TEMPLES TOMBS PRIVATE WORSHIP

 Votive offerings – an offering to the gods that is accompanied by a prayer.  Cella – The inner room or sanctuary of an ancient Roman temple, in which the statue of the god was situated  Axial – Located on, around, or in the direction of an axis.  Tufa – a soft porous rock.

 Temple of Jupiter  Temple of Apollo  Temple of Fortuna Augusta  Temple of Venus  Temple of Vespasian - Imperial Cult  College of the Augustales – Imperial Cult  Temple of public lares  Temple of Isis

 Sitting in the north side of Forum, it was dedicated to Jupiter in c.80BC.  Jupiter, Juno and Minerva worshipped as a trinity so building became Pompeii’s Capitolium.  Italic style building - 6 columns in front, cella inside divided by double tier of columns.  Badly damaged in AD62 earthquake and in the process of being rebuilt when Vesuvius erupted.

 Cult of Apollo was popular in Pompeii.  Began in 6th century BC, rebuilt in 2nd century BC and damaged in earthquake of AD62.  Key features - fluted columns of Nocera tufa (building material), showing Greek and Italian influences.  Temple stood on a platform surrounded by Corinthian columns (Greek influence).  Marble altar at front with inscription of public officials who dedicated the temple.

 Venus Pompeiana patron of colony after 80BC.  At the time of the eruption, sanctuary of Venus was being rebuilt after earthquake damage.  The temple was in south west corner of city.  Key feature - Axial temple in a colonnaded court.  Votive offerings, a marble statuette of Venus and a large gold lamp have been uncovered at the site.

 The temple was built by public official (duumvir) Marcus Tullius as symbol of his loyalty to emperor and is evidence of the Imperial Cult.  It was built on busy crossroad of Via Del Foro and Via Di Nola.  Key features - platform, pit for altar, 4 columns in front and 3 on sides.  Cella contained a statue of Fortuna and niches for honorary statues.  Temple and cult maintained by ministri attendants (usually freedmen).

Remains of Corinthian columns

Animal being brought for sacrifice

 Features - open court, altar in middle and small shrine on a podium on back wall.  New architectural technique - brick facing and marble veneer.  It was located in the Forum next to the public lares.  The altar shows a bull being led to sacrifice.

 It is situated along the decumanus maximus in Herculaneum.  Its inscription of dedication shows how the cult of Augustus allowed freedmen to make their mark in Herculaneum’s society. Who Were the Augustales?  The Augustales were freedmen who had become successful local businessmen. They were the priests of the imperial cult of Augustus.  The cult was founded by the Emperor Augustus as a way of allowing freedmen a role in civic life.  Freedmen were barred from holding political posts and traditional Roman priesthoods.  The imperial cult gave them a chance to contribute to the society that had freed them, advance themselves and demonstrate their loyalty to the emperor.

 The temple of Augustus in Herculaneum was identified by an inscription declaring it sacred to Augustus.  Situated in a prominent position in the centre of the town, what remains is substantial.  It was a square building. Some of the wooden beams of the central raised roof survived destruction in AD79. They remain in place, carbonised by the pyroclastic surge that hit the town.  The temple shrine is at the back of the building, facing the entrance from the street. It was raised slightly above the rest of the room and was reached by two steps.  The whole temple is painted with scenes from the last episodes of the Hercules myths. Hercules was the founder of Herculaneum so the frescos make a statement about the standing of the town.

Temple of Isis

 Built in late 2nd early- 1st century BC.  Cult of Isis popular with the wealthy as well as women and slaves.  Isis - goddess of healing, giver of life, protector of family.  Features - located in enclosure above theatre; high podium with front stairway; purificatory shrine (purgatorium) where worshippers were cleansed with water from the Nile; precinct contained an ekklesiasterion - a room for performance of sacred plays; decorated with paintings and stucco reliefs of Egyptian subjects.  Contained cult objects sistrum (rattle) and situla (bucket for sacred milk).  Statues and dedications also found in the precinct.

Side Niche for sacred statues Sacred altar

Temple Pronaos -entrance hall to temple Assembly room teaching hall

 It was located in the forum.  It was built after the earthquake of 62AD and was an act of penance for the town after the disaster they had endured.  It had not been completed prior to the eruption but it’s architectural features were unusual in that it was open on the side leading to the Forum.  It had an open roof floored with coloured marble floor and in the centre was an altar although few remains can be seen.  There were also 3 niches in the wall where the town goes would have been kept.

 The tombs were set as an introduction to the city and its prominent families and citizens.  The great tombs were built as a result of competitiveness- people were not to be outdone!  Unique to Pompeii were the bench/sitting tombs, where travelers could sit and rest outside the city and read about prominent Pompeians whose death afforded their resting place.  They were a form of propaganda for families.

 Tombs flanked the roads leading out of the city.  They were grand statements.  They were a form of self promotion - ‘altar tombs’ that recounted the achievements and wealth of the deceased, as well as political and social rank. It was a statement.  They are evidence of competition for rank and status.  As travelers came into the city they could get a glimpse of the noble families and elite inhabitants of the town.

 They were 2 protective spirits/gods of the household.  Lares were thought to observe and influence all that happened within the boundaries of their location or function.  The statues of domestic Lares were placed at table during family meals; their presence, cult and blessing seem to have been required at all important family functions. Household lararium – note the 3 figures and the snakes (guardians and a symbol of good luck).

 Offerings to the Lares include grain (spelt wheat and grain-garlands), honey cakes and honeycombs, grapes and first fruits, wine and incense.  Domestic Lares (Lares Familiares) could be served at any time and not always by intention! Any food that fell to the floor during house banquets was theirs.

 The other significant guardian spirit was the genius, who was a fertility spirit responsible for ensuring that the family line (gens) would continue.  Each genius stood for the paterfamilias, whose birthday was the feast day of the genius.  The genius is depicted wearing the toga praetexta, bordered in purple, the garment of high-ranking Roman magistrates.

 The lararium was a shrine to the guardian spirits of the Roman household.  Family members performed daily rituals at this shrine to guarantee the protection of these domestic spirits, the most significant of which were the lares.  These spirits were depicted as two young men in dancing postures, holding drinking horns.  They were most frequently represented by small bronze statuettes, or as painted images.

Lararium in house Bronze Statuette Lares painted on shop wall

 Private religion did not require the services of state priests, but there were several areas of overlapping between the two and they did not operate separately.  Thus state pontifices (priests) would give advice on private religious matters and on inheritance passing outside a familia on the death of the last member.  This was because both public and private religions were officially overseen by the state through the ius divinum.  But whereas public religion was restricted to the worship of a limited number of approved gods and select festivals private religion allowed for the worship of any god and celebration of any festival providing that no breach of the peace occurred.  We know that many women were priestess of Isis and Fortuna Augusta.  Freedmen were often priests of the Imperial Cult too.  The following is an excellent website to look at: Eumachia was a public priestess of Venus.