Wederath - Temple district

Four large-scale Roman temple districts testify to worship in Belginum.
One of the temple districts was discovered during extensive road works in the western part of the Roman settlement.
Typical of religious architecture at the time is the Umgangstempel / Romano-Celtic / colonnaded ambulatory temple. In the centre, surrounded by a 17 metre square walkway stood the 10m high tower-like cella.
Another temple stood to the east; small, square and 4 metres in height. To the southwest altar foundations were excavated. A perimeter wall, measuring 120 by 70 metres, surrounded the religious district. Finds from the temple district provide evidence of activity here between the 1st and 4th century A.D.
The landscape of Antiquity was characterized by numerous temple districts, in which Roman, Celtic, Romano-Celtic and eventually even oriental gods were worshiped. Central to worship   ritual was the sacrifice made on an altar. Bloodless sacrifices would have been crops, wine or frankincense. Among the bloody sacrifices was the ritual killing of animals. The sacrifice took place in the centre of the shrines, mostly on the altar of the relevant god or goddess. 
The sacrifice was complete when further possibility of human use had been exhausted, for example by burning.
Of particular note are the two Iron knifes found in the northernmost temple district which may have been used to cut up the animals for sacrifice. They may also have been used to divide up the sacrificial cakes.
Tempelbezirk 2
The north of the temple district is bordered by another shrine. At the end of the 1st century A.D. a huge and prestigious temple with stone columns and a tiled roof was erected here.  In order to create sufficient space for the construction of this temple the terrain, which fell away towards the north, had to be stabilized with up to 2m of infill. It is suspected that temple construction had to be systematically stopped during the 3rd century A.D.
Also remarkable are the huge quartzite blocks in the area of the temple construction, which originally protruded from the old surface. It is thought that these blocks, threaded with iron veins, formed the starting point of the shrine.
Tempelbezirk 4
The 4th temple district, in the very east of the settlement, yielded no trace of buildings but numerous finds indicate that another shrine stood here.
The highlights are an altar stone and the inscription in honour of the goddess Epona, tutelary goddess of the carters, one of the most important gods of the Treverians.
It is not known which other gods were worshiped in the numerous temples used by the inhabitants of the vicus and passing travellers as neither statues nor inscriptions have survived.

[Martin Thoma]