Temple of Luna
About
Colonists first built this temple to the goddess Luna in the mid-2nd century BCE, and Augustan-age builders later rebuilt it completely, wrapping it in a triple portico. A sculpted pediment showing a council of the gods, carved around 175-150 BCE, survives from its earliest phase. The rebuilt sanctuary stood in active use in 117 CE at the city's northwest corner. A cuirassed statue from the renovation may depict Octavian himself.
What happened here
The building itself is a house for the god, and most people never go inside. Everything public happens on the steps and at the altar in front: an animal led up, examined, killed cleanly, its organs read, the meat divided and eaten. The priest covers his head and a flute player keeps up a noise so no ill-omened word is heard. Worshippers leave what they can afford — a terracotta figure, a coin, a model of the body part they want healed — and the accumulated clutter is periodically cleared and buried on site. On festival days the doors are opened and the cult statue is dressed, garlanded, and sometimes carried out through the streets. The temple also holds money, which is why towns keep their treasury in one.
Sources
Nearby
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →