‘Templum’, says the first-century BC Roman writer Varro, is the name given to a place set aside and limited by certain formulaic words for the purpose of augury* or the taking of auspices. From this come our words ‘temple’ and ‘contemplate’, which refer to the sacred, demarcated zone of the temple, that which was within the augur’s range of vision, that which he ‘contemplated’. Where there is no temple, there is, strictly speaking, no ‘contemplation’. *augury: (in ancient Rome ) the art of or a rite conducted by an augur augur: a religious offical who observed and interpreted omens and signs