Hymns & Liturgical Texts
Carmen Saeculare
Roman Religion Hymns
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Origin Commissioned and first performed 17 BCE
The Carmen Saeculare was commissioned by Augustus from the poet Horace for the Ludi Saeculares of 17 BCE and sung in Sapphic meter by a chorus of twenty seven boys and twenty seven girls, addressed as a prayer to Apollo and Diana. Unlike its anonymous, archaic siblings on this list, it is the first fully preserved Latin hymn whose original occasion of performance is independently documented, and its prominence given to Apollo doubled as poetic homage to Augustus, for whom a new Palatine temple to the god had recently been consecrated.
Facts
Origins
Origin PeriodCommissioned and first performed 17 BCE 1 Attributed Author / Compiler Practice
Who Performs ItTrained or authorised specialists 1 FrequencyAs the occasion requires 1 Solitary or CommunalPerformed by a gathered group 1 Use
What It Is Used For Form
Form of the Text Cross-Tradition Connections
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Belongs to Tradition
Originates in Language
Matches its own already-established language enum value (latin); commissioned in 17 BCE with no archaism claimed, unlike its sibling Carmen Saliare.
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