Temple of Venus and Rome

The temple of Venus and Rome is largest temple by its surface of the ancient Rome. It was built under Hadrian, between the old man Forum romanum and the Colisée. Put in building site into 121 at the beginning of the reign of Hadrian, the building was inaugurated only into 137, on April 21st, birthday day of the Fondation of Rome, and was completed under the reign of Antonin the Piles.

Structure and historical

It is a double temple, combining two temples coupled back with back, one dedicated to Venus Felix , mother of Enée, mythical ancestor of the Romans, the other with Roma Aeterna (eternal Rome). This double, original and new configuration in Rome even, existed already at the time in the East, for example in the temple of Zeus and Cybèle with Sardes.

The temple is built on the soft slope which goes down towards Colisée, on grounds which belonged to the Domus aurea of Néron. Besides it was necessary to move the Colosse of Néron to release desired space. Important a Remblai was necessary to compensate for a difference in level of 9 m and to form a rectangular terrace of 165 m out of 103 m, in the middle of which the 108 m temple itself long and broad was of 54m. Two double colonnades bordered the longest sides of the terrace.

Each temple is composed of a concealed closed, covered with a roof on frame and preceded by a gantry with four columns. The unit is surrounded by a colonnade of 10 columns in frontage, and 20 columns on side, according to the traditional shape of a temple hellenistic Périptère.

At the end of the 3rd century, the cellae were damaged by a fire, and were restored starting from 308 by Maxence, which remade the Abside S and a cover arched.

Religious role

This building was closely related to the celebration of the birthdays of Rome: dated April 21st as birthday of Rome each year at the time of the Palilia was celebrated. Antonin the Piles had celebrated the 900ème birthday in 148. The coins struck on this occasion showed the frontage décastyle of the temple highlighting the monument and the worship which was attached to him. The temple had become the best representation of the eternity of Rome. In 248, at the time of the celebration of the thousand-year-old of Rome the temple of Venus and Rome is undoubtedly the heart of the ceremonies. It acquired in the religious life of the city a fundamental role, it is, according to Michel Christol, the convenient point of reference for whom wants to summarize all the traditional Roman religion whose survival and maintenance seem a guarantee and a safeguard: the temple can pass to shelter the fortune of the city. On the currencies of Philippe the Arab celebrating the millenium of Rome, one sees a temple hexastyle, it could be a question of the representation simplified of the temple décastyle of Venus and Rome with the legend SAECULUM NOVUM (new century).

Actual position

The temple largely suffered from the destruction of the Middle Ages: the marbles were recovered or transformed in lime kilns. Remain the terrace, part of the granite columns of the peristyle which were raised and the apse with boxes which constituted the bottom of the concealed .

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