1892.] olJ [Brintoii. 



of the Dea Dia. There they spent three days — a charming 

 escapade, no doubt, from city life — slaughtering a white heifer, 

 also some specially fed young pigs, porcilias piaculares, and not 

 forgotten by neighboring farmers with delicate spring vegetables, 

 as we may gather from the records. Then came the antique song 

 and solemn dance in the temple of the Goddess, the Brethren clad 

 in quaint traditional garb, and crowned with wreaths of leaves and 

 early wheat. 



We may well suppose that with this history and these customs we 

 should look among the Arval Brethren for true folklore, for the 

 preservation of some of the ancient names and ideas of the Etrus- 

 can religion, in a day when they had quite passed out of the ken 

 of the current worship and mythology of Rome. The place to 

 look for it, of course, is in their Song, and I think we find it there 

 with a plainness that cannot be mistaken, and yet which none of 

 the commentators and critics has heretofore brought out, or even 

 referred to. 



The accurate text of that Song is subjoined. In giving it, I 

 choose, in cases of discrepancy, where the majority of the sculptor's 

 readings — that is, two out of three — are the same. 



The Song. 



enos lases ivvate 

 enos lases ivvate 



ENOS LASES IVVATE 



NEVE LVERVE MARMAR SINS INCVRRERE IN PLEORES 

 NEVE LVERVE MARMAR SINS INCVRRERE IN PLEORES 

 NEVE LVERVE MARMAR SINS INCVRRERE IN PLEORES 



SATVR FVFERE MARS LIMEN SALI STA BERBER 

 SATVR FVFERE MARS LIMEN SALI STA BERBER 

 SATVR FVFERE MARS LIMEN SALI STA BERBER 



SEMVNIS ALTERNEI ADVOCAPIT CONCTOS 

 SEMVNIS ALTERNEI ADVOCAPIT CONCTOS 

 SEMVNIS ALTERNEI ADVOCAPIT CONCTOS 



ENOS MARMOR IVVATO 

 ENOS MARMOR IVVATO 

 ENOS MARMOR IVVATO 



TRIVMPE TRIVMPE TRIVMPE TRIVMPE TRIVMPE 



