Supplicatio
The Roman fast day, or day of humiliation, celebrated originally in times of great
distress, after the Sibylline Books had been duly consulted. The whole population, both of the
towns and surrounding country, free-born and emancipated, men, women, and children, took part
in the solemnity. The whole ceremony had a Greek rather than a Roman
colour. From the Temple of Apollo, priests and laymen, crowned with wreaths of bay, marched in
procession to the sound of singing and the notes of the lyre, visiting all the holy places,
especially those where
lectisternia were held. According to the rite
introduced from the Oriental Greeks of Asia Minor, the Romans touched with their faces the
threshold of the sanctuaries, prostrated themselves before the statues of the gods, clasping
their knees and kissing their hands and feet. While the prayers were being said, incense and
wine were offered, the prayers being rehearsed by the members of the
collegium intrusted with the care of the Sibylline Books (see
Sibyllae), and the performance of the holy rites prescribed by them. On
such days the temples ordinarily closed to the public, or only accessible under certain
restrictions, were, so far as practicable, thrown open to all. The thanksgivings decreed by
the Senate after great victories were celebrated in a similar manner. These originally lasted
only one day, but in the course of time were lengthened (e. g. for Pompey's victory over
Mithridates, one of ten days; for Caesar's conquest of the Belgae, one of fifteen days; and
for his defeat of Vercingetorix, one of twenty days), until, at the end of the Republic, they
sometimes extended over forty or fifty days, and were often united with a public feasting of
the people.
