Klasická Archeologie the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus in The

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Klasická Archeologie the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus in The Masarykova univerzita Filozofická fakulta Katedra archeologie a muzeologie Klasická archeologie Lukáš Surý The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus in the Archaic Age Bakalářská práce Vedoucí práce: PhDr. Elisabetta Gagetti, Dr. 2012 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………….. Author‘s signature Acknowledgement: I would like to give all my gratitude and thanks to my supervisor Dr. Elisabetta Gagetti, PhDr. for the most helpful advices, guiding and very kind approach to our cooperation. Contents Contents ............................................................................................................................. 4 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 5 1. The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus in the Ancient Literary Sources ................. 8 1.1 Anthology of ancient texts ......................................................................................... 15 2. The History of Studies and Excavations...................................................................... 24 3. Archaeological context of the area Capitolina ........................................................... 32 4. The Archaeological Remains of the Temple ............................................................... 38 4.1 Abstract of the catalogue of the remains ................................................................... 41 5. The Hypothetical Reconstruction and Elevation of the Temple .................................. 44 Conclusions ..................................................................................................................... 49 Summary .......................................................................................................................... 53 Shrnutí ............................................................................................................................. 53 Bibliography .................................................................................................................... 54 Documentation of images ........................................... Chyba! Záložka není definována. 4 Introduction The main purpose of this thesis is to bring some light on the subject of the scarce remains of the once great Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus in Rome, built in the Archaic pe- riod, and to acquaint the reader with the Temple‘s history, studies, excavations and new re- searches, including its hypothetical reconstruction. The most important temple in Rome, dedicated to the Capitoline Triad, originated on the southern hilltop of the Capitoline Hill, which is the proper Capitolium. A number of altars and shrines preceded the area of the Temple in the time of king Numa Pompilius, but after his victory over this Italic tribe of the Sabines, most of them were destroyed so as to give place to a new colossal structure celebrating the superior power of Etruscans and their intention to settle down in the political centre of the Latins, the city of Rome. The relationship between the size of the enormous building and the Capitolium is such that the latter appears as a natural ―pedestal‖ of the Temple, which in this way had to be visible from all the hills of the city. Tarquinius Priscus, the first king of the Etruscan dynasty, started the project of the building in the first quarter of the sixth century BC in its destined place with the help of augurs. During the reign of the king‘s successor, Servius Tullius, no activity related to the Capitoline Temple is mentioned. Subsequently, the third Etruscan king, Tarquinius Super- bus, resumed the construction, interrupted by the death of his father. Nevertheless he was not able to finish it due to his expulsion from Rome; this event brought the end of the mon- archy. The Temple was then inaugurated by the consul of the new born Roman republic Horatius Pulvillus. The dedication itself took place on September 13th 509 BC. The most probable look of the Temple was hexastyle and also araeostylum refer- ring to its widely spaced intercolumniations. It was built on a high podium and its meas- ures were about 62 meters in length and with the width of 53 meters, that was just slightly less than the length. The building faced south and had three rows of columns in the front and one on each side. According to the typical Etrusco-Italic temple architecture, it was sine postico. It had three parallel cellae, separated by walls, but sheltered under one single pitched roof. The three cellae belonged to: Juno (the left one), Jupiter Optimus Maximus (in the centre) and Minerva (the right one). 5 In the central cella there was the cult statue of Jupiter, made in clay. The god was depicted in a seated position, with a lightning in his right hand. The author of the statue was Vulca of Veii, who also created the terracotta quadriga with Jupiter, which was placed on the top of the roof. In the following years of the Roman republic the Temple was mostly shrouded in mystery. It was destroyed by a wild fire three times – in the years 83 BC, AD 69 and 80. However, it was always rebuilt, but with slight changes in the columns and its elevation. The final plundering began in the fifth century AD during the raid of Vandals who did not leave out any temple from their grasp. Afterwards, the Temple of Jupiter was forgotten and we posses no information or clue of what happened to the building during the Middle Ages. In the Renaissance, only remains of the podium were still visible, but in this very time started a new trend of interest in antiquity, which led, in the field of archaeology and topography, to search for the still surviving remains. These new excavations took place over the centuries until the recent years and still continue. I decided to divide my work about the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus into the fol- lowing five chapters: Ancient literary sources, History of studies and excavations, Archaeological context of the area Capitolina, Archaeological remains of the Temple and its hypothetical reconstruction in plan and elevation. In the first one I would like to outline the Temple‘s history since its origins in the sixth century BC to the sack of Rome by the Vandals, on the basis of the literary sources, mostly ancient historians, relying upon what they noted about the Temple and even upon what they saw themselves. The second chapter should focus on the information I collected about the studies and excavations made since the end of the Middle Ages until the present; followed by the one about the geomorphologic context of the area Capitolina, the Capitoline Hill and the presence of the possible surroundings. The archaeological remains will be the subject of penultimate chapter, mapping the excavation site, the materials used for the podium and the walls and resuming old and new discoveries. 6 The content of the last chapter is going to be an attempt to bring some light on the recent hypothetical reconstruction of the Temple and its elevation, supplemented with pic- ture documentation. 7 1. The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus in the An- cient Literary Sources1 The origins of the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill are dated back to the times of the reigns of the Etruscan kings, Tarquinius Priscus and Tarquinius Superbus. Since then we can only rely on mentions by some ancient authors to gain knowl- edge on how the temple was built, its style, historical and other related events. In the literary tradition, if the elder version, which even concludes in Romulus or Numa Pompilius being the founders of the Capitoline Temple, is overlooked, the vow of constructing the temple was made by Tarquinius Priscus, when the king was fighting against Sabines2. He ruled since 616 BC and had great merits in urbanization works such as the construction of sewers for the drainage of the marshes and the recovery of the asso- ciated valley. In order to identify the locus dignior aptiorque3 for the construction site, Tarquinius Priscus finally decided which part of the Capitoline Hill‘s top he would use for laying the foundations. Historians report that in the intended area for the building already existed rit- ual shrines and altars. Most of them dated back to Sabine-Roman conflicts and had been dedicated by the Sabine king Titus Tatius and also by Numa4: as they had to be destroyed, there was a need to call for an exaugury5. The remains, related to the oldest cults that stood still untouched in the destined place, were: templum6, arae7, fana sacellaque deorum8. 1 All the passages are quoted in extenso at the end of the present chapter. For the collection of the ancient sources see Tagliamonte, Gianluca. Iuppiter Optimus Maximus Capitolinus, aedes, templum, (fino all‘83 a.C.). In Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae, ed. by E.M. Steinby. Vol. 3. Roma: Quasar, 1996.; Cifani, G., L’architettura romana arcaica. Edilizia e società tra Monarchia e Repubblica, Roma: ―L‘Erma‖ di Bretschneider, 2008, p. 81-82. 2 Cic. Rep. 2.20.36 [infra, text no. 1]; Liv. 1.38.7 [infra, text no. 2] and 1.55.2 [infra, text no. 3]; D. H. 3.69.1 [infra, text no. 4] and 4.59.1 [infra, text no. 5]; Plut. Publ. 14.1 [infra, text no. 6]; Tac. Hist. 3.72 [infra, text no. 7]. 3 The translation could be ―a place that possessed dignity‖. 4 Varr. L. 5.74 [infra, text no. 8]. 5 From the Latin term exauguratio. It is the act of taking away from a place or thing the sacred character, which
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