Since an English translation of this famous work quoted by Julius
Evola in 'Revolt against the Modern World' happens to be available on
line (at
http://socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/fustel/AncientCity.
pdf ), it is appropriate to quote, in our turn, a few excerpts from
its first part which are closely akin to the considerations we
developed the other day on heathenism, on its close connection to a
given blood, to a racial reality in the higher sense, as opposed to
the fictitious abstract 'humanity' which, for instance, Christianity
has in view and which, to some extent, it has managed, together with
other anti-traditional forces, to create ex nihilo:
In ancient Rome, "the worship of the dead in no way resembled the
Christian worship of the saints. One of the first rules of this
worship was that it could be offered by each family only to those
deceased persons who belonged to it by blood. The funeral obsequies
could be religiously performed only by the nearest relative".
Originally, that is, until the Republic was established, this
domestic cult (sacra familiaria), as opposed to the popular cult
(sacra popularia) and the public cult (sacra publica), was the
privilege of the Patricians.
Fustel de Coulanges adds :
"In India, as in Greece, an offering could be made to a dead person
only by one who had descended from him."
"This religion could be propagated only by generation. The father, in
giving life to his son, gave him at the same time his creed, his
worship, the right to continue the sacred fire, to offer the funeral
meal, to pronounce the formula of prayers. Generation established a
mysterious bond between the infant, who was born to life, and all the
gods of the family. Indeed, these gods were his family - theoi
eggeneis ; they were of his blood - theoi sunaimoi."
This "domestic religion was transmitted only from male to male", for
a reason which escaped Fustel de Coulanges, whose perspicacious
analysis of the customs of ancient Rome and ancient Greece is often
shrouded in 'maternalist' judgements of value which reflect the
prejudices of the Christian mentality of the positivist times in
which he lived : "the true bearer of the race of the soul and,
especially, of the race of the spirit is man ; the principle of
difference lies in him, while that of equality is reflected more in
the feminine element" ('Sintesi di dottrina della razza'). This being
said, the Roman woman played a great part in the Roman traditional
cult, the part which her inner nature required her to play :
the 'mater' educated her children, especially her daughters, in the
religious rituals. At the beginning of June, she performed rituals to
Vesta by fasting and purifying the hearth, utensils, storerooms, and
cupboards. And so on.