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The goddess of agriculture, Ceres is also known as the Greek Demeter. Her cult was introduced to Ancient Rome on 496 BCE, in the occasion of a drought.

Dictator Lucius Postumius, after consulting Sibylline books, vowed a temple to Greek Demeter, Dionysius, and Kore near the west end of the Circus Maximus on the Aventine hill, probably near the junction of modern Vicolo di S. Sabina and Via S. Maria in Cosmedin, in order to bring abundance to the city. The temple was built and dedicated in 493 BCE by consul Spurius Cassius to Ceres, Liber, and Libera, with whom the three Greek deities were identified.

The temple was araeostyle, with columns of the Tuscan order, and the fastigium was decorated with statues of gilded bronze or terracotta of Etruscan workmanship. The walls of the cella was decorated with frescoes and reliefs by two Greek artists, Gorgasus and Damophilus. This temple, called by Cicero pulcherrimum et magnificentissimum (greatly beautiful and magnificent), was enriched by many artworks, such as golden bows and statues. It contained a bronze statue of Ceres, said to have been the first one made in Rome; and a painting of Baccus that was brought from Corinth by Mummius.

Her temple was placed under the care of the plebeian aediles because the worshippers were almost exclusively plebeian people. The fines which the plebeian aediles imposed went to the shrine of Ceres, as did the property of those who had offended against them or against the tribunes of plebs. It was the headquarters and the official residence of the plebeian aediles�, and the repository of their archives. Copies of the senatus consulta were also deposited there after 449 BCE. The temple was also a center of distribution of food to the poor. It was called by ordinary people aedes Cereris or just aedes.

The temple was burned down in 31 BCE and rebuilt by Augustus, and dedicated by Tiberius in 17 CE, and was still standing on the fourth century CE.

There were great games introduced at the founding of the Temple of Ceres, called Cerealia.

After 191 BCE, a feast called ieiunium Cerelis was introduced, and happened every four years. Although, in the later times, it was kept annually on the October 4^th.

Ceres was still worshipped by Italian countrymen after the end Ancient Rome. The offered Ceres a sow before the beginning of the harvest, and dedicated to her the first cuttings of the corn.

Reference:
� The Perseus Project