Tibur

Outside Tibur, on the Via Tiburtina through the Aniene gorge to Rome, stood the sanctuary of Hercules Victor, the greatest Italic shrine of the hero god. Hercules was the town's patron, worshipped as the warrior Invictus after victory over the Aequi and as protector of the quarries.

The complex was raised between the 160s and 82 BC, its terraces modelled on the sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia at Praeneste. The road passed through a vaulted via tecta, and the old bridge toll became offerings and tithes to the god.

Warehouses, banks, inns and an oracular pool made it a wealthy pilgrimage and market centre. The temple with its colossal Hercules statue and yellow roof was visible from Rome. Augustus often judged cases under its arcades, and the theatre was completed in his reign.