Exploring the sanctuary of Venus and its sacred grove: politics, cult and identity in Roman Pompeii

Archaeological surveys conducted in the temple of Venus in Pompeii showed that the sanctuary was built on a triple portico and that trees were placed in the courtyard around three sides of the temple. This landscape is contemporary with the construction of the Roman temple of the mid-1st century BC, and is one of the oldest consecrated woods in the Roman world for which we have archaeological evidence. The results of the archaeological work shed light not only on the landscape of the site, but also on various important aspects correlated with the original developments of the fence and land use in the colony of Pompeii. A reflection of the archaeological and historical evidence and the social circumstances of the city in the first century BC suggests that the temple and sacred wood of the tutelary gods of the city symbolized both political identity and the divine sanction of Roman Pompeii.