Well, it is February, and like all of you, (suuure…), my thoughts go straight to the Roman god of boundaries and boundary markers. That’s right, folks: Terminus. As Gary Kent (or Garius Kentus) reminds us every few years, the effective date of each new set of ALTA/NSPS standards is February 23, the date of the Terminalia festival. Yee Haw! It’s party time. Garius was most wise to link the standards to a firm date with such a long history.
According to Wikipedia, where I do all my advanced research, the worship of Terminus may date all the way back to the first king of Rome, Romulus, circa 753-717 B.C. I’d sure like to get my hands on a set of ALTA/SPQR standards from 700 BC. It was only three pages, though all three were carved in marble and every optional Table A item required blood sacrifice or a crucifixion.
Wikipedia tells me that an ancient Roman writer on Land surveying (who knew?) called Siculus Flaccus recorded the ritual by which a boundary stone could be sanctified. I don’t know if that is true, but I do know that I have finally found my new nom de plume.
Siccy says the boundary marker itself was typically drenched in pig or lamb blood during the festival. I guess they didn’t have pink spray paint, but the concept is the same, clearly. I also see that the aforementioned festival involved wine and that is good—yet another thing we have in common with our cadastral ancestors. Of course, what Roman activity didn’t involve wine? And what modern surveying activity doesn’t also involve vino? The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Apparently, Terminus was fast friends with the big Man on Campus in Olympus, Jupiter. That tells me that Romans took monument preservation a tad more seriously than many of us today do. Perhaps you would care more about the monuments you side-tie if you were inspired by the fear of being split in two by a lightning bolt. We need some of that inspiration today.
I almost hate to ask but do you suppose Terminus had a brother or servant named Gromaticus Aquarius who oversaw riparian and littoral boundaries? It seems likely, you know it does. And was there a god of boundary lawsuits? Ambulus Chasus, perhaps?
My job, as always, is merely to bring these informative views to you all. How you process the data is up to you, but if you need more enlightenment on the topic of Terminus, you can hit the internet and listen to Ted Nugent’s greatest song, Terminus El Dorado, or just reach out to Garius Kentus, but don’t tell him who sent you…