Podium stamp

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Maison Carrée, Nîmes
Etruscan temple in Orvieto

A podium temple is a specific form of ancient temple construction in which the structure rose on a pronounced podium as a substructure.

In ancient times, free-standing temple buildings were always raised from the surrounding terrain by a substructure. While in Greek temple construction the multi-tiered crepes surrounding a temple on all sides was usually chosen, Etruscan and Italian temples almost without exception stood on a podium. The result was a strong and Greek temple in the form of foreign frontal alignment of Italian temples, which could only be reached via dedicated staircases at the front or on the sides of the front. In contrast, the structure of Greek temples was usually accessible from all sides. The building type, i.e. the question of whether it was a peripteros , a prostylos , a round temple or another floor plan, was subordinate to this: many floor plan types can be identified as podium stamps. Nevertheless, with the Temple of Venus and Roma and the round temple on the Tiber, there are also temples with a multi-level “Greek” substructure to be found in Rome .

Podium stamps as an expression of Etruscan-Italian architecture in particular can be found throughout the entire Italian cultural area, for example in Latium with Rome, in the Samnite and Sabine settlement areas. As a result of its inclusion in the canon of Roman architecture, with the expansion of the Roman Empire, this design spread to all western and north-western provinces of Rome , so that podium temples in Mérida, Spain ( Emerita Augusta ), with the Maison Carrée and the temple for Augustus and Livia in Vienne in France, often also in Germany - for example with the temple at Herrenbrünnchen in Trier.

Layout and design

Podium of the Temple of Divus Iulius in the Roman Forum
Podium of the Mars-Ultor-Temple with integrated altar in the outside staircase
So-called Diana temple in the Portuguese town of Évora

The size and height of the podiums varied widely. Some of the podiums were barely as high as a man, as in the temple of Fortuna Virilis in Rome, while the podium of the Castor temple in the Roman Forum reached a height of almost six meters, the Luna temple in Luna even 7.50 meters. The podium of the Temple of Mars Ultor in Rome was about 3.50 meters high. The podiums were originally filled with rubble and earth, but from the late Republican period they were often built from opus caementitium and only the supporting foundations of the walls and pillars were made of stones in opus quadratum . If opus caementitium was used to reach the sometimes considerable height of the podium, it was usually poured as a barrel vault so that under the floor areas of the cella , the pillared vestibule and the area in front of the temple did not have to be massively filled. At the same time, this technology made it possible to use the podium for other purposes. In the podium of the Temple of Castor in Rome there are chambers that were probably used as small shops and stores. The middle and north temples on the Forum holitorium in Rome also had chambers in the podium .

As a rule, the podiums are free-standing, have a basic profile and are crowned by a cornice . The podium wall is mostly smooth. Depending on the structural context, buildings could accompany the long sides of the podium. South of the temple for Caesar on the Roman Forum, for example, the Parthian arch for Augustus was directly connected , the north side was presumably occupied by a small portico . The relationship between the podium area and the size of the temple could be very different. The podiums in front of the temple front were sometimes significantly extended so that they could also accommodate the altar. Platforms in front of the podium could be used as a rostra , as was the case with the Caesar temple and the Castor temple in the Roman Forum. On the other hand, it was the need to the podium on an offshore flight of steps to make accessible to cause the front pillars of the temple, but including in the stairway when the square in front of the podium did not allow another solution. The columns then stood on pedestals in the upper area of ​​the steps , as was the case with the Temple of Minerva in Assisi . Other solutions integrated the altar into the front staircase, as was the case with the Mars Ultor Temple.

Podium stamp in the Greek East

While the podium temple was primarily a phenomenon of Etruscan-Italic and later of western Roman architecture in general, there were a few podium temples in the Greek cultural area without being attributable to Roman influence. They are to be seen here in connection with the emerging aesthetic appreciation of base zones in the Hellenistic architecture of the Greek East. Examples include the temple in Mylasa , the podium temple on the middle high school terrace in Pergamon, the market temple on the upper agora in Pergamon, the central temple in the sanctuary of the Egyptian gods in Priene , the Doric temple in Sagalassos , and the temple in Mamurt Kale .

literature

  • Ferdinando Castagnoli in: Archeologia Classica . Volume 15, 1963, p. 123.
  • Ferdinando Castagnoli in: Papers of the British School at Rome . Volume 52, 1984, p. 11.
  • Heinrich Drerup in: Gymnasium . Volume 73, 1966, p. 188, note 15.
  • Heinz Kähler : The Roman temple . Mann, Berlin 1970.
  • John W. Stamper: The Architecture of Roman Temples. The Republic to the Middle Empire . Cambridge University Press, New York 2004, ISBN 0-521-81068-X .

Remarks

  1. On Samnium cf. in addition to the temples of Pompeii, for example, the temple in Pietrabbondante: Maria José Strazzulla, Benito Di Marco: Il santuario sannitico di Pietrabbondante . Rome 1972.
  2. Livia Crozzoli Aite: I tre templi del Foro Olitorio . "L'Erma" di Bretschneider, Rome 1981, pp. 71 ff. Esp. 78 and 89 ff. Esp. 93.
  3. ^ Maria José Strazzulla: Assisi Romana . Accademia properziana del Subasio, Assisi 1985, p. 60 ff.
  4. Hans Lauter : The architecture of Hellenism . Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1986, ISBN 3-534-09401-8 , p. 299.
  5. Walter Voigtländer in: Adolf Hoffmann, Ernst-Ludwig Schwandner , Wolfram Höpfner , Gunnar Brands (ed.): Bautechnik der Antike . Colloquium Berlin 1990. Discussions on archaeological building research. Vol. 5, 1991, pp. 247-248; Ralf Schenk: The Corinthian Temple until the end of the Principate of Augustus . Internationale Archäologie Vol. 45, 1997, pp. 37-39.
  6. ^ Paul Schazmann: The high school . In: Antiquities of Pergamon . Volume 6. 1923, p. 40 ff .; Frank Rumscheid : Investigations into the architectural ornamentation of the Hellenism in Asia Minor . Volume 2. Zabern, Mainz 1994, p. 58 No. 218.
  7. Jakob Schrammen : The upper market . In: Antiquities of Pergamon . Volume 3, 1. 1906, p. 108 ff.
  8. Frank Rumscheid : Priene. Guide through the "Pompeji Asia Minor" 1998, pp. 192–194, Arnd Hennemeyer: The sanctuary of the Egyptian gods in Priene in: Adolf Hoffmann (Ed.): Egyptian cults and their sanctuaries in the east of the Roman Empire. International Colloquium 5./6. September 2003 in Bergama (Turkey), 2005, pp. 139–153
  9. ^ Marc Waelkens: Sagalassos I: first general report on the survey (1986-1989) and excavations (1990-1991) . Leuven University press, Löwen 1993, p. 45
  10. Alexander Conze , Paul Schazmann: Mamurt Kale. A temple of the Mother of Gods not far from Pergamon . 9. Supplement to the yearbook of the German Archaeological Institute. Berlin 1911, p. 14 ff .; Wilhelm Alzinger in: Camillo Praschniker , Max Theuer (ed.): The mausoleum of Belevi . Austrian Archaeological Institute, Vienna 1979, p. 181 ( Research in Ephesos . Volume 6).