sacellum

In ancient Roman religion, a ''sacellum'' is a small shrine. The word is a diminutive from ''sacrum'' (neuter of ''sacer'', "belonging to a god"). The numerous ''sacella'' of ancient Rome included both shrines maintained on private properties by families, and public shrines. A ''sacellum'' might be square or round.

Varro and Verrius Flaccus describe ''sacella'' in ways that at first seem contradictory, the former defining a ''sacellum'' in its entirety as equivalent to a '' cella'', which is specifically an enclosed space, and the latter insisting that a ''sacellum'' had no roof. "Enclosure," however, is the shared characteristic, roofed over or not. "The ''sacellum''," notes Jörg Rüpke, "was both less complex and less elaborately defined than a temple proper."

The meaning can overlap with that of ''sacrarium'', a place where sacred objects ''(sacra)'' were stored or deposited for safekeeping. The ''sacella'' of the Argei, for instance, are also called ''sacraria''. In private houses, the ''sacrarium'' was the part of the house where the images of the Penates were kept; the lararium was a form of ''sacrarium'' for the Lares. Both ''sacellum'' and ''sacrarium'' passed into Christian usage.

Other Latin words for temple or shrine are '' aedes, aedicula, fanum, delubrum'' and ''templum'', though this last word encompasses the whole religiously sanctioned precinct.

Cult maintenance of ''sacella''

Each curia had its own ''sacellum'' overseen by the ''celeres'', originally the bodyguard of the king, who preserved a religious function in later times. These were related to the ritual of the Argei, but probably there were other rites connected with these ''sacella''.

A case tried in September 50 BC indicates that a public ''sacellum'' might be encompassed by a private property, with the expectation that it remain open to the public. It was alleged that the defendant, Ap. Claudius Pulcher, a censor at the time, had failed to maintain public access to a ''sacellum'' on his property.

List of public ''sacella'' and ''sacraria''

The following is an incomplete list of deities or groups of deities who had a known ''sacellum'' or ''sacrarium'' in the city of Rome.
* ''Sacellum'' of Janus, supposed to have been built by Romulus, which was square, contained the god's image, and had two gates.
* ''Sacellum'' of the Lares, one of four points in the sacred boundary of Rome ''(pomerium)'' as established by Romulus.
* ''Sacrarium'' of Mars, which held the spear of Mars, in the Regia.
* ''Sacellum'' or '' aedes'' of Hercules, in the Forum Boarium.
* ''Sacellum'' of Caca, the sister of Cacus whom Hercules defeated.
* ''Sacella'' or ''sacraria'' of the Argei
* ''Sacellum'' of Diana, on the lesser Caelian Hill, where a number of senators offered annual sacrifices.
* ''Sacellum'' or ''delubrum'' of ''Minerva capta'', "Captive Minerva", a shrine on the Caelian Hill that contained a statue of Minerva plundered from Falerii when that city was taken by the Romans in 241 BC.
* ''Sacellum'' of Jupiter Fagutalis, in the ''Lucus Fagutalis'' ("Beech Grove") on the Esquiline Hill.
* ''Sacellum'' of Naenia;
* ''Sacellum'' of Pudicitia Patricia.
* ''Sacellum'' of Dea Murcia, at the foot of the Aventine Hill.

Provincial and later usage

In a manuscript from the Abbey of Saint Gall, ''sacellum'' is glossed as Old Irish ''nemed'', Gaulish ''nemeton'', originally a sacred grove or space defined for religious purposes, and later a building used for such. Bernhard Maier, ''Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture'' (Boydell Press, 1997, 2000, originally published 1994 in German), p. 207.
In Christian architecture, rooflessness ceases to be a defining characteristic and the word may be applied to a small chapel marked off by a screen from the main body of a church, while an Italian ''sacello'' may alternatively be a small chapel or oratory which stands as a building in its own right.

References

External links

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Ancient Roman religion
Ancient Roman architecture
Church architecture