Four - Idols at Home

Summary

One of the defining aspects of an idol was its positioning in the focal point of a temple. Roman temples were homes in which the gods, as idols, lived and were encountered by the community.The podium temples of the Mediterranean only rarely leave traces their interior arrangements, but the Romano-Celtic temple, a standard form of a temple for most of the western provinces, has often left evidence for the placement of idols and their bases, as well as the placement of other cult images. This chapter explores the staging of idols in these temples. In some Romano-Celtic temples, idols were positioned in the centre of a square cella, perhaps to accommodate rites of circumambulation. Other cult images were given less prominent positions in the temple and sanctuary site. Some idol bases were constructed before the floors of temples, indicating that the temple was built with a specific idol in mind. A few bases incorporated older statue fragments and spolia, stressing continuity with past forms of the temple and idol. The arrangements of Mithraic sanctuaries allow for much more intimate interactions with the Mithraic idol, or tauroctony.