Area Capitolina/Capitolii

The Area Capitolina, also known as the area Capitolii or simply area (e.g., Suet., Cal. 22.4: in area Capitolina; Livy 25.3.14: area Capitolii; Vell. Pat. 2.3.2: in area), was the large temple precinct of irregular shape surrounding the Temple of *Iuppiter Optimus Maximus on the S summit of the *Capitol. There was a temenos wall, known from military diplomas attached ‘on the wall’, in muro (e.g., CIL XVI 26). There were also several retaining walls around the steep slopes of the Capitol (Livy 4.6.12, 38.28.3), which artificially extended the area of the summit over parts of the hill now lost through landslides, notably above the *Vicus Iugarius. For the perimeter of the Area Capitolina, our map follows Reusser (1993, 34 fig. 4, 36 fig. 6, cf. 33 fig. 3) with one exception: the foundation N of the Temple of Iuppiter Optimus Maximus was part of the retaining wall, not the temple (Riemann 112-13). The Area Capitolina was reached by the *Clivus Capitolinus, by an unnamed Republican paved road from the saddle (Reusser 1993, 39), by steps on the W edge of the hill from the *Porta Catularia, and by a series of stepped ramps on the S side of the hill attested on the Severan Marble Plan (Rodríguez Almeida, Forma pl. 23, frags. 31 a,b,c; Carretoni et al., Pianta fr. 499; s.v. *Capitolium: Marble Plan Steps). This section of the Marble Plan also shows a narrow apsidal temple and a hexastyle podium temple (frags. 31 a,b,c; s.v. *Capitolium: Marble Plan Temples), and the corner of a large temple (frag. 499; s.v. *Fides, Aedes); for the placement of these fragments, see Rodríguez Almeida 1991, 34-37 with fig. 4. Only two features survive in the archaeological record: the podium of the Temple of Iuppiter Optimus Maximus and, c.20 m SE of this temple, a square concrete platform (c.15 x 15 m) which is probably post-Augustan, hence not shown (Reusser LTUR; Riemann 114). The following may be located using the literary sources: a shrine of *Fortuna Primigenia, the Temples of *Ops and *Iuppiter Tonans, and the *Fornix of P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus. Additional features stood in Capitolio, probably in the Area Capitolina (Reusser 1993, 35), but cannot be located further. There was a Temple of Venus Victrix (Palombi). The Temple of Iuppiter Feretrius (RG 19: feci; Livy 1.10.5; Nep., Att. 20.3) stood ‘on the summit of the Capitol’ (Dion. Hal., Ant. Rom. 2.34.4); it was very small, perhaps only 15 ft (c.4 m) on its long sides. A shrine of Mars Ultor would be placed ‘on the Capitol’ (Dio Cass. 54.8.3) if only we could be sure of its existence. There were porticoes in Capitolio erected by P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum as censor in 159 B.C. and by a Metellus (Vell. Pat. 2.1.2, 2.3.1). These porticoes stood near the temples (Diod. Sic. 34/5.28a; Tac., Hist. 3.71.3), perhaps along the temenos wall (Reusser 1993, 34 fig. 4). A ‘hut of Romulus’ was associated with the Temple of Iuppiter Optimus Maximus, both symbolically and perhaps also topographically (Balland); it is first mentioned in the 20s B.C. (Vitr., De arch. 2.1.5: in Capitolio … Romuli casa; Verg., Aen. 8.654), and was perhaps an Augustan creation. Next to this hut stood the curia Calabra (Macrob., Sat. 1.15.10). An atrium Publicum (Livy 24.10.9) and Treasury of the Quaestors, ἀγορανόμων ταμιεῖον, which stood next to the Temple of Iuppiter Optimus Maximus (Polyb. 3.26.1), are attested for the mid-Republic, but are each mentioned only once. The following are mentioned in military diplomas of the 1st c. A.D. but are either not attested earlier, or their precise location is not known: two arches at the top of the Clivus Capitolinus, the aerarium militare, the aedes tensarum, and a piscina. For altars, shrines, and statues see Reusser 1993, 199 fig. 107. The most important of these was a colossal statue of Jupiter that was visible from the Alban Hills. The present map of the Augustan Area Capitolina aims at legibility and accuracy, though at the expense of fully conveying the cluttered space that it was. Addendum For a synthesis and contrasting viewpoint on the expanse of the Capitoline temple precinct: C. Häuber and F.X. Schütz, “Das archäologische Informations-system AIS ROMA,” in L. Haselberger and J. Humphrey (edd.), Imaging ancient Rome (JRA Suppl. 61, 2006) 253-69, esp. 259-61.