On Pigs and Oaths

Varro RR 2.4.9

at the rites that initiate peace, when a treaty is made, a pig is killed; and that at the beginning of the marriage rites of ancient kings and eminent personages in Etruria, the bride and groom, in the ceremonies which united them, first sacrificed a pig. The ancient Latins, too, as well as the Greeks living in Italy, seem to have had the same custom

I like how this parallels the iconography of Dexiosis and Dextrarum Iunctio.

Leave a comment