The Temple of Jupiter Stator (''"Jupiter the Sustainer"'') was a temple of

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–50 ...

in the southern

Campus Martius The Campus Martius (Latin for the "Field of Mars", Italian ''Campo Marzio'') was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about in extent. In the Middle Ages, it was the most populous area of Rome. The IV rione of Rome, Campo Marzio, which cov ...

. It was destroyed in 64 AD in the

Great Fire of Rome The Great Fire of Rome ( la, incendium magnum Romae) occurred in July AD 64. The fire began in the merchant shops around Rome's chariot stadium, Circus Maximus, on the night of 19 July. After six days, the fire was brought under control, but before ...

. The Temple was named after the god

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandt ...

, in his form of Jupiter Stator (Jupiter the Sustainer). Together with the

Temple of Juno Regina The Temple of Juno Regina (Latin: ''templum'' or ''aedes Iuno Regina'') was a temple in ancient Rome dedicated to "Queen Juno". It was near the Circus Flaminius in the southern half of the Campus Martius. It was vowed by consul Marcus Aemilius Lep ...

(

Juno Juno commonly refers to: * Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods * ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Juno, in the ...

in the form of "Queen Juno") and the enclosing Porticus Metelli (later rebuilt as the

Porticus Octaviae The Porticus Octaviae (Portico of Octavia; it, Portico di Ottavia) is an ancient structure in Rome. The colonnaded walks of the portico enclosed the temples of Jupiter Stator and Juno Regina, as well as a library. The structure was used as a f ...

), it was built by

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus (c. 188 BC – 116 BC/115 BC) was a statesman and general of the Roman Republic during the second century BC. He was praetor in 148 BC, consul in 143 BC, the Proconsul of Hispania Citerior in 142 BC an ...

after his triumph, in 146 BC. It is referred to as ''

aedes ''Aedes'' is a genus of mosquitoes originally found in tropical and subtropical zones, but now found on all continents except perhaps Antarctica. Some species have been spread by human activity: ''Aedes albopictus'', a particularly invasive spe ...

Iovis Metellina'' and aedes Metelli. It was inside the porticus Metelli, close to the

Circus Flaminius The Circus Flaminius was a large, circular area in ancient Rome, located in the southern end of the Campus Martius near the Tiber River. It contained a small race-track used for obscure games, and various other buildings and monuments. It was "bui ...

, and its exact site is known to have been beneath the church of Santa Maria in Campitelli. The Temple of Juno Regina was just west of it, on the opposite side of the Via della Tribuna di Campitelli. It is not stated in explicitly by

Velleius Marcus Velleius Paterculus (; c. 19 BC – c. AD 31) was a Roman historian, soldier and senator. His Roman history, written in a highly rhetorical style, covered the period from the end of the Trojan War to AD 30, but is most useful for the pe ...

that Metellus built both temples, but that is the natural inference from the passage. He is also said to have been the first to build a temple in Rome entirely of marble, and which probably applies to both structures. In front of the temples Metellus placed

Lysippus Lysippos (; grc-gre, Λύσιππος) was a Greek sculptor of the 4th century BC. Together with Scopas and Praxiteles, he is considered one of the three greatest sculptors of the Classical Greek era, bringing transition into the Hellenistic pe ...

' equestrian statues of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

's generals, and in them were several famous works of art. Corinthian capital on Chiswick portico 2

According to

Vitruvius Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled '' De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribut ...

(iii.2.5), the Temple of Jupiter was the work of

Hermodorus of Salamis Hermodorus of Salamis was an ancient Greek architect from Salamis, Cyprus who was highly active in ancient Rome between 146 BC and 102 BC, where his work includes the Temple of Jupiter Stator (2nd century BC) and the Temple of Mars. He also insp ...

. It was a

Hexastyle 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 ...

peripteral building with six columns along the short sides and eleven on the long sides. The space between the columns was equal to that between the columns and the wall of 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 ...

. As there were no inscriptions on the temples and evidently representations of a lizard and a frog among the decorations (σαύρα, βάτραχος), the legend arose that the architects were two

Sparta Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred ...

ns, Saurus and Batrachus and that as the decorations in the temple of Jupiter belonged to that of

and vice versa, the statues of the deities had been set up in the wrong cellae by the mistake of the workmen. The idea that an Ionic capital, now in S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura, has anything to do with the temples has generally been abandoned. In 64 AD, the

ravaged much of the city, completely devastating three of and partially destroying seven of the city's fourteen districts. The Temple of Jupiter Stator was completely destroyed, along with the House of the Vestals, the Domus Transitoria (

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 unt ...

's first palace), the Temple of Luna, and much of Rome.

Notes

External links

Porticus Octaviae temple
{{DEFAULTSORT:Temple Of Jupiter Stator (2nd Century Bc) Jupiter Stator 2nd-century BC religious buildings and structures

Stator The stator is the stationary part of a rotary system, found in electric generators, electric motors, sirens, mud motors or biological rotors. Energy flows through a stator to or from the rotating component of the system. In an electric ...

Destroyed temples

See also

Notes

External links