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These beliefs necessitated elaborate religious preliminaries to the declaration of a war in order that it might be just and holy (justum piumque),[223] as well as ceremonies for the conclusion of a peace that was to bind the public conscience (fides publica).[224] Such a ritual may have been performed, originally, by the king himself; but tradition states that, at a very early period, a special guild of priests, the Fetiales or public orators, were appointed for this purpose.[225] Their chief functions were the declaration of war and the conclusion of peace, but the ritual observed in both of these acts may be more appropriately described when we are dealing with the international relations of Rome. There were other religious preliminaries to a war which, though not necessitated by divine law, it was highly expedient to observe, in order to increase the chances of victory. Vows (vota) were offered to the native gods, and for these to be valid they must be couched in a form prescribed by the pontifical college.[226] And sometimes the king, before a battle or a siege, chants an incantation (carmen), the purport of which is to weaken the loyalty of the enemies’ gods to their worshippers, and to bring them over to the side of Rome. He bribes them with temples, offerings, and the honours of a special cult.[227] If the bribery is effective and the city falls, he must carry out his pledge. The conquered gods are received at Rome; and their worship is guaranteed by the distribution of their cults over the patrician clans.[228] The instances preserved of this devotio and evocatio naturally date from the time of the Republic.[229] During this period the forms are prescribed by the pontiffs. But the antiquity of the procedure is beyond question. The results of evocation on the part of the king, who was his own pontiff, are manifested in the local worships of the conquered towns of Latium, which found an early home at Rome.