Book 6
2.6
Eryx, a lofty hill,Now Mt. San Giuliano. But Eryx is at the north-western angle of Sicily, near the sea, not in the interior and for this reason some editors consider the passage out of place. is also inhabited. It has a temple of Aphrodite that is held in exceptional honor, and in early times was full of female temple-slaves, who had been dedicated in fulfillment of vows not only by the people of Sicily but also by many people from abroad; but at the present time, just as the settlement itself,Also called Eryx. Hamilcar Barca transferred most of the inhabitants to Drepanum (at the foot of the mountain) in 260 B.C. After that time the city was of no consequence, but the sacred precinct, with its strong walls, remained a strategic position of great importance. so the temple is in want of men, and the multitude of temple-slaves has disappeared. In Rome, also, there is a reproduction of this goddess, I mean the temple before the Colline GateThe temple of Venus Erycina on the Capitol was dedicated by Q. Fabius Maximus in 215 B.C., whereas the one here referred to, outside the Colline Gate, was dedicated by L. Portius Licinus in 181 B.C. which is called that of Venus Erycina and is remarkable for its shrine and surrounding colonnade.
