Templum

A shrine or sanctuary to honor the gods

Templum (plural templa) is a Latin term referring to a sacred sanctuary or shrine that was consecrated by a member of the priesthood for religious purposes. While often translated in English as “temple,” templum has no actual connection to a physical building. Templum only refers to the sacred space specifically marked out by the priesthood, and therefore a more accurate English translation would be “sanctuary” or “shrine.” The Latin word that can more accurately be translated in English as “temple” is aedis - most aedes were built in conjunction with templa, but not all templa were consecrated in conjunction with an aedis. When an aedis was constructed, religious activities could only begin after the consecration of a templum (Schmitz & Smith, 1875). According to classical sources, the original and most basic purpose for templa would have been to take auspices, a religious practice in which a religious official would receive favorable or unfavorable omens based on reading signs from a sacrifice or other natural phenomena. When reading omens from the flight of birds, for example, the official not only had to mark out a templum where the auspices were to be taken on the ground, but also the area of the sky in which the reading was to be taken. Therefore, sections of the sky as well as the earth could be consecrated as templa. This religious official, or augur, could not take the auspices outside of the sacred boundaries of the templum, and therefore the templum was a central aspect of Roman religion (Schmitz & Smith, 1875). The pomoerium around Rome itself represents the same sort of sacred boundary as a templum. In fact, perhaps one of the most pivotal moments in Roman mythology centered around the boundary of a templum, when Remus reportedly crossed the boundary of the templum which Romulus had established around the Palatine hill, thus sparking the fight that is said to have killed Remus and established Romulus as the first king of Rome (Livy, Foster trans. 1919). 

Bibliography

Schmitz, Smith, and Smith, 1875. 

Livy, Foster translation, 1919.

Latin Dictionary Entry

Templum - Perseus Digital Library

Jay Brodzeller, 2022