DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.44944#0152
no
CERES MATER ET OPS AUGUSTA
was decorated with statues of gilded bronze or terracotta of Etruscan
workmanship (Vitr. iii. 3. 5). The walls of the cella were decorated with
frescoes and reliefs by two Greek artists, Gorgasus and Damophilus,1 and
there was a Greek inscription stating how much had been done by each
(Plin. NH xxxv. 154; see Merlin 153-155). This temple, called by
Cicero (Verr. iv. 108) pulcherrimum et magnificentissimum, was enriched
by many works of art, such as golden bowls and statues, from the fines
levied by plebeian magistrates (Liv. x. 23. 13 ; xxvii. 6. 19, 36. 9 ; xxxiii.
25. 3). It contained a bronze statue of Ceres, said to have been the first
made in Rome, which was paid for out of the confiscated property of
Sp. Cassius (Liv. ii. 41. io; Plin. NH xxxiv. 15); and a painting of Bacchus
(and Ariadne ?) that was brought from Corinth by Mummius (Plin. NH
xxxv. 24, 99 ; Strabo viii. 381 ; cf. Merlin 162). Twice it was struck
by lightning (Liv. xxviii. 11. 4 ; App. BC i. 78), and twice it is mentioned
in connection with prodigies (Liv. xl. 2. 2 ; xli. 28. 2). It was burned
down in 31 b.c., restored by Augustus, and dedicated by Tiberius in
17 a.d. (Cass. Dio 1. 10; Tac. Ann. ii. 49; Merlin, 366-367 ; CIL vi.
9969), and was standing in the fourth century (Not. Reg. XI). The
site of the temple was near the west end of the circus on the Aventine
side, but how far up the slope is not certain—perhaps near the junction
of the modern Vicolo di S. Sabina and Via S. Maria in Cosmedin
(Dionys. vi. 94; Liv. xl. 2. I ; DAP 2. vi. 238-239; Merlin 93-95, and
literature cited there; BC 1914, 115), but no traces of it have been
found.
The worship of Ceres was essentially plebeian, and the political
importance of this temple was very great. It was the headquarters
of the plebeian aediles, the repository of their archives, and the treasury
in which was placed the property of those who had been found guilty
of assaulting plebeian magistrates (Dionys. vi. 89 ; x. 42 ; Liv. iii. 55. 7).
Copies of senatus consulta were also deposited here after 449 b.c. (Liv.
iii· 55· z3 i Mommsen, Staatsr. ii. 476-477, 490). The temple possessed
the right of asylum (Varr. ap. Non. 44 : asylum Cereris), and was a centre
of distribution of food to the poor. It was regularly called aedes, but
delubrum once by Pliny (NPI xxxv. 24), and in Greek Δημητρεΐον (Strabo
viii. 381), Δημήτριον (Cass. Dio 1. io), and Δήμητρος iepov (App. BC i. 78).
In ordinary usage the official title was abbreviated to aedes Cereris (see
Merlin, passim; HJ 115-117 ; RE iii. 1974-1975 ; xiii. 70-73 ; Gilb. ii.
242-250). For a sacerdos Cereris publica p.r.q. (i.e. a slave), see CIL i2.
974—vi. 2182 =ILS 3347 (cf. vi. 2181 =32443 =ILS 3343).
Ceres Mater et Ops Augusta, ara : an altar erected by Augustus in 7 a.d.
in vico Iugario, probably in honour of Livia, and dedicated on IOth August
(Hemerol. Amit. Vail. Ant. ad iv id. Aug. ; CIL i2. pp. 240, 324 ; Jord,
i. 2. 365, 468 ; RE iii. 1977).
1 Cf. Urlichs, Malerei vor Caesar, 4-5 ; E. Douglas Van Buren, Terracotta Revetments,
31-32.
CERES MATER ET OPS AUGUSTA
was decorated with statues of gilded bronze or terracotta of Etruscan
workmanship (Vitr. iii. 3. 5). The walls of the cella were decorated with
frescoes and reliefs by two Greek artists, Gorgasus and Damophilus,1 and
there was a Greek inscription stating how much had been done by each
(Plin. NH xxxv. 154; see Merlin 153-155). This temple, called by
Cicero (Verr. iv. 108) pulcherrimum et magnificentissimum, was enriched
by many works of art, such as golden bowls and statues, from the fines
levied by plebeian magistrates (Liv. x. 23. 13 ; xxvii. 6. 19, 36. 9 ; xxxiii.
25. 3). It contained a bronze statue of Ceres, said to have been the first
made in Rome, which was paid for out of the confiscated property of
Sp. Cassius (Liv. ii. 41. io; Plin. NH xxxiv. 15); and a painting of Bacchus
(and Ariadne ?) that was brought from Corinth by Mummius (Plin. NH
xxxv. 24, 99 ; Strabo viii. 381 ; cf. Merlin 162). Twice it was struck
by lightning (Liv. xxviii. 11. 4 ; App. BC i. 78), and twice it is mentioned
in connection with prodigies (Liv. xl. 2. 2 ; xli. 28. 2). It was burned
down in 31 b.c., restored by Augustus, and dedicated by Tiberius in
17 a.d. (Cass. Dio 1. 10; Tac. Ann. ii. 49; Merlin, 366-367 ; CIL vi.
9969), and was standing in the fourth century (Not. Reg. XI). The
site of the temple was near the west end of the circus on the Aventine
side, but how far up the slope is not certain—perhaps near the junction
of the modern Vicolo di S. Sabina and Via S. Maria in Cosmedin
(Dionys. vi. 94; Liv. xl. 2. I ; DAP 2. vi. 238-239; Merlin 93-95, and
literature cited there; BC 1914, 115), but no traces of it have been
found.
The worship of Ceres was essentially plebeian, and the political
importance of this temple was very great. It was the headquarters
of the plebeian aediles, the repository of their archives, and the treasury
in which was placed the property of those who had been found guilty
of assaulting plebeian magistrates (Dionys. vi. 89 ; x. 42 ; Liv. iii. 55. 7).
Copies of senatus consulta were also deposited here after 449 b.c. (Liv.
iii· 55· z3 i Mommsen, Staatsr. ii. 476-477, 490). The temple possessed
the right of asylum (Varr. ap. Non. 44 : asylum Cereris), and was a centre
of distribution of food to the poor. It was regularly called aedes, but
delubrum once by Pliny (NPI xxxv. 24), and in Greek Δημητρεΐον (Strabo
viii. 381), Δημήτριον (Cass. Dio 1. io), and Δήμητρος iepov (App. BC i. 78).
In ordinary usage the official title was abbreviated to aedes Cereris (see
Merlin, passim; HJ 115-117 ; RE iii. 1974-1975 ; xiii. 70-73 ; Gilb. ii.
242-250). For a sacerdos Cereris publica p.r.q. (i.e. a slave), see CIL i2.
974—vi. 2182 =ILS 3347 (cf. vi. 2181 =32443 =ILS 3343).
Ceres Mater et Ops Augusta, ara : an altar erected by Augustus in 7 a.d.
in vico Iugario, probably in honour of Livia, and dedicated on IOth August
(Hemerol. Amit. Vail. Ant. ad iv id. Aug. ; CIL i2. pp. 240, 324 ; Jord,
i. 2. 365, 468 ; RE iii. 1977).
1 Cf. Urlichs, Malerei vor Caesar, 4-5 ; E. Douglas Van Buren, Terracotta Revetments,
31-32.