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[[File:Sousse mosaic calendar September.JPG|thumb|September panel from the 3rd-century mosaic of the months at [[El Djem]], [[Tunisia]] ([[Roman Africa]])]] |
[[File:Sousse mosaic calendar September.JPG|thumb|September panel from the 3rd-century mosaic of the months at [[El Djem]], [[Tunisia]] ([[Roman Africa]])]] |
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'''September''' (from Latin ''septem'', "seven") was originally the seventh of ten months on the ancient [[Roman calendar]] that began with March (''[[Martius (month)|Martius]]'', "[[Mars (mythology)|Mars]]' month"). It had 29 days. After the reforms that resulted in a 12-month year, September became the ninth month, but retained its name. September followed what was originally [[Sextilis]], the "sixth" month, renamed ''Augustus'' in honor of the first [[Roman emperor]], and preceded [[October (Roman month)|October]], the "eighth" month that like September |
'''September''' (from Latin ''septem'', "seven") or '''''mensis September''''' was originally the seventh of ten months on the ancient [[Roman calendar]] that began with March (''[[Martius (month)|mensis Martius]]'', "[[Mars (mythology)|Mars]]' month"). It had 29 days. After the reforms that resulted in a 12-month year, September became the ninth month, but retained its name. September followed what was originally [[Sextilis]], the "sixth" month, renamed ''Augustus'' in honor of the first [[Roman emperor]], and preceded [[October (Roman month)|October]], the "eighth" month that like September retained its numerical name contrary to its position on the calendar. A day was added to September in the mid-40s BC as part of the [[Julian calendar|Julian calendar reform]]. |
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September has none of the archaic [[Roman festivals|festivals]] that are marked in large letters for other months |
September has none of the archaic [[Roman festivals|festivals]] that are marked in large letters for other months on [[List of ancient Roman fasti|extant Roman ''fasti'']]. Instead, about half the month is devoted to the ''[[Ludi Romani]]'', "Roman Games", which developed as [[ludi votivi|votive games]] for [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter Optimus Maximus]] ("Jupiter Best and Greatest"). The ''Ludi Romani'' are the oldest games instituted by the Romans, dating from 509 BC. On the [[Ides (calendar)|Ides]] of September (the 13th), Jupiter was honored with a public banquet, the ''[[Epulum Jovis]]''.<ref>[[H.H. Scullard]], ''Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic'' (Cornell University Press, 1981), pp. 182–183.</ref> September was the birth month of no fewer than four major [[Roman emperor]]s, including [[Augustus]], and the emperor [[Commodus]] renamed the month either after himself or [[Hercules in ancient Rome|Hercules]]—an innovation that was repealed after his murder in 192. |
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==Dates== |
==Dates== |
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| 2 || ''a.d. IV Non. Sept.''<ref>Abbreviated form of ''ante diem IV Nonas Septembris.''</ref> || F || |
| 2 || ''a.d. IV Non. Sept.''<ref>Abbreviated form of ''ante diem IV Nonas Septembris.''</ref> || F || |
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| 3 || ''III Non. Sept.'' |
| 3 || {{nowrap|''III Non. Sept.''<ref>Abbreviated form of ''ante diem III Nonas Septembris.''</ref>}} || C || |
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| 4 || ''pridie Nonas Septembris''<br>(abbrev. ''prid. Non. Sept.'')|| C || |
| 4 || ''pridie Nonas Septembris''<br>(abbrev. ''prid. Non. Sept.'')|| C || |
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| 7 || ''VII Id. Sept.''|| C || • ''Ludi Romani'' continue |
| 7 || ''VII Id. Sept.''|| C || • ''Ludi Romani'' continue |
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| 8 || ''VI Id. Sept.''<ref>Abbreviated form of ''ante diem VI Idūs Septembris,'' with the ''ante diem'' omitted altogether from this point.</ref> |
| 8 || {{nowrap|''VI Id. Sept.''<ref>Abbreviated form of ''ante diem VI Idūs Septembris,'' with the ''ante diem'' omitted altogether from this point.</ref>}}|| C || • ''Ludi Romani'' continue |
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| 9 || ''V Id. Sept.'' || C || • ''Ludi Romani'' continue<br>• ''dies natalis'' of [[Aurelian]], with circus games<ref>Salzman, ''On Roman Time,'' p. 134.</ref> |
| 9 || ''V Id. Sept.'' || C || • ''Ludi Romani'' continue<br>• ''dies natalis'' of [[Aurelian]], with circus games<ref>Salzman, ''On Roman Time,'' p. 134.</ref> |
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| 13 || ''Idūs Septembris'' || NP || • sacrifice of the Ides sheep ''(ovis idulis)'' for Jupiter Optimus Maximus<br>• [[Epulum Jovis]], banquet for Jove along with Juno and [[Minerva]], the [[Capitoline Triad]] |
| 13 || ''Idūs Septembris'' || NP || • sacrifice of the Ides sheep ''(ovis idulis)'' for Jupiter Optimus Maximus<br>• [[Epulum Jovis]], banquet for Jove along with Juno and [[Minerva]], the [[Capitoline Triad]] |
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| 14 || ''XVIII Kal. Oct.'' || F<br>''dies religiosus'' || • ''Ludi Romani'' continue<br>• '' |
| 14 || {{nowrap|''XVIII Kal. Oct.''}} || F<br>''dies religiosus'' || • ''Ludi Romani'' continue<br>• ''probatio equorum'' ("review of the horses", pre-Julian ''XVII Kal. Oct.''), an equestrian procession of knights<br>• accession of [[Domitian]] |
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| 15 || ''XVII Kal. Oct.'' || N || • ''Ludi Romani'' continue |
| 15 || ''XVII Kal. Oct.'' || N || • ''Ludi Romani'' continue |
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| 16 || ''XVI Kal. Oct.''<ref>Abbreviated form of ''ante diem XVII Kalendas Octobris/-es'' with the ''ante diem'' omitted altogether, as in the rest of the month following.</ref> |
| 16 || {{nowrap|''XVI Kal. Oct.''<ref>Abbreviated form of ''ante diem XVII Kalendas Octobris/-es'' with the ''ante diem'' omitted altogether, as in the rest of the month following.</ref>}}|| C || • ''Ludi Romani'' continue |
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| 17 || ''XV Kal. Oct.'' || C || • ''Ludi Romani'' continue |
| 17 || ''XV Kal. Oct.'' || C || • ''Ludi Romani'' continue |
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==Under the emperors== |
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[[File:Imperador Cômodo com os atributos de Hércules.jpg|thumb|upright=.6|Commodus portrayed with the attributes of Hercules, holding a club and the [[apples of the Hesperides|apple of the Hesperides]], and wearing the skin of the [[Nemean Lion]]]] |
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September has a concentration of imperial birthdays ''([[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#dies natalis|dies natales]])'': [[Aurelian]] on the 9th, [[Trajan]] on the 18th, [[Antoninus Pius]] on the 19th, and [[Augustus]] on the 23rd. [[Domitian]] (reigned 81–96 AD) had briefly renamed September, the month of his accession as emperor, ''mensis Germanicus'' after the [[Roman triumph|triumph]] he celebrated over the Germanic [[Chatti]].<ref>[[Suetonius]], ''Domitian'' 13; Robert Hannah, "The Emperor's Stars: The Conservatori Portrait of Commodus," ''American Journal of Archaeology'' 90.3 (1986), p. 342.</ref> |
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More sweepingly, in 184 AD [[Commodus]] renamed all the months of the year after names and aspects of himself. [[Cassius Dio]] lists Amazonius ([[Ianuarius|January]]), Invictus, Felix, Pius, Lucius, Aelius, Aurelius, Commodus, Augustus, Herculeus, Romanus, and Exsuperatorius. In this sequence, August as his birth month was renamed ''Commodus'', and September was called ''[[Sextilis|Augustus]]'', with each of the months from [[Maius|May]] to September (Lucius to Augustus) represented by elements of his official nomenclature in their usual order.<ref>Cassius Dio 72.15.3; M.P. Speidel, "Commodus the God-Emperor and the Army," ''Journal of Roman Studies'' 83 (1993), p. 112; Hannah, "The Emperor's Stars", p. 342.</ref> The ''[[Historia Augusta]]'' also indicates that August was the month that Commodus named for himself, but is internally inconsistent.<ref>Hannah, "The Emperor's Stars", p. 341, note 23.</ref> At one point, [[Hercules in ancient Rome|Hercules]], the [[Tutelary deity#Ancient Rome|patron deity]] chosen by Commodus, is said to have been the namesake for September,<ref>''Scriptores Historiae Augustae'' VII, as cited by A.W. van Buren, "Graffiti at Ostia," ''Classical Review'' 37 (1923), p. 163 ("Commodus" 11.8 in the citation of Hannah, "The Emperor's Stars", p. 341, note 23.</ref> while elsewhere October is the ''mensis Herculeus''.<ref>''Historia Augusta'', "Commodus" 11.13; Hannah, "The Emperor's Stars", p. 341, note 23.</ref> Several sources from [[late antiquity]]—among them [[Aurelius Victor]], [[Eutropius]], and [[Jerome]]—state that September was the ''mensis Commodus''.<ref>Van Buren, "Graffiti at Ostia," p. 163, with detailed citations of the primary texts. See also J.F. Mountford, "De Mensium Nominibus," ''Journal of Hellenic Studies'' 43 (1923), p. 114, in relation to the ''[[Liber glossarum]]''.</ref> Dates recorded in the month of Commodus are exceedingly rare, with a [[graffito]] from the House of Jupiter and Ganymede in [[Ostia Antica]] reading ''VII Kal. Commodas'' (July 26 or August 26, depending on whether Commodus was August or September); a date of ''III Nonas Commodias'' (August 3) in the ''Historia Augusta''; and a fragmentary reference to the ''Idus Commodas'' ("Ides of Commodus") on a marble base at [[Lanuvium]].<ref>Van Buren, "Graffiti at Ostia," pp. 163–164. The Lanuvium inscription is ''[[Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum|CIL]]'' 15.2113 (= ''[[Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae|ILS]]'' 5193).</ref> The innovation was repealed after his murder in 192.<ref>John R. Clarke, "The Decor of the House of Jupiter and Ganymede at Ostia Antica," in ''Roman Art in the Private Sphere: New Perspectives on the Architecture and Decor of the Domus, Villa, and Insula'' (University of Michigan Press, 1991, 1994), [http://books.google.com/books?id=5zTTX_mvVowC&pg=PA92&dq=%22renaming+the+month+of+September+after+himself%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=MdkgUrqNIKe32wWJgYHIBA&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22renaming%20the%20month%20of%20September%20after%20himself%22&f=false p. 92]; John R. Clarke, ''The Houses of Roman Italy, 100 B.C.–A.D. 250: Ritual, Space, and Decoration'' (University of California Press, 1991), [http://books.google.com/books?id=4Q7qcegqaRYC&pg=PA322&dq=%22renaming+the+month+September+after+himself%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=DNkgUpGsD8HZ2AX3v4DoAw&ved=0CE0Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=%22renaming%20the%20month%20September%20after%20himself%22&f=false p. 322].</ref> |
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==References== |
==References== |
Revision as of 16:45, 31 August 2013
September (from Latin septem, "seven") or mensis September was originally the seventh of ten months on the ancient Roman calendar that began with March (mensis Martius, "Mars' month"). It had 29 days. After the reforms that resulted in a 12-month year, September became the ninth month, but retained its name. September followed what was originally Sextilis, the "sixth" month, renamed Augustus in honor of the first Roman emperor, and preceded October, the "eighth" month that like September retained its numerical name contrary to its position on the calendar. A day was added to September in the mid-40s BC as part of the Julian calendar reform.
September has none of the archaic festivals that are marked in large letters for other months on extant Roman fasti. Instead, about half the month is devoted to the Ludi Romani, "Roman Games", which developed as votive games for Jupiter Optimus Maximus ("Jupiter Best and Greatest"). The Ludi Romani are the oldest games instituted by the Romans, dating from 509 BC. On the Ides of September (the 13th), Jupiter was honored with a public banquet, the Epulum Jovis.[1] September was the birth month of no fewer than four major Roman emperors, including Augustus, and the emperor Commodus renamed the month either after himself or Hercules—an innovation that was repealed after his murder in 192.
Dates
The Romans did not number days of a month sequentially from the 1st through the last day. Instead, they counted back from the three fixed points of the month: the Nones (5th or 7th, depending on the length of the month), the Ides (13th or 15th), and the Kalends (1st) of the following month. The Nones of September was the 5th, and the Ides the 13th. The last day of September was the pridie Kalendas Octobris,[2] "day before the Kalends of October". Roman counting was inclusive; September 9 was ante diem V Idūs Septembris, "the 5th day before the Ides of September," usually abbreviated a.d. V Id. Sept. (or with the a.d. omitted altogether); September 23 was IX Kal. Oct., "the 9th day before the Kalends of October," on the Julian calendar (VIII Kal. Oct. on the pre-Julian calendar).
On the calendar of the Roman Republic and early Principate, each day was marked with a letter to denote its religiously lawful status. In September, these were:
- F for dies fasti, days when it was legal to initiate action in the courts of civil law;
- C for dies comitalis, a day on which the Roman people could hold assemblies (comitia), elections, and certain kinds of judicial proceedings;
- N for dies nefasti, when these political activities and the administration of justice were prohibited;
- NP, the meaning of which remains elusive, but which marked feriae, public holidays.
By the late 2nd century AD, extant calendars no longer show days marked with these letters, probably in part as a result of calendar reforms undertaken by Marcus Aurelius.[3] Days were also marked with nundinal letters in cycles of A B C D E F G H, to mark the "market week"[4] (these are omitted in the table below).
On a dies religiosus, individuals were not to undertake any new activity, nor do anything other than tend to the most basic necessities. A dies natalis was an anniversary such as a temple founding or rededication, sometimes thought of as the "birthday" of a deity. During the Imperial period, some of the traditional festivals localized at Rome became less important, and the birthdays and anniversaries of the emperor and his family gained prominence as Roman holidays. On the calendar of military religious observances known as the Feriale Duranum, sacrifices pertaining to Imperial cult outnumber the older festivals. After the mid-1st century AD, a number of dates are added to calendars for spectacles and games (ludi) held in honor of various deities in the venue called a "circus" (ludi circenses).[5]
Unless otherwise noted, the dating and observances on the following table are from H.H. Scullard, Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic (Cornell University Press, 1981), pp. 96–115. After the Ides, dates are given for the 30-day month of the Julian calendar; pre-Julian dates of festivals are noted parenthetically.
Modern date |
Roman date | status | Observances |
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September 1 |
Kalendae Septembris | F | • dies natalis for the Temple of Juno Regina ("Juno the Queen"), from 392 BC • dies natalis for the temples of Jupiter the Thunderer on the Capitoline and Jove the Free, from early in the reign of Augustus |
2 | a.d. IV Non. Sept.[6] | F | |
3 | III Non. Sept.[7] | C | |
4 | pridie Nonas Septembris (abbrev. prid. Non. Sept.) |
C | |
5 | Nonae Septembris | F | • dies natalis of the Temple of Jupiter Stator • Ludi Romani begin • Mammes vindemia, a festival of the vintage for Dionysus (Roman Liber), after the mid-1st century AD[8] |
6 | VIII Id. Sept. | F | • Ludi Romani continue |
7 | VII Id. Sept. | C | • Ludi Romani continue |
8 | VI Id. Sept.[9] | C | • Ludi Romani continue |
9 | V Id. Sept. | C | • Ludi Romani continue • dies natalis of Aurelian, with circus games[10] |
10 | IV Id. Sept. | C | • Ludi Romani continue |
11 | III Id. Sept. | C | • Ludi Romani continue • dies natalis for a temple of Asclepius |
12 | pridie Idūs Septembris (abbrev. prid. Id. Sept.) |
N | • Ludi Romani continue |
13 | Idūs Septembris | NP | • sacrifice of the Ides sheep (ovis idulis) for Jupiter Optimus Maximus • Epulum Jovis, banquet for Jove along with Juno and Minerva, the Capitoline Triad |
14 | XVIII Kal. Oct. | F dies religiosus |
• Ludi Romani continue • probatio equorum ("review of the horses", pre-Julian XVII Kal. Oct.), an equestrian procession of knights • accession of Domitian |
15 | XVII Kal. Oct. | N | • Ludi Romani continue |
16 | XVI Kal. Oct.[11] | C | • Ludi Romani continue |
17 | XV Kal. Oct. | C | • Ludi Romani continue |
18 | XIV Kal. Oct. | N | • Ludi Romani continue •dies natalis of Trajan •beginning of the Ludi Triumphales for Constantine after 324 AD[12] |
19 | XIII Kal. Oct. | C | • Ludi Romani conclude • Ludi Triumphales continue • dies natalis of Antoninus Pius[13] |
20 | XII Kal. Oct. | C | • mercatus, market or fair days • Ludi Triumphales continue |
21 | XI Kal. Oct. | C | • mercatus continue • Ludi Triumphales continue |
22 | X Kal. Oct. | C | • mercatus continue * Ludi Triumphales conclude |
23 | IX Kal. Oct. | C | • dies natalis for the Temple of Apollo and Latona at the Theater of Marcellus (pre-Julian VIII Kal. Oct.) • dies natalis of Divus Augustus, with circus games[14] • mercatus conclude |
24 | VIII Kal. Oct. | C | |
25 | VII Kal. Oct. | C | |
26 | VI Kal. Oct. | C | • dies natalis for the Temple of Venus Genetrix in the Forum of Caesar (pre-Julian V Kal. Oct.) |
27 | V Kal. Oct. | C | • Profectio Divi ("The Setting Forth of the Divine"), with circus games, recorded in the Calendar of Filocalus (354 AD)[15] |
28 | IV Kal. Oct. | C | |
29 | III Kal. Oct. | C | • Ludi Fatales, games for the Fates, after the mid-1st century AD[16] |
30 | prid. Kal. Oct. | C | • Ludi Fatales |
Under the emperors
September has a concentration of imperial birthdays (dies natales): Aurelian on the 9th, Trajan on the 18th, Antoninus Pius on the 19th, and Augustus on the 23rd. Domitian (reigned 81–96 AD) had briefly renamed September, the month of his accession as emperor, mensis Germanicus after the triumph he celebrated over the Germanic Chatti.[17]
More sweepingly, in 184 AD Commodus renamed all the months of the year after names and aspects of himself. Cassius Dio lists Amazonius (January), Invictus, Felix, Pius, Lucius, Aelius, Aurelius, Commodus, Augustus, Herculeus, Romanus, and Exsuperatorius. In this sequence, August as his birth month was renamed Commodus, and September was called Augustus, with each of the months from May to September (Lucius to Augustus) represented by elements of his official nomenclature in their usual order.[18] The Historia Augusta also indicates that August was the month that Commodus named for himself, but is internally inconsistent.[19] At one point, Hercules, the patron deity chosen by Commodus, is said to have been the namesake for September,[20] while elsewhere October is the mensis Herculeus.[21] Several sources from late antiquity—among them Aurelius Victor, Eutropius, and Jerome—state that September was the mensis Commodus.[22] Dates recorded in the month of Commodus are exceedingly rare, with a graffito from the House of Jupiter and Ganymede in Ostia Antica reading VII Kal. Commodas (July 26 or August 26, depending on whether Commodus was August or September); a date of III Nonas Commodias (August 3) in the Historia Augusta; and a fragmentary reference to the Idus Commodas ("Ides of Commodus") on a marble base at Lanuvium.[23] The innovation was repealed after his murder in 192.[24]
References
- ^ H.H. Scullard, Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic (Cornell University Press, 1981), pp. 182–183.
- ^ The month name is construed as an adjective modifying the feminine plural Kalendae, Nonae or Idūs.
- ^ Michele Renee Salzman, On Roman Time: The Codex Calendar of 354 and the Rhythms of Urban Life in Late Antiquity (University of California Press, 1990), pp. 17, 122.
- ^ Jörg Rüpke, The Roman Calendar from Numa to Constantine: Time, History, and the Fasti, translated by David M.B. Richardson (Blackwell, 2011, originally published 1995 in German), p. 6.
- ^ Salzman, On Roman Time, p. 118ff.
- ^ Abbreviated form of ante diem IV Nonas Septembris.
- ^ Abbreviated form of ante diem III Nonas Septembris.
- ^ Salzman, On Roman Time, pp. 105, 125, 240.
- ^ Abbreviated form of ante diem VI Idūs Septembris, with the ante diem omitted altogether from this point.
- ^ Salzman, On Roman Time, p. 134.
- ^ Abbreviated form of ante diem XVII Kalendas Octobris/-es with the ante diem omitted altogether, as in the rest of the month following.
- ^ Salzman, On Roman Time, p. 134.
- ^ Salzman, On Roman Time, p. 134.
- ^ Salzman, On Roman Time, p. 134.
- ^ Salzman, On Roman Time, p. 135.
- ^ Salzman, On Roman Time, p. 123, conjecturing about what fatales indicates.
- ^ Suetonius, Domitian 13; Robert Hannah, "The Emperor's Stars: The Conservatori Portrait of Commodus," American Journal of Archaeology 90.3 (1986), p. 342.
- ^ Cassius Dio 72.15.3; M.P. Speidel, "Commodus the God-Emperor and the Army," Journal of Roman Studies 83 (1993), p. 112; Hannah, "The Emperor's Stars", p. 342.
- ^ Hannah, "The Emperor's Stars", p. 341, note 23.
- ^ Scriptores Historiae Augustae VII, as cited by A.W. van Buren, "Graffiti at Ostia," Classical Review 37 (1923), p. 163 ("Commodus" 11.8 in the citation of Hannah, "The Emperor's Stars", p. 341, note 23.
- ^ Historia Augusta, "Commodus" 11.13; Hannah, "The Emperor's Stars", p. 341, note 23.
- ^ Van Buren, "Graffiti at Ostia," p. 163, with detailed citations of the primary texts. See also J.F. Mountford, "De Mensium Nominibus," Journal of Hellenic Studies 43 (1923), p. 114, in relation to the Liber glossarum.
- ^ Van Buren, "Graffiti at Ostia," pp. 163–164. The Lanuvium inscription is CIL 15.2113 (= ILS 5193).
- ^ John R. Clarke, "The Decor of the House of Jupiter and Ganymede at Ostia Antica," in Roman Art in the Private Sphere: New Perspectives on the Architecture and Decor of the Domus, Villa, and Insula (University of Michigan Press, 1991, 1994), p. 92; John R. Clarke, The Houses of Roman Italy, 100 B.C.–A.D. 250: Ritual, Space, and Decoration (University of California Press, 1991), p. 322.