Date: 18-16BC Means: ‘Square House’ in French Location: Nimes, South of France (one of the wealthiest cities of the Roman provence of Gaul ) Length: 31.8m Width: 15m Materials: Limestone Who was it built by? Marcus Agrippa (Augustus’ son-in-law) Inscription: Where? On the entablature Dedication? To Agrippa’s sons (Augustus’ grandsons) and expected heirs, Gaius and Lucius, (but both died before Augustus). Style/Influenced by Greek and Etruscan (Italian) temples: GREEK: made of stone, surrounded by columns (peripteral) which are free-standing in real Greek temples but in this & most Roman examples the back columns are engaged – meaning ½ columns joined to the wall (this pseudo-peripteral). ETRUSCAN (or latin) influence – only front entrance – with a porticap or front porch with the room (cella) in the back ½, and the whole temple on a raised foundation. One of the best preserved temples to be found anywhere in the territory of the former Roman Empire. It was built about 16 BC by Augustus’s friend, general, and son-in-law, Agrippa, (also the original patron of the Pantheon in Rome) Originally dedicated to Roma and Augustus, then reassigned. The original inscription dedicating the temple to Gaius and Lucius was removed in medieval times. However, a local scholar reconstructed the inscription in 1758 from the order and number of the holes in the portico's facade, to which the bronze letters had been affixed. The text of the dedication read (in translation): "To Gaius Caesar, son of Augustus, Consul; to Lucius Caesar, son of Augustus, Consul designate; to the princes of youth." The temple was rededicated as a Christian church in the fourth century, saving it from the widespread destruction of temples that followed the adoption of Christianity as Rome's official state religion. It subsequently became a meeting hall for the city's consuls, a canon's house, a stable during the French Revolution and a storehouse for the city archives. It became a museum after Its French name derives from the archaic term carré long, literally meaning a "long square", or rectangle - a reference to the building's shape. MAISON CARREE

Where is Nimes?

PEDIMENT ENTABULATUR E COLONNADE Tympanu m Cornice Frieze Architrave Capital s G.CAESARI.AVGVSTI.F.COS.L.CAESARI.AVGVSTI.F.COS.DESIGNATO PRINCIPIBVS.IVVENTVTIS THE INSCRITION IS LOST, BUT HAS BEEN RECONSTRUCTED FROM THE HOLES LEFT BY THE REMOVED METAL LETTERING G. CAESARI (Gauis Caesar) AVGVSTI.F. (Augustus’s son) COS (consul) L. CAESARI (Gucuis Caesar) AVGVSTI.F. (Augustus’s son) COS.DESIGNATO (consul designate) PRINCIPIBVS (Princes of ) IVVENTVTIS (Youth) These boys were sons of Augustus’ daughter and Agrippa (the guy who had the temple built. They were heir’s to the empire but both died before Augustus (probably by foul means)

EXTERIOR FEATURES with Roman/Etruscan and Greek features Corinthian Capitals originate in 5 th century Athens Frieze elaborate acanthus design [GREEK decoration] Fluted Columns [GREEK] “hexastyle” Six column frontage – [GREEK] Staircase Broad, 15 steps [Etruscan] High podium 3.6m high (Etruscan) Deep entrance porch 2 more columns (Etruscan) cella Engaged Columns – cosmetic ½ column - tall slender, fluted Strong frontal orientation is an ETRUSCAN (italian) feature (enter only from the front) Stone construction and surrounded by columns - a GREEK feature

H e x a s t y l e c o l o n n a d e Cella (small chamber) Deep porch Pseudo-peripteral colonnade : pseudo=appears; peripteral = sorrounded by columns (greek feature). Columns are free at portico end, and engaged (1/2 columns) at cella end PLAN VIEW The Maison Carrée is a perfect example of Vitruvian architecture in its most classical mode. Raised on a 2.85 m high podium (Etruscan influence), the temple dominated the forum of the Roman city, forming a rectangle almost twice as long as it is wide, measuring m by m. The façade is dominated by a deep portico almost a third of the building's length. It is a pseudoperipteral hexastyle design with six Corinthian columns under the Pediment at either end, and twenty engaged columns embedded along the walls of the cella. The temple was originally inside a large 2000m2 sanctury

Exterior Rear

Exterior Decoration in rear Fluted (grooved) engaged columns Corinthian Capitals (acanthus leaves) Architrave – directly above columns Frieze - with foliage and acanthus leaves Cornice -top section of entablature. The Entablature

Ceiling of PORTICO Ceiling under porch has coffers for floral decoration