Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus

You look up in wonder at the high podium of this huge temple. Above the stairs the columns, of pure white Pentelic marble, seem to tower up to the sky. On the deep porch (pronaos) you see 3 rows of 6 columns,with another line of columns extending along each side of the temple (see this plan of the temple and this model of the temple and square). Above the columns you can barely see the pediment, crowded with sculptures, and the quadriga (4-horse chariot) that crowns the apex of the gilded roof. Behind the columns are 3 massive bronze doors, so heavily plated with gold that they shine brightly even in the dim light of the porch. You remember that there are three cellae (inner sanctuaries containing the cult statues) in this temple instead of the usual one, for it is dedicated to the Capitoline Triad of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, deities whose responsibility it is to preserve and extend the power of Rome. The magnificent structure you are viewing was rebuilt by Domitian after a fire in 80 CE; read the scroll below to find out more about the previous history of this temple.

The chief divinity here, of course, is Jupiter; this temple is called in Latin the aedes Jovis Optimi Maximi ("the sacred temple of Jupiter Best and Greatest"). His cult statue looks something like the statue on the right, a seated figure in gold and ivory whose pose imitates the great statue from the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, sculpted by Pheidias. The second deity, whose sanctuary is on Jupiter's left, is his wife Juno, called here Juno Regina, the queen of the gods; her cult statue may have resembled this coin, issued by Marcus Aurelius in honor of his wife Faustina the Younger. The third divinity is Minerva, goddess of military success.

You are surprised to hear many bells jingling in the breeze; you turn your head to follow the sound and see a line of bells attached to a smaller temple in the Area Capitolina, dedicated to Jupiter Tonans ("the Thunderer"). To satisfy your curiosity about the bells, you should enter that temple, but first get a more intimate look at Jupiter and Juno by peeking inside the sanctuary doors, open today because of the festival. If you are an upstanding Roman citizen and know your Latin, enter the Cella; if you are such a provincial that our great tongue is unknown to you, enter the Sanctuary.