Worship of money...

[Quintus Pomponius Atticus]

Salvete,

It is often heard that Money is the only divinity our god-forsaken times still worship. It was an ironical surprise for me to learn that the Romans already preceded us in this, and that they worshipped it literally (unless you accept Cicero's etymology, vide infra), under the form of Iuno Moneta.

A temple on the arx was vowed to her by M. Furius Camillus during the war with the Aurunci in 345 B.C. It is altogether probable that this temple of Camillus replaced an earlier cult centre of Iuno Moneta, to which reference is made by Plutarch (Cam. 27), when speaking of the sacred geese that were kept around her temple in 390 B.C.

Various explanations were given by the Roman antiquarians of the epithet Moneta. Cicero (de Div. i.101) says that it was derived from the warning voice of the goddess, heard in the temple on the occasion of an earthquake, 'ut sue plena procuratio fieret'. Suidas (s.v. Monh=ta) states that during the war with Tarentum the Romans, needing money, obtained it by following the advice of Juno; and that in gratitude they gave her the epithet Moneta and decided to establish the mint in her temple. None of the explanations yet suggested is satisfactory, and even the usual derivation of the word Moneta from moneo is open to doubt (Walde, Etym. Wörterb. 2nd ed. 493). The mint was in the temple during the last centuries of the republic, perhaps established there in 269 when silver coinage was introduced into Rome (Liv. iv.20.13; Cic. ad Att. viii.7.3), and was called Moneta or ad Monetam. It seems to have been removed at the end of the first century (see Moneta), and nothing further is heard of the temple (Jord. i.2.108-111; WR 190; Rosch. ii.592-594, 603, 612; RE x.1118).

Source : Lacus Curtius

Valete,

Q. Pomponius Atticus

[Gnaeus Dionysius Draco]

Hmm, some people worship money, that's true. But you need money to survive and to life comfortably. I'm pretty much convinced that money makes poor people happier than religion, however beyond a certain level more money doesn't make happier at all, rather the opposite.

I'm not very surprised to read this about the Romans. I'm actually reminded of the four stages of spiritual growth in Hinduism, where the first stage is that of the pleasure-seeker, the second of the person who wants to acquire possessions, the third of the knowledge-seeker and finally the enlightened individual. For the Greeks, too, attaining success and earning money was not considered to be immoral at all...

Vale!
Draco

[Gnaeus Dionysius Draco]

Um, mi Piscine, how did your reply wind up here in this topic?

Draco

[Tiberius Dionysius Draco]

Salvete Romani!

For those of you that don't have a clue about what Gnaeus is talking about, I removed the post Piscinus made here. It will however remain a mistery as to how it got here in the first place.

Valete bene,

[Horatius Piscinus]

Salve Draco

Well now you have me curious as to what my reply was ( since I don't see it), though I think I have an idea - some nonesense in the Senate? Maybe that whould have been better sent to the Collegium Artium?

[Aldus Marius]

Salvete omnes...

Mi Piscine, I did see the post in question, and it was a continuation of your discussion elsewhere in this Collegium on Roman private ritual (someone was seeking clarification thereof). A copy was posted in the appropriate thread, and the other one removed from here.

Does this ring a bell? I may have spoiled the mystery (you won't get to go to your grave wondering), but...at least you won't have to go to your grave wondering.

In fide,