In
ancient Roman religion, a ''lūcus'' (, plural ''lūcī'') is a
sacred grove
Sacred groves or sacred woods are groves of trees and have special religious importance within a particular culture. Sacred groves feature in various cultures throughout the world. They were important features of the mythological landscape and ...
.
''Lucus'' was one of four
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
words meaning in general "forest, woodland, grove" (along with ''nemus'', ''silva'', and ''saltus''), but unlike the others it was primarily used as a religious designation.
Servius defines the ''lucus'' as "a large number of trees with a
religious significance
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
," as distinguished from the ''silva'', a natural forest, and a ''
nemus
The vocabulary of ancient Roman religion was highly specialized. Its study affords important information about the religion, traditions and beliefs of the ancient Romans. This legacy is conspicuous in European cultural history in its influence o ...
'', an
arboretum that is not consecrated. A ''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
''Aedes'' is a genus of mosquitoes originally found in tropical and subtropical zones, but now found on all continents except perhaps Antarctica. Some species have been spread by human activity: '' Aedes albopictus'', a particularly invasive sp ...
'', a building that housed the image of a god, or other landscaped features that facilitated or gave rise to ritual. It has been conjectured, 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
Apuleius (; also called Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis; c. 124 – after 170) was a Numidian Latin-language prose writer, Platonist philosopher and rhetorician. He lived in the Roman province of Numidia, in the Berber city of Madauros, modern- ...
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
In ancient Roman religion, a ''votum'', plural ''vota'', is a vow or promise made to a deity. The word comes from the past participle of the Latin verb ''voveo, vovere'', "vow, promise". As the result of this verbal action, a ''votum'' is also th ...
)'', or a fruit offering, or to sit down for a while." What the Romans understood by ''
religio'' lay in these ritual gestures, and not in contemplation.
Etymology
Some ancient sources as well as modern
etymologists
Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words and ...
derive the word "from a letting in of light" ''(a lucendo)''; that is, the ''lucus'' was the clearing encompassed by trees. The
Old High German
Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050.
There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...
cognate ''lôh'' also means "clearing, holy grove." ''Lucus'' appears to have been understood in this sense in
early medieval literature
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of literature during the 6th through 9th Centuries.
The list is chronological, and does not include epigraphy or poetry.
For poetry, see: 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th century in po ...
; until the 10th century, it is regularly translated into OHG as ''harug'', a word never used for the secular ''silva''. 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.
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
The vocabulary of ancient Roman religion was highly specialized. Its study affords important information about the religion, traditions and beliefs of the ancient Romans. This legacy is conspicuous in European cultural history in its influence on ...
'', a
propitiation
Propitiation is the act of appeasing or making well-disposed a deity, thus incurring divine favor or avoiding divine retribution. While some use the term interchangeably with expiation, others draw a sharp distinction between the two. The discus ...
or
expiatory offering made in advance of the potential wrong committed against the grove through human agency. The following words are to be formulated ''(
verba concipito)'' for the particular site:
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.
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)''.
It is tempting, but misleading, to read
ecological
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
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. The ''piaculum'' was a guarantee that the action of clearing was valid.
Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading transcendentalist, he is best known for his book ''Walden'', a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and hi ...
nonetheless made admiring reference to Cato's prayer in ''
Walden
''Walden'' (; first published in 1854 as ''Walden; or, Life in the Woods'') is a book by American transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon the author's simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part ...
'': "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)''."
Festival of the grove
The
Lucaria
In ancient Roman religion, the Lucaria was a festival of the grove (Latin '' lucus'') held 19 and 21 July. The original meaning of the ritual was obscure by the time of Varro (mid-1st century BC), who omits it in his list of festivals. The deity ...
("Grove Festival") was held on July 19 and 21, according to the ''
Fasti Amiterni'', a
calendar dating from the reign of
Tiberius
Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...
found at Amiternum (now S. Vittorino) in
Sabine
The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome.
The Sabines di ...
territory.
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
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
and the ''
Lucus Feroniae
Lucus Feroniae was an ancient sanctuary or, literally sacred grove (''"lucus"''), dedicated to the Sabine goddess Feronia, protector of freedmen, ex-slaves. It was located near to the ancient town of Feronia in Etruria on the ancient Via Tib ...
'' near
Capena
Capena (until 1933 called Leprignano) is a town and '' comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio region (central Italy). The town has borrowed its modern name from a pre-Roman and Roman settlement that was to its north.
Geography
Cape ...
. ''Lucus'' is therefore part of the Latin name of several different ancient places in the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
from which the modern name derives, including:
*
Lucus Angitiae ("Sacred Grove of
Angitia
Angitia was a goddess among the Marsi, the Paeligni and other Oscan-Umbrian peoples of central Italy. She was associated in antiquity with snake-charmers who claimed her as their ancestor. Roman interpretations probably obscure her Marsian sign ...
"), now
Luco dei Marsi
Luco dei Marsi is a ''comune'' and town in the province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of central-eastern Italy. It is part of the Marsica.
The town was probably founded by the Roman Emperor Claudius to house workers in the drying of the ''Lac ...
, a town in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
*
Lucus Pisaurensis,
[''Lucus Pisaurensis: Sacred Grove of Pesaro, Discovered by Annibale degli Abati Olivieri'' http://www.ilpignocco.it/en/about-us/lucus-pisaurensis/] 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
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
**
Luc-en-Diois
Luc-en-Diois (; oc, Luc de Diés; Latin: Lucus Augusti or Lucus) is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France. It is situated on the river Drôme.
History
The Latin name of Luc-en-Diois, Lucus Augusti or Lucus for short, evokes ...
, in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
*
Lucus Feroniae
Lucus Feroniae was an ancient sanctuary or, literally sacred grove (''"lucus"''), dedicated to the Sabine goddess Feronia, protector of freedmen, ex-slaves. It was located near to the ancient town of Feronia in Etruria on the ancient Via Tib ...
("Sacred Grove of
Feronia") or
Feronia, a now-disappeared city in
Etruria, Italy; see
Torre di Terracina, Italy
See also
*
Fanum
The vocabulary of ancient Roman religion was highly specialized. Its study affords important information about the religion, traditions and beliefs of the ancient Romans. This legacy is conspicuous in European cultural history in its influence o ...
*
Lucina (goddess)
In ancient Roman religion, Lucina was a title or epithet given to the goddess Juno, and sometimes to Diana,Green, C.M.C. (2007). ''Roman Religion and the Cult of Diana at Aricia''. New York: Cambridge University Press. in their roles as goddess ...
*
Nemeton
A nemeton (plural: nemeta) was a sacred space of ancient Celtic religion. Nemeta appear to have been primarily situated in natural areas, and, as they often utilized trees, they are often interpreted as sacred groves.Koch, p. 1350. However, othe ...
References
{{italic title
Trees in religion
Ancient Roman religion