Area sacra di Sant'Omobono
The Area sacra di Sant'Omobono is an excavation site near the Capitoline Hill in Rome , which is named after the church of Sant'Omobono located there.
location
The area sacra is located southwest of the Capitoline Hill at the transition to the formerly boggy valley floor, which opens to the Tiber . It is located immediately south of the vicus Iugarius , which - slightly elevated - connected the Roman Forum through the Porta Carmentalis with the Forum Holitorium and, further along the Capitoline Hill, with the Tiber harbor. Presumably the area still belonged to Regio VIII of ancient Rome.
Excavation history
As early as 1937, the remains of two temples from the 3rd century BC were removed during construction work. And it has already been recognized that they were on the even older foundations of a temple from the 6th century BC. Were built.
Between 1959 and 1964, in the 1970s and in 1986, several attempts were made to completely uncover the area, but this failed due to the challenges posed by the groundwater-bearing terrain. Nevertheless, the history of the holy district could be further clarified by means of probes.
Since 2010, representatives of the Italian Monument Protection Agency, together with representatives from the Universities of Michigan and Calabria, have been conducting continuous surveys in the area.
Archaeological evidence
The area can be used until the late 7th century BC. To be traced back. Around 600 BC A first fortified cult site with a sacrificial pit and a roof structure was created. In the corresponding layer, the excavators found, among other things, a fragment of an archaic Etruscan inscription, which is the oldest evidence of the presence of Etruscans in early Rome and includes the letters uqnus written from right to left .
In the 2nd quarter of the 6th century BC A first temple was built on a flat podium facing southwest towards a sacrificial shaft in front of its front. The temple must have been in the last quarter of the 6th century BC. Underwent a renovation, from the architectural parts of the roof and terracotta sculptures , including a Hercules and an armed deity two-thirds life size, testify. A large number of fragments of Greek imported ceramics from Ionia , Laconia and Attica confirm the dating of this construction phase. Since the corresponding ceramic finds stop relatively abruptly, the temple must have been around 500 BC. Have been destroyed.
The next phase of use of the area begins with a fundamental redesign. Large amounts of earth were brought in - presumably from the Capitoline Hill - in order to raise the terrain level for a terrace construction by around 6 meters. Ceramics of various ages were found in the material of the filling: Bronze Age Apennine goods from the 14th / 13th centuries. Century BC BC, Iron Age ceramics and Greek imports from the 8th century BC. BC, the time of the legendary foundation of Rome. The range of finds, which are among the oldest in the Roman urban area, suggests that settlement material from the nearest hill was used to fill the area. The north-south facing terrace that was created in this way, measuring around 47 meters square, was covered with a plaster made of Cappellaccio slabs.
On top of it rose two temples that were significantly larger than their archaic predecessor. A continuous staircase on the front allowed access to the temples standing on a flat podium, the floor plans of which correspond entirely to Italian tradition.
Soon after 264 BC A new pavement made of Aniene and Monteverde tuff was laid and the temples were renewed. In front of each temple there was now an east-facing, U-shaped altar. A donarium made of peperine was built in the central axis of the complex to receive gifts. The founder's inscription, preserved in fragments, reads:
"M. FOLV [IO (S) QF COS] OL D (EDET) VOLS [INIO] CAP [TO] "
"The consul Marcus Fulvius, son of Quintus, consecrated after the conquest of Volsinii."
After a fire, the whole terrace was paved again, this time using only Monteverde tuff, which came from the Ianiculum . Finally, a paving made of travertine was laid in the imperial era , which was repaired with bricks in the Hadrian era.
From the 6th century AD, the Area sacra di Sant'Omobono was used as a Christian place of worship, probably with an early church building, which after several renovations over the centuries finally ended in church construction, which was consecrated in 1575 to Saint Homobonus of Cremona .
interpretation
The first excavator, Antonio M. Colini , recognized the temples of Fortuna and Mater Matuta in the complex of the twin temples in 1937 . Although only one temple has been documented for the archaic period, for reasons of cult continuity it is assumed that twin temples already existed at this point in the 6th century. The eastern temple and dedicated to the Mater Matuta could not be excavated because of the overbuilding by the church of S. Omobono. Numerous ancient sources bring the erection of two temples for Fortuna and Mater Matuta at the same place with Servius Tullius (579-534 BC) in connection, whose statue was even placed in the temple of Fortuna.
Hence, it is generally accepted that the remains of the first archaic temple from the 2nd quarter of the 6th century BC BC are to be connected with that foundation of Servius Tullius, especially since Livius explicitly states as a description of the location "on the inside of the porta Carmentalis " and in the description of the fire of 213 BC. BC summarizes the two temples, the porta Carmentalis and the vicus Iugarius with its adjoining buildings in one sentence.
The complex was then still in the 6th century BC. Before it was destroyed and abandoned as a temple for the Etruscan ruling class when the Roman Republic established it.
Since the construction phase after the next is dated in writing, the backfilling of the terrain and the construction of the first verifiable twin temple must have been carried out beforehand. This phase can be associated with Marcus Furius Camillus , who died in 396 BC. During his first dictatorship BC vowed to renew the temple of the Mater Matuta built by Servius Tullius if he should conquer Veii , which happened that same year.
Marcus Fulvius Flaccus finally donated in 264 BC. BC Statues from his triumph over Volsinii . The new construction of the altars, the foundation of the Donarium, the renovation of the temples and the paving can be associated with him.
From the fire of the year 213 BC Finally, the temples of Fortuna and Mater Matuta were also affected and it was 212 BC. Triumvirs elected to take care of the rebuilding of the temples. As a result of repair work after this fire, the paving is interpreted entirely from Monteverde tuff.
Together with the nearby Capitoline Temple , the archaic temple in the Area sacra di Sant'Omobono is one of the oldest documented sacred buildings in the city.
Individual evidence
- ↑ CIL 06, 40895
- ^ The contradiction of R. Ross Holloway: The Archeology of Early Rome and Latium . Routledge, New York 1994, pp. 10-11.
- ↑ Ovid , Fasti 6: 569-572; Titus Livius , Ab urbe condita 5, 19, 6; 24, 47, 15-16; 25, 7, 5-6; 33, 27, 3-4.
- ↑ Ovid, Fasti 6: 569-572; Valerius Maximus 1, 8, 11.
- ↑ Titus Livius, Ab urbe condita 24, 47, 15-16
- ↑ Titus Livius, Ab urbe condita 25, 7, 5-6.
literature
- Filippo Coarelli : Rome. An archaeological guide . 1st edition. Herder, Basel - Vienna 1975, pp. 283–285.
- Paolo Brocato, Nicola Terrenato (ed.): Nuove ricerche nell'area archeologica di S. Omobono a Roma. Arcavacata di Rende 2012.
- Paolo Brocato, Anna Maria Ramieri, Nicola Terrenato, Ivan Cangemi, Mattia D'Acri, Luca De Luca, Maurizio Giovagnoli, Geraldine Pizzitutti, Carlo Regoli: La ripresa delle ricerche nell'area archeologica di S. Omobono a Roma . In: Mediterranea . Vol. 9, 2012, pp. 9-56.
- Nicola Terrenato, Paolo Brocato, Giovanni Caruso, Anna Maria Ramieri, HW Becker, Ivan Cangemi, Graziano Mantiloni, Carlo Regoli: The S. Omobono Sanctuary in Rome. Assessing eighty years of fieldwork and exploring perspectives for the future. In: Internet Archeology 31, 2012, DOI: 10.11141 / ia.31.1 .
Web links
- Homepage of the Sant'Omobono Projects, University of Michigan
- Homepage of the Sovrintendenza
- Fasti Online
Coordinates: 41 ° 53 ′ 26.2 " N , 12 ° 28 ′ 52.6" E