In ancient Roman religion, a lucus (, plural lucī) is a sacred grove.
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.Rüpke, Religion of the Romans, pp. 177–178. It has been conjectured,Rüpke, Religion of the Romans, p. 178. 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.
Etymology and definition
Terminology for sacred groves was one of four Latin words meaning in general "forest, woodland, grove" (along with , , and ), but unlike the others it was primarily used as a religious designation, meaning "sacred grove."Paul Roche, Lucan: De Bello Civili, Book 1 (Oxford University Press, 2009), p. 296. Maurus Servius Honoratus, a late Roman grammarian, provides an explanation for the differences between these words, writing that a " is a multitude of trees with , a is an ordered multitude of trees," and a is "one which is extended and uncultivated." Isidore of Seville—a 6th-century scholar—defines the as a "place enclosed by dense woods" ("") that blot out sunlight (""), and he claims that they were named for the lamps used there as part of religious ceremonies ("").Isidore of Seville. Etymologiae. 14.8.30. Evidence from Livy, a 1st-century BCE Roman historian, appears to corroborate this definition, for he describes the grove ("") of Hera at Crotone as "enclosed by dense woods and tall fir trees" ("").Livy. History of Rome. 24.3.4. The 1st-century BCE poet Ovid describes a with the adjective ,Ovid. Metamorphoses. XV. 792-793. which is a term itself defined by the 5th-century CE author Macrobius as sometimes meaning "untainted" (""),Macrobius. Saturnalia. 3.3.5-6. perhaps implying that the represents a grove undisturbed by human hand. Moreover, Ovid describes as the property of the divine, writing in his Metamorphoses that Nereus and the Nereids "possess" ("") a sacred grove,Ovid. Metamorphoses. 11.359-361. which incidentally also reveals that ownership of a could belong to multiple deities.
In the works of Ovid, the term appears to describe the broader forest region surrounding a . For instance, Ovid recounts a story in which the goddess Diana returns from a day of hunting in a forest ("") and retires into her , where she then invites Calliope and the forest nymphs to bathe together "in the forest" ("").Ovid. Fasti. 2.163-169. Within this passage, the term denotes the surrounding woodlands where Diana had been hunting. Moreover, while detailing the kidnapping of Persephone, he describes the goddess Proserpina playing within a , while the surrounding natural space is referred to as a .Ovid. Metamorphoses. 5.385-392. According to the classicist Sofia Bianchi Mancini, the could, at least in Ovid, serve as the defining threshold for a . Mancini notes Ovid's version of the myth of Pentheus, wherein the legendary Theban king approaches an "open plain free from trees" ("") that is surrounded by trees (""). Though not strictly defined as a within the text, Mancini argues that the notion of such an area devoid of trees is essentially the etymological definition of a —that being, a clearing. In any case, it is within this particular area that the sacred rites of Bacchus are conducted, and it is from the surrounding woodland that Pentheus witnesses this ceremony with "profane eyes,"Ovid. Metamorphoses. 3.708-713. perhaps, in doing so—according to Mancini—effectively trespassing on the grove.
Statius, a 1st-century CE poet, utilizes the terms , , and to describe the same location. In his Thebaid, for instance, he describes a that is "enduring of time and bent by robust old age" (""), but later in the same passage—after the goddess Diana is mentioned (who is known in the poem by the name )—the site is suddenly referred to as a , and in the following lines, it is then later redesignated as a .Statius. Thebaid. 4.420-428, This exact same series of changing terminology (i.e. > > ) reappears throughout the poem. In a later passage, he describes Adrastus and his companions walking through a forest (""), but then—upon seeing Hypsipyle and mistaking her for Diana—Adrastus addresses her as a "powerful goddess of the groves" (""). Even later in the same section of the text, Hypsipyle, in exchange for her assistance in a war against Thebes, is promised an altar ("") that will "mark the sacred grove" ("").Statius. Thebaid. 4.746–756, 770–771. According to Mancini, it is the act of performing a religious ritual in these spaces that transforms them from a regular forest into a sacred grove. Hence, these sites are only denoted as or after divine presence is noted: The first example only becomes a after Diana is introduced to the site (""), and the second example only becomes a once the altar is promised to mark the site.
The same type of transition between a and a also occurred in reverse. Instead of following a progression from > > , the poet might instead present a regression of > > . The downgrade from a to a may have resulted from some sort of perceived tainting of the grove after it had been violated. For instance, Ovid, in his version of the myth of Actaeon, describes the hunter first wandering through an "unfamiliar " () before arriving in the sacred grove ("") of Diana. However, after Actaeon trespasses on the site, it is suddenly referred to once more as a : Ovid describes the nymphs surrounding Diana “filling the whole grove with sudden cries” (“”).Ovid. Metamorphoses. 3.175-180. In another story, this one by Statius, a is slowly destroyed so as to allow the construction of a funeral pyre for the mythical character Opheltes and, as the site is ruined, it is demoted to a and eventually . First, Statius proclaims that "miserable destruction" ("") awaited the , but then, after the beasts and birds flee in fright (""), and the "towering birch tree falls" (""), it is referred to as a . Finally, after various other acts of desecration, the gods Pan and Silvanus abandon the site, while the "forest groans" ("").Statius. Thebaid. 6.89-113.
Connection with Quintilian, a 1st-century CE orator, mentions a theory that the word derived from the verb ("to be light") via enantiosemy, on account of the darkness of the grove,Quntilian. Institutio Oratoria. 1.6.34. presumably because the foliage could block out light. This particular etymology was not produced by Quintilian, but taken from earlier Roman scholarship, perhaps specifically the writings of Aelius Stilo, a prominent philologist preceding Quintilian to whom several other enantiosemic etymologies are directly attributed. In any case, this explanation became somewhat well-known in antiquity, as it reappears throughout numerous other works. For instance, Servius cites the "" (" from not being light") etymology as an example of words that emerge from antiphrasis,Maurus Servius Honoratus, Commentary on the Aeneid of Vergil. 1.310. and Isidore mentions this same etymology multiple times throughout his works.Isidore of Seville. Etymologiae. 1.29.3; 1.37.24; 14.8.30; 17.6.7. This etymology was not, however, necessarily highly regarded by even the ancient grammarians, with Quintilian including it amongst the "most hideous absurdities" (""). The phrase has even survived into modern English usage as a way of referring to illogical explanations.
Moder etymologists, however, do accept a connection between the terms and ("light"). According to the Indo-European scholar Michiel de Vaan, the word derives from Proto-Italic , itself from Proto-Indo-European ("light space"). On the basis of its Indo-European cognates, such as Sanskrit ("open space") and Old High German ("forest, grove"), it is probable that the Latin word also originally meant "clearing." This original sense is perhaps reflected in the writings of the 2nd-century BCE author Cato the Elder, who describes the "thinning of a " ("").Cato the Elder. On Agriculture. 139. According to the classicist Filippo Coarelli, this act of clearing the site is probably the process for the creation of a , or a clearing. John Scheid, a scholar of Roman religion, argues that—by clearing the grove—the suppliants could once more permit light to shine on the area, thus allowing the space to fulfill its etymological purpose.
However, the classicist Alisa Hunt argues against "light-centric" interpretations of a , noting that even the ancient Romans clearly felt as if the derivation from the lack of light ("") was tentative, and other ancient sources actually premise their etymological interpretation of the word on the presence of artificial light (e.g. candles). For instance, Isidore of Seville claims that they were named for the lamps used there as part of religious ceremonies (""). However, Servius explicitly rejects this theory, directly stating that a is not termed as such because there are artificial lights in the grove (""). Regardless, Isidore and Servius concur that were lit by artificial means, particularly utilizing .
Managing a grove
Expiatory rites Ovid describes a prayer designed to expiate a shepherd in the event of having accidentally violated a sacred grove.Ovid. Fasti. 4.749-755. The prayer lists numerous potential violations, appearing to try and cover a multitude of circumstances wherein the shepherd might have committed some religious crime, including the scenario that they might have cut off a branch of a tree in the grove. For a shepherd, the act of cutting off a branch or feeding it to their flock appears to have been relatively common, as Ovid himself elsewhere references the feeding of foliage to sheep ("").Ovid. Metamorphoses. 2.288-289. Nevertheless, to have violated the grove in such a manner was evidently still a religious infringement that required some level of amendment. Given that, in this passage, the shepherd unintentionally wandered into the site, it implies that a had an unclear boundary, as otherwise the shepherd would not have been so unsure regarding the exact limits of the grove. Moreover, even the need itself for a catch-all prayer covering every possible offense indicates that the Romans themselves were not always certain of the precise limits to sacred groves.
According to the , an ancient law composed sometime after 241 BCE, it was forbidden to cut any of the sacred trees or remove anything from the grove, except on the day of one particular sacred festival. The law stipulates that anyone who does violate the grove must perform an expiatory sacrifice to Jupiter and also pay a fine. In his book On Agriculture, Cato records a Roman ritual , "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.William Warde Fowler, The Religious Experience of the Roman People (London, 1922), p. 191. Afterwards, Cato provides further instructions for an additional ritual, stating that "If you wish to till the ground, offer a second sacrifice in the same way, with the addition of the words: “for the sake of doing this work" ("").Cato. On Agriculture. 140. Pliny the Elder references this same prayer, stating that—according to Cato—it was permissible to cut down sacred trees provided that a sacrificed had been performed prior.Pliny the Elder. Natural History. 17.267. 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).