The great public rituals of a city are particularly important. (firstthings.com)
The few steps from this public entrance space to the main gallery doubled as a journey from public ritual to the private realm of the body. (lehmannmaupin.com)
The buildings and statues were not static but dynamic in the consciousness of the inhabitants of the first - century world, they were places about which regular public rituals, processions, sacrifices, and feasts would be centred, in which all members of the community would often to some extent be involved. (religion-online.org)