your offerings, then say, "Father Mars, because thou hast not found
satisfaction in that pig (or whatever it may be), let this pig appease
thee."' On the other hand, for intentional neglect, there was no
remedy: the man was _impius_ and it rested with the gods to punish him
as they liked (_deorum iniuriae dis curae_).

But apart from the regularly constituted ceremonies of religion, there
might be special occasions on which new relations would be entered into
between god and man. Sometimes the initiative would come from man:
desiring to obtain from the gods some blessings on which he had set
his heart, he would enter into a _votum_, a special contract by which
he undertook to perform certain acts or make certain sacrifices, in
case of the fulfilment of his desire. The whole proceeding is strictly
legal: from the moment when he makes his vow the man is _voti reus_, in
the same position, that is, as the defendant in a case whose decision
is still pending; as soon as the gods have accomplished their side of
the contract he is _voti damnatus_, condemned, as it were, to damages,
having lost his suit; nor does he recover his independence until he has
paid what he undertook: _votum reddidi lubens merito_ ('I have paid my
vow gladly as it was due') is the characteristic wording of votive
inscriptions. If the gods did not accomplish the wish, the man was of
course free, and sometimes the contract would be carried so far that a
time-limit for their action would be fixed by the maker of the vow:
legal exactness can hardly go further.

Or again, the initiative might come from the gods. Some marked
misfortune, an earthquake, lightning, a great famine, a portentous
birth, or some such occurrence would be recognised as a _prodigium_, or
sign of the god's displeasure. Somehow or other the contract must have
been broken on the human side and it was the duty of the state to see