The Temple of Venus Erycina (Latin: ''Aedes Veneris Erycinae'') was a temple on the

Capitoline Hill The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; it, Campidoglio ; la, Mons Capitolinus ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. Th ...

in Ancient Rome dedicated to

Venus Erycina Venus (), , is a Roman goddess, whose functions encompass love, beauty, desire, sex, fertility, prosperity, and victory. In Roman mythology, she was the ancestor of the Roman people through her son, Aeneas, who survived the fall of Troy and fle ...

. This was an aspect of the goddess

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

. Later this temple was probably called the Temple of the Capitoline Venus (''Aedes Veneris Capitolinae''). There was another temple with the same name in Rome, the

Temple of Venus Erycina (Quirinal Hill) The Temple of Venus Erycina was an ancient sanctuary on the in Ancient Rome, erected in 184 BC and dedicated to the goddess Venus.Maria Cristina Capanna, Regione VI. Alta Semita, in Andrea Carandini (a cura di), Atlante di Roma antica, Soprinte ...

History

The Temple of Venus Erycina on the

was built by the dictator Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus. He was appointed dictator after the disastrous

Battle of Trasimeno The Battle of Lake Trasimene was fought when a Carthaginian force under Hannibal ambushed a Roman army commanded by Gaius Flaminius on 21 June 217 BC, during the Second Punic War. It took place on the north shore of Lake Trasimene, to th ...

in 217 BC and promised this temple to Venus after consulting the

Sibylline Books The ''Sibylline Books'' ( la, Libri Sibyllini) were a collection of oracular utterances, set out in Greek hexameters, that, according to tradition, were purchased from a sibyl by the last king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus, and were consulted at mo ...

, hoping thereby to reverse his fate. The temple was inaugurated in 215 BC. Livia Orestilla had

Germanicus Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 15 BC – 10 October AD 19) was an ancient Roman general, known for his campaigns in Germania. The son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia the Younger, Germanicus was born into an influential branch of the Patric ...

dedicated in the temple., De Vita Caesarum
Caligula, 7
/ref> The temple was probably in the ''Area Capitolina'', by the great Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus.

History

See also

References

Further reading