Temple of Mars Ultor
The Temple of Mars Ultor was a sanctuary erected in
According to
The temple was dedicated, albeit in an incomplete state, in 2 BCE, to coincide with Augustus’s celebration of his 13th consulship as well as his acceptance of the title Pater Patriae.[4] The temple (and the forum within which it was placed) was part of imperial propaganda campaign to glorify and bring about an acceptance of the authority of the new Augustan empire. To the imperial regime, it was vital to accentuate the favour of the gods, as well as glorifying the ancestral figures and past of Rome, and so overcome the disorder of the civil wars that had plagued the state for over 50 years. In the words of Augustus himself, “I have fashioned this to lead the citizens to require me, while I live, and the rulers of later times as well, to attain the standard set by those great men of old.”[5]
On the pediment of the temple was inscribed the name of Augustus, along with a series of reliefs honouring the divinities that played a part in influencing the outcome of battles and wars through their intercession. In the centre was the figure of
Within the temple there stood three statues. In the middle, a colossal Mars Ultor depicted in full military dress, holding a large spear in his right hand and a shield in his left. On the right side of the god stood a statue of the goddess Venus, with Cupid – it was Venus whom all of the gens Julia claimed descent from. To the left of the god was a statue of Julius Caesar, or more specifically ‘Divus Julius’, as he had been deified after a comet was seen in the sky during his funeral games.[8]
In 19 CE, the emperor Tiberius added two arches, one on either side of the temple, and it was later restored during the reign of Hadrian.[9] The temple was used by the Senate as a meeting place to discuss matters of foreign policy, discussions around declarations of war, and to make decisions for awarding triumphs. It also served as a reception place to meet foreign embassies.[10] By the end of 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 non-Christian worship. During the ninth century, an oratory church was built in the ruins of the temple, and was called the church of San Basilio in Scala Mortuorum. This church was mentioned in the 12th century Mirabilia Urbis Romae and by the late 19th century, the temple ruins was home to the convent of the nuns of Santa Annunziata.
See also
References
- ^ Richardson, L., A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (1992), pg. 161
- ^ Lucrezia Ungaro, Foro di Augusto, in I luoghi del consenso imperiale. Foro di Augusto. Foro di Traiano. Introduzione storico topografica (catalogo mostra), Roma 1995
- ^ Rich, J.W., Augustus's Parthian Honours, the Temple of Mars Ultor and the Arch in the Forum Romanum in Papers of the British School at Rome Vol. 66 (1998), pg. 88 [1]
- ^ Richardson, pg. 160; Rich, pg. 89
- ^ Suetonius, Life of Augustus, 31:5
- ^ Richardson, pg. 162
- ^ Gurval, Robert Alan, Actium and Augustus: The Politics and Emotions of Civil War (1998), pgs. 283-284
- ^ Richardson, pg. 162
- ^ Richardson, pg. 162
- ^ Zollschan, Linda, Rome and Judaea: International Law Relations, 162-100 BCE (2016) pg. 18
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