Lucus

In ancient Roman religion, a '''''lucus''''' ({{IPA|la|ˈɫ̪uː.kʊs|}}, plural ''lucī'') is a sacred grove.

{{lang|la|Lucus}} was one of four Latin words meaning in general "forest, woodland, grove" (along with {{lang|la|nemus}}, {{lang|la|silva}}, and {{lang|la|saltus}}), but unlike the others it was primarily used as a religious designation, meaning "sacred grove".<ref>Paul Roche, ''Lucan: De Bello Civili, Book 1'' (Oxford University Press, 2009), p. 296.</ref> Servius defines the ''lucus'' as "a large number of trees with a religious significance," as distinguished from the ''silva'', a natural forest, and a ''nemus'', an arboretum that is not consecrated.<ref>Servius, note to ''Aeneid'' 1.310, ''arborum multitudo cum religione''; Jörg Rüpke, ''Religion of the Romans'' (Polity Press, 2007, originally published in German 2001), p. 275, noting that he finds the distinction "artificial."</ref> A {{lang|la|saltus}} usually implied a wilderness area with varied topographical features.

A ''lucus'' was a cultivated place, more like a wooded park than a forest, and might contain an ''aedes'', a building that housed the image of a god, or other landscaped features that facilitated or gave rise to ritual.<ref>Rüpke, ''Religion of the Romans'', pp. 177–178.</ref> It has been conjectured,<ref>Rüpke, ''Religion of the Romans'', p. 178.</ref> for instance, that the Lupercal, referred to as a "cave", was a small ''lucus'' with an artificial grotto, since archaeology has uncovered no natural cave in the area.

Apuleius records that "when pious travelers happen to pass by a sacred grove ''(lucus)'' or a cult place on their way, they are used to make a vow ''(votum)'', or a fruit offering, or to sit down for a while."<ref>Apuleius, ''Florides'' 1.1.</ref>

==Etymology== Some ancient sources as well as modern etymologists derive the word "from a letting in of light" ''(a lucendo)''; that is, the ''lucus'' was the clearing encompassed by trees.<ref>Entry on "Etymology," in ''The Classical Tradition'' (Harvard University Press, 2010), p. 343.</ref> The Old High German cognate {{lang|goh|lôh}} also means "clearing, holy grove". ''Lucus'' appears to have been understood in this sense in early medieval literature; until the 10th century, it is regularly translated into OHG as {{lang|goh|harug}}, a word never used for the secular ''silva''.<ref>D.H. Green, ''Language and history in the early Germanic world'' (Cambridge University Press, 1998, 2000), p. 26.</ref> Servius, however, somewhat perversely says that a ''lucus'' is so called because ''non luceat'', "it is not illuminated", perhaps implying that a proper sacred grove hosted only legitimate daytime ceremonies and not dubious nocturnal rites that required torchlight.<ref>''Non quod sint ibi lumina causa religionis'': Servius, note to ''Aeneid'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0053%3Abook%3D1%3Acommline%3D441 1.441]; Ken Dowden, ''European Paganism: The Realities of Cult from Antiquity to the Middle Ages'' (Routledge, 2000), p. 74.</ref>

==To clear a clearing== In his book ''On Agriculture'', Cato records a Roman ritual ''lucum conlucare'', "to clear a clearing". The officiant is instructed to offer a pig as a ''piaculum'', a propitiation or expiatory offering made in advance of the potential wrong committed against the grove through human agency.<ref>William Warde Fowler, ''The Religious Experience of the Roman People'' (London, 1922), p. 191.</ref> The following words are to be formulated ''(verba concipito)'' for the particular site: <blockquote> Whether thou be god or goddess ''(si deus, si dea)'' to whom this grove is dedicated, as it is thy right to receive a sacrifice of a pig for the thinning of this sacred grove, and to this intent, whether I or one at my bidding do it, may it be rightly done. To this end, in offering this pig to thee I humbly beg that thou wilt be gracious and merciful to me, to my house and household, and to my children. Wilt thou deign to receive this pig which I offer thee to this end.<ref>Cato, ''On Agriculture'' 139, Loeb Classical Library translation (1934), Bill Thayer's edition at LacusCurtius: ''Si deus, si dea es, quoium illud sacrum est, uti tibi ius est porco piaculo facere illiusce sacri coercendi ergo harumque rerum ergo, sive ego sive quis iussu meo fecerit, uti id recte factum siet, eius rei ergo te hoc porco piaculo inmolando bonas preces precor, uti sies volens propitius mihi domo familiaeque meae liberisque meis; harumce rerum ergo macte hoc porco piaculo inmolando esto''; Robert E.A. Palmer, ''The Archaic Community of the Romans'' (Cambridge University Press, 2009), p. 106, connects this ritual to the Lucaria and the clearing of sacred groves in general.</ref> </blockquote>

The word ''piaculum'' is repeated three times in the prayer, emphasizing that the sacrifice of the pig is not a freewill offering, but something owed to the deity by right ''(ius)''. The ''piaculum'' compensates the deity for a transgression or offense, and differs from a regular sacrifice offered in the hope of procuring favor in return ''(do ut des)''.<ref>Cyril Bailey, ''Phases in the Religion of Ancient Rome'' (University of California, 1932), p. 91.</ref>

It is tempting, but misleading, to read ecological principles into ritualized agriculture; for the early Romans, respect was the partner of fear in their regard for the divine forces in nature, and the open invocation with which this prayer begins is a contractual "out" or hedge.<ref>J. Donald Hughes, ''The Mediterranean: An Environmental History'' (ABC-Clio, 2005), p. 208.</ref> The ''piaculum'' was a guarantee that the action of clearing was valid.<ref>Nicole Belayche, "Religious Actors in Daily Life: Practices and Related Beliefs," in ''A Companion to Roman Religion'', p. 286.</ref> Thoreau nonetheless made admiring reference to Cato's prayer in ''Walden'': "I would that our farmers when they cut down a forest felt some of that awe which old Romans did when they came to thin, or let in the light to, a consecrated grove ''(lucum conlucare)''."<ref>Henry David Thoreau, ''Walden'' p. 235 in the edition of Bill McKibben (Beacon Press, 1997, 2004).</ref>

==Festival of the grove== {{Main article|Lucaria}} The Lucaria ("Grove Festival") was held on July 19 and 21, according to the ''Fasti Amiterni'', a calendar dating from the reign of Tiberius found at Amiternum (now S. Vittorino) in Sabine territory.<ref>Rüpke, ''Religion of the Romans'', p. 189.</ref>

==Sacred groves of the Roman Empire== A ''lucus'' might become such a focus of activity that a community grew up around it, as was the case with the ''Lucus Augusti'' that is now Lugo in Spain and the ''Lucus Feroniae'' near Capena.<ref>Dowden, ''European Paganism'', p. 105.</ref> ''Lucus'' is therefore part of the Latin name of several different ancient places in the Roman Empire from which the modern name derives, including:

*Lucus Angitiae ("Sacred Grove of Angitia"), now Luco dei Marsi, a town in Italy *Lucus Pisaurensis,<ref>''Lucus Pisaurensis: Sacred Grove of Pesaro, Discovered by Annibale degli Abati Olivieri'' http://www.ilpignocco.it/en/about-us/lucus-pisaurensis/</ref> the Sacred Grove of Pesaro, Italy; discovered by Annibale degli Abati Olivieri, an 18th-century Italian aristocrat *Lucus Augusti, the name of multiple sites, such as: **Lugo, the city in Spain **Luc-en-Diois, in France *Lucus Feroniae ("Sacred Grove of Feronia") or Feronia, a now-disappeared city in Etruria, Italy; see Torre di Terracina, Italy

==See also== *Fanum *Lucina (goddess) *Nemeton

==References== {{Reflist}} {{italic title}}

Category:Trees in religion Category:Ancient Roman religion