TEMPLE OF JUPITER - POMPEII

The name of the temple derives from its original function in the Samnite period. Following the town’s colonisation, the temple became a Capitolium, a temple dedicated to the capitoline triad of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, in accordance with the religious tradition of Rome which required the centre of every town to have a temple dedicated to the most important gods on Mount Olympus. With its dominant position in the Forum and lofty Mount Vesuvius looming ominously behind it, the Temple of Jupiter is emblematic image of the destruction of Pompeii. The Temple stands on an Italic podium measuring about 17 metres along the front by 37 metres down the sides and has rows of steps running along the whole façade looking onto the Forum. At the top of the steps, six columns – originally about 12 metres height – led into an open space (the pronaos) which in turn led into the ‘cella’ or inner sanctuary. The cella was divided into three areas housing the statues of the capitoline triad. The temple had two narrow flights of stairs, one on either side of a large central dais where the altar stood, and two monumental balustrades with equestrian statues. A bas relief portraying the temple during the earthquake was found in the lararium in the house of Caecilius Jucundus and gives us a glimpse of what the building was really like. Under the podium was a series of small chambers where the temple’s sacred furnishings, votive offerings and perhaps also the Treasury were stored.

 

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Leaving the Forum now and heading along Via del Foro to the corner of Via della Fortuna, we find the Temple of Fortuna Augusta built at the expense of Marcus Tullius, a relative of the famous orator Cicero. This benefactor, an eminent citizen of Pompeii and twice Duumvir in the Augustan age, even went so far as to create the position of minister of the cult. The temple consequently acquired a political connotation, which was spread through the diffusion of the imperial cult. Hence whenever a new emperor succeeded to the throne, the ministers immediately had a statue build and placed in the temple along with a stone slab to commemorate the event. This fairly small bu ... continue

(Apic. 10, 1, 1) Ingredients:

• 4 cod steaks (or other firm white fish)
• 3 tsp ground cumin
• 3 tsp coriander seed
• 3 tsp oregano
• 3 tsp rue
• 1 garlic
• 1 carrot
• Honey
• Oil
• Vinegar
• Defritum (or grape juice honey)
• Liquamen (or salt)
• Black pepper to taste

Instructions:
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Prepare clean, salt, turn in flour, salt and fry the fish. Crush pepper, cumin, coriander seed, oregano, rue and garlic, all crushed fine; moistened with vinegar, a carrot, h ... continue

Love was a common topic of conversation in Pompeii. Feelings, passions, poetic love, sex, homosexuality, prostitution and so forth were all part of daily life and not a source of prejudice. The concept of “obscenity” seems to have been unknown. Love and sex were considered earthly practices of a man’s life that were encouraged by the benevolence of Venus. The thousands of examples of graffiti found on the town’s walls are unequivocal proof of what the people of Pompeii thought about love and sex.