Roman praedia as places of ritual practices

The study is focusing on the phenomenon of the sacred landscape in the suburbs of Rome, in order to illustrate the nature-distribution-evolution of cult places from the most ancient attestations during the Kingdom period up to the Imperial age. In the first part, the results of a research carried out on the basis of the archaeological documentation and the epigraphic-literary sources related with the presence of cult places in the extra-urban territories of the city of Rome. In the second part, some case studies of shrines are discussed, some of which seem to be part of senatorial praedia. The archaeological and historical documentation sheds light on promoters-functions-beholders of sacred places in Rome’s suburban contexts.