S ACRA'RIUM. was any place in Which sa-
cred things were deposited and kept, whether
this place was a part of a temple or of a pri-
vate nouse.
SACRIFICES. [Sackificium.]

SACRIFl'CIUM (Upelov), a sacrifice. Sac-
rifices or offerings formed the chief part of the
worship of the ancients. They were partly
signs of gratitude, partly a means of propitia-
ting the gods, and partly also intended to in-
duce the deity to bestow some favour upon
the sacrificer, or upon those on whose behalf
the sacrifice was offered. Sacrifices in a
wider sense would also embrace the Donaria ;
in a narrower sense sacrificia were things
offered to the gods, which mereljr afforded
momentary gratification, and which were
burnt upon their altars, or were believed to
be consumed by the gods. All sacrifices may
be divided into bloody sacrifices and unbloody
sacrifices.
Bloody sacrifices. In the early times of
Greece we find mention of human sacrifices,
' but with a few exceptions these had ceased
in the historical ages. Owing to the in-
fluence of civilization, in many cases animals
were substituted for human beings ; in others,
a few drops of human blood were thought
lufficient to propitiate the gods. The cus-
tom 01 sacrificing human life to the gods arose
from the belief that the nobler the sacrifice
«ind the dearer to its possessor, the more
Dleasing it would be to the ^ods. Hence the
frequent instances in Grecian story of per-



sons sacrificing their own children, or of per-
sons devoting themselves to the gods of ihe
lower world.
