Re: Ancient Rome's Earliest [Augustan] Temple Reconstructed

On Mar 24, 5:01 pm, paradisel...@xxxxxxxxx (Poetic Justice) wrote:

<snip>
Also the 'Pal' reference, I just thought that that unnamed
source I mentioned was referring to the 'Palatium' the summit
in the SE corner of the Hill?

Older authors would have used "Palatium" to designate the
greater part of the Palatine; the Cermalus was thought to
comprise the far western portion of the hill. It has been known
for twenty or so years that the Palatium was the entire hill and
the Cermalus was the SW slope of the hill. BTW,_Palatium_
during the empire also indicated the residence of the emperor,
regardless of where in the empire he was residing.

But perhaps you could help with a site in the Comitium that I
have had no luck in identifying.

In searching it seems to fit the *later* (~193AD) location for
the 'Shrine of Janus Geminus?' <snip>

Also I read an online paper by an Associate Professor at
Harvard and published author, he said "The 'Shrine of Janus'
was *adjacent* to the 'Niger Lapis"? [I wish I saved the cite]

So what we seem to have is a concrete core (brick-faced) and
considering the high-profile location very likely marble-> faced.

And this was very likely a base for something? I doubt it was
a base for a statue, column, etc because it was surrounded by
a fence. Which would fit into the groove of the groundlevel
surrounding remains.

It is not known what this monument was, although various
identifications have been proposed. It may have been the
Temple of Janus Geminus, or a base for a quadriga of Honorius
and Arcadius. Below is my translation of Lugli's opinion:

"Before the facade of the Curia, at the corner of the Argiletum,
are four statue bases....
"This base could be associated with the small square area in the
Comitium, east of the_Lapis Niger_. In the center is a 2.05 x
3.10 m. brick socle which was originally covered with large slabs
of marble; surrounded by a paved platform and bounded by an
encasing transenna supported by small marble pilasters. The
position and the workmanship show that this is a work of the late
empire, and the plan suggests a quadriga or a group of sculptures,
such as the quadriga of Arcadius and Honorius, or the group of
Mars together with the founders erected by Maxentius. Boni
suggested the bronze she-wolf that since early times stood in
the Comitium; Hülsen to one of the columns associated with the
_decennalia_of the emperors (A.D. 303-304)."
-- G. Lugli,_Roma antica: il centro monumentale_(Rome, 1946),
126-7

In support of it being the site of the Temple of Janus is this:

"_Ianus Geminus_: ... When Domitian moved the ianus to the
Forum Transitorium, he rebuilt the Curia Iulia and repaved the
Argiletum, covering the place of the old Ianus Geminus. Later
a new temple of Ianus was built in front of the Curia, a small
square shrine entirely of bronze. It is this that Procopius
describes in some detail (_Bell Goth_1.25.18-23). He does not
tell us when it was built, but from Cassius Dio (74.14) it is clear
this was before A.D. 193. Traces of a small square enclosure
surviving on the pavement in front of the Curia, sometimes
identified as the place of the quadriga of Arcadius and Honorius
(cf. Nash 2.272), may be traces of it."
-- L. Richardson, Jr.,_NTDAR_(1992), 207-8

And to add to the confusion, here is the last paragraph of the
article on the Temple of Janus in the_Lexicon Topographicum
Urbis Romae_(again my translation):

"_Ianus Geminus, aedes_.... As to the topographical problem,
we must note that the sources agree that the building was in
the Forum, near the entrance of the_Curia_, between this and
the Basilica Aemilia, in the final stretch of the Argiletum. A
proposal (Coarelli) based on this locates the sacellum at the
corner of the Basilica Aemilia near the_Curia_, where one can
see a somewhat projecting brick mass resting on a travertine-
faced plinth. The plan and the size of the sanctuary of_I.G._
was repeatedly restored over time, while its original shape and
position was maintained from the archaic period until at least
the end of the sixth century A.D. The hypothesis of Richardson,
which would have the temple destroyed by an unattested
Domitianic reconstruction of the_curia Iulia_, does not seem
convincing. Difficult problems of interpretation arise based on
some of the literary evidence (Mart. 10.28.5; Macr._Sat._1.9.13;
Serv._Aen._7.607; Lyd._men._4.1) relating to a Temple of Janus
with four doors. These testimonies, which refer to the age of
Domitian, seem to imply that there was a transfer of the original
cult of Janus to a larger temple in the_Forum Transitorium_. The
name of_Ianus Quadrifrons_ assigned to the temple by some
authors (Platner-Ashby, Richardson), is a deduction perhaps
based on the fact that a statue of Janus with four faces, brought
to Rome from Falerii in 241 BC (Macr._l.c._), had been placed
within the building (Serv._l.c._). According to Bauer such a
temple should be recognized in the great foundation curve visible
at the edge of the southern Forum Transitorium behind the
Basilica Aemilia. The proposal, however, contains some doubtful
and contradictory elements (pointed out, moreover, by recent
excavations: Morselli-Tortorici) and requires at present much
investigation and confirmations." -- E. Tortorici, in_LTUR_3
(1996), 93

The archaeologists Cairoli Giuliani and Russell Scott show the
site pretty much as it is today in the "Digital Roman Forum"
project of the UCLA Cultural Virtual Reality Laboratory (CVR Lab).
ck on the website below, then select "Curia Iulia," then select the
view looking out from the porch of the Curia:
http://dlib.etc.ucla.edu/projects/Forum/search

<snip>
Is this fence a sacred boundary? I believe many temples had
them? If so, wouldn't a sacred shrine? Especially one so
exposed to the public, plus it would keep those dirty Plebs
from touching the shrine:).

A sacellum was technically an inaugurated_templum_.
Fences were used to demarcate sacred spaces.

Also as a side note see the old map photo; The 'Pits
(Doliola)' (Pozzi Rituali) are pretty unique. You can seen
them as dirt voids in the pavement. They were either 18 or
20ft in front of the Comitium's Rostra (based on
an early excavation). <snip>

What these pits were used for is not known. They almost
certainly had no religious purpose.

And one more just for fun?:).
A scholar give me a very educated guess on what this long
rectangular hole was on the Via in front of the Basilica Julia.
What do you think?
www.utexas.edu/courses/romanciv/romancivimages10/forumeast.jpg
http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/waymac/images/Rome/Daily%2020.jpg

You have me stumped. I know its not part of the system of
_cuniculi_beneath the pavement of the central area of the
Forum; but maybe it had a similar use?

Christopher Ingham






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