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[German version] That which is withdrawn from everyday use and is given over to the gods (cf. sacrare, 'to make sacer': sacrifice [I A]). In the earliest Latin sources, the adjective sacer is used in connection with sacrificial animals (Plaut. Men. 290) and objects dedicated to a deity (CIL I2 47; 365; 396; 580). In archaic Roman law, a person guilty of certain crimes could be declared sacer. The person concerned was excluded from human society and could be killed without punishment (CIL I2 2; cf. Fest. 424 L.). Although over the course of time Roman jurists insisted that only…

[German version] [1] Name Rare Roman cognomen (‘priest’), in the Republican period attested for the Licinii (Licinius [I 41]), in the Imperial period for Marius Plotius [II 5] Claudius S. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography Kajanto, Cognomina, 319. [German version] [2] Priest (plur. sacerdotes). The second part of the Latin word is derived from the Indo-European *dhe- (cf. Greek tithénai, Lat. facere, English do): a sacerdos was thus 'someone who performed sacra '. Sacerdotes became the umbrella term for all religious functionaries, but its meaning as a tech…

[German version] The customary Latin term for all kind of religious rituals (Macrob. Sat. 1,16,8). Its usage in old priestly titles is a sign of its antiquity ( e.g. rex sacrorum ). Roman scholars made a distinction between sacra publica and sacra privata (Fest. 284 L.). The former were listed in the local calendar and were divided into two main types: The first group were rituals which were carried out by magistrates and priests at public expense for the populus, but which did not require the public’s participation, the second group comprised festivals, such as the Fornac…

[German version] I. Definition Writing is understood to be a set of signs for the visual preservation of human language. Within cultural history, creating and employing writing require (1) its usability, (2) a considerable degree of language analysis and (3) a triggering idea. Since writing can be mastered effortlessly even by six-year-olds and - once in existence - can be used for the most varied cultural purposes, the decisive factor for the moment of its invention is the idea. However, one should…

[German version] I. Meaning and origins Italic-Roman goddess V., the Italic-Roman goddess of love and erotic desire, was generally identified in Antiquity with Greek Aphrodite (= A.). There has been much speculation about Venus’ original nature. The theory that she was originally a goddess of gardens [8. 289] is no longer in favor; [9. 289], although the association appears already in the earliest Latin literature (Naevius ap. Paul. Fest. 51; Plautus ap. Plin. HN 19,50; cf., later, Varro Ling. 6,20; Var…