Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/788

 7G8 ROMA. parallel to one another with common walls, the centre one being that of Jove, on each side those of Juno and Jlinerva. In Livy, however (vi. 4), Juno is represented as being in the same ccUa with Jupiter. But though the temple had tlu'ee cells, it had but one Jastiymm, or pediment, and a single roof. TEMPLE OF JUPITER CAPITOLINU.S. (From a Coin of Vespasian.) Now the first thing that strikes us on reading this description is, that the front being so ornamented, and the back so very plain, the temple must have stood in a situation where the former was very con- spicuous, whilst the latter was but little seen. Such a situation is afforded only by the NE. summit of the Capitoline. On this site the front of the temple, being turned to the south, would not only be visible from the forum, but would also present its best aspect to those who had ascended the Capitoline hill; whilst on the other hand, had it stood on the SW. summit, the front would not have been visible from the forum, and what is still worse, the temple would have presented only its nude and unadorned back to those who approached it by the usual and most important ascent, the Clivus Capitolinus. Such a state of things, in violation of all the rules which commonly regulate the disposition of public buildings, is scarcely to be imagined. We will now revert to Becker's objection respecting the AuiiA Capitolixa. It must be admitted that the dimensions of the temple would have allowed but little room for this area on the height of Araceli, especially as this must have contained other small temples and monuments, such as that of Jupiter Feretrius, &c. Yet the Area Capitolina, we know, was often the scene not only of public meetings but even of combats. There are very striking indications that this area was not confined to the height on which the temple stood, but that it occupied part at least of the extensive surface of lower ground lying between the two summits. One indication of this is the great lieight of the steps leading up to the vestibule of the temple, as shown by the story related by Livy of Annius, the ambassador of the Latins; wdio being rebuked by Maulius and the fathers for his insolence, rushed frantically from the vestibule, and falling down the steps, was either killed or rendered insen- sible (viii. 6). That there was a difference in the level of the Capitol may be seen from the account given by Paterculus of Scipio Nasica's address to the people in the sedition of the Gracchi. Standing apparently on the same lofty steps, — " ex superiore parte (7fyj«to?tt summis gradibus insistens" (ii. 3), — Nasica incited by his eloquence the senators and knights to attack Gracchus, who was standing in the area below, with a large crowd of his adherents, and who was killed in attempting to escape down the Clivus Capitolinus. The area must have been ROMA. of considerable size to hold the catervae of Gracchus; and the same fact is shown by several other passages in the classics (Liv. xxv. 3, xlv. 36, &c.). Now all these circumstances suit much better with a temple on the NE. summit than with one on the opposite height. An area in front of the latter, be- sides being out of the way for public meetings, would not have afforded sufficient space for them; nor would it have presented the lofty steps before de- scribed, nor the ready means of escape down the clivus. These, then, are the reasons why we deem the NE. summit the more probable site of the Capitoline temple. We have already mentioned that this fiimous temple was at least planned by the elder Tarquin; and according to some authors the foundation was completely laid by him (Dionys. iv. 59), and the building continued under Servius (Tac. Hist. iii. 72). However this may be, it is certain that it was not finished till the time of Tarquinius Superbus, who tasked the people to work at it (Liv. i. 56) : but the tyrant was expelled before it could be dedicated, which honour was reserved for M. Horatius Pulvillus, one of the first two consuls of the Republic (Polyb. iii. 22; Liv. ii. 8; Plut. Po/j/. 14). When the foundations were first laid it was necessary to exau- gurate the temples of other deities which stood upon the site destined for it; on which occasion Terminus and Juventas, who had altars there, alone refused to move, and it became necessary to enclose their shrines within the temple; a happy omen for the future greatness of the city! (Liv. v. 54; Dionys. iii. 69.) It is a well-known legend that its name of Capitolium was derived from the finding of a human head in digging the foundation (Varr. L. L. v. § 41, Milll.; Plin. xxviii. 4, &c.) The image of the god, originally of clay, was made by Turanius of Fregellae, and represented him in a sitting posture. The face was painted with vermilion, and ■ the statue was probably clothed in a tunica palmata and toga picta, as the costume was borrowed by triumphant generals. On the acroterium of the pediment stood a quadriga of earthenware, whose portentous swelling in the furnace was also re- garded as an omen of Home's future greatness (Plin. xxviii. 4; Plut. Popl. 13). The brothers C. & Q. Ogulnius subsequently placed a bronze quadriga with a statue of Jupiter on the roof; but this probably did not supersede that of clay, to which so much ominous importance was attached. The same aediles also presented a bronze threshold, and consecrated some silver plate in Jupiter's cella (Liv. x. 23; cf. Plant. Trill, i. 2. 46.) By degrees the temple grew ex- ceedingly rich. Camillus dedicated three golden paterae out of the spoils taken from the Etruscans (Liv. vi. 4), and the dictator Cincinnatus placed in the temple a statue oF Ju|)iter Imperator, which he had carried off from Praeneste (Id. vi. 29). At length the pediment and columns became so encum- bered with shields, ensigns, and other otttjrings that the censors M. Fulvius Nobilior and M. Aemilius Lepidus were compelled to rid the temple of these supei-fluous ornaments (Id. xl. 51). As we have before related, the original build- ing lasted till the year b. c. 83, when it was burnt down in the civil wars of Sulla, according to Tacitus by design (" privata fraude," Hist. iii. 72). Its restoration was undertaken by Sulla, and subse- quently confided to Q. Lutatius Catulus, not without the opposition of Caesar, who wished to obliterate the name of Catulus from the temple, and to substitute.