Temple of Ceres Augusta
About
Suphunibal, daughter of the theatre's founder, funded this small shrine onto the theatre's colonnaded walk in 35 or 36 CE. Its cult statue of Ceres Augusta carried the features of Livia, Augustus's widow and Tiberius's mother, folding an old Roman grain goddess into the imperial family. In 117 CE the shrine has been a fixture of the theatre precinct for eight decades.
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 →