Terminus (god)

• Citations for source (s) of myth

Term (Latin for " limit" and " landmark " ) in Roman mythology, the god of landmarks.

Boundary stones mark the boundaries of adjacent land and guarantee compliance with these limits. In Roman mythology, landmarks were the visible signs of term ' potency ( his numen ). The setting and implementation of boundary stones was therefore a ritual process, at which the God of cakes were presented as offerings.

The feast day Terminus ' was committed on February 23 and referred to as " Terminalia ". In the course of Terminalia the boundary stones were decorated by the owners of the surrounding land, together with flowers. A story gives a clue to the meaning of God: At the Capitol in Rome was a statue of Terminus. As in honor of Jupiter at this very spot, a temple was to be built, was interpreted based on the flight of birds, whether the gods concerned with a transfer of their statues were in agreement. The interpretation according to term it was not. Probably put the " inviolability of the term" an essential aspect of legal certainty in the Roman commonwealth dar.