Temple dedicated to the goddess Pax in ancient Rome
The
Temple of Peace
(
Latin
:
Templum Pacis
), also known as the
Forum of Vespasian
(
Latin
:
Forum Vespasiani
), was built in
Rome
in 71 AD under Emperor
Vespasian
[1]
in honour to
Pax
, the Roman goddess of peace. It faces the
Velian Hill
, toward the famous
Colosseum
, and was on the southeast side of the
Argiletum
.
History
[
edit
]
Statius
claims that Emperor
Domitian
was largely responsible for the completion of the temple, not Vespasian - this issue remains controversial within the archaeological world today.
[2]
The Temple of Peace is part of the
Imperial Fora
which is "a series of monumental
fora
(public squares), constructed in Rome over a period of one and a half centuries." It is not officially considered a
forum
because there is no evidence of it serving a political function, therefore it is called a temple.
The funds to create this grand monument were acquired through Vespasian's sacking of
Jerusalem
during the
Jewish-Roman Wars
. The interior and surrounding buildings were decorated with the treasures collected there by the Roman army.
[3]
According to
Pliny the Elder
, statues brought from Greece and Asia Minor by
Nero
to furnish his
Domus Aurea
also came to reside in the Temple of Peace. Among these were works by the Greek sculptors
Polykleitos
,
Phidias
,
Naukydes of Argos
,
Myron
, and
Leochares
. The Severan-era bases and inscriptions from two of these statues survive: the
Ganymede
of Leochares and the
Pythocles
of Polykleitos.
[4]
Because Vespasian was both a leading general and later appointed emperor during the first war, the Temple of Peace was especially important to him as a leader. A grand and significant monument such as this is vital to the promotion of a powerful, strong public image of the emperor, and is a symbol of the peace and prosperity Vespasian was able to bring the empire.
The temple was destroyed by fire in February 192 AD. It was subsequently restored by
Septimius Severus
sometime around 203 AD. The halls were remodeled a century later, and were admired by the emperor
Constantius II
during his visit to Rome in 357 AD.
[5]
If still in use by the 4th-century, the temple would have been closed during the
persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire
, when the
Christian Emperors
issued edicts prohibiting all non-Christian worship and sanctuaries.
[6]
The Temple of Peace was damaged during the sack of Rome in 410 by
Alaric I
and was never restored after the event.
[7]
The historian Procopius writes that Alaric looted the emerald-encrusted treasures of Solomon, which, scholar Robert Coates-Stephens believes must have been stored in the complex, as the treasures comprised the main part of Flavian's original booty.
[8]
The adjacent
Basilica of Maxentius
was long believed to be the actual temple. The archaeologist
Antonio Nibby
made the correct identification in the 19th century.
[9]
Structure of the Temple
[
edit
]
Although very little remains of the Temple of Peace in Rome today, much about its structure and layout are known due to the
Forma Urbis
, a large, detailed marble map of Rome and its buildings that was originally hung on a wall inside the temple in the 3rd century. The temple was made up of an
apse
that opened into a large
portico
.
Columns
separated the temple from the central unpaved, grassy area. This was different from the majority of other fora, which were typically paved. This area probably featured gardens, pools, statues, and other treasures acquired during the conquest of Jerusalem.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Tucci, Pier Luigi (16 November 2017).
The Temple of Peace in Rome (Cambridge University Press, New York 2017). Two volumes, 1,107 pages, 263 color and 87 b&w illustrations. Volume 1: Art and Culture in Imperial Rome (ISBN 978-1-107-16247-1). Volume 2: Remodelings, Conversions, Excavations (ISBN 978-1-107-16254-9)
. Cambridge University Press.
ISBN
9781108548816
.
- ^
Anderson, James C. Jr. (1982-01-01). "Domitian, the Argiletum and the Temple of Peace".
American Journal of Archaeology
.
86
(1): 101?110.
doi
:
10.2307/504296
.
JSTOR
504296
.
S2CID
193043871
.
- ^
"Temple of Peace"
.
archive1.village.virginia.edu
. Archived from
the original
on 2015-12-22
. Retrieved
2015-11-10
.
- ^
Filippo Coarelli (2014).
Rome and Environs: An Archaeological Guide
. University of California Press. p. 126.
- ^
Tucci, Pier Luigi.
The Temple of Peace in Rome
. United States, Cambridge University Press, 2017, pgs. 246-258.
- ^
R. MacMullen, "Christianizing The Roman Empire A.D.100-400, Yale University Press, 1984,
ISBN
0-300-03642-6
- ^
Christie, Neil (2011).
The Fall of the Western Roman Empire
. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 145.
ISBN
978-0-340-75966-0
.
- ^
Coates-Stephens, Robert (2017).
"Statue Museums in Late Antique Rome"
.
Archeologia Classica
.
68
: 311?312.
ISSN
0391-8165
.
JSTOR
26600502
.
- ^
Coarelli, 2014; p. 125
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Temple of Peace (Rome)
at Wikimedia Commons