1990): the templumis a ritually defined area; it could refer to a section of the sky
selected by the augurfor the observation of auspices from the flight of birds, with
an augur’s staff and a spoken formula, or a dedicated cult site that may or may not
have been architecturally enhanced. The aedes sacra, on the other hand, refers to
the temple building as the seat of the gods, which could be erected in the cult precinct.
As the rightful inhabitants of the building, the gods were entitled to the rear, offset
part of the temple interior (cella). Wide doorways allowed them an unhindered view
of the open-air sacrificial altar (ara, mensa), where the food was placed.
The sanctity of the site depended solely on the status of the land it stood on.
Ownership of the land was transferred to the deity in a ritual act (consecratio), which
also released it from all public claims and removed it from secular access. Once
consecrated, cult sites and their furnishings are protected for all time; potentially
damaged cult items and votive offerings must be stored or buried in the cult
precinct. Inscriptions therefore sanction the short-term removal of votive offerings
for restoration purposes, or the removal of dead trees from a sacred grove, or the
felling of trees as part of the annual festival of sacrifice (CIL 12 .366; 9.3513).
Architectural uniformity on the sacred grounds is of secondary importance: in gen-
eral, the main room forms the center of the precinct. It closes off the open square
in front of it and is axially aligned with the entrance. The visual perspective guiding
the eye is reinforced by framing porticos, water fountains, and symmetrical staircases
and ramps. But the characteristic architectural configuration – the free-standing
temple on a high podiumwith a stepped approach at the front and an altar protrud-
ing at right angles (on the typology of Roman temple architecture see Kähler 1970) –
is joined by chapels and sanctuaries, roadside and domestic shrines, burial sites, mithraea,
iseaand serapea, synagogues and clubhouses. Even simple, “natural,” open-air cult
sites, such as mountain peaks, caves, groves, and springs (Edlund 1987: 30 – 43,
126 – 46), are generally shaped by man, be it in the form of a separating wall, an
altar, and a permanent cult image, or pits for votive deposits in the ground.
Depending on the cult, the deities were worshiped in aniconic or anthropo-
morphic shape (Gladigow 1994). The dialectic of the potential omnipresence of
the gods and their desired association with one particular location is mirrored in the
contrast between movable and permanent cult objects (simulacra, signa, effigies). The
latter guaranteed the visitor accessibility of the deity, and the city (in the case of city
gods) its special protection. Cult transfer and the establishment of subsidiary sites
were accomplished via the transfer of cult images. According to the foundation
legends, the deities expressed their desire to relocate through a sign or a spontaneous
appearance at the new site. A prominent example is the removal of the Magna Mater
and her sacred stone from Pessinus in 204 bc(Livy 29.10.4 –29.14.14; Ov. Fast.
4.247–348). The idea of the animated cult image is found in the prodigy lists and
autopsy reports on talking and moving, laughing and crying, perspiring and bleed-
ing statues (Caesar, Bellum civile3.105.2– 6; Livy 23.1.10 –12). An enlightened
critique of religion could start with cult images; the accusation of idolatry or, rather,
the anthropomorphic depiction of the gods (Lucilius frg. 490 – 5 Krenkel; Varro ap.
Aug. Civ.6.5) aims at the more fundamental inquiry into the relationship between
deity and image.
206 Ulrike Egelhaaf-Gaiser