The Temple of Concord ( la, Aedes Concordiae) in the

ancient city of Rome Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian language, Sumerian c ...

refers to a series of shrines or temples dedicated to the

Roman goddess Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. One of a wide variety of genres of Roman folklore, ''Roman mythology'' may also refer to the modern study of these representa ...

Concordia, and erected at the western end of the Roman Forum. The earliest temple is believed to have been vowed by

Marcus Furius Camillus Marcus Furius Camillus (; c. 446 – 365 BC) was a Roman soldier and statesman of the patrician class. According to Livy and Plutarch, Camillus triumphed four times, was five times dictator, and was honoured with the title of ''Second Founder ...

in 367 BC, but it may not have been built until 218 BC by L. Manlius. The temple was rebuilt in 121 BC, and again by the future emperor

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...

between 7 BC and AD 10.

History

One tradition ascribes the first Temple of Concord to a vow made by Camillus in 367 BC, on the occasion of the ''

Lex Licinia Sextia The Licino-Sextian rogations were a series of laws proposed by tribunes of the plebs, Gaius Licinius Stolo and Lucius Sextius Lateranus, enacted around 367 BC. Livy calls them ''rogatio'' – though he does refer to them at times as ''lex' ...

'', the law passed by the

tribunes Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on the ...

Gaius Licinius Stolo and Lucius Sextius Lateranus, opening the

consulship A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...

to the

plebeians In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words " commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins of ...

. The two had prevented the election of any

magistrates The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

for a period of several years, as part of the

conflict of the orders The Conflict of the Orders, sometimes referred to as the Struggle of the Orders, was a political struggle between the plebeians (commoners) and patricians (aristocrats) of the ancient Roman Republic lasting from 500 BC to 287 BC in which the plebe ...

. Nominated

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in tim ...

to face an invasion of the

Gauls The Gauls ( la, Galli; grc, Γαλάται, ''Galátai'') were a group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). They s ...

, Camillus, encouraged by his fellow

patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

Marcus Fabius Ambustus, Stolo's father-in-law, determined to resolve the crisis by declaring his support for the law, and vowing a temple to Concordia, symbolizing reconciliation between the patricians and plebeians. Camillus' vow is not mentioned by

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

, who instead describes the dedication of the Temple of Concord in the Vulcanal, a precinct sacred to

Vulcan Vulcan may refer to: Mythology * Vulcan (mythology), the god of fire, volcanoes, metalworking, and the forge in Roman mythology Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * Vulcan (''Star Trek''), name of a fictional race and their home p ...

on the western end of the forum, by the

aedile ''Aedile'' ( ; la, aedīlis , from , "temple edifice") was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings () and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to ...

Gnaeus Flavius in 304 BC. Flavius' actions were an affront to the senate, partly because he had undertaken the matter without first consulting them, and partly because of his low social standing: not only was Flavius a plebeian, but he was the son of a freedman, and had previously served as a scribe to

Appius Claudius Caecus Appius Claudius Caecus ( 312–279 BC) was a statesman and writer from the Roman Republic. The first Roman public figure whose life can be traced with some historical certainty, Caecus was responsible for the building of Rome's first road (t ...

. The Pontifex Maximus, Rome's chief priest, was compelled to instruct Flavius on the proper formulae for dedicating a temple.Livy, ix. 46.

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

and

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

report that Flavius was a scribe, rather than aedile, at the time of the dedication, and a law was passed immediately afterward forbidding anyone from dedicating a temple without the authorization of the senate or a majority of the plebeian tribunes. Yet a third Temple of Concord was begun in 217 BC, early in the Second Punic War, by the ''

duumviri The duumviri ( Latin for "two men"), originally duoviri and also known in English as the duumvirs, were any of various joint magistrates of ancient Rome. Such pairs of magistrates were appointed at various periods of Roman history both in Rome i ...

'' Marcus Pupius and Caeso Quinctius Flamininus, in fulfillment of a vow made by the

praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vari ...

Lucius Manlius Vulso on the occasion of his deliverance from the Gauls in 218. The reason why

Manlius The gens Manlia () was one of the oldest and noblest patrician houses at Rome, from the earliest days of the Republic until imperial times. The first of the gens to obtain the consulship was Gnaeus Manlius Cincinnatus, consul in 480 BC, and for ...

vowed a temple to ''Concordia'' is not immediately apparent, but Livy alludes to a mutiny that had apparently occurred among the praetor's men. The temple was completed and dedicated the following year by the ''duumviri'' Marcus and Gaius Atilius. The murder of

Gaius Gracchus Gaius Sempronius Gracchus ( – 121 BC) was a reformist Roman politician in the 2nd century BC. He is most famous for his tribunate for the years 123 and 122 BC, in which he proposed a wide set of laws, including laws to establish ...

in 121 BC marked a low point in the relationship between the emerging Roman aristocracy and the popular party, and was immediately followed by the reconstruction of the Temple of Concord by Lucius Opimius at the senate's behest, which was regarded as an utterly insincere attempt to clothe its actions in a symbolic act of reconciliation. From this period, the temple was frequently used as a meeting place for both the Senate and the Arval Brethren.Platner & Ashby, ''Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome'', ''s. v. Concordia, Aedes, Templum''. Two important Senate meetings, including one in which Cicero delivered his Fourth Catilinarian speech and another in which

Sejanus Lucius Aelius Sejanus (c. 20 BC – 18 October AD 31), commonly known as Sejanus (), was a Roman soldier, friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Of the Equites class by birth, Sejanus rose to power as prefect of the Praetorian Gua ...

was condemned to death, took place in the Temple of Concord. A statue of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

placed on the roof of the temple was struck by lightning in 211 BC, and prodigies were reported in the Concordiae, the neighborhood of the temple, in 183 and 181. Little else is heard of the temple until 7 BC, when the future emperor Tiberius undertook another restoration, which lasted until AD 10, when the structure was rededicated on the 16th of January as the ''Aedes Concordiae Augustae'', the Temple of Concordia of

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

. This new temple served as a museum for a number of works of art, many of which are described by Pliny. The fine collection consisted primarily of Greek art including a statue of

Hestia In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Hestia (; grc-gre, Ἑστία, meaning "hearth" or "fireside") is the virgin goddess of the hearth, the right ordering of domesticity, the family, the home, and the state. In myth, she is the firstborn ...

, several group bronzes, and panel paintings by famous Greek painters including Zeuxis, Nikias and Theoros. The temple is occasionally mentioned in imperial times, and it could have been the meeting place of the Senate after the death of Gordian I and II when

Pupienus Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus ( 168 238 AD) was Roman emperor with Balbinus for 99 days in 238, during the Year of the Six Emperors. The sources for this period are scant, and thus knowledge of the emperor is limited. In most contemporary t ...

and

Balbinus Decimus Caelius Calvinus Balbinus (died 238 AD) was Roman emperor with Pupienus for three months in 238, the Year of the Six Emperors. Origins and career Not much is known about Balbinus before his elevation to emperor. It has been conjec ...

were elected as emperors and may have been restored again following a fire in AD 284. If still in use, the temple would have been closed during the persecution of pagans under the Christian emperors of the late fourth century. The building, however, remained standing. By the eighth century, the temple was reportedly in poor condition, and in danger of collapsing. The temple was razed ''circa'' 1450, and the stone turned into a

lime kiln A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone ( calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime called quicklime (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this reaction is : CaCO3 + heat → CaO + CO2 This reaction can take p ...

to recover the marble for building.

Architecture

The Temple of Concord, constructed by Lucius Opimus during the Republican period, had a typical rectangular podium (40.8m x 30m). Based on the construction methods used in the base and support walls, the porch had eight Corinthian columns made out of travertine drums covered in stucco. The later construction of the Temple of Concordia Augusta expanded and altered the previous temple. Backed up against the

Tabularium The Tabularium was the official records office of ancient Rome and housed the offices of many city officials. Situated within the Roman Forum, it was on the front slope of the Capitoline Hill, below the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, to t ...

at the foot of the

Capitoline Hill The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; it, Campidoglio ; la, Mons Capitolinus ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. ...

, the design of the temple had to accommodate the limitations of the site. The

cella A cella (from Latin for small chamber) or naos (from the Greek ναός, "temple") is the inner chamber of an ancient Greek or Roman temple in classical antiquity. Its enclosure within walls has given rise to extended meanings, of a hermit's or ...

of the temple, for instance, is almost twice as wide (45m) as it is deep (24m), as is the

pronaos A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

. A steep flight of stairs led up to the entrance of the temple on the long side, which would have been flanked by statues of Hercules and Mercury, symbolizing security and prosperity. A fragment of the marble threshold of the cella is preserved and features an engraved caduceus or wand of Mercury, which represented peace and reconciliation. Three statues were positioned on the apex of the pediment, which represented Concord along with two other goddess, Pax and Salus (or Securitas and Fortuna). Two soldiers, representing Tiberius and his brother Drusus, stood on either side of them. In the cella, a row of Corinthian columns rose from a continuous

plinth A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...

projecting from the wall, which divided the cella into bays, each containing a niche. The capitals of these columns had pairs of leaping rams in place of the corner

volute A volute is a spiral, scroll-like ornament that forms the basis of the Ionic order, found in the capital of the Ionic column. It was later incorporated into Corinthian order and Composite column capitals. Four are normally to be found on an Ion ...

s. Only the platform now remains, partially covered by a road up to the Capitol.

Other temples

The main temple in the Forum in Rome seems to have been a model for temples to the goddess elsewhere in the empire—a reproduction of this temple was found at Mérida in Spain, during the excavations of the town's forum in 2002.

References

Bibliography

Marcus Tullius Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

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Epistulae ad Atticum ''Epistulae ad Atticum'' (Latin for "Letters to Atticus") is a collection of letters from Roman politician and orator Marcus Tullius Cicero to his close friend Titus Pomponius Atticus. The letters in this collection, together with Cicero's ot ...

'', ''

In Catilinam The Catilinarian Orations (; also simply the ''Catilinarians'') are a set of speeches to the Roman Senate given in 63 BC by Marcus Tullius Cicero, one of the year's consuls, accusing a senator, Lucius Sergius Catilina (Catiline), of leading a p ...

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Philippicae The ''Philippics'' ( la, Philippicae, singular Philippica) are a series of 14 speeches composed by Cicero in 44 and 43 BC, condemning Mark Antony. Cicero likened these speeches to those of Demosthenes against Philip II of Macedon; both Demo ...

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Sallust Gaius Sallustius Crispus, usually anglicised as Sallust (; 86 – ), was a Roman historian and politician from an Italian plebeian family. Probably born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines, Sallust became during the 50s BC a partisan ...

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History of Rome The history of Rome includes the history of the city of Rome as well as the civilisation of ancient Rome. Roman history has been influential on the modern world, especially in the history of the Catholic Church, and Roman law has influenced m ...

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Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

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Fasti In ancient Rome, the ''fasti'' (Latin plural) were chronological or calendar-based lists, or other diachronic records or plans of official and religiously sanctioned events. After Rome's decline, the word ''fasti'' continued to be used for simil ...

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Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

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Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

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Appian Appian of Alexandria (; grc-gre, Ἀππιανὸς Ἀλεξανδρεύς ''Appianòs Alexandreús''; la, Appianus Alexandrinus; ) was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who flourished during the reigns of Emperors of Rome Trajan, Ha ...

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Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

), ''Roman History''. *

Julius Obsequens Julius Obsequens was a Roman writer active in the 4th or early 5th centuries AD, during late antiquity. His sole known work is the ''Prodigiorum liber'' (''Book of Prodigies''), a tabulation of the wonders and portents that had occurred in the Ro ...

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External links

Temple of Concord at digitales Forum Romanum by Humboldt University of Berlin
(in Spanish)
Rome Alive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Temple Of Concord 4th-century BC religious buildings and structures 3rd-century BC religious buildings and structures 2nd-century BC religious buildings and structures

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...