| “ | The shop with the blue awning, that’s the general store. They sell tape measures. Buy one! I want those pants exactly one inch above the ankles and that hair regulation cut. And tuck your shirt in. | ” |
–Terminus to Percy, in The Son of Neptune | ||
Terminus is the Roman god of boundaries, the protector of the limits both of private property, and of the public territory of Rome. He seems civil, but can become quite angry when rules are broken. He has no Greek counterpart.
History
He was usually represented by a stone or post, set up in the ground with the following religious ceremonies. A trench was dug, in which a fire was lighted; a victim was sacrificed, and its blood poured into the trench; the body, upon which incense and fruits, honey and wine were thrown, was then cast into the fire. When it was entirely consumed, the boundary stone, which had been previously anointed and crowned with garlands, was placed upon the hot ashes and fixed in the ground. Any one who removed a boundary stone was accursed and might be slain with impunity; a fine was afterwards substituted for the death penalty.
On the 23rd of February (the end of the old Roman year) the festival called Terminalia, according to Wissowa, a festival not of the god but of the boundary stones (termini), was held. The owners of adjacent lands assembled at the common boundary stone, and crowned their own side of the stone with garlands; an altar was set up and offerings of cakes, corn, honey and wine were made later, a lamb or a sucking pig was sacrificed. The proceedings closed with songs to the god and a general merrymaking, in which all the members of the family and the servants took part.
The worship of Terminus was either introduced to Rome during the reign of Romulus or during the time of his successor Numa.
The Heroes of Olympus
The Son of Neptune
Terminus first appears when Percy Jackson headed to the Senate House and served as the city's guard saying no weapons are allowed and lets his assistant, Julia, take Riptide. Terminus inspects Percy with his "hands" which Percy criticizes. Terminus gets angered by this, but eventually allows Percy to enter the city. He later asks Hazel Levesque to move a rock to its "correct" position.
After the Senate meeting, Percy, Hazel, and Frank Zhang headed to Caldecott Tunnel in which they meet Terminus again near the entrance. Terminus, again, "inspects" the three and allowed them to pass.
Terminus appears once more during the battle against Polybotes' army. Polybotes accidentally enters the city's borders with weapons in hand thereby angering Terminus. Polybotes turned to Terminus and pushes him over destroying his body with the head still intact. Percy knocks the Giant over and grabs Terminus' head and heads to Polybotes. Percy threw the god's head at Polybotes thereby killing the Giant, since the Giants can only be killed by gods and demigods working together.
Terminus is last seen in the city border saying to Percy that he is allowed to pass through the city freely without any inspections from the god. Julia later appears giving them party hats on the god's orders.
The Mark of Athena
Terminus appeared on the Argo II as it approached Camp Jupiter. He appeared in an explosion that almost knocked Annabeth Chase off the ship. He began to order them to not cross the Pomerian Line with weapons on board. Piper McLean tried to charmspeak the statue, but he is unaffected by her powers and knocks Katoptris from her hand with a small explosion. He also insults Athena, saying that the Romans had a proper place for her, something that greatly upsets Annabeth. Leo Valdez at first thinks that statue may be an Automaton that someone wound too tightly and started to poke at the pedestal with a screwdriver. Terminus in response tells them to leave and surrender, which confuses Leo as he isn't sure if he means they should leave or surrender.
Terminus says that they should do both, but Jason Grace said they were on a peace mission. Terminus still stands his ground, saying that the entire ship is a weapon, and so it can't cross the Pomerian Line. Annabeth comes up with a plan, telling Leo to keep the ship hovering above the camp and that they would climb down with a rope ladder. Terminus agreed to the terms and allowed them to enter as long as the Argo II stays in the air.
When Leo fires on New Rome while being possessed by an eidolon, Terminus is outraged and tells Annabeth he should never have trusted her. Annabeth pushes him aside and continues on her way. As the demigods escape, Annabeth notes that the statues of Terminus were charging their power for some sort of attack. Before it could be unleashed, the Argo II sets sail and flees the attack.
Later, when Percy and Annabeth got caught by Coach Hedge to be out of curfew, Percy remarked that Coach sounded like Terminus when he got angry.
The Blood of Olympus
Terminus makes a cameo in Reyna's dream. He tries to sustain a magical barrier around Camp Jupiter to protect from Gaia's attack, but it only slowed it down for a moment.
Personality
Terminus is very uptight and strict. He can't stand it when anything breaks the rules and tends to make sure everything is regulation. He tends to become increasingly annoyed whenever anyone mentions the fact that he has no arms, despite he himself telling people to look where he is pointing. Hazel even mentioned that if you made him mad, he would force you to measure every blade of grass in the valley of Camp Jupiter. His nickname is the OCD god. Despite his love for rules and regulations, Terminus doesn't seem to mind when someone finds a way around the rules, as he loves technicalities.
Abilities
Being the god of boundaries at Camp Jupiter, Terminus acts as the last line of defense if the camp were to be attacked. Terminus also exists in many places at once, inhabiting all the boundary stones around the city. Some of his abilities include:
- Preventing weapons from crossing into the city limits (including Riptide).
- Preventing attacks from enemy forces, including attacks from the air.
- Terminus can teleport anywhere within New Rome, including on board the Argo II when it got too close.
- Despite not having hands, Terminus is able to blast weapons out of the hands of others.
Trivia
- Terminus has no Greek counterpart, but Charon is the Greek god of boundaries, as Terminus is the Roman god of boundaries.
- His Norse counterpart, on part of guard, is Heimdall.
- According to Hazel, he has OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder).
- His name literally means "boundary stone" in Latin.
- He is one of the few Roman gods that have no Greek equivalent.