The Original meaning of the word Sacer
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9330167 |
|---|---|
| Authors | W Warde Fowler (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1911 |
| Volume | 1 |
| Pages | 57-63 |
| Publication date | 1911-11-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Roman Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0075-4358 • E-ISSN: 1753-528X |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/295848 |
| OpenAlex | W2109075323 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
In Roman religious law the word sacer indicated that the object to which it was applied was the property of a deity, taken out of the region of the profanum by the action of the state, and passed on into that of the sacrum . We have an exact account of it which can be traced through Verrius Flaccus to a scholar apparently of the age of Cicero, Aelius Gallus. “Gallus Aelius ait sacrum esse, quodcunque more atque instituto civitatis consecratum sit, sive aedis sive ara sive signum sive pecunia sive quid aliud quod dis dedicatum atque consecratum sit: quod autem privati suae religionis causa aliquid earum rerum deo dedicent, id pontifices Romanos non existimare sacrum.” This very explicit passage makes it plain that the state, through its religious authorities, had appropriated the word, and fixed it to a definite meaning, at some period when there were already temples in which deities could dwell and enjoy the possession of their own property, made over to them by the state to do them honour and propitiate them
Art · Cicero · Epistemology · Honour · Humanities · Linguistics · Literature · Meaning (existential · Original meaning · Political science · Possession (linguistics · Property (philosophy · State (computer science · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classical Studies and Legal History · Law · Mathematics · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 0.36 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2012 - 2020 (9) |
| Highly cited | No |