Terminus

a Roman divinity presiding over boundaries and frontiers. His worship is said to have been instituted by Numa who ordered that every one should mark the boundaries of his landed property by stones to be consecrated to Jupiter (Ζεὺς ὅριος), and at which every year sacrifices were to be offered at the festival of the Terminalia. (Dionys. A. R. 2.9, 74.) These sacred boundaries existed not only in regard to private property, but also in regard to the state itself, the boundary of which was not to be trangressed by any foreign foe. But in later times the latter must have fallen into oblivion, while the termini of private property retained their sacred character even in the days of Dionysius, who states that sacrifices of cakes, meal, and fruit (for it was unlawful to stain the boundary stones with blood), still continued to be offered. The god Terminus himself appears to have been no other than Jupiter himself, in the capacity of the protector of boundaries. (Ov. Fast. 2.639, &c.; Lactant. 1.20, 37.) The Terminus of the Roman state originally stood between the fifth and sixth milestone on the road towards Laurentum, near a place called Festi, and that ancient/boundary of the ager Romanus continued to be revered with the same ceremonies as the boundaries of private estates. (Ov. Fast. l.c. ; Strab. v. p.230.) Another public Terminus stood in the temple of Jupiter in the Capitol, and above it there was an opening in the roof, because no Terminus was allowed to be under cover. (Fest. p. 368, ed. Müller.) This is another proof that Terminus was only an attribute of Jupiter, although tradition gave a different reason for this circumstance; for when that temple was to be founded, and it was necessary to exaugurate other sanctuaries standing on the same site, all the gods readily gave way to Jupiter and Juno, but the auguries would not allow the sanctuaries of Terminus and Juventas to be removed. This was taken as an omen that the Roman state would remain ever undiminished and young, and the chapels of the two divinities were inclosed within the walls of the new temple. (Serv. ad Aen. 2.575, 9.448; Ov. Fast. 2.671.) Here we may ask, what had a Terminus to do on the Capitol, unless he was connected or identical with Jupiter? (Comp. Liv. 1.55, 5.54, 43.13, 45.44; Plb. 3.25 ; Hartung, Die Relig. der Röm. ii. p. 50, &c.) [L.S]

The Roman god of boundaries and frontiers, under whose special protection were the stones (termini) which marked territorial limits. The regulations respecting these stones and the religious customs and institutions connected with them went back to the time of Numa Pompilius. At the setting of such a stone all those living near the boundary assembled, and in their presence the hole prepared for the reception of the stone was watered with the blood of a sacrificial animal; incense, field-produce, honey, and wine were sprinkled over it, and a victim sacrificed. The stone, anointed and decked with garlands and ribbons, was then placed upon the smouldering bones and pressed into the earth. Whoever pulled up the stone was cursed, together with his draught-cattle, and any one might kill him with impunity and without being defiled by his blood. In later times the punishment of fines was instituted instead.

The festival of the Terminalia was celebrated in Rome and in the country on the 23d of February (Dionys. ii. 74). The neighbours on either side of any boundary gathered round the landmark, with their wives, children, and servants, and crowned it, each on his own side, with garlands, and offered cakes and bloodless sacrifices. In later times, however, a lamb or sucking-pig was sometimes slain, and the stone sprinkled with the blood. Lastly, the whole neighbourhood joined in a general feast. A lamb was also sacrificed in the grove of Terminus, which was six Roman miles from Rome, near the ancient border of the town of Laurentum (Ovid, Fasti, ii. 639; Hor. Epod. ii. 59). On the Capitol there was a stone dedicated to Terminus, which had originally stood in the open air, but when the Temple of Iupiter was founded by the last king, Tarquinius Superbus, it was enclosed within the building, as the augurs would not allow it to be removed (Livy, i. 55; Varro, L. L. v. 74).