- Temples of Cybele in Rome
List of
temple s inRome dedicated toCybele , a deification of theEarth Mother .Circus Maximus
A shrine of Cybele in the
Circus Maximus , mentioned in the Notitia (Reg. XI), and byTertullian . [de spect. 8: "frigebat daemonum concilium sine sua Matre: ea itaque illic praesidet Euripo"] The reliefs representing the circus [cf. HJ 138, n68] and a mosaic at Barcelona, [ cf. ib. n69] represent Cybele sitting on a lion on thespina of the circus, just east of its centre. [HJ 131, 40; RE III.2574; Rosch. II.1667‑1668]Almo
Annually, on 27th March, the sacred black stone of the Magna Mater was brought from her temple on the Palatine to where the Almo brook (now called the
Acquataccio ) crossed thevia Appia south of theporta Capena , for the ceremony of "lavatio" (washing). Although there are numerous references to this ceremony, it seems to have constituted a "locus sacratus" or sacred place rather than a permanent building, as supported by the lack of archaeological evidence for it.Palatine Hill
acra Via
A
tholos , adorned with frescoes, at the top of the Sacra via, where the clivus Palatinus branched off to the south. [Mart. I.70.9‑10: "flecte vias hac qua madidi sunt tecta Lyaei et Cybeles picto stat Corybante tholus] Its approximate site is also probably indicated by the Haterii relief on which, to the immediate left of the arch of Titus, is a statue of the Magna Mater seated under an arch at the top of a flight of thirteen steps. [Mon. d. Inst. V.7; Mitt. 1895, 25‑27; Altm. 71‑72; Rosch. II.2917] Spano believes the arch to be a Janus erected at the four cross-roads near themeta sudans — perhaps on or near the site of thearch of Constantine . He does not even quote the passage of Martial. [Atti Accad. Napoli XXIV. (1906, II.) 227‑262] A passage in Cass. Dio [XLVI.33.3: ὣσπερ τό τε τῆς Μητρὸς τῶν θεῶν ἄγαλμα τὸ ἐν τῷ Παλατίῳ ὄν (πρὸς γὰρ τοι τὰς τοῦ ἡλίου ἀνατολὰς πρότερον βλέπων πρὸς δυσμὰς ἀπὸ ταὐτομάτου μετεστράφη] is generally supposed to refer to this temple.Vatican Hill
A shrine on the right bank of the
River Tiber , near the racecourse of Caligula (Gaianum), known from several inscriptions on fragmentary marble altars, [CIL VI.497‑504 p.326] dating from305 to390 A.D., all but one of which were found under the façade of S. Peter's in1609 . [Severano, Sette Chiese, 95; cf. also NS 1922, 81; DAP 2.XV.271‑278; JHS 1923, 194] This shrine is probably the Frigianum (Phrygianum) of the Not. [Reg. XIV] If an inscription on an altar at Lyon of the time of Hadrian refers to this shrine, [CIL XIII.1751: "L. Aemilius Carpus IIIIIIvir Aug. item dendrophorus vires excepit et a Vaticano transtulit"] it would indicate that this was an important cult centre. [RhM 1891, 132; HJ 659; Rosch. II.2917]ources
*Cic. de nat. deor. III.52; Ov. Fast. IV.337‑340;
*Mart. III.47.2; Stat. Silv. V.1.222;
*Lucan I.600; Sil. Ital. VIII.363;
*Ammian. XXIII.3.7; Vib. Sequester 2;1 Fast. Philoc. ad VI Kal. Apr., CIL I2 pp260, 314;
*Pol. Silv. Fast. Rust. ib. p261;
*ib. VI.10098 =33961 = Carm. epig. 1110;
*Prud. Peristeph. X.160; HJ 215.References
* [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Aedes_Matris_Deum.html#3 Platner and Ashby]
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