# Temple of Tellus

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{{Short description|Sanctuary in Ancient Rome}}
{{Expand language|topic=|langcode=De|otherarticle=Tempel der Tellus|date=May 2026}}
The '''Temple of Tellus''' was a sanctuary in [Ancient Rome](/source/Ancient_Rome), erected after 268 BCE and dedicated to the [goddess Tellus](/source/Terra_(mythology)).<ref>Angelo Amoroso: Il Tempio di Tellus e il quartiere della Praefectura Urbana. In: Workshop di archeologia classica. Band 4, 2007, ISSN 1724-9120</ref>

==History==
The temple was founded by [Publius Sempronius Sophus](/source/Publius_Sempronius_Sophus), following a vow he took when an earthquake occurred when he was commanding the Roman forces during a battle with the [Picentes](/source/Picentes) in 268 BCE. The site of the temple was in the [Carinae](/source/Carinae) district on the [Esquiline Hill](/source/Esquiline_Hill), and was reputedly built on the site where the house of [Spurius Cassius Vecellinus](/source/Spurius_Cassius_Vecellinus) once stood.<ref>Planter, pg.511</ref> The houses of [Mark Antony](/source/Mark_Antony) and [Cicero](/source/Cicero) stood close to the temple, and Cicero restored the temple around 54 BCE after it had become run down, as he had gained  possession of some land that had belonged to the temple.

The temple was occasionally used for meetings of the [Senate](/source/Senate_of_the_Roman_Republic), and on its walls was displayed a map or a personification of Italy (described by [Varro](/source/Varro) as ''Italia picta''). It was destroyed in the [Great Fire of Rome](/source/Great_Fire_of_Rome) in 64 CE, but was subsequently rebuilt. It was still listed in the ''Notitia'' as standing in the 4th century, located in the [Regio IV Templum Pacis](/source/Regio_IV_Templum_Pacis). If still in use by the 4th-century, it would have been closed during the [persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire](/source/persecution_of_pagans_in_the_late_Roman_Empire).

The temple's dedication was celebrated on 13 December. As the worship of Tellus by the Romans had a very long history, it is probable that there was a much earlier cult centre on the site afterwards occupied by the temple.<ref>Planter, pg.511</ref>

==See also==
*[List of Ancient Roman temples](/source/List_of_Ancient_Roman_temples)

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* Platner, Samuel Ball, ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome'', Oxford University Press (1929) [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Aedes_Martis.html (online version)]

Category:Roman temples by deity
Category:3rd-century BC religious buildings and structures
Category:Destroyed Roman temples

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Temple of Tellus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Tellus) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Tellus?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.