Carmental Gate

It was named for a nearby shrine to the goddess or nymph Carmenta,[1] whose importance in early Roman religion is also indicated by the assignment of one of the fifteen flamines to her cult, and by the archaic festival in her honor, the Carmentalia.

It was unlucky to leave the city through the arch called Porta Scelerata ("Accursed Gate"), which was supposed to have been named for the military disaster at Cremera in 479 or 478 BC, since the 306 Fabii who died had departed through it.

[6] The temples of Mater Matuta,[7] Fortuna, [7] Juno Sospita, and Spes were located nearby, the later two at the Forum Olitorium, Rome's vegetable market.

[8] The Carmental Gate was rebuilt by Domitian and topped with a sculpture group of a triumphal chariot drawn by elephants, to celebrate his campaign against the Sarmatians and the Marcomanni.

[12] Livy names the Carmental Gate as the point of entry for a ritual procession undertaken in 207 BC as part of an expiatory sacrifice for Juno.