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The Temple of Flora was an ancient sanctuary on the
The Temple of Flora was an ancient sanctuary on the Circus Maximus
The Circus Maximus (Latin for "largest circus"; Italian: ''Circo Massimo'') is an ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue in Rome, Italy. In the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills, it was the first and la ...
in Ancient Rome, erected in 238 BCE and dedicated to the goddess Flora.Filippo Coarelli, Guida archeologica di Roma, Verona, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1984.
History
In 240 B.C.E, the festival ''Floralia
The Floralia was a festival in ancient Roman religious practice in honor of the goddess Flora, held April 27 during the Republican era, or April 28 in the Julian calendar. The festival included ''Ludi Florae'', the "Games of Flora", which lasted ...
'' was introduced in Rome on the advice of 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 ...
, and two years later a temple was erected, also with the support of the Sibylline books. Because of their sexual connotations, the festival and the cult centered in the temple of Flora were abhorred by the Christians, who attempted to have the popular worship discredited by claiming that it had been founded in honor of a prostitute. The cult was likely suppressed in the 4th-century during the persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire
Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire began during the reign of Constantine the Great (306–337) in the military colony of Aelia Capitolina (Jerusalem), when he destroyed a pagan temple for the purpose of constructing a Christian church ...
, when the sanctuary would have been closed.
See also
*List of Ancient Roman temples
This is a list of ancient Roman temples, built during antiquity by the people of ancient Rome or peoples belonging to the Roman Empire. Roman temples were dedicated to divinities from the Roman pantheon.
Substantial remains
Most of the be ...
References
{{Expand Italian, Tempio e circo di Flora, date=October 2018 Roman temples by deity 3rd-century BC religious buildings and structures Destroyed temples