What One Doesn’t Know About the Spell of Carmen

Hearing the word Carmen today tells us it is a feminine name and nothing else. Even those Carmens in our day never associated their names to a spell.

In ancient times however, when one speak of carmen, they talk about priests and their ritualistic spells. Long before the dawn of Christianity, carmen is a verse that means a spell, ritual, or incantation. This history of carmen came from the Ancient Rome.

Nowadays, there are only two oldest prayers of ancient Romans known to academicians. They are Carmen Arvale and Carmen Saliare. These prayers are both in Latin. Old libraries were able to preserve some books listing the verses of Carmen Arvale and Carmen Saliare.

The Carmen Arvalium goes like this:

enos Lases iuvate
enos Lases iuvate
enos Lases iuvate

neve lue rue Marmar sins incurrere in pleoris
neve lue rue Marmar sins incurrere in pleoris
neve lue rue Marmar sins incurrere in pleoris

satur fu, fere Mars, limen sali, sta berber
satur fu, fere Mars, limen sali, sta berber
satur fu, fere Mars, limen sali, sta berber

semunis alterni advocapit conctos
semunis alterni advocapit conctos
semunis alterni advocapit conctos

enos Marmor iuvato
enos Marmor iuvato
enos Marmor iuvato

triumpe triumpe triumpe triumpe triumpe

Meanwhile, the Carmen Saliare goes like this:

[fragmentum 1]
divum +empta+ cante, divum deo supplicate
[fragmentum 2]
cume tonas, Leucesie, prae tet tremonti
+quot+ ibet etinei de is cum tonarem
[fragmentum 3]
cozeulodorieso. omnia vero adpatula coemisse.
ian cusianes duonus ceruses dunus Ianusve
vet pom melios eum recumcarmen Saliare
[fragmentum 1]
divum +empta+ cante, divum deo supplicate
[fragmentum 2]
cume tonas, Leucesie, prae tet tremonti
+quot+ ibet etinei de is cum tonarem
[fragmentum 3]
cozeulodorieso. omnia vero adpatula coemisse.
ian cusianes duonus ceruses dunus Ianusve
vet pom melios eum recum

These carmen verses were chanted by different priests, coming from two dissimilar clergies. The Arval priests sang the Carmen Arvale while the Salian priests sang the Carmen Arvale together with a sacred dance.

Both the carmen verses were sung for varied purposes. The Arval priests believed that singing Carmen Arvale would make their land fertile and thus ensure a bountiful harvest for the community. Their rituals were devoted only to goddess Dea Dia.

Meanwhile, the Salian priests performed rituals and dances, including the singing of Carmen Saliare, to ensure military power of their land. They did the rituals to worship Mars, the Roman god of war, and Quirinus, the ancient Roman god equivalent to Janus.

Both the Arval and Salian priests were no ordinary clergies. They came from patrician families and chosen by the country. Most often than not, the Arval priests were the appointed emperor of the Roman Empire. On the other hand, the Salian priests would continue to be priests for the entire duration of their life unless they would have achieved a more prestigious priesthood.

Ambarvalia was the name of the festival where Arval priests sang the Carme Arvale. While, the Salian priests performed a sacred dance and sang the Carmen Saliare every March and October.