acerra

• a casket in which was kept the incense used in sacrifices, esp. in burning the dead, an incense-box: ne sumptuosa respersio, ne longae coronae, nec acerrae praetereantur, from the XII. Tab. ap. Cic. Leg. 2, 24, 60: plenā veneratur larem, Verg. A. 5, 745; cf.: plena turis, Hor. C. 3, 8, 2; tacitā libabit acerrā, Pers. 2, 5; so also Ov. M. 13, 703; id. Pont. 4, 8, 39; Fratr. Arval. in Orell. I. L. 2270, p. 391 al. Cf. Fest. s. h. v. p. 18 Müll, who gives another signif.: “ACERRA, ara, quae ante mortuum poni solebat.”

• 1 acer, a casket for incense: plena turis, H., V., O.

ACERRAthe incense box used in sacrifices. (Hor. Carm. 3.8, 2; Verg. A. 5.745) The incense was taken out of the acerra and let fall upon the burning altar: hence we have the expression de acerra libare. (Ov. ex Pont. 4.8, 39; Pers. 2.5.) It was distinct from the turibulum or censer in which incense was burnt ; and was the more common mode of offering incense. [TURIBULUM] The acerra represented above is taken from a frieze in the museum of the Capitol. Another figure, from a bas-relief at Rome (ap. Daremberg and Saglio, s. v.), illustrates the mode of using it. The acerra was also, according to Festus (s. v.), a small altar, placed before the dead, on which perfumes were burnt. There was a sumptuary law in the Twelve Tables which restricted the use of acerrae at funerals. (Cic. de Leg. ii. 24, 60.) [J.Y] [W.W]

(λιβανωτίς, λιβανωτρίς). The incense box used in sacrifices; called by Servius arca thuralis.

Horace, enumerating the principal articles necessary in a solemn sacrifice to Iuno, mentions “Flowers and a box full of frankincense.” In Vergil, Aeneas worships “with corn and with frankincense from the full acerra” (Aen. v. 745).

Pliny, enumerating the principal works of Parrhasius of Ephesus, speaks of a picture representing a priest preparing to sacrifice, with a boy standing beside him, and holding the incense-box and a wreath of flowers. This was, no doubt, a very common and favourite subject for artists of every kind. It frequently occurs in bas-reliefs representing sacrifices, and executed on vases, friezes, and other ancient monuments. It occurs three times on the Columna Traiana at Rome, and once on the Arch of Constantine.

The acerra was also, according to Festus, a small altar placed before the dead, on which perfumes were burned: Acerra, ara quae ante mortuum poni solebat, in qua odores incendebantur. There was a law in the Twelve Tables which restricted the use of acerrae at funerals (De Leg. ii. 24).