Susa, Piedmont , in

289-518: Was one of the most sacred and traditional rites of Roman religion : the sacrifice of a pig ( sus ), a sheep ( ovis ) and a bull ( taurus ) to the deity Mars to bless and purify land ( Lustratio ). There were two kinds: The ritual for private fields is preserved in Cato the Elder 's De Agri Cultura , "On Agriculture". The first step was to lead the three animals around

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