Temple
Temple of Concord
Traditionally vowed in 367 BC to commemorate the
reconciliation between patricians and plebians, the Temple of Concord was
rebuilt in 121 BC to foster harmony after the murder of Gracchus. It was
restored during the reign of Augustus by Tiberius, who probably rededicated the
Temple in AD 12. The restoration was distinguished by its opulent marble and
rich architectural ornamentation. In the cella, which is the central chamber or
sanctuary of a temple, a row of Corinthian columns, the capitals of which had
pairs of leaping rams in place of the corner volutes, was raised on a
continuous plinth projecting from the wall, which divided the cella into bays,
each containing a niche. Such was the wealth of fine Greek sculpture,
paintings, and other works of art that the Temple seems to have been a museum.
It also was used for meetings of the Senate, especially in times of civil
disturbance. Backed up against the Tabularium at the foot of the Capitoline
Hill, the architecture had to accommodate the limitations of the site. The
cella of the temple, for instance, was almost twice as wide as it was deep, as
was the pronaos. Here, only the foundation remains, a mound of rubble below the
arched loggia of the Tabularium.
The ruins in the Forum Romanum are from this temple. It was
wider than it was deep, measuring 45×24m. This is very unusual, but the limited
space available allow no more. The cella stood on a podium, accessible by a
frontal stairway. The hexastyle pronaos stood out from the facade of the cella,
much like a portico, again dictated by the lack of space. The temple is all but
destroyed. The only surviving parts are the podium and the threshold of the
door of the cella, both still in situ, and a fragment of the entablature, now
kept in the Tabularium, and a Corinthian capital, now in the Antiquarium of the
Forum. The temple, being a templum and not just an aedes, was at times used for
meetings of the senate. It was here, in the old temple, that Cicero made his
fourth catiline speech. Later the trial of Sejanus, who had conspired against
Tiberius, was held in the Temple of Concord.
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