Bona Dea: il culto e lo scandalo

This work aims to analyse the characteristics of the Bona Dea cult and the scandal which occurred at the beginning of December of 62 BC during the Bona Dea rites. Bona Dea was a femininity goddess in the Roman pantheon, worshipped by women, and men were excluded from her cult. Two main rites were dedicated to her: one took place in May and all women could attend it, while the other one was organised in December and only a few noble women could be part of it. Through the eyes of ancient Latin authors, I have also analysed how women were supposed to behave and what men thought about them, their ideals and their goals. Marriage was one of the main goals in a Roman woman’s life and it defined her identity, therefore it is important to describe how it worked. There are, however, exceptions to this rule: those are the Vestal Virgins, who were not supposed to marry as long as they were priestesses of Vesta. They were present during the Bona Dea rites of December 62 BC when P. Clodius entered Caesar's house, where the sacrifice to Bona Dea was taking place. He knew what he was doing was forbidden, but he did it anyway, allegedly because he wanted to see Pompeia, Caesar’s wife, for the two were lovers. Cicero’s letters tell a great portion of the story, including the trial which took place in the first half of 61 BC. At the end of it, Clodius was acquitted, but he had gained a new enemy, Cicero himself. It is therefore possible that every aspect of Clodius’ life from that moment was conditioned by the enmity between him and Cicero. Surely, the letters Ad Atticum made Clodius interesting to ancient authors and modern academics, but it is difficult to tell if this single episode of his life – the scandal – actually affected his whole political career.

Il presente lavoro si propone di analizzare i diversi aspetti del culto della Bona e lo scandalo collegato a essi e avvenuto all’inizio di dicembre del 62 a.C. in casa di Cesare. Viene prima di tutto analizzata la figura della Bona Dea, una divinità totalmente al femminile, le leggende a essa collegate e i due riti principali in suo nome: quello di maggio, aperto a tutte le donne, e quello di dicembre, riservato a poche matrone. Utilizzando varie fonti antiche sono poi messe in evidenza le caratteristiche che le donne devono avere e i compiti che esse devono saper svolgere secondo gli autori latini. È anche preso in esame il matrimonio, dal momento che esso è uno dei momenti più importanti nella definizione dell’identità femminile, insieme alla condizione delle Vestali, donne vergini che non devono sposarsi nei trent’anni del loro sacerdozio, ma rappresentano un caso limite all’interno della società romana. La seconda parte dell’elaborato si concentra sullo scandalo della Bona Dea, partendo dalle lettere ad Attico di Cicerone e analizzandone il contenuto per capire quali siano i fatti, come si sia svolto il processo e perché esso si sia chiuso con l’assoluzione. Infine, sono analizzate le vicende biografiche di Clodio per capire come egli è visto dalle fonti prima e dopo lo scandalo e come lo scandalo e l’inimicizia di Cicerone possano aver influito sulla sua carriera.