Cloacina was a goddess who presided over theCloaca Maxima ('Greatest Drain'), the main interceptor discharge outfall of the system of sewers inRome.
ThetheonymCloācīna is a derivative of the nouncloāca ('sewer, underground drainage'; cf.cluere 'to purify'), itself fromProto-Italic *klowā-, ultimately fromProto-Indo-European *ḱleuH-o- ('clean'). A cult-title of Venus,Cloācīna may be interpreted as meaning 'The Purifier'.[2]
In later English works, phrases such as "the temple of Cloacina" were sometimes used aseuphemisms for thetoilet.[3][4]
The Cloaca Maxima was said to have been begun byTarquinius Priscus, one of Rome'sEtruscan kings, and finished by another,Tarquinius Superbus: Cloacina might have originally been an Etruscan deity. According toone of Rome's foundation myths,Titus Tatius, king of theSabines, erected a statue to Cloacina at the place where Romans and Sabines met to confirm the end of their conflict, following therape of the Sabine women. Tatius instituted lawful marriage between Sabines and Romans, uniting them as one people, ruled by himself and by Rome's founder,Romulus. The peace between Sabines and Romans was marked by a cleansing ritual usingmyrtle, at or very near an ancient Etruscan shrine to Cloacina, above a small stream that would later be enlarged as the main outlet for Rome's main sewer, theCloaca Maxima. As myrtle was one ofVenus' signs, and Venus was a goddess of union, peace and reconciliation, Cloacina was recognised as Venus Cloacina (Venus the Cleanser). She was also credited with the purification of sexual intercourse within marriage.[5][6][7]
The small, circularshrine of Venus Cloacina was situated before theBasilica Aemilia on theRoman Forum and directly above the Cloaca Maxima. Some Roman coins had images of Cloacina's shrine. The clearest show two females, presumed to be deities, each with a bird perched on a pillar. One holds a small object, possibly a flower; birds and flowers are signs of Venus, among other deities. The figures may have represented the two aspects of the divinity, Cloacina-Venus.[8]
Now, in the British plantations of Guiana, as well as in Europe, there is always a little temple dedicated to the goddess Cloacina.
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