The Temple of Jupiter Stator in Carthago Nova and the Sertorian War

Abstract

Over twenty years ago, a late Republican temple dedicated to Jupiter Stator came to light on the outskirts of Cartagena (Murcia, Spain). The aim of this article is to demonstrate that there is a connection between this structure and the Sertorian War, as well as between the cult of Stator and the civil wars of the 1st cent. BCE. Moreover, this paper draws attention to some important aspects of the religious relationship between Rome and the provinces, such as the military background that seems to be consistently attached to the worship of Stator both in Italy and beyond, its close association with the fights between and subsequent coexistence of Romans and Sabines, and the role of this attribute of Jupiter in the civil struggles that characterized the end of the Roman Republic.