The Hexastyle Temple of Caligula:

The Temple of Divus Augustus - The Temple Apollo Palatinus - The Temple of Concord?

by Joe Geranio

A building mentioned by Tacitus: The temple of the deified Augustus, an undertaking for dynastic reasons alone, Tiberius must have felt himself committed, and which he did bring to fruition before his death in 37 A.D. For years the "Caligula sacrificing before hexastyle temple has been identified as the temple of "DIVVS Augustus" the area of the temple lays in the unexplored area to the south of the Basilica Julia. No remains of it have been recorded, but it is usually identified as an Ionic hexastyle building which figures prominently on the coinage of Caligula. A less generally accepted, but not unattractive, suggestion is that the buildings on the coins is the temple of Apollo Palatinus, another building which has very close associations with Augustus; and that for the temple of DIVUS Augustus we have to look to a coin type which makes its appearance during the last few years of Tiberius ' life, between 34-37 and which is usually interpreted as a representation of the Temple of Concord. What the conventional view leaves unexplained is why the latter building, in A.D. 12 , should have been so singled out for representation a quarter of a century later; nor can there be much doubt that the Ionic treatment of the facade of the temple featured on Caligulan coins accords better of what we know of somewhat experimental architecture of the early years of Augustus ' reign than what we know of the tastes of the ageing Tiberius. The accepted type for the temple is not without its difficulties, but I think this should be looked further into.

The Temple of Concord in the ancient city of Rome was a temple dedicated to the Roman goddess Concordia at the western end of the Roman Forum. The temple was vowed in 367 BC by Marcus Furius Camillus but was not actually built until 167 BC.[1] It was destroyed and restored multiple times in its history, and its final restoration, between 7 and 10 AD under the future Roman Emperor Tiberius, is described in Pliny the Elder 's Natural History. In approximately 1450 AD the temple was razed and turned into a lime-kiln to recover the marble for building.

Roman literature states that it was first vowed by Marcus Furius Camillus in 367 BC to commemorate the Leges Liciniae Sextiae of Lucius Sextius Lateranus and the resulting reconciliation between the patricians and plebians after the Aventine Secession.

It was a frequent focus for fostering harmony in the Roman state, both through its first rebuilding in 121 BC (after the murder of Gaius Gracchus), and through its occasional use for meetings of the Senate, especially in times of civil disturbance (Cicero delivered his fourth Catilinarian oration here).

It was again restored between 7 and 10 AD by Tiberius as Augustus 's heir, to better use the limited available area on the site. He probably rededicated it in AD 12. This restoration was distinguished by its opulent marble and rich architectural ornamentation, and Tiberius 's housing of numerous Greek paintings, sculpture and other works of art there (listed in Pliny 's Natural History), making it something akin to an art museum.

Backed up against the Tabularium at the foot of the Capitoline Hill, the architecture had to accommodate the limitations of the site. The cella of the temple, for instance, is almost twice as wide (45m) as it is deep (24m), as is the pronaos. In the cella a row of Corinthian columns rose from a continuous plinth projecting from the wall, which divided the cella into bays, each containing a niche. The capitals of these columns had pairs of leaping rams in place of the corner volutes. Only the platform now remains, partially covered by a road up to the Capitol.

Temple of Concord, Reconstruction.

This gives a good idea where the Temple of Concord is in relation to BASILICA IULIA.

Artist rendering of the Temple of Concord, VROMA.org

All that remains today of the Temple of Concord.

Traditionally vowed in 367 BC to commemorate the reconciliation between patricians and plebeians, the Temple of Concord was rebuilt in 121 BC to foster harmony after the murder of Gracchus. It was restored during the reign of Augustus by Tiberius, who probably rededicated the Temple in AD 12. The restoration was distinguished by its opulent marble and rich architectural ornamentation. In the cella, which is the central chamber or sanctuary of a temple, a row of Corinthian columns, the capitals of which had pairs of leaping rams in place of the corner volutes, was raised on a continuous plinth projecting from the wall, which divided the cella into bays, each containing a niche. Such was the wealth of fine Greek sculpture, paintings, and other works of art that the Temple seems to have been a museum. It also was used for meetings of the Senate, especially in times of civil disturbance.

Backed up against the Tabularium at the foot of the Capitoline Hill, the architecture had to accommodate the limitations of the site. The cella of the temple, for instance, was almost twice as wide as it was deep, as was the pronaos (the columnar porch in front of the cella approached by the stairs). Here, only the foundation remains, a mound of rubble below the arched loggia of the Tabularium. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/romanforum/concord.html

THE TEMPLE OF APOLLO ON THE PALATINE- Very close to Augustus ' private residence- http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/233

Temple of Apollo remains and reconstructions- vroma.org

Temple of Apollo on the Palatine remains and column. Photo Elissa

The Temple of Apollo Palatinus (Palatine Apollo) was a temple on the Palatine Hill of ancient Rome, which was first dedicated by Augustus to his patron god Apollo. It was only the second temple in Rome dedicated to the god, after the Temple of Apollo Sosianus. It was sited next to the Temple of Cybele.

It was vowed by Octavian in return for the victory over Sextus Pompeius at the Battle of Naulochus in 36 BC and over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium 31 BC, and was built on a site where a lightning bolt had struck the interior of Augustus ' property on the Palatine. It was dedicated on October 9 of 28 BC. The ludi saeculares, reinstituted by Augustus in 17 BC and also largely developed and funded by him, involved the new temple.

Augustus ' private house was directly connected to the terrace of the sanctuary via frescoed halls and corridors. This tight connection between the sanctuary and the house of the princeps, both dominating the Circus Maximus, repeated a trope already present in royal palaces of Hellenistic dynasties.

The remains of the building were excavated in the 1960s by Gianfilippo Carettoni, in an area sloping steeply down towards the Circus Maximus. The temple 's precinct (the area Apollinis) was an artificial terrace (70 x 30 m), supported on opus quadratum sub-structures. It contained an altar faced with the sculptural group "Myron 's Herd", sited together on an elaborate base. In the northern part of this terrace the temple was raised on a high podium, built in blocks of tufa and travertine in the load-bearing parts and elsewhere in cement. The temple itself was in blocks of Carrara marble, with a pronaos as well as a facade of full columns on the front and the same order continued on half columns against the outside walls of the cella.

In the excavations different polychromatic terracotta slabs were recovered with reliefs of mythological subjects (of the "lastre Campana" type).

The adjoining library (bibliotheca Apollinis), according to the Forma Urbis Romae, was constituted from two apsidal halls, with the walls decorated by a row of columns.

WHAT TEMPLE IS SHOWN ON THE CALIGULA SESTERTIUS AND THE TIBERIUS SESTERTIUS?

GAIUS (CALIGULA). 37-41 AD. Æ Sestertius (27.08 g, 7h). Rome mint. Struck 37-38 AD. C CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS P M TR POT, PIETAS in exergue, Pietas seated left on stool, holding patera in extended left hand and resting right forearm on small draped figure standing facing on basis / DIVO AVG above S C across field, Gaius, toga draped over his head, standing left, holding patera over garlanded altar; victimarius standing facing, holding bull for sacrifice; second attendant standing behind Gaius, holding a patera on either side; garlanded hexastyle temple of Divus Augustus in background, pediment decorated with sacrificial scene; triumphal quadriga and Victories as acroteria, statues of Romulus and Aeneas along roof line. RIC I 36; BMCRE 41; BN 51; Cohen 9.

Courtesy Nathan Hocherin

TIBERIUS. 14-37 AD. Æ Sestertius (28.50 gm). Rome mint. Struck 36-37 AD. The Temple of Concordia: Concordia seated left on throne, holding patera and sceptre, above altar within hexastyle façade set on podium; entrance flanked by statues of Hercules and Mercury; pediment decorated with statues of Jupiter, Juno, Minerva, and Victories in acroteria; wings of transverse cella with windows behind; pediments decorated with statues / Legend around large S C. RIC I 67; MIR 2, 58-4; BMCRE 133; Cohen 70 corr. (Temple of Divus Augustus).

TIBERIUS. 14-37 AD. Æ Sestertius (27.19 gm, 6h). Rome mint. Struck 35-36 AD. The Temple of Concordia: Concordia seated left on throne, holding patera and sceptre, above altar within hexastyle façade set on podium; entrance flanked by statues of Hercules and Mercury; pediment decorated with statues of Jupiter, Juno, Minerva, and Victories in acroteria; wings of transverse cella with windows behind; pediments decorated with statues / Legend around large S C. RIC I 61; BMCRE 116; Cohen 69.

The Temple of Concordia at the northern end of the Forum in Rome was unusual in that its width was greater than its length. We do not know precisely when the temple was originally built, but its unorthodox design was likely due to space limitations. The temple was restored after the revolt of the Gracchi in 121 BC, and again under Tiberius in 10 AD. CNG

 
Sestertius 36-37, Æ 25.36 g. Hexastyle temple with flanking wings; statue of Concordia seated within, holding patera in r. hand and cornucopiae in l.; on either side of the temple, Hercules and Mercury standing on podium. Jupiter, Juno, Minerva, Victories and other figures above pediment. Rev. TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVST P M TR POT XXXIIX around S C. C 70. BMC 133. RIC 67. CBN 119.

Joe Geranio
Julio Claudian Iconographic Association

References:

Perkins, John- Roman Imperial Architecture- from text: pg 46
Geranio, Joe- Portraits of Caligula: The Seated Figure? Pg. 44
More on the importance of the Temple of Concord: https://tinyurl.com/ry58w7e
More Ancient References to Temple of Concord: https://tinyurl.com/sjxf4tv

Concordia, aedes: a temple to Concord on the arx, vowed probably by the praetor L. Manlius in 218 B.C. after he had quelled a mutiny among his troops in Cisalpine Gaul (Liv. XXII.33.7; cf. XXVI.23.4). It was begun in 217 and dedicated on 5th February, 216 (Liv. XXIII.21.7; Hemerol. Praen. ad Non. Feb., Concordiae in Arce;1 CIL I2 p233, 309; p138Fast. Ant. ap. NS 1921, 86, Concordiae in Capitolio; Hermes 1875, 288; Jord. I.2.112). It was probably on the east side of the arx, and overlooked the great temple of Concord below.

Concordia, aedicula: * a bronze shrine of Concord erected by the aedile, Cn. Flavius, in 304 B.C. in Graecostasi and in area Volcani. It stood therefore on the Graecostasis (q.v.), close to the great temple of Concord, and must have been destroyed when this temple was enlarged by Opimius in 121 B.C. Flavius vowed this shrine in the hope of reconciling the nobility who had been outraged by his publication of the calendar, but as no money was voted by the senate, he was forced to construct the building out of the fines of condemned usurers 'summa nobilium invidia ' (Liv. IX.46; Plin. NH XXXIII.19; Jord. I.2.339).

Concordia, aedes:º a temple said by Ovid to have been built by Livia (Fast. VI.637‑638: te quoque magnifica, Concordia, dedicat aede Livia quam caro praestitit ipsa viro). The description of the Porticus Liviae (q.v.) follows immediately, and it is probable therefore that the temple was close to or within the porticus, but the small rectangular structure marked on the Marble Plan (frg. 10) can hardly have been a temple deserving of the epithetmagnifica (HJ 316). There is no other reference to the temple.

Concordia Nova: a temple voted by the senate in 44 B.C. in honour of Caesar (Cass. Dio XLIV.4: νεών τε Ὁμονοίας Καινῆς ὡς καὶ δι᾽ αὐτοῦ εἰρηνοῦντες οἰκοδομῆσαι ἔγνωσαν. It is not certain that it was ever built.

Concordia, aedes, templum: (Act. Arv. LVI, Plin. NH XXXIV.73, 80, 89, 90; XXXVI.196, Serv. Aen. II.116, Notitia), delubrum (Plin. XXXV.66; XXXVII.4): a temple at the north-west corner of the forum, said to have been vowed by L. Furius Camillus in 367 B.C. during the disturbances that took place over the passage of the Licinian laws. Its erection was voted by the people immediately after their enactment (Ov. Fast. I.641‑644; Plut. Cam. 42). It stood between the Volcanal and the foot of the Capitoline (Ov. cit. 637‑638; Act. Arv. passim; Serv. Aen. II.116; Stat. Silv. I.1.31; Plut. Cam. 42; Varro, LL V.148, 156), and the space around it was called area Concordiae, which is mentioned only in connection with prodigia of 183 and 181 B.C. (Liv. XXXIX.56.6; XL.19.2; Obseq. 4). The date of the actual erection of the temple is not known; the day of its dedication was probably 22nd July (Fast. Ant. ap. NS 1921, 103), while that of the later structure was 16th January (Ov. Fast. I.637; Fast. Praen. ad XVII Kal. Feb., CIL I2 p231, 308; Fast. Verol. ap. NS 1923, 196). In 211 B.C. a statue of Victory on its roof was struck down by lightning (Liv. XXVI.23.4).

In 121 B.C., after the death of C. Gracchus, the senate ordered this temple to be restored by L. Opimius, to the great disgust of the democracy (App. B. C. I.26; Plut. C. Gracch. 17; Cic. pro Sest. 140; August. de civ. d. III.25). Opimius probably built his Basilica (q.v.) at the same p139time, close to the temple on the north. In 7 B.C. Tiberius undertook to restore the temple with his spoils from Germany (Cass. Dio LV.8.2), and the structure was completed and dedicated as aedes Concordiae Augustae, in the name of Tiberius and his dead brother Drusus, on 16th January, 10 A.D. (Ov. Fast. I.640, 643‑648; Cass. Dio LVI.25; Suet. Tib. 20, where the year is given as 12 A.D.). It is represented on coins (Cohen, Tib. 68‑70; BM. Tib. 116, 132‑4). A later restoration, perhaps after the fire of 284, is recorded in an inscription (CIL VI.89), which was seen on the pronaos of the temple by the copyist of the inscriptions in the Einsiedeln Itinerary.

After the restoration by Opimius, this temple was frequently used for assemblies of the senate (Cic. Cat. III.21: pro Sest. 26; de domo 111; Phil. II.19, 112; III.31; V.18; Sall. Cat. 46, 49; Cass. Dio LVIII.11.4; Hist. Aug. Pert. 4;Alex. Sev. 6; Max. et Balb. 1, cf. Herod. II.10; Prob. 11; Hermes, 1875, 290‑291; Willems, Le Sénat romain II.159), and as a meeting-place for the Arval Brethren (see Henzen, p5, for list from 63 A.D.; DE I.176).

Tiberius compelled the Rhodians to sell him a statue of Vesta for this temple (Cass. Dio LV.9.6), and it evidently became a sort of museum, for Pliny mentions many works of art that were placed in it — statues of Apollo and Juno by Baton (XXXIV.73), Latona with the infant Apollo and Diana by Euphranor (77), Aesculapius and Hygeia by Niceratus (80), Mars and Mercury by Piston (89), Ceres Jupiter and Minerva by Sthennis (90), paintings of Marsyas by Zeuxis (XXXV.66), Liber by Nicias (131), Cassandra by Theodorus (144); four elephants of obsidian dedicated by Augustus (196); and a famous sardonyx that had belonged to Polycrates of Samos (XXXVII.4; see also Jacobi, Grundzüge einer Museographie d. Stadt Rom zur Zeit d. Kaisers Augustus, 1884).

A few other incidental references to the temple occur (Val. Max. IX.7.4; Cass. Dio XLVII.2; XLIX.18; L.8), and gifts were deposited here by order of the senate in 16 A.D. after the alleged conspiracy of Libo (Tac. Ann. II.32). Several dedicatory inscriptions have been found among its ruins (CIL VI.90‑94, 30856, 30857), and three others mention an •aedituus of the temple (2204, 2205, 8703). It is represented on a coin of Orbiana, the wife of Alexander Severus (Froehner, Med. 177‑178),2 and on a fragment (22) of the Marble Plan; and is mentioned in the Regionary Catalogue (Reg. VIII). The structure was threatening to collapse in the time of Hadrian I, 772‑795 A.D. (LPD I.512, 522).

Its situation with respect to other buildings and the contour of the ground led to the adoption of a plan which made this structure unique among Roman temples (FUR fr. 22). Instead of having the usual proportions, the cella of the Augustan temple was 45 metres wide and only 24 deep, while the pronaos was only 34 metres wide and 14 deep, and therefore did not extend across the whole front of the cella. The p140back wall of the cella abutted against the front of the Tabularium, and a very wide flight of steps led down from the pronaos to the area. So far as investigations have been carried, they seem to show that the ground plan of the temple of Opimius was similar to that of Tiberius (see Van Buren, CR 1906, 82‑84, 184 f. for such an investigation, and the traces of successive structures — II being doubtful — and compare TF 47‑49). The interior of the Augustan cella was surrounded by a row of white marble columns, standing on a low shelf which projected from the main wall. This wall contained eleven niches, in the central one of which, opposite the entrance, a statue of Concord must have stood. The exterior of the temple was entirely covered with marble, and the building must have been one of the most beautiful in Rome.

The existing remains consist of the concrete core of the podium, much of which belongs to the construction of 121 B.C., and is probably the oldest known concrete in the city (AJA 1912, 244, 245); the threshold of the main entrance, composed of two blocks of Porta Santa marble, together 7 metres long; a very few fragments of the marble pavement of the cella and the pronaos; and a part of the magnificent cornice, now in the Tabularium, together with numerous small architectural fragments. The bases were also very fine — the only perfect example is in the Berlin museum (No. 1013; cf. PBS II. No. 126b — not 105d). For the cornice, see Toeb. I. pl. vi, vii pp42‑51). In the podium are two chambers which may have been store-rooms for treasure.

See also DE II.572; RE IV.831‑833; Rosch. I.914‑916; Jord. I.2.332‑339; HC 93‑96; LR 288‑289; Théd. 122‑125, 362‑364;a Middleton I.332‑338; D 'Esp. Fr. I.83‑86; DR 170‑178; Mem. Am. Acad. V.53‑77; RE Suppl. IV.492‑494;ASA 72; HFP 21.

Apollo, Palatinus, aedes * (templum, Mon. Anc. IV.1; Prop. II.31.9; Festus, Velleius, Suet. Aug. 29 bis, Hist. Aug. Claud., Ammianus, Schol. Persius, Serv. Aen. VI.72; delubrum, Plin. NH XXXVI.24, 32; Actia monumenta,Prop. IV.6.17), the second and far the most famous temple of Apollo in Rome (Asc. in Cic. orat. in tog. cand. 90; his temporibus nobilissima), on the Palatine within the pomerium, on ground that had been struck by lightning and therefore made public property (Cass. Dio XLIX.15.5). It was vowed by Augustus in 36 B.C. during his campaign against Sextus Pompeius, begun in the same year, and dedicated 9th October, B.C. 28 (Vell. II.81; Cass. Dio XLIX.15.5; LIII.1.3; Suet. Aug. 29; Asc. loc. cit.; Mon. Anc. IV.1; Prop. IV.6, esp. 11, 17, 67; Fast. Amit. Ant. Arv. ad VII id. Oct.; CIL I2 p214, 245, 249, 331; cf. Hor. Carm. I.31, written on the occasion of its dedication; and for incidental reference to its site Ov. Fast. IV.951; Fest. 258; Suet. Nero 25); probably represented on a coin of Caligula (Cohen, Cal. 9‑11; cf. Richmond, Essays and Studies presented to William Ridgeway on his Sixtieth Birthday, Cambridge 1914, 203‑206; BM. Cal. 41‑43, 58, 69) (see also Divus Augustus, templum).

p17This temple was the most magnificent of Augustus ' buildings (Joseph. b. Iud. II.6.1; Vell. loc. cit.), constructed of solid blocks of white Luna marble (Prop. II.31.9; Verg. Aen. VI.69; VIII.720, and Servius ad loc.; Ov. Trist. III.1.60), probably either prostyle hexastyle or peripteral and octastyle. The intercolumnar space was equal to thrice the diameter of the columns (Vitr. III.3.4);1 on the roof was a chariot of the sun (Prop. II.31.11) and statues by Bupalos and Athenis (Plin. NH XXXVI.13); and the doors were decorated with reliefs in ivory, one representing the rescue of Delphi from the Celts, and the other the fate of the Niobids (Prop. II.31.12‑16). Before the entrance to the temple stood a marble statue of the god, and an altar surrounded by four oxen by Myron (id. ib. 5‑8). In the cella was a statue of Apollo by Scopas (Plin. NH XXXVI.25), one of Diana by Timotheus (ib. 32), and of Latona by Cephisodotus (ib. 24). It is uncertain whether Propertius ' distich —

refers to these statues in the cella (see HJ 68 n73), or to the relief in the pediment (see Rothstein 's ed. ad loc.). Golden gifts were deposited in the temple by Augustus (Mon. Anc. XXIV.54) and it contained a collection of seal rings and jewels (dactyliotheca) dedicated by Marcellus (Plin. NH XXXVII.11), hanging lamps (ib. XXXIV.14), and a statue of Apollo Comaeus, brought to Rome in the time of Verus (Amm. XXIII.6.24).

For a possible representation of the statue of Apollo Actius, see Arcus Constantini (p37).

The temple was connected with, and perhaps surrounded by, a porticus (Mon. Anc. IV.1; Vell. II.81; Suet. Aug. 29; Cass. Dio LIII.1.3) with columns of giallo antico (Prop. II.31.3), between which were statues of the fifty daughters of Danaus and before them equestrian statues of their unfortunate husbands, the sons of Aegyptus (Prop. II.31.4; Schol. Pers. II.56; Ov. Trist. III.1.61‑62). It is possible that the Arcus Octavii (q.v.) formed the entrance to this porticus. Adjoining, or perhaps forming a part of the porticus, was a library, bibliotheca Apollinis, consisting of two sections, one for Greek and one for Latin books (CIL VI.5188, 5189, 5884), with medallion portraits of famous writers on the walls, and large enough for meetings of the senate (Cass. Dio LIII.1.3; Suet. Aug. 29; Ov. Trist. III.1.63; Tac. Ann. II.37). The space enclosed within the porticus was the area Apollinis(Solin. I.18; FUR frgs. 1, 418, 421), or area aedis Apollinis (CIL VI.32327, 23, ludi saec. a. 203).

The Sibylline books were brought here from the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol and placed beneath the pedestal of the statue of Apollo (Suet. Aug. 29; Virg. Aen. VI.72 and Serv. ad loc.; Tib. II.5.17), and they were saved when the temple itself was burned (see below). Part of the ceremony of the ludi saeculares took place at this temple (CIL VI.p1832323, 32, 139, a. 17 B.C.; 32327, 7, 23, a. 203 A.D.), and it is mentioned incidentally by Tacitus (Tac.Hist. I.27; III.65) and in Hist. Aug. Claud. 4 in connection with a meeting of the senate. It is mentioned in the Notitia (Reg. X), but was burned down on 18th March, 363 (Amm. XXIII.3.3). Besides Palatinus, the usual epithet of the god worshipped in this temple, we find navalis (Prop. IV.1.3), Actius 2 (ib. IV.6.67), Actiacus (Ov. Met. XIII.715), and Rhamnusius (Not. Reg. X; for explanations of this name see Rosch. IV.88).

The façade of the original temple was Ionic, if Richmond cit. is right; while it was restored in the Corinthian order by Domitian, if a relief in the Uffizi is correctly interpreted (PBS III.241 sqq.; JRS IV.217‑218).

The site of the temple has been much discussed. Three main theories have been brought forward, according to which it should be placed (a) in the garden of the Villa Mills; (b) in the area of the so‑called Vigna Barberini, the centre of which is occupied by the old church of S. Maria in Pallara or S. Sebastiano (for the Regio Palladii or Pallaria see Domus Augustiana, p165); (c) to the south of the Domus Augusti (q.v.), facing over the circus Maximus, being identified with what is generally known as the temple of Jupiter Victor or Propugnator (q.v.).

(a) The first theory may be dismissed briefly. The further study of the fragments of the forma Urbis and the progress of the excavations have shown that there cannot possibly have been room for the temple and area of Apollo in the garden to the north-east of the actual Villa Mills (see Domus Augustiana).

(b) The second theory, which is that of Hülsen, is apparently more in accordance with some of the literary testimony (esp. Ov. Trist. III.1.27 sqq.) than the third (see Area Palatina, Domus Augusti, Roma quadrata). At present we do not know what this area contains; and all that is to be seen belongs to the time of Domitian (see Domus Augustiana, p165). The temple was burnt down in 363, it is true; but it is only to be expected that some remains of it exist; and the question could be settled by a few days ' excavation.

(c) The third theory is the whole the most satisfactory. What remains of the temple is a podium of concrete of the Augustan period, 3 with a long flight of steps, facing south-west. This has been recently cleared, but no report has been published. On the south-east, part of it is built over the mosaic pavements of a room and the cement floor of an open tank of a house of a very slightly earlier period (perhaps the domus Palatina, a part of which was destroyed for the erection of the temple). A hypocaust on the south-west, five tiles of which bear the stamp CIL XV.145.1 belonging to another (?) house in front of the p19temple, has been demolished to give place to the steps, and vaulted substructions of this house may be seen below on the face of the hill. It is very difficult to think of any other temple but that of Apollo for the erection of which such a house would have been demolished (JRS 1914, 201‑208). See Parker, Historical Photographs, 2794.

It is, too, certainly a strong argument for the contiguity of the temple of Apollo and the house of Hortensius that the temple site was apparently bought for an extension of this house (contractas emptionibus complures domus per procuratores, quo laxior fieret ipsius, publicis se usibus destinare professus est; templumque Apollini et circa porticus facturum promisit, quod ab eo singulari exstructum munificentia est, Vell. Pat. II.81).

Another point is the rough identification of both in the Augustan age with the site of Romulus ' hut and Evander 's citadel, both of which stood on the south-west side of the hill ( Prop. IV.1.1; Virg. Aen. VIII.98 sqq.).

It seems, too, that the Carmen Saeculare, sung from the steps of the temple, would have far more point were the temple of Diana visible on the Aventine opposite, with those of Fides on the Capitol, and of Honos and Virtusnear the porta Capena (both of which are named in it), also within view (YW 1910, 15; CQ 1910, 145).4

On the other hand, the passages in regard to Roma Quadrata, etc. (q.v.) are certainly much more difficult to interpret. There is little room for the area Palatina in front of the temple; and the attempt to make it face north-east will not hold with the remains themselves. Remains of a part of the portico may be identified under the Flavian domus Augustiana: while the libraries, if correctly identified with the two apsidal halls to the south-west of the triclinium of that house, must have been entirely reconstructed by Domitian.

See GA 1888, 147‑155; Mél. 1889, 191‑197; BC 1883, 185‑198; 1910, 3‑41; 1913, 199‑224; Mitt. 1890, 76‑77; 1896, 192‑212; HJ 66‑74; Gilb. III.107‑109; WR 296; DAP 2.XI.112‑118; JRS 1914, 193‑226; ZA 186‑189; HFP 65. https://tinyurl.com/b8ogj