Το μυθιστόρημα του Ρόμπερτ Χάρις Lustrum (το δεύτερο της τριλογίας για τη ζωή του Κικέρωνα) κυκλοφόρησε στην Αμερική με τον τίτλο Conspirata, που στα ελληνικά έγινε Η συνωμοσία. Υπάρχει ωστόσο αναφορά στο lustrum στο τέλος του 1ου κεφαλαίου. Γράφει ο αφηγητής: «μ’ άλλα λόγια, θα σας μιλήσω για τη χρονική περίοδο που εμείς οι θνητοί αποκαλούμε lustrum*, αλλά που για τους θεούς δεν είναι τίποτε περισσότερο από ένα ανεπαίσθητο ανοιγοκλείσιμο των βλεφάρων» και προσθέτει ο μεταφραστής σε σημείωση: «Lustrum: 1) Καθαρμός, εξαγνισμός. 2) Καθαρτήριος θυσία που επιτελείτο κάθε πέντε χρόνια στη Ρώμη από τους κήνσορες (τιμητές), υπέρ των πολιτών. 3) Πενταετία, πενταετηρίδα».
Για αυτόν τον πενταετηρικό καθαρμό, που (μάλλον) δεν έχει σχέση με το λούστρο, γράφει σήμερα ο Μάικλ Κουίνιον στο ηλεδελτίο του:
Επίσης:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lustrum
Οι κήνσορες αξίζουν το δικό τους νήμα.
Για αυτόν τον πενταετηρικό καθαρμό, που (μάλλον) δεν έχει σχέση με το λούστρο, γράφει σήμερα ο Μάικλ Κουίνιον στο ηλεδελτίο του:
My guess is that more people have met this word as the title of the Robert Harris bestseller about politics in ancient Rome than have encountered it in real life. It came to mind when looking through the 32-page monster of a census form that recently arrived in my letterbox (27 March is enumeration day for the 2011 UK census).
In English, a lustrum is a rather rare literary word that means a period of five years, a quinquennium. […] Robert Harris gave his book that title because it covers the five years following 63 BC.
There's a link between a five-year period and a census because in classical Rome the population was counted not every 10 years as is conventional in modern nations, but every five years. The census was carried out by two magistrates called censors, as part of a valuation of the property of Romans for tax purposes — taxes which the censors were responsible for collecting. When the enumeration was over, one of the censors held a ceremony called a lustratio or lustrum in the Campus Martius at which a pig, a sheep and an ox were sacrificed in the presence of the people. Lustrum came to mean by extension both the ceremony and the period of time between two censuses.
Dictionaries don't agree about the source of lustrum. Some argue it comes from luere, to wash, because the ceremony originally involved ritual cleansing; others say it's from lustrare, to purify or brighten, which would make lustrum a close relative of lustre and some other English words. Others warily include variations on "ultimate origin unknown".
Censor, by the way, has its modern English meaning because the magistrates who conducted the census and collected taxes were also responsible for maintaining public morals. Busy men.
In English, a lustrum is a rather rare literary word that means a period of five years, a quinquennium. […] Robert Harris gave his book that title because it covers the five years following 63 BC.
There's a link between a five-year period and a census because in classical Rome the population was counted not every 10 years as is conventional in modern nations, but every five years. The census was carried out by two magistrates called censors, as part of a valuation of the property of Romans for tax purposes — taxes which the censors were responsible for collecting. When the enumeration was over, one of the censors held a ceremony called a lustratio or lustrum in the Campus Martius at which a pig, a sheep and an ox were sacrificed in the presence of the people. Lustrum came to mean by extension both the ceremony and the period of time between two censuses.
Dictionaries don't agree about the source of lustrum. Some argue it comes from luere, to wash, because the ceremony originally involved ritual cleansing; others say it's from lustrare, to purify or brighten, which would make lustrum a close relative of lustre and some other English words. Others warily include variations on "ultimate origin unknown".
Censor, by the way, has its modern English meaning because the magistrates who conducted the census and collected taxes were also responsible for maintaining public morals. Busy men.
Επίσης:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lustrum
Οι κήνσορες αξίζουν το δικό τους νήμα.
