Forum of Augustus
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The Forum of Augustus is a forum built by Augustus in Rome, including Temple of Mars Ultor. It is one of the Imperial forums.
In the battle of Philippi in 42 BC, in which Augustus and Mark Antony worked together and avenged Caesar's death, Augustus vowed to build a temple dedicated to Mars the avenger. The incomplete forum and its temple were inaugurated, after 40 years of construction, in 2 BC, as the Forum of Augustus.[1]
This new complex lies at right angles to the Forum of Caesar. The temple consists of a very tall fire wall, and this still distinguishes itself from the popular neighbourhood of Suburra. The Suburra was a notoriously poor district of ancient Rome and was quite prone to fires. The tall solid stone wall was built to protect the marble architecture of the forum from fire, as marble quickly turns to lime once exposed to fire.
The forum consisted of a large open space framed by colonnades with semi-circular exedrae beyond. These exedrae honored the founders of Rome, the Julian family, and the leading men of Rome with portrait busts. The central figures of these areas were Romulus and Aeneas. The entire decoration of the Forum was tightly connected to the ideology of Augustus. According to myth, Rome herself was born from the god Mars through Romulus. The open courtyard was dominated by a single octastyle temple, accessible only from the front and with columns on only the front facade. In addition to Mars Ultor, this temple also honored Venus.
On the left side of the Forum was the Hall of the Colossus, a small room that held a large cult statue, presumably of Augustus.
[edit] References
- ^ Roth, Leland M. (1993). Understanding Architecture: Its Elements, History and Meaning, First, Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 222. ISBN 0-06-430158-3.
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