Neptunus, Aedes

Tetrastyle temple dedicated to Neptune, located in the area of the *Circus Flaminius (Fast. Amit.: NEPTVNO ... AD CIRC(VM) FLAMIN(IVM), Degrassi, Inscr. Ital. 13.2, 198-99, 533; CIL VI 8423: ... AEDIS NEPTVNI QVAE EST IN CIRCO FLAMIN(IO)) and recently identified with the remains of a tufa opus quadratum podium, of which only the W flank is preserved (Tucci 1997, 21; id., LTUR 279; cf. Viscogliosi). Additional archaeological remains found nearby in Piazza Costaguti substantiate this location and suggest a 2nd-c. B.C. date (Castagnoli 1983, 100-1; id. 1985, 315-16; Bianchi and Tucci 11-14; Tucci, LTUR 279). A fragmentary relief from Ostia, which depicts a temple to Neptune next to a shrine of Hercules, had been used to locate the former in the NW corner of the *Circus Flaminius, next to the sanctuary of *Hercules Magnus Custos, perhaps within the *Porticus Octavia (Coarelli 1968, 309-16; id. 1997, 403). However, an alternate interpretation, which identifies the depicted Hercules shrine as the Temple of *Hercules Musarum, would then place the Temple of Neptune in the exact place in which the recent remains were found (Tucci, LTUR). Since the remains are oriented to the cardinal directions, as were the buildings of the *Campus Martius, the temple was probably erected prior to the monumentalization of the Circus Flaminius (Tucci, LTUR). The admittedly scant literary evidence pertaining to the cult of Neptune in the Campus Martius indicates a foundation in the 3rd c. B.C. and a possible affiliation with the Ahenobarbi. Livy (28.11.4) reports that in 206 B.C. an unnatural event (prodigium) happened to the ara Neptuni in circo Flaminio, while a passage in Cassius Dio (fr. 57.60) suggests that this ‘Altar of Neptune’ was connected to a temple dedicated to the same deity already in 218 B.C. Pliny (NH 36.26) makes reference to a delubrum Cn. Domitii that has been identified with a pseudo-peripteral tetrastyle temple commemorated on a coin (aureus) issued in 42/40 B.C. by Cn. Domitius Ahenobarbus (Crawford, RRC 527 n.519, pl. 62, figs. 100-1; Castagnoli 1946, 181-96). Although the original foundation-date for the Temple of Neptune escapes precise definition, if the aedes Neptuni can legitimately be identified with the delubrum described by Pliny, the most reasonable date would be after the naval victory of Cn. Domitius Ahenobarbus over Aristonicus in 128 B.C. (Coarelli 1997, 407-27; contra, Ziolkowski, who argues for 292-219 B.C.). The podium recently found in Piazza Costaguti should be connected to this structure. Pliny (loc. cit.) mentions cult statues of Neptune, Thetis, Achilles and the Nereids, all by Scopas, a 2nd-c. Greek artist working in Rome. The so-called Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus, in actuality a large base for statuary honoring its donor Marcus Antonius, was erected in the vicinity of the temple sometime in the early 1st c. B.C. (Kuttner; Holliday).