DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.44944#0083
AREA CAPITOLINA
49
and Indulgentia (see all these under their own names). The temple of
Fides probably stood at the south-west corner of the area,, but the site
of the others is unknown.1
There were also many statues of various deities set up in the area and
in the temples (Serv. ad Aen. ii. 319 : in Capitolio omnium deorum
simulacra colebantur ; cf. Tert. Spect. 12 ; Jord. i. 2. 50-51 ; Rodocanachi
43-44). One of Jupiter, of colossal size, was erected by Sp. Carvilius
in 293 b.c. and could be seen from the temple of Iuppiter Latiaris on the
Alban mount (Plin. NH xxxiv. 34, 43) ; a second stood on a high pillar and
after 63 b.c. was turned to face the east (Cic. Cat. iii. 20 ; de div. i. 20 ;
Cass. Dio xxxvii. 9, 34 ; Obseq. 122). In 305 b.c. a colossal statue of
Hercules was placed in Capitolio (Liv. ix. 44), and another,2 the work
of Lysippus, was brought from Tarentum in 209 (Plut. Fab. 22 ; Plin.
NH xxxiv. 40 ; Strabo vi. p. 278). There were others of Mars (Cass. Dio
xli. 14),3 Liber pater (CIL iii. p. 849), Iuppiter Africus (CIL iii. pp. 853, 885),
and Nemesis (Plin. N.H. xi. 251 ; xxviii. 22).
It became customary to erect statues of famous Romans on the
Capitol, although it is not always possible to determine whether they
stood in the open area, or within the precincts of some temple (Jord,
i. 2. 58-59 ; Gilb. iii. 386-387 ; Rodocanachi 45-46). Those that seem
to have stood in the open area were the statues of the kings 4 and Brutus
(Cass. Dio xliii. 45 ; Asc. Scaur. 30 ; Plin. NH xxxiv. 22-23 ; xxxiii. 9,
10, 24; App. BC i. 16), L. Scipio (Cic. pro Rab. Post. 27 ; Vai. Max. iii.
6. 2), M. Aemilius Lepidus (ib. iii. I. 1), the Metelli (Cic. ad Att. vi.
1. 16), Q. Marcius Rex (CIL iii. p. 846), T. Seius (Plin. NH xviii. 16),
Pinarius Natta (Cic. de div. ii. 47), Domitian (Suet. Dom. 13), Claudius
(Hist. Aug. Cl. 3), Aurelian (Hist. Aug. Tac. 9). These became so
numerous that Augustus removed many of them to the campus Martius
(Suet. Cal. 34 : statuas virorum illustrium ab Augusto ex Capitolina
area propter angustias in campum Martium conlatas . . . subvertit).
Trophies of victory, like those of Marius (Plut. Caes. 6 ; Suet. Caes. 11)
and Germanicus (CIL iii. p. 856), and votive monuments (Gilb. iii. 384-387);
were also thickly strewn about, and a wholesale removal of these objects
was ordered, as it had been in 179 b.c., in the time of Augustus (Suet.
Cal. 34). Cf. infra, p. 298. Very many bronze tablets containing
treaties and laws and military diplomas were preserved within the area,
1 The foundations of the house which Caligula laid here (Suet. Cal. 22, mox, quo pro-
pior esset—to Jupiter Capitolinus—in area Capitolina novae domus fundamenta iecit) must
have been removed after his death.
2 It is uncertain which of these is referred to by Cass. Dio xlii. 26.
3 κεραυνοί σκηπτρόν τε Aios καί ασπίδα κράνος τε’Άρεως, εν τω 'Καπιτωλίφ άνακείμενα would seem
to refer to isolated votive offerings—though if they were in any building it is hard to see
how they could be damaged without hurting the building also. See Mars (infra, p. 327).
The passage continues καί προσέτι καί τάς στήλας τάς τούς νόμους έχούσας έλυμηναντο (cf. χΐν.17).
4 For the group of the wolf and twins, see Cons. 56 sqq., 372. A diploma published in
JRS 1926, 95-101, shows that the statue of Numa stood close to the Gentis Iuliae ara
(q.v.), i.e. in the area.
A.D.R.
D
49
and Indulgentia (see all these under their own names). The temple of
Fides probably stood at the south-west corner of the area,, but the site
of the others is unknown.1
There were also many statues of various deities set up in the area and
in the temples (Serv. ad Aen. ii. 319 : in Capitolio omnium deorum
simulacra colebantur ; cf. Tert. Spect. 12 ; Jord. i. 2. 50-51 ; Rodocanachi
43-44). One of Jupiter, of colossal size, was erected by Sp. Carvilius
in 293 b.c. and could be seen from the temple of Iuppiter Latiaris on the
Alban mount (Plin. NH xxxiv. 34, 43) ; a second stood on a high pillar and
after 63 b.c. was turned to face the east (Cic. Cat. iii. 20 ; de div. i. 20 ;
Cass. Dio xxxvii. 9, 34 ; Obseq. 122). In 305 b.c. a colossal statue of
Hercules was placed in Capitolio (Liv. ix. 44), and another,2 the work
of Lysippus, was brought from Tarentum in 209 (Plut. Fab. 22 ; Plin.
NH xxxiv. 40 ; Strabo vi. p. 278). There were others of Mars (Cass. Dio
xli. 14),3 Liber pater (CIL iii. p. 849), Iuppiter Africus (CIL iii. pp. 853, 885),
and Nemesis (Plin. N.H. xi. 251 ; xxviii. 22).
It became customary to erect statues of famous Romans on the
Capitol, although it is not always possible to determine whether they
stood in the open area, or within the precincts of some temple (Jord,
i. 2. 58-59 ; Gilb. iii. 386-387 ; Rodocanachi 45-46). Those that seem
to have stood in the open area were the statues of the kings 4 and Brutus
(Cass. Dio xliii. 45 ; Asc. Scaur. 30 ; Plin. NH xxxiv. 22-23 ; xxxiii. 9,
10, 24; App. BC i. 16), L. Scipio (Cic. pro Rab. Post. 27 ; Vai. Max. iii.
6. 2), M. Aemilius Lepidus (ib. iii. I. 1), the Metelli (Cic. ad Att. vi.
1. 16), Q. Marcius Rex (CIL iii. p. 846), T. Seius (Plin. NH xviii. 16),
Pinarius Natta (Cic. de div. ii. 47), Domitian (Suet. Dom. 13), Claudius
(Hist. Aug. Cl. 3), Aurelian (Hist. Aug. Tac. 9). These became so
numerous that Augustus removed many of them to the campus Martius
(Suet. Cal. 34 : statuas virorum illustrium ab Augusto ex Capitolina
area propter angustias in campum Martium conlatas . . . subvertit).
Trophies of victory, like those of Marius (Plut. Caes. 6 ; Suet. Caes. 11)
and Germanicus (CIL iii. p. 856), and votive monuments (Gilb. iii. 384-387);
were also thickly strewn about, and a wholesale removal of these objects
was ordered, as it had been in 179 b.c., in the time of Augustus (Suet.
Cal. 34). Cf. infra, p. 298. Very many bronze tablets containing
treaties and laws and military diplomas were preserved within the area,
1 The foundations of the house which Caligula laid here (Suet. Cal. 22, mox, quo pro-
pior esset—to Jupiter Capitolinus—in area Capitolina novae domus fundamenta iecit) must
have been removed after his death.
2 It is uncertain which of these is referred to by Cass. Dio xlii. 26.
3 κεραυνοί σκηπτρόν τε Aios καί ασπίδα κράνος τε’Άρεως, εν τω 'Καπιτωλίφ άνακείμενα would seem
to refer to isolated votive offerings—though if they were in any building it is hard to see
how they could be damaged without hurting the building also. See Mars (infra, p. 327).
The passage continues καί προσέτι καί τάς στήλας τάς τούς νόμους έχούσας έλυμηναντο (cf. χΐν.17).
4 For the group of the wolf and twins, see Cons. 56 sqq., 372. A diploma published in
JRS 1926, 95-101, shows that the statue of Numa stood close to the Gentis Iuliae ara
(q.v.), i.e. in the area.
A.D.R.
D