Says  Varro  (Macrob.,  "Sat.,"  1,  16,  18):

"  When  the  mundus  is  open,  the  gate,  as  it  were,  is  ajar
of  the  gloomy  divinities  and  of  the  beings  in  the  lower
world.  Therefore,  it  is  religiosum  (i.e.  prohibited,  op-
posed to  the  will  of  gods)  not  only  to  join  battle  but  also
to  hold  a  levy  for  the  sake  of  war,  and  for  the  soldier  to
begin  a  march,  to  put  to  sea,  to  take  a  wife  into  your  home
for  the  purpose  of  getting  children."

The  tomb  also  where  burial  has  actually  been  made,
is  a  locus  religiosum  (Gaius,  "  Inst.,"  2,6).  When  the  mor-
tal remains  are  transferred,  then  the  spot  ceases  to  be
religiosus.
But  let  us  cite  a  few  more  data  from  Verrius  Flaccus
(generally  cited  by  the  name  of  the  abstract-maker,
Festus).  Religioni  est,  i.e.  it  is  a  matter  of  prohibitive
scruple  to  certain  people  to  go  out  (from  Rome)  by  the
porta  Carmentalis;  and  to  have  the  Senate  held  in  the
temple  of  Janus  which  is  outside  of  the  same,  because  by
that  gate  went  out  the  three  hundred  and  six  Fabii  and
were  subsequently  all  slain  on  the  river  Cremera,  whereas
in  the  temple  of  Janus  the  decree  of  the  Senate  had  been
adopted  that  they  should  march."

Conformity,  then,  to  a  specific  sphere  of  ancestral  tra-
dition (mos  maiorum)  is  the  essence  of  Roman  religion,  it
is  indeed  a  species  of  civic  obedience,  a  postulate  of  politi-
cal loyalty,  and  it  is,  of  a  truth,  as  inclusive  of  observance
as  is  any  form  of  patriotism.
