Rambles in Rome / An Archæological and Historical Guide to the Museums, Galleries, Villas, Churches, and Antiquities of Rome and the Campagna

by S. Russell Forbes

THE TEMPLE OF CYBELE (4).

Dedicated by M. J. Brutus, B.C. 191, under the name of Mater Idæa, Mother of the Gods (Livy, xxxvi. 36). "Cybele was not worshipped in Rome till A.U.C. 550, when the goddess, a stone, was brought from Pessinus, a city of Phrygia, by Scipio Nasica" (Strabo). The vessel containing it having grounded at the mouth of the Tiber, remained immovable till Claudia Quinta, to prove her chastity, after calling upon the goddess, drew the ship with slight effort to Rome (Ovid, "Fasti," vi. 300). This event is commemorated upon an altar in the Capitoline Museum. The form of the temple remains, and part of the seated statue of the goddess, a beautiful fragment, corresponding with her figure as represented on coins. The remains are of opus incertum.