ancient Roman religion Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by the Roman people, people of Rome as well as those who were brought under its rule. The Romans thought of themselves as high ...

, Sterquilinus — also called Stercutus and Sterculius — was a god of

odor An odor (American English) or odour ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is a smell or a scent caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds generally found in low concentrations that humans and many animals can perceive ...

. He may have been equivalent to Picumnus. The ''Larousse Encyclopaedia of Mythology'' gives the name as Stercutius, a pseudonym of

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...

, under which the latter used to supervise the manuring of the fields. The name Sterquilinus comes from the Latin ''stercus'' meaning "fertilizer" or "manure". His name was altered to avoid confusion. Early Romans were an agrarian civilization and, functionally, most of their original pantheon of gods — as against the later ones they adapted to Greek stereotypes — were of a rural nature with figures such as Pomona, Ceres,

Flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

Dea Dia Dea Dia (Latin: "Goddess of Daylight", or "Bright Goddess") was a goddess of fertility and growth in ancient Roman religion. She was sometimes identified with Ceres, and sometimes with her Greek equivalent Demeter. She was worshiped during Amb ...

; so it was apt to have a god supervising the basics of organic fertilization. Sterquilinus essentially taught the use of manure in agricultural processes. He was not the sole deity of feces on its own; as in, sewage. Modern writers later elaborated upon and exaggerated the significance of Sterquilinus/Sterculius and other "earthy" deities of antiquity, sometimes with moralistic disapproval. One editor of ''An Encyclopædia of Plants'', published in 1836, related that

Sterculius was the god of the privy, from ''stercus'', excrement. It has been well observed by a French author, that the Romans, in the madness of paganism, finished by deifying the most immodest objects and the most disgusting actions. They had the gods Sterculius,
Crepitus Crepitus is "a grating sound or sensation produced by friction between bone and cartilage or the fractured parts of a bone". Various types of crepitus that can be heard in joint pathologies are: *Bone crepitus: This can be heard when two frag ...
,
Priapus In Greek mythology, Priapus (; ) is a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens, and male genitalia. Priapus is marked by his oversized, permanent erection, which gave rise to the medical term priapism. He becam ...
; and the goddesses Caca, Pertunda, &c, &c. Loudon, John Claudius (1836), editor
''An Encyclopædia of Plants''
London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman, pg 815. This quote is from a section on the plant genus ''
Sterculia ''Sterculia'' is a genus of 182 flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae: subfamily Sterculioideae (previously placed in the now obsolete Sterculiaceae). Members of the genus are colloquially known as tropical chestnuts. ''Sterculia'' ...
''.

Popular culture references

Sterculius was featured in " Peace, Love and Understanding" (1992), the second

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...

of ''

Beavis and Butt-Head ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated Animated sitcom, sitcom created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, Stupi ...

'', where his spirit rose from a port-a-potty crushed by a

monster truck A monster truck is a specialized off-road vehicle with a heavy duty suspension, four-wheel steering, large-displacement V8 engines and oversized tires constructed for competition and entertainment uses. Originally created by modifying stock p ...

; he is correctly identified by

Butt-Head The following is a list of characters appearing on the MTV cartoon series ''Beavis and Butt-Head'', each with a description. Some of these characters appear in only one or two episodes. The episodes in which they are known to appear are listed i ...

Namesakes

:''The following terms and names are derived from Sterculius:'' *

Sterculiaceae Sterculiaceae was a family of flowering plant based on the genus '' Sterculia''. Genera formerly included in Sterculiaceae are now placed in the family Malvaceae, in the subfamilies: Byttnerioideae, Dombeyoideae, Helicteroideae and Sterculioide ...

, a family of flowering plants **

Sterculioideae Sterculioideae is a subfamily of the family (biology), family Malvaceae containing evergreen and deciduous tree and shrub genera, that were previously placed in the obsolete family Sterculiaceae. Taxonomy A 2006 molecular study indicated the Ste ...

, a subfamily of the family

Malvaceae Malvaceae (), or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include Theobroma cacao, cacao, Cola (plant), cola, cotton, okra, Hibiscus sabdariffa, ...

*** ''

Sterculia ''Sterculia'' is a genus of 182 flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae: subfamily Sterculioideae (previously placed in the now obsolete Sterculiaceae). Members of the genus are colloquially known as tropical chestnuts. ''Sterculia'' ...

'', a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae (a reference to unpleasant aroma) * Stercorariidae, the

skua The skuas are a group of predatory seabirds with seven species forming the genus ''Stercorarius'', the only genus in the family Stercorariidae. The three smaller skuas, the Arctic skua, the long-tailed skua, and the pomarine skua, are called ...

family of sea birds (the food disgorged by other birds when pursued by skuas was once thought to be excrement) ** Stercorarius a genus in the family Stercorariidae * "Stercoreus" group of the fungus genus ''

Cyathus ''Cyathus'' is a genus of fungi in the Nidulariaceae, which is a family (biology), family collectively known as the bird's nest fungi. They are given this name as they resemble tiny bird's nests filled with "eggs"structures large enough to ...

'', including ''C. stercoreus'' (the splash-cup bird's nest, or dung-loving bird's nest) * ''

Strongyloides stercoralis ''Strongyloides stercoralis'' is a human pathogenic parasitic roundworm causing the disease strongyloidiasis. Its common name in the US is threadworm. In the UK and Australia, however, the term ''threadworm'' can also refer to nematodes of t ...

'', a nematode parasite living in the small intestines of humans * '' Penestola stercoralis'', a moth in the family

Crambidae Crambidae comprises the grass moth family of lepidopterans. They are variable in appearance, with the nominal subfamily Crambinae (grass moths) taking up closely folded postures on grass stems where they are inconspicuous, while other subfamilies ...

Stercoral ulcer Stercoral ulcer is an ulcer of the colon due to pressure and irritation resulting from severe, prolonged constipation due to a large bowel obstruction, damage to the autonomic nervous system, or stercoral colitis. It is most commonly located in th ...

, sometimes leading to

stercoral perforation Stercoral perforation is the perforation or rupture of the intestine's walls by its internal contents, such as hardened feces or foreign objects. Hardened stools may form in prolonged constipation or other diseases which cause obstruction of trans ...

* Typhlitis stercoralis,

typhlitis Neutropenic enterocolitis, also known as typhlitis, is an inflammation of the cecum (part of the large intestine) that may be associated with infection. It is particularly associated with neutropenia, a low level of neutrophil granulocytes (the mos ...

resulting from retention of feces in the

caecum The cecum ( caecum, ; plural ceca or caeca, ) is a pouch within the peritoneum that is considered to be the beginning of the large intestine. It is typically located on the right side of the body (the same side of the body as the appendix, ...

* Stercoraceous vomiting, or

fecal vomiting Fecal vomiting or copremesis is a kind of vomiting wherein the material vomited is of fecal origin. It is a common symptom of gastrojejunocolic fistula and intestinal obstruction in the ileum. Fecal vomiting is often accompanied by gastrointesti ...

* Stercorin, or coprostanol, a compound frequently used as a biomarker for the presence of human feces in the environment *

Stercorite Stercorite is the mineral form of microcosmic salt. The name comes from the Latin "stercus", meaning dung, since the mineral was originally discovered among guano Guano (Spanish from ) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. Guano ...

, a mineral originally discovered in

guano Guano (Spanish from ) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. Guano is a highly effective fertiliser due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. Guano was also, to a le ...

* Stercolith, a fecolith *

Stercoranism Stercoranism (from , "dung") is a supposed belief or doctrine attributed reciprocally to the other side by those who in the eleventh century upheld and those who denied the Christian doctrine of transubstantiation, that the bread and wine offered in ...

, the doctrine that consecrated elements of the

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

become feces after ingestion * Stercorary, a place, properly secured from the weather, for containing feces * Stercoration, an obsolete English term for manuring with dung * Stercoricolous, a term for organisms inhabiting deposits of excrement *

Sterculic acid Sterculic acid is a cyclopropene fatty acid. It is found in various plants of the genus ''Sterculia'', including being the main component of ''Sterculia foetida'' seed oil. Biosynthesis The biosynthesis of sterculic acid begins with the cyclopro ...

, the

cyclopropene fatty acid Cyclopropane fatty acids (CPA) are a subgroup of fatty acids that contain a cyclopropane group. Although they are usually rare, the seed oil from lychee contains nearly 40% CPAs in the form of triglycerides. Biosynthesis CPAs are derived from u ...

8-(2-octylcyclopropenyl) octanoic acid, found in some tropical vegetable oils * Strocoulious - an approximately 23 year old (as of 2020) Red Eared Slider turtle that lives in Halifax Nova Scotia.

References

{{Reflist Agricultural gods Beavis and Butt-Head Roman gods Feces