Cloacina

The theonym Cloācīna is a derivative of the noun cloāca ('sewer, underground drainage'; cf. cluere 'to purify'), itself from Proto-Italic *klowā-, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱleuH-o- ('clean'). As Venus Cloacina— an epithet or cultic title of Venus— Cloācīna may be interpreted as meaning 'The Purifier'. == Cloaca Maxima ==

The construction of the Cloaca Maxima was claimed to have been initiated in 600 BCE by Tarquinius Priscus, the legendary fifth king of Rome. As Tarquinius was believed to be from Etruria, Cloacina may have originally been an Etruscan deity. The structure was originally created to drain the surrounding marshes and canalize a stream— a tributary of the Tiber known as the Spinon— that flowed through the areas that would become the Roman Forum, Velabrum, and Forum Boarium. Over the next 700 years, the canal was expanded significantly, with the completed system conveying water from the Forum Augustus to the Tiber. It was also connected to the city's eleven aqueducts, and covered with a roof. The system was used to move fresh water through the city, clear trash and debris from the streets, and drain dirty flood waters; resultantly, the Cloaca Maxima's importance to the city's hygiene was well-recognized by the Romans. Unlike modern sewers, the system very likely did not receive human waste from private or public latrines == Functions ==

Worship of Cloacina is attested to as early as Plautus (254-184 BCE) in his play Curculio, which was likely written around 197-194 BCE. The ancient Romans believed that moving water— which Varro and Servius called 'living water'— was sacred. As the Cloaca Maxima was originally a stream, the drainage system itself may have also been considered sacred. As Venus Cloacina It is unknown when Venus and Cloacina were first associated and assimilated into Venus Cloacina. The Sabines and Romans were therefore united as one people, and the ceremony was marked by a cleansing ritual using branches of myrtle: a symbol of the goddess Venus. As the war originally broke out over the issue of marriage, and Tacitus was believed to be the founder of marriage between the Sabines and Romans, Venus Cloacina may have accordingly been viewed as a goddess who purified sexual intercourse within marriage. When he kills his daughter, Verginius states: "In this the only way in which I can, I vindicate, my child, thy freedom." Verginia's death ensured she remained undefiled, and its location being the shrine of Venus Cloacina supports the idea that the goddess was seen as a purifying force. Venus was similarly associated with water. Therefore, some scholars believe that Venus Cloacina was a goddess of fertility and purification whose powers were directly tied to the use of sacred moving water. == Worship ==

's Das Forum Romanum (1904)A small, circular shrine of Venus Cloacina was situated before the Basilica Aemilia on the Roman Forum and sat directly above the Cloaca Maxima. The remaining structure consists of a marble base situated on a slab of travertine, round except for a rectangular projection on its west edge: the remains of stairs. The structure very likely dates to Sulla's reign, around 80 BCE. == In literature ==

In later English works, particularly during the 18th and 19th centuries, Cloacina was utilized as a satirical figure, and the "temple of Cloacina" was used as a euphemism for the toilet. This understanding of Cloacina may be attributed to Augustine of Hippo's ridicule of Cloacina as an unrespectable goddess of sewers. In The Dunciad, Alexander Pope describes Cloacina as a filthy and foul-smelling figure that enjoys crude jokes, and whose favorites are smeared with poop. Additionally, when discussing Pope's Sober Advice from Horace, Philip Stanhope recommends that his son should tear a page from the text every time he needs to use the bathroom, as a "sacrifice to Cloacina." Cloacina was associated with vulgarity and obscenity. In 1782, after the debut of Francis Hopkinson's oratorio, The Temple of Minerva, an obscene, anonymously-penned parody titled "The Temple of Cloacina: An Oral-whig-ial Entertainment" appeared in the James Rivington's newspaper, the Royal Gazette. The parody was scandalous, described as "more witty than Rabillais [sic]; more nasty than Swift; more vulgar than Tom Brown," and "all over filth and nastiness." == See also ==