Temple of the Sibyl

Templum Tiburni

TempleItalia · Tivoli, ItalyBuilt 150 BCE

About

A smaller rectangular Ionic temple stands beside the round Temple of Vesta on Tibur's acropolis, most likely dedicated to Tiburnus, the legendary founder the city took its name from. Horace, who loved this stretch of the Aniene, wrote of 'the grove of Tiburnus' in the same breath as the roaring river below it. By 117 CE both temples have watched over the falls together for well over a century.

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.