 The Forum Boarium andTemple of Hercules Victor inGismondi'sscale model of imperial Rome,Museum of Roman Civilization | |
   Forum Boarium Shown within Augustan Rome | |
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| Coordinates | 41°53′20″N12°28′52″E / 41.88889°N 12.48111°E /41.88889; 12.48111 |
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TheForum Boarium (Classical Latin:[ˈfɔrʊm‿boˈaːriʊ̃],Italian:Foro Boario) was thecattle market orforum venalium ofancient Rome. It was located on a level piece of land near theTiber between theCapitoline, thePalatine andAventine hills. As the site of the original docks of Rome (Portus Tiberinus) and adjacent to thePons Aemilius, the earliest stone bridge across the Tiber, the Forum Boarium experienced intense commercial activity.
The site was a religious centre housing theTemple of Hercules Victor, theTemple of Portunus (Temple of Fortuna Virilis), and the massive 6th or 5th century BCAra Maxima. According to legend, whenHercules arrived in this area withGeryon’s oxen, he was robbed of these by the giantCacus, who lived in a cave at the foot of the Aventine hill. After slaying the giant, Hercules was honoured as a god by the ancient dwellers of the Palatine hill, who are said to have dedicated an altar to him.[1] The tufa stone core of this altar is housed inside the church ofSanta Maria in Cosmedin.
The Forum Boarium was the site of the firstgladiatorial contest at Rome which took place in 264 BC as part of aristocratic funerary ritual—amunus or funeral gift for the dead. Marcus andDecimus Junius Brutus Scaeva put on a gladiatorial combat in honor of their deceased father with three pairs of gladiators.
In 215BC, four victims wereburied alive by the Romans under the Forum Boarium ashuman sacrifices to placate thegods after a series of events were seen as portents to great disaster. In volume five ofLivy'sHistory of Rome, which was written about 200 years later, the Roman historian wrote:
AGaulish man and a Gaulish woman and a Greek man and a Greek woman were buried alive under the Forum Boarium. They were lowered into a stone vault, which had on a previous occasion also been polluted by human victims, a practice most repulsive to Roman feelings. When the gods were believed to be duly propitiated,Marcus Claudius Marcellus sent fromOstia 1500 men who had been enrolled for service with the fleet to garrison Rome.[2]
TheTemple of Hercules Victor ("Hercules the Winner") or Hercules Olivarius ("Hercules theOlive-Bearer)[3] is a circularperistyle building dating from the 2nd century BC. It consists of acolonnade ofCorinthian columns arranged in aconcentric ring around the cylindricalcella, resting on atuff foundation. These elements originally supported an architrave and roof which have disappeared. It is the earliest survivingmarble building in Rome. For centuries, this was known as theTemple of Vesta.
TheTemple of Portunus is a rectangular building built between 100 and 80 BC.[4] It consists of atetrastyleportico andcella mounted on a podium reached by a flight of steps. The fourIonic columns of the portico are free-standing, while the six columns on the long sides and four columns at the rear areengaged along the walls of the cella. It is built of tuff andtravertine with astucco surface. This temple was for centuries known as theTemple of Fortuna Virilis.
Sources claim the Forum was the site for placement of a statue by the sculptorMyron, which had been looted from Aegina. While the source mentions a cow, it may have been a statuary group ofTheseus defeating the Minotaur, which was apt for a cattle market.[5]
During the late period of theWestern Roman Empire, the area became overtaken with shops. Both temples were deconsecrated and converted to Christian churches. Across the street is the church ofSanta Maria in Cosmedin, housing theBocca della Verità.
Beginning in the late 1990s, a partnership between theSoprintendenza speciale per i beni archeologici di Roma andWorld Monuments Fund resulted in the conservation of both temples in the Forum Boarium. The project also included new landscaping for the site.[6] However, theArch of Janus is still unrestored.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
Media related toForum Boarium at Wikimedia Commons
| Preceded by Trajan's Forum | Landmarks of Rome Forum Boarium | Succeeded by Forum Holitorium |
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