Elagaballium

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The Elegaballium was a temple built by the Roman emperor Elegabalus, who reigned from 218 AD to 222 AD.

The temple was a colonnaded structure some 70 metres by 40 metres, in front of the Flavian Amphitheatre, within a colonnaded enclosure. The temple platform still exists, and is visible at the north-east corner of the Palatine Hill. Elegabalus was Syrian by birth; the original name of his god was El-Gabal. This god was personified in a black stone, described by Herodian as "rounded at the base and coming to a point at the top" which speculation suggests may have been a meteorite.

The temple was later re-dedicated to Jupiter Ultor (Jupiter the Avenger). A second temple to the god El-Gabal was built where the church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme now stands. While the emperor used the building as a platform to distribute largesse to the masses, within the building he performed rituals said to involve human sacrifice.

Reference

Cassius Dio LXXX.11

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