"Roman lawyers knew exactly what "to profane something" meant. Sacred or religious objects were things that belonged in some way to the gods. As such, they were stolen for the free use and trade of men and could not be sold, loaned, used in beneficial interest or taxed. Sacrilege was any act that violated or infringed this special unavailability which reserved them exclusively for the gods in heaven (referred to as "sacred") or the underworld (in this case, they were called simply "religious.") And if consecrate (sacrare) was the term designating the removal of things from the sphere of human rights, to profane meant instead to return them to the free use of men. "Profane”, writes great lawyer Trebatius, “is used in the proper sense when talking about that which, having been sacred or religious, is restored to the use and property of men”. “Pure " was the place that had been detached from its destination to the gods of the dead, and therefore was no longer "sacred nor holy nor religious, freed from all the names of this kind"