Temple of Veiovis
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The Temple of Veiovis was the temple of the god Veiovis, in Rome.
[edit] In literature
It was sited "inter duos lucos", between two sacred groves, one on the Arx and one on the Capitolium (the two peaks of the Capitoline Hill). It stood next to a statue of a goat. In the same area was also situated the Asylum, where, legend has it, Romulus extended hospitality to fugitives from other parts of the Latium region, in order to populate the new city which he founded.
It was vowed in 196 BC by the consul Lucius Furius Purpurio in the Battle of Cremona during the war against the Boii, and then dedicated in 192 BC by Quintus Marcius Ralla.
[edit] In archaeology
The remains of a temple were excavated in 1939 under Mussolini, during the excavation underneath Piazza del Campidoglio for the creation of the Gallery Junction. This may now be seen in the tabularium under the Capitoline Museums. It had been saved by being superimposed underneath the foundation of later buildings on the site on the Capitoline Hill. It was identified as the temple of Veiovis from the ancient sources and from the discovery of a marble cult statue in its cella. The sources state that his statue had a beardless head and carried a bundle of arrows in his right hand.
The chief feature of this temple, and one which is not shared by many other Roman buildings - probably on account of the very limited space available - is the transversally-elongated cella, whose width is almost double its depth (15 x 8.90 metres). The temple's high podium has a lime-and-mortar internal nucleus lined with travertine marble - this marble is also used to pave the temple court. The façade runs in line with the road that climbed up from the Clivus Capitolinus, and features a pronaos with four pillars in the central part preceded by a flight of steps.
Three distinct building phases have been identified, the last of which has been dated to the first quarter of the 1st century BC and is linked with the building of the Tabularium. The temple was then restored by emperor Domitian with the addition of brick pillars and coloured marble lining the floor and cella walls.
