Old Rome: A Handbook to the Ruins of the City and the CampagnaBurn, Robert
History
Old Rome: A Handbook to the Ruins of the City and the Campagna
Burn, Robert
Rome (Italy) -- Antiquities; Rome (Italy) -- Description and travel
Pliny also mentions two statues of Apollo near the Porticus Octaviæ, which
probably stood in the Temple of Apollo, known to have been situated
outside the Porta Carmentalis between the Forum Olitorium and the Circus
Flaminius. But the principal evidence is derived from the plan of Rome,
now on the staircase of the Capitoline Museum, where the whole design of
this portico is laid down, and the temples which it enclosed are named. We
learn from this plan that the portico was in form an oblong space enclosed
with colonnades, and that the ruins now remaining constituted the
principal entrance to this court, and to the Temple of Juno Regina which
it enclosed. The line of the Via di Pescaria corresponds to one of the
shorter sides of the court, and in the centre of this side the gateway
stood. In two points only the Capitoline map fails to correspond with the
actually existing ruins. The antæ of the gateway are not represented, and
the corner column of the Temple of Juno is omitted. The former of these
two omissions may be explained by supposing that the plan was probably
made before the restoration of the portico by Severus.
The excavations carried on in 1861 by Pellegrini and Contigliozzi,
established the following limits for the Portico of Octavia.
The southern corner of the rectangle was occupied by a quadrifrontal
archway, and this was situated near No. 4 in the Via della Catena di
Pescaria. From this the south-western side of the portico ran nearly along
the line of the street till it reached the gateway to which the present
ruins belong, near the oratory of S. Angelo. The western corner of the
portico was also formed by a quadrifrontal archway.
The north-western side passed through the church of S. Ambrogio a little
below the high altar, and then skirted the Palazzo Righetti near the
Piazza di S. Caterina de’ Funari, where it joined the north-eastern and
shorter side. In this side there was a pediment with pillars corresponding
to the gateway at the opposite end, but not containing the real entrance,
which stood near the angle of the Palazzo Caraletti in the Via de’
Delphini. The eastern angle was near the Palazzo Capizucchi, and the
south-eastern side passed close to the convent of monks of the order of
Madre di Dio, attached to the church of S. Maria in Portico in the piazza
di Campitelli.
The three Composite columns of marble, which still stand in the house, No.
11 in the Via di S. Angelo in Pescaria, belonged to the Temple of Juno,
and stood at the western angle of that temple.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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