Temple of Portunus

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	Smarthistory - Temple of Portunus, Rome, c. 120-80 B.C.E.

Temple of Portunus
	Temple of Portunus in the Forum Boarium
	Temple of Portunus Shown within Augustan Rome
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Coordinates	41°53′21″N 12°28′51″E / 41.88917°N 12.48083°E

The Temple of Portunus (Italian: Tempio di Portuno) is an ancient Roman temple in Rome, Italy. It was built beside the Forum Boarium, the Roman cattle market associated with Hercules, which was adjacent to Rome's oldest river port (Portus Tiberinus) and the oldest stone bridge across the Tiber River, the Pons Aemilius. It was probably dedicated to the gateway god Portunus although the precise dedication remains unclear as there were several other temples in the area besides his. It was misidentified as the Temple of Fortuna Virilis (Latin for "Manly Luck") from the Renaissance and remains better known by this name. The temple is one of the best preserved of all Roman temples.

It is dedicated to Portunus, the god of keys, doors and livestock, and so granaries, it is the main temple dedicated to the god in the city.^[1] During the Medieval period, the temple was converted to a Christian church dedicated to Santa Maria Egyziaca ("St Mary of Egypt"). It remained a church up until the early 20th century, when it was deconsecrated, stripped of all later additions, and returned to its classical appearance, as an archaeological monument. This restoration included the demolition of surrounding medieval and Renaissance era buildings.

Architecture

It is in the Ionic order and is by the ancient Forum Boarium by the Tiber. During Antiquity the site overlooked the Tiberine port at a sharp bend in the river; from here, Portunus watched over cattle barges as they entered the city from Ostia.^[2]

The temple was originally built in the 3rd or 4th century BC and was rebuilt between 120 and 80 BC.^[3] The rectangular building consists of a tetrastyle portico and cella, raised on a high podium reached by a flight of steps, which it retains.^[4] Like the Maison Carrée in Nîmes, it has a pronaos portico of four Ionic columns across and two columns deep. The columns of the portico are free-standing, while the remaining five columns on the long sides and the four columns at the rear are half-columns engaged along the walls of the cella. This form is sometimes called pseudoperipteral, as distinct from a true peripteral temple like the Parthenon entirely surrounded by free-standing columns. The Ionic capitals are of the original form, different in the frontal and side views, except in the volutes at the corners, which project at 45°, a common Roman detail. It is built of tuff and travertine with a stucco surface.

If still in use by the 4th-century, the temple would have been closed during the persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire. The temple owes its state of preservation to its being converted for use as a church in 872 and rededicated to Santa Maria Egiziaca (Saint Mary of Egypt).^[5] Its Ionic order has been much admired, drawn and engraved and copied since the 16th century.^[6] The original coating of stucco over its tufa and travertine construction has been lost.

The circular Temple of Hercules Victor is south-east of the temple in the Forum Boarium.

The 18th century Temple of Harmony in Somerset, England is a folly based on the Temple of Portunus.

References

^ L. Richardson Jr. (1 October 1992). A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. JHU Press. pp. 320–. ISBN 978-0-8018-4300-6.
^ John W. Stamper (16 February 2005). The Architecture of Roman Temples: The Republic to the Middle Empire. Cambridge University Press. pp. 62–. ISBN 978-0-521-81068-5.
^ "Temple of Portunus". World Monuments Fund. 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-06-03. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
^ Fred Kleiner (4 February 2010). A History of Roman Art, Enhanced Edition. Cengage Learning. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-495-90987-3.
^ Amanda Claridge (5 August 2010). Rome. Oxford University Press. p. 334. ISBN 978-0-19-150138-8.
^ Irma B. Jaffe (1 January 1989). The Italian Presence in American Art, 1760–1860. Fordham University Press. p. 242. ISBN 978-0-8232-1249-1.

External links

Temple of Portune
Mary Ann Sullivan, "Temple of Fortuna Virilis (Temple of Portunus)"
Images of Temple of Fortuna Virilis (or Portunus)
Description in the site of the "Soprintendenza Speciale per il Colosseo, il MNR e l'Area Archeologica di Roma" Archived 2017-12-18 at the Wayback Machine
High-resolution 360° Panoramas and Images of Temple of Portunus | Art Atlas
Lucentini, M. (31 December 2012). The Rome Guide: Step by Step through History's Greatest City. Interlink. ISBN 9781623710088.

Media related to Templum Portuni at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by Temple of Minerva Medica	Landmarks of Rome Temple of Portunus	Succeeded by Temple of Saturn

[Richardson1992-1] L. Richardson Jr. (1 October 1992). A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. JHU Press. pp. 320–. ISBN 978-0-8018-4300-6.

[Stamper2005-2] John W. Stamper (16 February 2005). The Architecture of Roman Temples: The Republic to the Middle Empire. Cambridge University Press. pp. 62–. ISBN 978-0-521-81068-5.

[3] "Temple of Portunus". World Monuments Fund. 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-06-03. Retrieved 30 April 2013.

[Kleiner2010-4] Fred Kleiner (4 February 2010). A History of Roman Art, Enhanced Edition. Cengage Learning. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-495-90987-3.

[Claridge2010-5] Amanda Claridge (5 August 2010). Rome. Oxford University Press. p. 334. ISBN 978-0-19-150138-8.

[Jaffe1989-6] Irma B. Jaffe (1 January 1989). The Italian Presence in American Art, 1760–1860. Fordham University Press. p. 242. ISBN 978-0-8232-1249-1.

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Temple of Portunus

Architecture

See also

References

External links