Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/853

 EOMA. erected. On the Forum Olitorium also stood the CoLUMNA Lactaria, SO called because childi-en were provided with milk at that spot. (PatJ. Diac. p. 118.) The supposition that there was likewise a Forum Piscarium in this neighbour- hood rests only on a doubtful reading in Varro. (Z,. /.. V. § 146.) The Campus Flaminius began at an early period to be occupied with temples and other public build- ings. One of the most ancient and renowned of the former was the Temple of Apollo. The site appears to have been sacred to that deity from very earlv times, and was called Afollin.vre, probably from some altar which stood there. (Liv. iii. 63.) The temple was dedicated in b. c. 430, in conse- quence of a vow made with the view of averting a pestilence. (Liv. iv. 25, 29.) It remained down to the time of Augustus the only temple of Apollo at Rome, and must have been of considerable size, since the senate frequently assembled in it. It lay between the Forum Olitorium and Circus Fla- minius, or, according to Pliny's designation, which amounts to the same thing, close to the Porticus Octaviae. (Ascon. ad Cic. in Tog. Cand. p. 90, brell.; Plin. xxsvi. 5. s. 34.) Anothi'r celebrated and important temple was the Aedes Bellonae, since it was the chief place for assemblies of the senate when it was necessary for them to meet outside of the jx^noerium ; as, for instance, when generals cum imperio were soliciting them for a triumph, for the reception of foreign ambassadors whom it was not advisable to admit into the city, and other similar occasions. Close to it was one of the three Senacula mentiur.ed by Festus (j). 347). The temple of Bellona is said to have been built in pursuance of a vow made by Appius Claudius Caecus, in the battle against the Etruscans, b. c. 297 (Liv. x. 19); but accord- ing to Pliny (xxxv. 3) it was built by Appius Claudius Regillensis two centuries earlier, who placed the images of his forefathers in it, b. c. 494; in which case the vow of Appius Claudius Caecus must have been accomplished by restoring the former temple. In front ol' the temple lay a small area, on which stood the Columna Bellica, so called because it was the spot whence the Fetialis threw a lance in the ceremony of declaring war. When the war with Pyrrhus broke out this custoin could not be observed in the usual manner by throwing the lance into the enemy's country ; where- fore, a captured soldier of Pyrrhus's was made to buy a piece of ground near the temple, which symbolised the territory of the enemy; and into this the lance was flung on all subsequent occasions of declaring War against a people whose country lay beyond the Bea. (SeiT. ad Aen. ix. 53.) This custom was observed as late as the time of Marcus Aurelius. (Dion Cass. Ixxi. 33.) There are two pdints in dispute about this temple ; first, whether the area containing the Colunina Bellica .stood before or behind it ; and secondly, whether the temple itself stood at the eastern or western end of the Circus P'laminius; which latter question also concerns the site of the temple of Hercules Custo.s, as will be seen from the following lines of Ovid (Fast. vi. 206) : — " Prospicit a templo summum brevis area Circum: Est ibi non parvac pai-va columna notae. Hinc solet hasta manu, belli praenuntia, mitti. In regeiTi et gentes quum placet arma capi. Altera pars Circi custode sub Ilercule tuta est Quod deus Euboico carmine munus habet." VOL. II. ROMA. 833 In the first line Becker (Handb. p. 607) re.ids " a tergo," with Merkel, in.stead of " a templo," which is the reading of Heinsius, and of most editions, and tlius places the area behind the temple. But this was not the usual situation for an area, and there is express authority that the column stood before the temple. (Paul. Diac. p. 33; Serv. I. c, where Becker admits that we should read '• ante aedem " for "ante pedem.") The other point respecting the site of the temple depends on whether " summus circus " means the part where the carceres were, or the circular end. Becker adopts the former meaning, and consequently places the temple of Bellona at the eastern end of the circus, and that of Hercules Custos at the western end. Urlichs reverses this order, and quotes in support of his view Salmasius, ad Solin. p. 639, A.: " Pars circi, ubi metae ultimae superior dicitur; inferior ad carceres." (Antw. p. 31.) This is a point that is not altogether established ; but Becker's view seems in this case the more probable one, as will appear a little further on, when we come to treat of the Villa Publica. The Circus Flaminius itself, which will be described in another section, lay under the Capitol, on which side its carceres were, and extended in a westerly direction towards the river. Between it and the theatre of Marcellus lay the Porticus Octaviae, — which must be carefully distinguished from the Porticus Octavia, built by Cn. Octavius, — enclosing Temples of Jupitkr Stator and Juno. This portico occupied the site of a former one built by Q. Caecilius Jletellus, after his Macedonian tri- umph, and called after him Porticus Metelli. It seems most probable that the two temples before alluded to were in existence before the time when Metellus erected his portico ; but the notices on this subject in ancient authors are obscure and contra- dictory. (Becker, Handb. p. 608, seq.) There can be no doubt, however, that the Porticus Oc- taviae superseded that of Metellus. (Plin. xxxiv. 14 ; cf. Plut. C. Gracch. 4.) It was elected by Augustus, and dedicated in the name of his sister ; but at what date is uncertain. (Suet. Aug. 29 ; Ov. A. A. iii. 391.) It contained a library, which was destroyed m the great fire in the reign of Titus, with all its literary treasures. (Dion Cass, xlix. 43, Ixvi. 24; ^vrnt. III. Gramm. 2 .) This library was probably in the part called the " Schola in porticibus Octaviae," and, like the Palatine library, was sometimes used for assemblies of the senate. (Plin. xxxv. 10. s. 114, xxxvi. 5, s. 22. s. 28; Dion Cass. Iv. 8.) Hence, it was even called Octavia Curia, and sometimes Octaviae Opera. The church of S. Angela in Pescaria now stands opposite to its principal entrance towards the river. Close to the Porticus Octaviae, on its western side, lay the Porticus Philippi, enclosing a tem- ple of Hercules Musaru.m. This temple was built by M. Fulvius Nubiiior, the conqueror of the Aetolians (Cic. p. Arch. 11), and rebuilt by L. Mar- cius Philijipus, the step-father of Augustus, who also surrounded it with the portico. (Suet. Aug. 29.) The name nf the temple does not signify, as Becker supposes (Handb. p. 613), that it was dedicated to Hercules (md.c Muses, but to Hercules as leader of the Muses (Moi/(Ta7eT7js), the genitive, Muiurimi, depending on Hercules, as appears from coins of the Gens Pomponia, where he is repre.sented in that character, with the legend hkrc^vlk.s musa-. RVM, as well as from an inscription in Gruler (miss. 3n