In the ancient religion of Roman paganism, practitioners often performed their worship at a temple. Sacrifices would take place at an altar outside the temple, as this meant any mess was easier to clean up, and the ceremony could be attended by many. Roman temples were not large and were basically houses for cult statues which were kept in the main room, called the cella.

The cella may also have a small altar for burning incense. Behind the cella was a room or rooms used by the attendants for storage of equipment and offerings. At the temples, Romans prayed and made ritual worship offerings of a small gift or animal sacrifices to their Roman Gods, the most common 12 are as follows: The Romans used the Latin word fanum meaning "sacred precinct" for other cult sites that did not contain a temple, such as the early sacred site of the grove of Diana Nemorensis ("Diana of Nemi") and 'temples' of divinities other than those traditionally revered by their native paganism, the state religion.

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