Editing Apollo (section)

===Roman Apollo===

The Roman worship of Apollo was adopted from the Greeks.{{sfn|Freese|1911|p=185}} As a quintessentially [[List of Greek deities|Greek god]], Apollo had no direct Roman equivalent, although later Roman poets often referred to him as '''Phoebus'''.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}} There was a tradition that the Delphic oracle was consulted as early as the period of the [[Roman Kingdom|kings of Rome]] during the reign of [[Tarquinius Superbus]].<ref>[[Livy]] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Liv.+1.56 1.56].</ref>

On the occasion of a pestilence in the 430s BCE, Apollo's [[Temple of Apollo Sosianus|first temple]] at Rome was established in the Flaminian fields, replacing an older cult site there known as the "Apollinare".<ref>Livy [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0026:book=3:chapter=63 3.63.7], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0145:book=4:chapter=25 4.25.3].</ref> During the [[Second Punic War]] in 212 BCE, the ''[[Ludi Apollinares]]'' ("Apollonian Games") were instituted in his honor, on the instructions of a prophecy attributed to one Marcius.<ref>Livy [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0147:book=25:chapter=12 25.12].</ref> In the time of [[Augustus]], who considered himself under the special protection of Apollo and was even said to be his son, his worship developed and he became one of the chief gods of Rome.<ref>{{cite book |author=J. H. W. G. Liebeschuetz |title=Continuity and Change in Roman Religion |year=1979 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-814822-7 |pages=82–85 }}</ref>{{sfn|Freese|1911|p=185}}

After the [[Battle of Actium]], which was fought near a sanctuary of Apollo, Augustus enlarged Apollo's temple, dedicated a portion of the spoils to him, and instituted [[quinquennial]] games in his honour.<ref>[[Suetonius]], ''[[On the Life of the Caesars#Life of Augustus|Augustus]]'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Augustus*.html#18.2 18.2]; [[Cassius Dio]] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/51*.html#1 51.1.1–3].</ref> He also erected [[Temple of Apollo (Palatine)|a new temple]] to the god on the [[Palatine Hill|Palatine hill]].<ref>Cassius Dio [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/53*.html#1.3 53.1.3].</ref> Sacrifices and prayers on the Palatine to Apollo and [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]] formed the culmination of the [[Secular Games]], held in 17 BCE to celebrate the dawn of a new era.<ref>''[[Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae]]'' 5050, translated by {{cite book |last1=Beard |first1=Mary |author-link=Mary Beard (classicist) |last2=North |first2=John |last3=Price |first3=Simon |title=Religions of Rome: Volume 2: A Sourcebook |year=1998 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-45015-7|page=5.7b }}</ref>