SACRILEGIUM

sacrilegium (sak-r<<schwa>>-lee-jee-<<schwa>>m), n. [Latin fr. sacer “sacred” + legere “to

steal”] Roman law. 1. The theft of a sacred thing. • This was usu. a capital offense. See

CAPITALIS. 2. Violation of an imperial law.

“In the later Empire the conception of sacrilegium was somewhat distorted and those ‘who

through ignorance or negligence confound, violate and offend the sanctity of a divine law’ … were

considered guilty of sacrilegium. ‘Divine’ is here used in the sense of imperial, issued by the

emperor …. Thus sacrilegium and sacrilegus became rather general terms applied to the neglect or

violation of imperial orders or enactments.” Adolf Berger, Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman

Law 689 (1953). [Blacks Law 8^th]