The Temple of Venus Erycina was an ancient sanctuary on the in

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

, erected in 184 BC and dedicated to the

goddess Venus Venus (), , is a List of Roman deities, Roman goddess, whose functions encompass love, beauty, desire, Sexuality in ancient Rome, sex, fertility, prosperity, and victory. In Roman mythology, she was the ancestor of the Roman people through her s ...

.Maria Cristina Capanna, Regione VI. Alta Semita, in Andrea Carandini (a cura di), Atlante di Roma antica, Soprintendenza Speciale Beni Archeologici di Roma, volume 1, Milano, Mondatori Electa, 2012, pp. 446-473, .

History

The Temple of Venus Erycina on the

Quirinal Hill The Quirinal Hill (; la, Collis Quirinalis; it, Quirinale ) is one of the Seven Hills of Rome, at the north-east of the city center. It is the location of the official residence of the Italian head of state, who resides in the Quirinal Pala ...

was built by the

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...

Lucius Porcius Licinius. He promised the temple to Venus in 184 BC during the war against the

Ligurians The Ligures (singular Ligur; Italian: liguri; English: Ligurians) were an ancient people after whom Liguria, a region of present-day north-western Italy, is named. Ancient Liguria corresponded more or less to the current Italian regi ...

in the north of Italy. Porcius Licinius (or his younger brother) dedicated the shrine in 181 BC. The temple was possibly included in the 1st century BC in the complex of the

Gardens of Sallust The Gardens of Sallust ( la, Horti Sallustiani) was an ancient Roman estate including a landscaped pleasure garden developed by the historian Sallust in the 1st century BC. It occupied a large area in the northeastern sector of Rome, in what wo ...

. If still in use by the 4th-century, it would have been closed during the persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire.

References

{{Authority control Temples of Venus Venus Erycina 2nd-century BC religious buildings and structures

History

See also

References