Magna Mater, Aedes

Temple on the *Palatine dedicated to the Phrygian mother-goddess Magna Mater, also known as Cybele, and home to the sacred black stone which represented the deity (Prudent., Perist. 10.154-60; Arn., Adv. nat. 7.49). Begun in 204 and dedicated in 191 B.C. (Livy 29.37.2, 36.36.3-5), the temple burned twice before it was restored by Augustus after the second fire of A.D. 3 (RG 19: aedem Matris Magnae in Palatio feci; Val. Max. 1.8.11; Ov., Fast. 4.347-48). Excavations on the SW corner of the Palatine in 1809 first brought the temple to light, while more recent investigations have clarified the architectural development of the structure (Romanelli; Pensabene 1988; id., LTUR). The extant remains, located just above the *Scalae Caci and adjacent to the Temple of *Victoria, indicate that the Augustan rebuilding utilized the earlier Republican foundations and high concrete podium (c. 33 x 17 m) to support a prostyle, hexastyle superstructure in the Corinthian order with a sculpted pediment (Romanelli 235; Pensabene 1988, 60; order and pediment attested on the Villa Medici relief, LTUR fig. 139). A statue of Magna Mater and inscriptions pertaining to her cult found in the vicinity allow these remains to be identified as her sanctuary (CIL VI 496, 3702=30967; a connection first advanced by Rosa in the 1800s, see Romanelli 223). Extending across the façade of the temple was a broad staircase, which led down to a large, paved platform where the ludi Megalenses, dramatic performances and games in honor of Cybele, were held (on the ludi: Cic., Har. resp. 24; Livy 36.36.4-5; for the platform: Romanelli 291-300, 316; Pensabene 1988, 59-60); these steps would have seated spectators. Sometime after the fire of 111 B.C., modest vaults extended this precinct across a street, here identified as the *Clivus Victoriae, that had previously limited the platform on the SW (Pensabene 1988, 59); tabernae (small shops and offices) opening onto the street were located within the barrel-vaulted spaces below the platform (Pensabene 1988, 60). The S edge of the platform remains indeterminate (Pensabene 1985, 189), and its depiction on our map is hypothetical. Enclosing the precinct on the W was a portico; its opus reticulatum walls suggest an Augustan date (Pensabene 1988, 60-61). Joined to the exterior of this portico, at a level c. 3 m below the temple’s precinct, were a series of rooms (separated by opus reticulatum walls, capped on the ends with pilasters) which opened onto a long, rectangular space; partially preserved foundations suggest that this elongated hall may have been a colonnade, perhaps with an upper storey. In addition to providing storage space, these Augustan additions to the Magna Mater complex served as retaining walls for the steep W Palatine slope (Pensabene 1988, 61). One of the most important changes to this temple during the Augustan era concerns the annual ritual bathing of the Magna Mater idol. Originally, this ceremony was carried out in a modest tufa basin (3 x 3.6 m, 1.7 m deep) located in front of the temple and accessed by a flight of steps; however, excavations reveal that the use of this basin was discontinued in the late-Republican or early-Augustan period, perhaps concurrent with the temple’s restoration (Romanelli 301-14, followed by Richardson 243; Pensabene 1985, 184). At that point, the ritual was moved to a shrine outside the city on the banks of the Almo, a small tributary of the Tiber (Ovid, Fast. 4.333-42; Lucan 1.600; Martial 3.47.2; Statius, Silv. 5.222-24; Silius Italicus 8.363; Amm. Marc. 23.3.7; Degrassi, Inscr. Ital. 13.2, 432). Thus, Augustus’ interventions may involve both the physical fabric of the temple and the cult practices in honor of the Great Mother. Just W of the temple were two small structures; the smaller shrine, which shares the temple’s orientation, had been known as the “Auguratorium” (Platner–Ashby) until Coarelli questioned tradition and identified it as the Temple of *Victoria Virgo (LTUR). The larger structure with an independent orientation is identified as the Temple of Victoria.