Restructuring the Fasti Capitolini

by ELISABETH NEDERGAARD

The inscriptions of the so-called Fasti Capitoli- A key fragment ni are distributed on four Doric pilasters and On February121h 1876 a large marble block was on four tablets set in a Corinthian framing.' retrieved from the ruins in front of the temple The pilasters contain the fasti triurnphales and of Antoninus and Faustina in the Roman Fo- comprise all triumphators from Romulus (753 rum (Fig. 1). The block was immediately recog- B.C.) to L. Cornelius Balbus (19 BC). The fasti nized as belonging to the Fasti Capitolini. The consulares, the consular lists, are written in two handwritten reports of the excavations in the columns in each tablet. The consular lists end in 13 AD, the year before the death of the em- Forum in the 1870s make this very clear. 2 Less peror Augustus. The two lists belong to one and clear is the actual context in which the frag- the same monument. Part of this monument ment was found. From the reports of both the was found and destroyed in the Roman Forum 9th and the 141 of February 1876 it appears in 1546. The inscriptions were saved and are that in this period a large number of workmen now displayed in the Musei Capitolini (Palazzo were employed in removing some sort of wall dei Conservatori, Sala della Lupa). ("muro di cinta") built in front of the Temple of When the monument to which the inscrip- Antoninus and Faustina. It is well known that tions belong was conceived, no space was re- all post-Roman remains were mercilessly re- served for further triumphs, whereas the con- moved in the large scale excavations of the tinuation of civil life was marked by adding the 1870s. 4 The report of the 121h of February names of the consuls or other significant mag- mentions 19 workmen and two "scalpellini" istrates of each year in the last column of the working in front of the Temple of Antoninus fourth tablet of the fasti consulares. Remark- and Faustina, the latter two and a couple of ably enough, the space left open for this pur- pose turned out to be insufficient, and when the workers being occupied with removing the tablet was full, the inscriptions were con- three inscribed marble blocks from the exca- tinued on the wall to the right of this. Four vation area for subsequent cleaning, one of fragments of this so-called "fifth tablet" sur- which being the above mentioned fragment vive, one of which is of particular interest. of the Fasti Capitolini t The author of the re-

I. The preserved fragments are carefully published in A. 5. Scavi at Foro Romano, 12. Febbraio 1876 (above, n. 2): Degrassi, Inscriptiones Italiae XIII, 1, fasc. 1-2 (1947): "Si è lavorato in questo giorno di fronte al tempio di An- 1-142, tabb. I-LIV. tonino e Faustina con No 19 Operai, uno dei quali fece 2. Archivio dello Stato (EUR), Busta 104, fasc. 135-5 (Scavi 0,75, ed i due scalpellini 0,50 di giornata per ciascuno al Foro Romano fra II Tempio di Antonino e Faustina e come appresso. Numo diciassette lavoranti vennero im- quello di Giulio Cesare), 12. Febbraio 1876 and Busta piegati al taglio delle terre e carico delle medesime sui 104, fasc. 135-6 (Angelo Pellegrini's Specchio Generals di carri dell'Impresa Stradella e Bonchetti, i due scalpellini ritrovanienti fatti negli Scavi di Rome e del suo Suburba- con alcuni dci suddetti lavoranti nell'allontanare dallo no). scavo tre marmi con iscrizioni, e quindi pulirli come 3. Archivio dello Stato (EUR), Busta 104, fasc. 135-5 (Scavi 5000 qui in fine. I carri fecero i seguenti viaggi. carro No at Foro Romano fra It Tenipio di Anton mo e Faustina e 39 viaggi No 8 Carro No 8 viaggi No 8 Cano No 20 viaggi No queue di Giulio Cesare), 9. Febbraio 1876, 14. Febbraio 7 in totale fecero viaggi No 23. Si rinvennero nello scavo 1876. [ ... ] (149) Marmo. Frammento dci fasti Consolari, ove ye- 4. For the excavations in general, see P. Rosa, Sulle scoperte dendosi scolpiti i norm dei consoli ordinani, che suffetti archeologiche della città e provincia di Roma negli anni nel periodo di anni sei dal 2 al 7 inclusive dell'era volgare 1871-72 (Rome, 1873). 755-60 di Roma, [.1"