rogus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈrɔ.ɡʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈrɔː.ɡus]^[1]

Forms

rogus m (genitive rogī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *rogo- (“what is erected, pile”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃roǵ-o- (“erected”), derived from the root of regō in its old sense “to set upright”.^[2][1] The OLD compares Old Norse rakr (“upright”) and Gothic 𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (rikan, “to heap up”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from the laws of the kings and the Twelve Tables, whose rule rogum asciā nē polītō “do not smooth the pyre with an axe”, against funeral luxury, is quoted by Cicero.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It was a funeral pyre, the pile of wood on which a body was burned, as in Cicero's phrases in rogum impōnere “to put on the pyre” and in rogum īnscendere “to mount the pyre”.^[5] It came to mark the end of life, as Cicero speaks of a reputation that follows a man to the pyre, and by metonymy it meant the ashes of the dead, as in Propertius.^[3] Manilius and Lucan applied it to a world-wide conflagration.^[3]

Afranius has a neuter rogum.^[3][4] Medieval glossators explained it as a heap of wood, and it survives in Italian rogo “pyre”.^[6][1]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – The Twelve Tables forbid smoothing the pyre with an axe.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of mounting the pyre.^[5][7]
• 57/46–12 BC – Propertius uses it of the ashes of the dead.^[3][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A funeral pyre.^[3]
2. (figurative) The end of life, death.^[3]
3. The ashes or remains of a dead person.^[3]
4. A great conflagration.^[3]

Related words

• regō
• rogō
• bustum

Usage notes

Lewis and Short give bustum as a synonym, rogus was the pyre itself.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de