- The Carmen saeculare, meaning ‘secular hymn’, was the Roman National Anthem.
- The Ode is a celebration of the greatness of Rome and of the Emperor, and a prayer to the Gods that Rome will be a city for all eternity.
History
- In 17 BCE, the Roman Emperor Augustus commissioned the Roman Poet Horace to write an Ode celebrating the New Golden Age of Rome.
- The song is called the ‘Carmen saeculare’, literally ‘secular hymn’ but meaning the ‘song of the ages’.
- A special Festival was held in 17 BCE, called the ‘Ludi Seculares’.
- The Ode was sung by a choir of 27 girls and 27 boys on the Capitolium and the event recorded in an inscription.
The Anthem (Carmen saeculare)
It has 78 lines, here is one stanza:
- Alme Sol, curru nitido diem qui
Promis et celas aliusque et idem
Nasceris, possis nihil urbe Roma
Visere maius.
Which roughly translates as:
- O Sun, in your shining chariot
Who brings forth the day, then hides it,
To be Born again, may you, the city of Rome,
Be able to see nothing greater.
Source
- The Ode was recorded by the 6th century CE Greek historian, Zosimus.