Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus

History

Much of what is known of the first Temple of Jupiter is from later Roman tradition. King Lucius Tarquinius Priscus vowed this temple while battling with the Sabines and, according to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, began the terracing necessary to support the foundations of the temple. Much of the Cappellaccio tufa which forms the foundation of the Temple was probably mined directly from the site when it was excavated and levelled for the structure. Modern coring on the Capitoline has confirmed the extensive work needed just to create a level building site. According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus and Livy, the foundations and most of the superstructure of the temple were completed by Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the last King of Rome.

Livy also records that before the temple's construction, shrines to other gods occupied the site. When the augurs carried out the rites seeking permission to remove them, only Terminus and Juventas were believed to have refused. Their shrines were therefore incorporated into the new structure. Because he was the god of boundaries, Terminus's refusal to be moved was interpreted as a favorable omen for the future of the Roman state. A second portent was the appearance of the head of a man to workmen digging the foundations of the temple. This was said by the augurs (including augurs brought especially from Etruria) to mean that Rome was to be the head of a great empire.

Livy reports that the Temple was dedicated on September 13 in the year the Roman Republic replaced the Roman Kingdom, which is 509 BC assuming the Varronian chronology. Cassius Dio and Plutarch agree with Livy's account. According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, it was consecrated two years later, in 507 BC; Tacitus agrees with this interpretation. Dedication of the temple was the responsibility of the new joint heads of state, the two consuls that had been elected for that year. They allocated the duty by drawing lots; it fell to Marcus Horatius Pulvillus. Horatius was consul in both 509 and 507 BC, which is the origin of the disagreement over the date of consecration. Livy records that in 495 BC the Latins, as a mark of gratitude to the Romans for the release of 6,000 Latin prisoners, delivered a crown of gold to the temple. …

Remains

Today, portions of the temple podium and foundations can be seen behind the Palazzo dei Conservatori, in an exhibition area built in the Caffarelli Garden, and within the Musei Capitolini. A part of the eastern corner is also visible in the via del Tempio di Giove.

The second Medici lion was sculpted in the late 16th century by Flaminio Vacca from a capital from the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus.

Area Capitolina

The Area Capitolina was the precinct on the southern part of the Capitoline that surrounded the Temple of Jupiter, enclosing it with irregular retaining walls following the hillside contours. The precinct was enlarged in 388 BC, to about 3,000m2. The Clivus Capitolinus ended at the main entrance in the center of the southeast side, and the Porta Pandana seems to have been a secondary entrance; these gates were closed at night. The sacred geese of Juno, said to have sounded the alarm during the Gallic siege of Rome, were kept in the Area, which was guarded during the Imperial period by dogs kept by a temple attendant. Domitian hid in the dog handler's living quarters when the forces of Vitellius overtook the Capitoline.

Underground chambers called favissae held damaged building materials, old votive offerings, and dedicated objects that were not suitable for display. It was religiously prohibited to disturb these. The precinct held numerous shrines, altars, statues, and victory trophies. Some plebeian and tribal assemblies met there. In late antiquity, it was a market for luxury goods, and continued as such into the medieval period: in a letter from 468, Sidonius Apollinaris describes a shopper negotiating over the price of gems, silk, and fine fabrics.