Pompeii, Its Life and Art

by August Mau

Fig. 20.—Section of the wall decoration in the cella of the temple of Jupiter.

A section of the wall decoration, in the second Pompeian style, is shown in [Fig. 20]. We notice here the characteristic elements—imitation of marble veneering, with large red central panels and a cornice above. The base with its simple dividing lines upon a black ground was painted over in the third style; originally it must have been more suggestive of real construction, with a narrow painted border along the upper edge.

Against the rear wall of the cella stands a large pedestal, three times as long as it is broad. It was originally divided by four pilasters—two at the corners and two on the front between them—into three parts. Later the pilasters and the entablature over them were removed, and the whole was covered with marble veneering. Inside were three small rooms, entered by separate doors from the cella. The pedestal was thus built for three images; three divinities were worshipped here, and in the little chambers underneath were perhaps kept the trappings with which on festal occasions the images were decked.

A head of Jupiter, of which we shall speak later, was found in the cella, as was also an inscription of the year 37 A.D., containing a dedication to Jupiter Optimus Maximus, the ruling deity of the Capitol at Rome. It is thus proved beyond question that the Capitoline Jupiter was worshipped here; and it will not be difficult to ascertain what other divinities shared with him the honors of the temple.

As the Roman colonies strove in all things to be Rome in miniature, each thought it necessary to have a Capitolium—a temple for the worship of the gods of the Roman Capitol, Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva; and this naturally became the most important temple in the city. That the worship of the three divinities was established at Pompeii is evident from the discovery of three images representing them, in the little temple conjecturally assigned to Zeus Milichius. These are poor images of terra cotta, and the temple itself was altogether unworthy to be a place of worship for the great gods that shaped the destinies of Rome. We are warranted in the conclusion that the temple of Zeus Milichius was used temporarily for the worship of the three divinities of the large temple till the latter could be rebuilt; and that Juno and Minerva stood on the great pedestal beside the king of the gods.

It seems strange that the Pompeians should have erected a temple to the gods of the Capitol in the pre-Roman period. It must be remembered, however, that the worship of the three divinities was by no means limited to Rome and her colonies. The Etruscans, as Servius informs us in his commentary on Virgil, thought that a city was not properly founded unless it contained sanctuaries of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. Vitruvius, also, in his directions for laying out a city, makes the general statement that the most prominent site should be set aside for the temples of the same divinities. If we consider further that the opposition of the Italians to Rome found expression only in the Social War, and that previously they had looked upon the attainment of Roman citizenship as the highest object of ambition, the gradual adoption of Roman customs at Pompeii and the erection of a temple to the Capitoline divinities are seen to be less remarkable. The building of such a temple was a natural expression of political aspirations; it was in complete harmony with the use of Latin in the inscription of Popidius ([p. 50]).

There is, however, another possibility that may be stated. The remodelling of the Forum was certainly commenced in the pre-Roman period; but it is not impossible that the work was interrupted by the breaking out of the Social War and that the colonists completed it, dedicating the temple to the gods of the Capitol. The use of several brick-shaped blocks of stone,—such blocks are not found in other buildings of the pre-Roman time,—the lack of any trace of the wall decoration of the first style, the form of the egg-and-dart moulding on the capitals of the Ionic columns in the cella, and the correspondence of certain dimensions with the Roman scale of measurements may be alleged in favor of this hypothesis. The evidence at present does not warrant a positive decision against it.

The fact that we have here a Capitolium may explain the special prominence of the altar in front, which might just as well have been placed in the area of the Forum at the foot of the steps. In Rome the Capitol lay upon a summit of a hill; perhaps the aim in this case was to place not only the temple but also the altar upon an elevation so that here, as there, the priest should go up to offer sacrifice.

The podium of the temple contains vaulted rooms which can be entered from the Forum through a narrow door on the east side. Their use is unknown. We are reminded of the temple of Saturn in the Forum at Rome, the podium of which served as a treasury, aerarium. The vaults, favissae, may have been used as a place of safe keeping for treasure, or for furniture of the temple, or for discarded votive offerings.