noun · neutersecond declension
axāmenta
axāmenta n pl (genitive axāmentōrum)
Classical[ak.saːˈmɛn.ta]Ecclesiastical[ak.saˈmɛn.ta]
Meaning
- religious hymns, which were annually sung by the Salii
Axāmenta dīcēbantur carmina Saliāria, quae ā Saliīs sacerdōtibus canēbantur, in ūnīversōs hominēs composita. Nam in deōs singulōs versūs factī ā nōminibus eōrum appellābantur, ut Iānulī, Iūnōniī, Minerviī.
Axamenta were called the incantations of the Salii, which were sung by the Salii priests, written for all people. Because verses written for individual gods were called by their names, like Janus verses, Juno verses, Minerva verses.1839 [8th century CE], Paulus Diaconus, edited by Karl Otfried Müller, Excerpta ex libris Pompeii Festi De significatione verborum, page 3, line 6:
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | — | axāmenta |
| genitive | — | axāmentōrum |
| dative | — | axāmentīs |
| accusative | — | axāmenta |
| ablative | — | axāmentīs |
| vocative | — | axāmenta |
axāmenta, ōrum, n. axis, II. F., since they were inscribed on tables of wood,
I. religious hymns written in Saturnian measure, which were annually sung by the Salii, Paul. ex Fest. p. 3 Müll.: axamenta: στίχοι ἐπὶ θυσιῶν?̔Ηρακλέους, Gloss.; cf. Smith, Dict. Antiq. The beginning of such a Salian hymn (in Varr. L. L. 7, § 86 Müll.) runs thus: Divom éxta cánte, Dívom Dío súpplicante.
Origins
From axō (“to name, nominate”) + -mentum. According to Lewis & Short, from the sense of 'plank' of axis, as that's what the poems were written on.