Editing Roman Republic (section)

===Temples and festivals===
{{further|Roman temple|Roman festival|Roman calendar|Fasti}}
[[File:Temple of echo Baiae.JPG|thumb|upright=0.8|Inside the "Temple of Mercury" at [[Baiae]], a [[swimming pool]] for a [[Roman bath]], built during the late Roman Republic,<ref>"[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Temple-of-Mercury Baiae, historic site, Italy]". ''[[Encyclopedia Britannica]]''. Accessed 6 June 2021.</ref> and containing one of the [[List of Roman domes|largest domes]] in the world before the building of the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]]]]

Rome's major public temples were within the city's sacred, augural boundary (''[[pomerium]]''), which had supposedly been marked out by Romulus, with Jupiter's approval. The [[Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus]] ("Jupiter, Best and Greatest") stood on the [[Capitoline Hill]]. Among the settled areas outside the ''pomerium'' was the nearby [[Aventine Hill]]. It was traditionally associated with Romulus's unfortunate twin, [[Remus]], and in later history with the Latins, and the Roman ''plebs''. The Aventine seems to have functioned as a place for the introduction of "foreign" deities.{{sfn|Cornell|1995|p=264}} In 392, [[Marcus Furius Camillus|Camillus]] established a temple there to [[Juno (mythology)#Epithets|Juno Regina]], Etruscan [[Veii]]'s protective goddess. Later introductions include [[Summanus]], {{circa|278|lk=no}}, [[Vortumnus]] {{circa|264|lk=no}}, and at some time before the end of the 3rd century, [[Minerva]].{{sfn|Orlin|2002|pp=4–5}}{{efn|For Camillus and Juno, see {{harvnb|Benko|2004|p=27}}}} While Ceres's Aventine temple was most likely built at patrician expense, to mollify the ''plebs'', the patricians brought the [[Magna Mater]] ("Great mother of the Gods") to Rome as their own "Trojan" ancestral goddess, and installed her on the Palatine.{{sfn|Roller|1999|pages=282–285}}

Romulus was said to have pitched his augural tent atop the Palatine. Beneath its southern slopes ran the [[Via Sacra|sacred way]], next to the former palace of the kings ([[Regia]]), the [[House of the Vestals]] and [[Temple of Vesta]]. Close by were the [[Lupercal]] shrine and the cave where Romulus and Remus were said to have been suckled by the she-wolf. On the flat area between the Aventine and Palatine was the [[Circus Maximus]], which hosted chariot races and religious games. Its several shrines and temples included those to Rome's indigenous sun god, [[Sol (Roman mythology)|Sol]], the moon-goddess [[Luna (goddess)|Luna]], the grain-storage god, [[Consus]], and the obscure goddess [[Murcia]].

Whereas Romans marked the passage of years with the names of their ruling consuls, [[Roman calendar|their calendars]] marked the anniversaries of religious foundations to particular deities, the days when official business was permitted (''fas''), and those when it was not (''nefas''). The Romans observed an eight-day week; law courts were closed and markets were held on the ninth day. Each month was presided over by a particular, usually major deity. The oldest calendars were lunar.