Terminus (mythology)
The term ( Latin for “border” and “boundary stone”) is the god of boundary stones in Roman mythology .
Boundary stones mark the boundaries of neighboring properties and guarantee compliance with these boundaries. In Roman mythology, boundary stones were the visible signs of Terminus' power (his numen ). The setting and implementing landmarks was therefore a ritual process, at which the God of cakes as offerings were presented.
The feast day of Terminus' was celebrated on February 23 and referred to as "the Terminalia ". In the course of the Terminalia, the boundary stones were decorated with flowers by the owners of the adjacent properties . A story gives an indication of the meaning of God: There was a statue of Terminus on the Capitol in Rome . When a temple was to be built in honor of Jupiter on this very spot , the flight of birds was used to interpret whether the gods concerned would agree to their statues being relocated. According to the interpretation, Terminus was not. Presumably the "immovability of the term" represented an essential aspect of legal security in the Roman community .
literature
- Georg Wissowa : Terminus . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 5, Leipzig 1924, Col. 379-384 ( digitized version ).
- C. Robert Phillips: Terminus. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 12, Metzler, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-476-01470-3 , column 160.
- Ernst Marbach: Terminus. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume VA, 1, Stuttgart 1934, Col. 781-784.
