Roman religious terms

Roman Religious Terms

AEDES

An aedes/aedes is a structure, and in Religious terms a shrine or temple building. Templum referred to the area marked off as sacred, while the actual structure housing the god's image was the aedes.

ARA (ara/arae)

An ara is an altar, the structure on which a sacrifice is made. Arae were often open-air structures, immediately accessible to the public, whether within in Rome or elsewhere.

AUGUR (augur/augures)

The augures were official diviners for Roman Republic. Their office was to interpret the will of the gods regarding one or another proposed action.

AUGURIUM (augurium/auguria)

See augur. The augurium was a term for several functions related to the augurs of Rome - the augurs' rites, the augurs' laws, the augurs' compendium of known signs, and even the consecration of a man as an augur.

AUSPICES