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Articles on pp152‑153 of

Samuel Ball Platner (as completed and revised by Thomas Ashby):
A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome,
London: Oxford University Press, 1929.

 p152  Templum Divorum

Divorum Templum: the name of a notable structure in the campus Martius erected by Domitian (Chronog. a. 354, p146), consisting of an enclosing porticus, the porticus Divorum (Eutrop. vii.23), and two aedes, the aedes divi Titi (CIL VI.10234, lines 8, 10, 23; cf. HJ 565, n18) and, presumably, an aedes divi Vespasiani. Eleven fragments of the Marble Plan (59, 167, 224; and eight recently discovered, Mitt. 1903, 17‑57, pl. I, II) represent the porticus (q.v.) between the Saepta and the baths of Agrippa, and within its entrance, formed by a triple arch on the north side, two small tetrastyle temples. These were probably the two aedes of Titus and Vespasian, and the whole complex was the templum Divorum, which seems ordinarily to have been known as Divorum (cf. FUR; Chron.; Not. Reg. IX). The porticus was rectangular, about 200 metres long and 55 wide, with something over thirty columns on the long sides and sixteen on one short side. It extended from the present Piazza Grazioli nearly to the Via di San Marco,​1 and contained a grove and altar besides the temples. Stuart Jones (Quarterly Review, Oct. 1925, 393) believes that the relief of the Suovetaurilia in the Louvre (Companion  p153 pl. 50) belongs to the 'high altar' of this temple. After the fourth century there is no mention of the structure, but its name is preserved in the Diburi or Diburo of several mediaeval documents in connection with the monastery of S. Ciriaco in Camiliano (HJ 564‑567; HCh 243, 589). Many architectural remains have been found on the site of the building, but not such as to permit of a reconstruction.

It should be noted that Bufalini in his plan marks 'Colonato antiqui' (sic) on the south side of the church of S. Stefano del Cacco.

Aedes Divorum

Divorum, aedes: a temple of the Divi, that is, the deified emperors, on the Palatine, mentioned three times in inscriptions of the Arvales as a place of assembling (CIL VI.32379, 145 A.D.; 2087; 2104, 218 A.D.; DE I.177), and probably referred to by Cassius Dio (LXXVI.3: θεωρίαις τοῖς ἐν τῷ Παλατίῳ ἥρωσι πεποιημέναις 203 A.D.). This seems to have been a new temple, which served for the collective worship of the divi Augusti, after the observance of their separate cults began to fall into disuse (HJ 81‑82; WR 347; cf. Gilb. III.131‑133).


The Authors' Note:

1 Cf. LS II.129‑131. In NS 1925, 240‑242, some remains found immediately to the north of Palazzo Venezia are attributed to the south end of the porticus; but, as Hülsen points out, this does not agree with the orientation of the porticus as shown on the Forma Urbis, and also makes it too small. It is therefore probable that these remains belong to some of the private buildings between the porticus and the Saepta which were orientated with the latter (Mitt. 1903, 23).


Thayer's Note:

a Due to an oversight on Platner's part, the one-line entry Porticus Divorum (q.v. if you must) sends you right back here.


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Page updated: 17 Dec 03