A Previously Unidentified Tuff in the Archaic Temple Podium at Sant'Omobono, Rome and its Broader Implications
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jma.39330Keywords:
archaic period, early Rome, geoarchaeology, petrography, temple constructionAbstract
This study reports on the discovery that the podium of the archaic temple in the Forum Boarium of Rome was built with a previously unknown tuff, of non-local origin. On the basis of detailed comparative petrographic and geochemical tests, it has been established that the blocks employed to build the earliest temple so far discovered in Rome belonged to a distinctive facies of tufo lionato that had never been characterized before, in contrast to what was reported by previous excavators. The blocks must have come from a quarry in the Anio River Valley, several kilometers from the construction site, making the Sant'Omobono temple the earliest known Roman building that extensively employed imported materials. The metrology of the blocks is also unique. This particular volcanic stone was probably chosen for its much greater resistance to weathering compared to the local tuffs, a trait that was essential in the flood-prone location, not far from the Tiber riverbank, where the temple was situated. The labor-intensive sourcing may also explain the dainty size of the temple podium in comparison to other sixth-century bc temples in the region. The choice made by the builders indicates far greater sophistication and technical awareness than they have generally been credited with. The new discovery is placed in the context of the quickly accumulating archaeological record of sixth-century bc Rome, which suggests a dramatic increase in the number and scale of monumental projects in the expanding city.
References
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Brocato, P., and N. Terrenato 2016 (eds.) Nuovi studi sulla Regia di Roma. Cosenza, Italy: Pellegrini.
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Edlund-Berry, I. 2008 The language of Etrusco-Italic architecture: new perspectives on Tuscan temples. American Journal of Archaeology 112: 441-47. https://doi.org/10.3764/aja.112.3.441
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Joppolo, G. 1989 L’architettura del tempio arcaico. In G. Pisani Sartorio (ed.), Il viver quotidiano in Roma arcaica, 34-44. Rome: Procom.
Lugli, G. 1957 La tecnica edilizia romana, con particolare riguardo a Roma e Lazio. Rome: Bardi. https://doi.org/10.2307/297652
Lulof, P.S., and C.J. Smith (eds.) 2017 The Age of Tarquinius Superbus: Central Italy in the Late Sixth Century. Leuven: Peeters.
Marra, F., and E. D’Ambrosio 2013 Trace element classification diagrams of pyroclastic rocks from the volcanic districts of central Italy: the case study of the ancient Roman ships of Pisa. Archaeometry 55: 993-1019. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4754.2012.00725.x
Marra, F., E. D’Ambrosio, M. Gaeta and M. Mattei 2016 Petrochemical identification and insights on chronological employment of the volcanic aggregates used in ancient Roman mortars. Archaeometry 58: 177-200. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12154
2018a The geochemical fingerprint of Tufo Lionato blocks from the Area Sacra di Largo Argentina: implications for the chronology of volcanic building stones in ancient Rome. Archaeometry 60: 641-59. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12343
Marra, F., A. Danti and M. Gaeta 2015 The volcanic aggregate of ancient Roman mortars from the Capitoline Hill: petrographic criteria for identification of Rome’s ‘pozzolans’ and historical implications. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 308: 113-26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2015.10.007
Marra, F., D. Deocampo, M.D. Jackson and G. Ventura 2011 The Alban Hills and Monti Sabatini volcanic products used in ancient Roman masonry (Italy): an integrated stratigraphic, archaeological, environmental and geochemical approach. Earth-Science Reviews 108(3): 115-36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2011.06.005
Marra, F., L. Motta, A.L. Brock, P. Macrì, F. Florindo, L. Sadori and N. Terrenato 2018b Rome in its setting: post-glacial aggradation history of the Tiber River alluvial deposits and tectonic origin of the Tiber Island. PLOS One 13(3): e0194838. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0194838
Pasquali, G. 1936 La grande Roma dei Tarquini. La Nuova Antologia (16 August): 405-16.
Pisani Sartorio, G. (ed.) 1989 Il viver quotidiano in Roma arcaica: materiali dagli scavi del tempio arcaico nell’area sacra di S. Omobono. Rome: Edizioni Procom.
Pisani Sartorio, G., and P. Virgili 1979 Area sacra di S. Omobono, Archeologia Laziale II. Secondo incontro di studio del comitato per l’archeologia laziale, 41-47. Rome: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0009840x00281675
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Terrenato, N. 1995 La Fase 3. Le seconde mura; La Fase 4. Le terze mura. In A. Carandini and P. Carafa (eds.), Palatium e Sacra Via I. Bollettino di Archeologia 31-33: 161-85. Rome: Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0075435800057610
Terrenato, N., P. Brocato, G. Caruso, A.M. Ramieri, H.W. Becker, I. Cangemi, G. Mantiloni and C. Regoli 2012 The S. Omobono Sanctuary in Rome: assessing eighty years of fieldwork and exploring perspectives for the future. Internet Archaeology 31. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.31.1
Warden, P.G. 2011 The temple is a living thing: fragmentation, enchainment, and the reversal of ritual at the acropolis sanctuary of Poggio Colla. In N.T. de Grummond and I. Edlund-Berry (eds.), The Archaeology of Sanctuaries and Ritual in Etruria. Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplement 81: 55-67. Portsmouth, Rhode Island: Journal of Roman Archaeology. https://doi.org/10.3764/ajaonline1161.tuck
Zamarchi Grassi, P. (ed.) 2006 Il tumulo II del Sodo di Cortona: la tomba di età tardo arcaica. Cortona, Italy: Accademia Etrusca.
Andrews, M., and S. Bernard 2017 Urban development at Rome’s Porta Esquilina and church of San Vito over the longue durée. Journal of Roman Archaeology 30: 244-65. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1047759400074109
Bernard, S. 2018 Building Mid-Republican Rome: Labor, Architecture and the Urban Economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190878788.001.0001
Bonghi Jovino, M. 2012 I templi arcaici e aspetti dell’architettura sacra a Tarquinia. In M. Bonghi Jovino and G. Bagnasco Gianni (eds.), Tarquinia. Il santuario dell’Ara della Regina. I templi arcaici, 41-53. Rome: Bretschneider. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0075435816000058
Brocato, P. 1995 Sull’origine e lo sviluppo delle prime tombe a dado etrusche. Diffusione di un tipo architettonico da Cerveteri a San Giuliano. Studi Etruschi 61: 57-93.
Brocato, P., M. Ceci and N. Terrenato (eds.) 2016 Ricerche nell’area dei templi di Fortuna e Mater Matuta (Roma). Arcavacata di Rende, Italy: Università della Calabria.
Brocato, P., and N. Terrenato 2016 (eds.) Nuovi studi sulla Regia di Roma. Cosenza, Italy: Pellegrini.
2017 The archaic temple of S. Omobono: new discoveries and old problems. In P.S. Lulof and C.J. Smith (eds.), The Age of Tarquinius Superbus: Central Italy in the Late 6th Century, 97-106. Leuven: Peeters.
Brock, A.L. 2016 Envisioning Rome’s prehistoric river harbor: an interim report from the Forum Boarium. Etruscan Studies 19: 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1515/etst-2016-0001
Cifani, G. 2008 Architettura romana arcaica: edilizia e società tra monarchia e repubblica. Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider. https://doi.org/10.17104/0017-1417_2010_5_434
Claridge, A.J. 1998 Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Colonna, G. 1991 Le due fasi del tempio arcaico di S. Omobono. In M. Gnade (ed.), Stips Votiva: Papers Presented to C.M. Stibbe, 51-59. Amsterdam: Allard Pierson Museum, University of Amsterdam.
2005 Tra architettura e urbanistica. A proposito del tempio di Mater Matuta a Satricum. In S. Mols and E. Moormann (eds.), Omni Pede Stare. Saggi architettonici e circumvesuviani in memoriam di Jos de Waele, 111-17. Naples: Electa.
Cristofani, M. (ed.) 1990 La Grande Roma dei Tarquini. Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider.
D’Ambrosio, E., F. Marra, A. Cavallo, M. Gaeta and G. Ventura 2015 Provenance materials for Vitruvius’ harenae fossiciae and pulvis puteolanis: Geochemical signature and historical–archaeological implications. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 2: 186-203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.01.012
Davies, P.J. 2017 Architecture and Politics in Republican Rome. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Diffendale, D.P., P. Brocato, N. Terrenato and A.L. Brock 2016 Sant'Omobono: an interim status quaestionis. Journal of Roman Archaeology 29: 7-42. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1047759400072032
Diffendale, D.P., F. Marra, M. Gaeta and N. Terrenato 2019 Combining geochemistry and petrography to provenance Lionato and Lapis Albanus tuffs used in Roman temples at Sant'Omobono, Rome. Geoarchaeology 34: 187-99. https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.21702
Edlund-Berry, I. 2008 The language of Etrusco-Italic architecture: new perspectives on Tuscan temples. American Journal of Archaeology 112: 441-47. https://doi.org/10.3764/aja.112.3.441
2017 Etruscan round and cyma reversa mouldings: the religious context of architectural mouldings in central Italy. In A. Ancillotti, A. Calderini and R. Massarelli (eds.), Forme e strutture della religione nell’Italia mediana antica, 265-78. Rome: Bretschneider.
Farr, J., F. Marra and N. Terrenato 2015 Geochemical identification criteria for ‘peperino’ stones employed in ancient Roman buildings: a Lapis Gabinus case study. Journal of Archaeological Science, Reports 3: 41-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.05.014
Filippi, D. 2017 Domus Regia. In A. Carandini, P. Carafa, M.T. D’Alessio and D. Filippi (eds.), Santuario di Vesta, Pendice del Palatino e Via Sacra. Scavi 1985-2016, 363-77. Rome: Quasar.
Fulminante, F. 2014 The Urbanisation of Rome and Latium Vetus: From the Bronze Age to the Archaic Era. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/hzhz-2016-0016
Hopkins, J.N. 2016 The Genesis of Roman Architecture. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press.
Joppolo, G. 1989 L’architettura del tempio arcaico. In G. Pisani Sartorio (ed.), Il viver quotidiano in Roma arcaica, 34-44. Rome: Procom.
Lugli, G. 1957 La tecnica edilizia romana, con particolare riguardo a Roma e Lazio. Rome: Bardi. https://doi.org/10.2307/297652
Lulof, P.S., and C.J. Smith (eds.) 2017 The Age of Tarquinius Superbus: Central Italy in the Late Sixth Century. Leuven: Peeters.
Marra, F., and E. D’Ambrosio 2013 Trace element classification diagrams of pyroclastic rocks from the volcanic districts of central Italy: the case study of the ancient Roman ships of Pisa. Archaeometry 55: 993-1019. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4754.2012.00725.x
Marra, F., E. D’Ambrosio, M. Gaeta and M. Mattei 2016 Petrochemical identification and insights on chronological employment of the volcanic aggregates used in ancient Roman mortars. Archaeometry 58: 177-200. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12154
2018a The geochemical fingerprint of Tufo Lionato blocks from the Area Sacra di Largo Argentina: implications for the chronology of volcanic building stones in ancient Rome. Archaeometry 60: 641-59. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12343
Marra, F., A. Danti and M. Gaeta 2015 The volcanic aggregate of ancient Roman mortars from the Capitoline Hill: petrographic criteria for identification of Rome’s ‘pozzolans’ and historical implications. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 308: 113-26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2015.10.007
Marra, F., D. Deocampo, M.D. Jackson and G. Ventura 2011 The Alban Hills and Monti Sabatini volcanic products used in ancient Roman masonry (Italy): an integrated stratigraphic, archaeological, environmental and geochemical approach. Earth-Science Reviews 108(3): 115-36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2011.06.005
Marra, F., L. Motta, A.L. Brock, P. Macrì, F. Florindo, L. Sadori and N. Terrenato 2018b Rome in its setting: post-glacial aggradation history of the Tiber River alluvial deposits and tectonic origin of the Tiber Island. PLOS One 13(3): e0194838. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0194838
Pasquali, G. 1936 La grande Roma dei Tarquini. La Nuova Antologia (16 August): 405-16.
Pisani Sartorio, G. (ed.) 1989 Il viver quotidiano in Roma arcaica: materiali dagli scavi del tempio arcaico nell’area sacra di S. Omobono. Rome: Edizioni Procom.
Pisani Sartorio, G., and P. Virgili 1979 Area sacra di S. Omobono, Archeologia Laziale II. Secondo incontro di studio del comitato per l’archeologia laziale, 41-47. Rome: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0009840x00281675
Potts, C.R. 2015 Religious Architecture in Latium and Etruria, c. 900-500 BC. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Rendeli, M. 1989 ‘Muratori, ho fretta di erigere questa casa’ (Ant. Pal. 14. 136). Concorrenza tra formazioni urbane dell’Italia centrale Tirrenica nella costruzione di edifici di culto arcaici. Rivista dell’Istituto Nazionale d’Archeologia e Storia dell’Arte 3(12): 49-68. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0009840x00246489
Smith, C.J. 2017 Ager Romanus Antiquus. Archeologia Classica 68: 1-26.
Sommella Mura, A. 1981 L’area sacra del Foro Boario: il tempio arcaico. In Enea nel Lazio: archeologia e mito, 115-23. Rome: Fratelli Palombi.
Terrenato, N. 1995 La Fase 3. Le seconde mura; La Fase 4. Le terze mura. In A. Carandini and P. Carafa (eds.), Palatium e Sacra Via I. Bollettino di Archeologia 31-33: 161-85. Rome: Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0075435800057610
Terrenato, N., P. Brocato, G. Caruso, A.M. Ramieri, H.W. Becker, I. Cangemi, G. Mantiloni and C. Regoli 2012 The S. Omobono Sanctuary in Rome: assessing eighty years of fieldwork and exploring perspectives for the future. Internet Archaeology 31. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.31.1
Warden, P.G. 2011 The temple is a living thing: fragmentation, enchainment, and the reversal of ritual at the acropolis sanctuary of Poggio Colla. In N.T. de Grummond and I. Edlund-Berry (eds.), The Archaeology of Sanctuaries and Ritual in Etruria. Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplement 81: 55-67. Portsmouth, Rhode Island: Journal of Roman Archaeology. https://doi.org/10.3764/ajaonline1161.tuck
Zamarchi Grassi, P. (ed.) 2006 Il tumulo II del Sodo di Cortona: la tomba di età tardo arcaica. Cortona, Italy: Accademia Etrusca.
Published
2019-07-16
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Brocato, P., Diffendale, D. P., Di Giuliomaria, D., Gaeta, M., Marra, F., & Terrenato, N. (2019). A Previously Unidentified Tuff in the Archaic Temple Podium at Sant’Omobono, Rome and its Broader Implications. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, 32(1), 114-136. https://doi.org/10.1558/jma.39330
