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Arch of Octavius

Ancient Roman triumphal arches in RomePalatine Hill

The Arch of Octavius (Latin: Arcus Octavii) was a triumphal arch on the Palatine Hill in Rome. It formed part of the sanctuary of Apollo adjoining Augustus's residence. It formed one of the entrances to the Area Apollinis, on the south side, turned towards the Murcia valley. It was built at the same time as the rest of the sanctuary, around 28 BC. According to Pliny the Elder, Augustus also built the arch in honour of his father Gaius Octavius. It was decorated with statues of Apollo and Artemis by the Greek sculptor Lysias. It supported an aedicule ornamented with columns and bearing a statue dedicated to Gaius Octavius. This configuration seems to be unique in Rome.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Arch of Octavius (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Arch of Octavius
Via di San Teodoro, Rome Municipio Roma I

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N 41.8887 ° E 12.4855 °
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Palatino

Via di San Teodoro
00184 Rome, Municipio Roma I
Lazio, Italy
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Temple of Victory

The Temple of Victory (Latin: templum Victoriae) is a temple on the Palatine Hill in Rome. It was dedicated to the Roman goddess of Victory. It is traditionally ascribed to Evander, but was actually built by Lucius Postumius Megellus out of fines he levied during his aedileship and dedicated by him on 1 August when consul in 294 BC. This temple was used to house Cybele's sacred stone between 204 BC and 191 BC, while her own nearby temple was still being built and Cato the Elder afterwards built a shrine of Victoria Virgo next to the temple of Victory. If still in use by the 4th-century, it would have been closed during the persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire. It was in the Temple of Victory that the spoils of war from Roman victories were eventually deposited. Some of its notable contents came from the spoils of Titus from the Temple of Jerusalem which remained deposited in the Temple of Victory until it was looted by the Vandals in the 5th century and subsequently taken to Africa. The golden roof of the temple was also removed by the barbarians during their pillage of Rome. There is no record of any restoration of this temple and its exact site is still uncertain. See CJ 1920, 297, where Chase states that Boni identified this temple with foundations found near the arch of Titus. It was doubtless on the Clivus Victoriae, and remains of two dedicatory inscriptions. found about 50 metres west of the present church of San Teodoro, may indicate its position.

Temple of Cybele (Palatine)
Temple of Cybele (Palatine)

The Temple of Cybele or Temple of Magna Mater was Rome's first and most important temple to the Magna Mater ("Great Mother"), who was known to the Greeks as Cybele. It was built to house a particular image or form of the goddess, a meteoric stone brought from Greek Asia Minor to Rome in 204 BC at the behest of an oracle and temporarily housed in the goddess of Victory's Palatine temple. The new temple was dedicated on 11 April 191 BC, and Magna Mater's first Megalesia festival was held on the temple's proscenium.The temple was sited on the high western slope of the Palatine, overlooking the valley of the Circus Maximus and facing the temple of Ceres on the slopes of the Aventine. It was accessible via a long upward flight of steps from the flattened area or proscenium below, where the goddess's festival games and plays were staged. The goddess's altar was visible both from the proscenium and the temple's interior. The original temple burned down in 111 BC, and was restored by one Metellus, possibly Gaius Caecilius Metellus Caprarius. It burned on a further two occasions in the early Imperial era, and was restored each time by Augustus; his second rebuilding was probably the more sumptuous of the two.The temple was 33.18 metres deep, and its frontage 17.10 metres wide, accessed by steps of the same width. It was built in the prostyle hexastyle of the Corinthian order. The whole was supported by a massively walled, stucco-faced podium of irregular, thickly mortared tufa and peperino. A coin of Faustina the Elder is thought to show the same temple, with curved roof and a flight of steps. At the top of the steps is a statue of Cybele enthroned, with a turreted crown and lion attendants. This is consistent with a colossal, fragmentary statue of the goddess, found within the temple precincts. The goddess' meteoric stone may have been kept on a pedestal within the temple cella; or incorporated into the face of a statue and set on a pediment. The temple pediment is shown on the Ara Pietatis relief, which represents Magna Mater in aniconic mode; her empty throne and crown are flanked by two figures of Attis reclining on tympanons; and by two lions who eat from bowls, as if tamed by the goddess' unseen presence.The temple remained in use until the late 4th century. It was destroyed in 394 AD, on the orders of Emperor Theodosius I during the Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire.