In the topography of ancient Rome, the Tarentum or Terentum was a religious precinct north of the Trigarium, a field for equestrian exercise, in the Campus Martius. The archaeological survey of the site shows that it had no buildings. The Tarentum gave its name to the ''ludi tarentini'' ("Tarentine Games"), the archaic '' ludi'' that became the Secular Games; the name is perhaps less likely to have come from the place Tarentum in

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

. The location of the Tarentum is indicated primarily by the discovery in 1930 of the inscribed record of the Saecular Games ''(acta)'' held in 17 BC, which traditionally took place there. It was the precinct within which the underground Altar of Dis and Proserpina was located.

Myth and the ''ludi''

The Tarentine Games were presented most notably in 249 BC, as a "crisis ritual" during the

First Punic War The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and grea ...

, in accordance with the Sibylline Books. The ''ludi'' took the form of three-night rites and horse races to honor Dis and Proserpina, the divine couple who had an underground altar at the site. In a common version of the myth, Proserpina ( Greek

Persephone In ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion, religion, Persephone ( ; , classical pronunciation: ), also called Kore ( ; ) or Cora, is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the Greek underworld, underworld afte ...

) was abducted by the ruler of the underworld and driven underground in his chariot to become his bride and queen. Some scholars think that the Roman ''Dis pater'' ("Rich Father") is a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

translation of the Greek ''Plouton'' (

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...

) and that his cult was established among the Romans with the celebration of the games in 249 BC. Varro regarded the nocturnal theatrical performances that took place during the games as a seminal event in the history of Roman drama. Hendrik Wagenvoort argued that these ceremonies had originated with the cult of Maris, an Etruscan ''

daimon The daimon (), also spelled daemon (meaning "god", "godlike", "power", "fate"), denotes an "unknown superfactor", which can be either good or hostile. In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology a daimon was imagined to be a lesser ...

'' of death later identified with

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

in a chthonic form, along with Ferona as the consort of Maris. According to Calvert Watkins, the word ''tarentum'' in reference to the Roman site most likely means "tomb" or "sepulcher," or more fundamentally, "a place for crossing," that is, a liminal place.Watkins, ''How to Kill a Dragon'', p. 351.

References

{{Authority control Ancient Roman religion Campus Martius