Fides, Aedes

The Temple of Fides, also known as Fides Publica and Fides populi Romani, was built between 258 and 247 B.C. and rebuilt between 115 and 109 B.C. (Reusser 1993, 55, 64). It stood in Capitolio (Cic., Nat. D. 2.61; Pliny, NH 35.100: in aede Fidei in Capitolio) and near the Temple of *Iuppiter Optimus Maximus (Cato, ap. Cic., Off. 3.104), hence in the *Area Capitolina. A military diploma set up ‘on a wall behind the Temple of Fides’ (CIL XVI 26) suggests that it stood near the outer temenos wall (Reusser 1993, 62). It may be placed on the SW edge of the Area Capitolina on the basis of archaeological remains found in the Piazza della Consolazione and the Vico Iugario. These finds, which are believed to have slipped down from the Capitol in the Middle Ages, included the base of a statue of Fides (Reusser 1993, 62) and fragmentary inscriptions of treaties of friendship and alliance with foreign communities; these were perhaps originally posted on or near this temple, for the goddess Fides took treaties between Rome and foreign nations in her charge (Coarelli, Rodríguez Almeida 40). Architectural fragments found at the foot of the Capitol suggest that it was a large temple, with a podium at least 2 m high and with dimensions of c. 20 x 30-35 m (Reusser 1993, 78). Reusser accepts the placement of a fragment of the Severan Marble Plan, which shows the rear corner of a large peripteral sine postico temple facing into the Area Capitolina for the likely position of the Temple of Fides (Carettoni et al., Pianta fr. 499; for the placement of these fragments, see Rodríguez Almeida 34-37). On the basis of the extant architectural remains, Reusser reconstructs a hexastyle temple on the orientation given by the Marble Plan (Reusser 1993, 34-35, 36 fig. 6, 78 n.51; the identification of the Marble Plan temple as the Temple of Fides is also suggested by Rodríguez Almeida 40). The exact ground-plan and orientation of the Temple of Fides cannot be known for sure, given that this part of the Capitol has been lost through landslides (s.v. *Capitolium). But Reusser’s reconstruction, based on the Marble Plan and remains found at the foot of the hill, offers a reasonable and convincing interpretation of the available evidence.