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This might be too domain-specific for the English Language SE community, so we can try to resolve this on History SE.

History of religion scholars have developed a parlance for rituals taking place in antiquity that is extraordinarily well-endowed. Consider the following:

  • Teratology - Examining the physical deformities of animals (as an omen)
  • Incubation - Prescriptive medical treatment facilitated through dreams (Cult of Asklepius at Pergamon)
  • Evocatio - A practice intended to implore the local divinities of the besieged to switch allegiances (in favor of the invaders)

This all convinces me that the great minds of this field have a framework for nearly everything we encounter in the primary sources.

One that has eluded my ability to categorize thus far is a Babylonian practice whereby a king symbolically steps down from the throne due to impending bad omens that he would prefer not to endure. He roams the countryside, dresses plainly or otherwise lays low while a mock king is appointed, tasked with suffering whatever anticipated malevolence was in store. It was thought that by doing so, the real king could outwit the evil forces working against him. (this loosely also recalls the Hebraic practice of changing ones name to trick Death when a loved one falls ill).

It is sometimes referred to as "King Substitution" but this sounds quite barbarous compared to nearly all other ritual categories, I emphasize their specificity and conciseness again: "teratology", "haruspicy," "oneiromancy," "evocatio," ect.

King Substitution can work, but I want to ensure a consistent level of sophistication (as well as consistency of staying within Greek/Latin roots) for the categories, if at all possible.

Question

Is there a Greek/Latin one-word academic term for allowing bad omens intended for a king to befall on someone else by allowing him to pretend to be king? It just seems odd that we have terse, one-word categories for all other types of rituals but not for king substitution, as if our brain power has run out. Surely there is one or at least an intuitive way to coin it, though I would prefer not to use neologisms.

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    Some more specific historic details and references to the practice would be good as there were various versions: similar rituals seem to have been widespread in the Near East. But there's no particular reason to believe there's a single-word term. There's a story about Xerxes in Herodotus 7.15ff but it doesn't use a particular word for it. "King substitution" seems the most common term in the literature; other less specific terms like "apotropaeic ritual" or "scapegoat" are also used.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Sep 2 at 14:13
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    I suppose this could be a historiography question. However, I'll say the same thing here that I say for blind single-word-requests on English.SE: While English has a crazy large vocabulary, that doesn't mean it has a single word for any concept, or even most concepts, the human mind can dream up.
    – T.E.D. ♦
    Commented Sep 2 at 14:20
  • You'll need to invent a word, for which Latin should do.
    – cmw
    Commented Sep 2 at 16:37

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