subfeature of Forum (Romanum or Magnum)
Alternate names: Temple of Concord , Aedes Concordiae
This great temple dedicated to the goddess Concordia was located on the northwest side of the Forum. Very little survives in situ but enough evidence remains to allow a general sketch of the history and design of building on the site. A temple to the goddess was vowed by Camillus in 367 BC on the occasion of the Licinian-Sextian laws expanding the civil rights of the plebs. At first, only an altar seems to have been built. Explorations on the site have established that the first temple was constructed in 121 BC by L. Opimius, who, as consul, used the senatus consultum ultimum as a license to kill C. Gracchus. The temple was often used as a meeting place of the Senate. Tiberius restored and enlarged the building between 7 BC and 10 AD, dedicating it in his name and that of his deceased brother, Drusus (cf. the Temple of Castor and Pollux). In this form, the building survived until late antiquity. Its design was unusual in having its facade on the long side. The dimensions of the building were 45 meters long x 23 meters wide. It was hexastyle in the Corinthian order; the cella was set on a high podium. The threshold of the cella survives and is made of Porta Santa marble. The superstructure was constructed of white marble. Also surviving is an impressive piece of the entablature, which is elaborately cut. Coins illustrate the facade, showing a riot of statuary. We know that the temple housed many works of art, leading some scholars to call it a "temple-museum." Ancient authors mention statues here of Vesta, Apollo and Juno, Latona and her children, Aesculapius and Hygieia, Mars and Mercury, Ceres, Jupiter, and Minerva. The temple survived intact at least until the beginning of the fifth century AD.
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