The Temple of Piety (Latin : Aedes Pietatis) was a Roman temple dedicated to the goddess Pietas, a deified personification of piety. It was erected in 181 BC at the northern end of the Forum Olitorium, the Roman vegetable market, and demolished in 44 BC to make room for the building eventually known as the Theater of Marcellus. It seems to have been rebuilt and its services continued well into the imperial period, although this is disputed by some scholars.
The creation of the temple was solemnly vowed by the plebeian consul and new man Manius Acilius Glabrio at the Battle of Thermopylae in 191 BC, where his legion defeated the Seleucid emperor Antiochus III during the Roman–Seleucid war. [1] The reason for the dedication is unclear in surviving sources, although some modern scholars have suggested he was inspired by an act of filial piety during the battle, [2] possibly by his own son. [3]
Acilius Glabrio began construction but became dishonored during a contentious censorial election —he withdrew from the election after his competition Marcus Porcius Cato convincingly alleged he had embezzled plunder from his Greek campaign [4] —and never again held high office. [5] It was completed and consecrated by his son of the same name in 181 BC, who was named a duumvir for that purpose. [lower-alpha 1] The temple was located near the northwestern end of the Forum Olitorium, the Roman vegetable market near the Carmental Gate west of the Capitoline Hill. The temple included a golden statue of the consul, the first gold statue of a Roman citizen in the city. [1] [9] [10]
The temple became associated with Roman Charity, the Greek legend of a daughter who breastfed her imprisoned father or mother, probably through the presence of the Columna Lactaria in the forum. [1] This "Wetnurse Column" was a place where poor infants could be given milk until they were weaned; it may have inspired the placement of the temple itself or the temple may have been built on or near the site of a former prison. [3] [2] A separate version of the story stated that the temple was built over the former home of the family, which had supposedly been maintained at state expense after the event. [3] The story later became a common theme of Western European painting in the early modern period, particularly the Baroque. The temple was also sometimes associated with the piety of Gaius Flaminius towards his father, who pulled him from the rostra despite the inviolability of the tribunes of the plebs. [3]
The temple seems to have been the one "in the Circus Flaminius" struck by lightning and greatly damaged in 91 [11] or 90 BC, although some scholars dispute this point. [12] When Julius Caesar became dictator for life, he planned to erect a theater larger than Pompey's in the area and demolished the neighborhood northwest of the Forum Olitorium—including the Temple of Piety—to create room in 44 BC. [1] His nephew and adopted son Augustus later completed construction as the Theater of Marcellus.
The temple was moved or fully rebuilt, however, as its observances in the Forum Olitorium continued to be noted well into the imperial period, [13] when it was part of the city's IX Region. [1] The detailed early 3rd-century Severan Forma Urbis Romae and Lanciani's modern revision of it place this reconstructed temple on the west side of the forum between the Temples of Hope and Juno Sospita. Other scholars—ignoring the temple's continued existence—make the large central temple Juno Sospita's, move Hope's temple to its south, and make the northern temple Janus's.
This article concerns the period 69 BC – 60 BC.
This article concerns the period 199 BC – 190 BC.
Pietas, translated variously as "duty", "religiosity" or "religious behavior", "loyalty", "devotion", or "filial piety", was one of the chief virtues among the ancient Romans. It was the distinguishing virtue of the founding hero Aeneas, who is often given the adjectival epithet pius ("religious") throughout Virgil's epic Aeneid. The sacred nature of pietas was embodied by the divine personification Pietas, a goddess often pictured on Roman coins. The Greek equivalent is eusebeia (εὐσέβεια).
The gens Acilia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, that flourished from the middle of the third century BC until at least the fifth century AD, a period of seven hundred years. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Gaius Acilius, who was quaestor in 203 and tribune of the plebs in 197 BC.
Gaius Verres was a Roman magistrate, notorious for his misgovernment of Sicily. His extortion of local farmers and plundering of temples led to his prosecution by Cicero, whose accusations were so devastating that his defence advocate could only recommend that Verres should leave the country. Cicero's prosecution speeches were later published as the Verrine Orations.
Manius Acilius Glabrio was a Roman statesman and general, grandson of the jurist Publius Mucius Scaevola.
The Forum Holitorium or Olitorium is an archaeological area of Rome, Italy, on the slopes of the Capitoline Hill. It was located outside the Carmental Gate in the Campus Martius, crowded between the cattle market and buildings located in the Circus Flaminius.
Manius Acilius Glabrio was a plebeian Roman politician and general during the Republican. He served as consul in 191 BC while Rome was at war with the Seleucid Empire. He defeated Emperor Antiochus the Great at Thermopylae, helping establish Roman unipolar control over the Mediterranean, and was awarded a triumph. Credible accusations that he had embezzled spoils from his conquests in Greece while consul caused him to withdraw from his attempt to run for censor, after which he largely retired from public life.
The Battle of Thermopylae took place on 24 April 191 BC. It was fought as part of the Roman–Seleucid War, pitting forces of the Roman Republic led by the consul Manius Acilius Glabrio against a Seleucid-Aetolian army of Antiochus III the Great.
The lex Manilia was a Roman law passed in 66 BC granting Pompey the military command in the East against Mithridates VI of Pontus.
Manius Acilius Glabrio was a Roman Senator who served as consul ordinarius in AD 91 as the colleague of Trajan, afterwards emperor. Although one of many senators executed during the reign of Domitian on the alleged grounds of plotting against the emperor, he was remembered by his contemporaries best for his strength. Domitian summoned Glabrio during the latter's consulate to his Alban estate during the festival of the Juvenalia to kill a large lion; not only did Glabrio despatch the beast, but he escaped all injury. Following his defeat of the lion, Glabrio was banished by Domitian, then executed while in exile.
The Temple of Apollo Sosianus is a Roman temple dedicated to Apollo in the Campus Martius, next to the Theatre of Marcellus and the Porticus Octaviae, in Rome, Italy. Its present name derives from that of its final rebuilder, Gaius Sosius.
The Temple of Janus at the Forum Holitorium was a Roman temple dedicated to the god Janus, located between the Capitoline Hill and the Tiber River near the Circus Flaminius in the southern Campus Martius. The temple was built during the First Punic War, after the Temple of Janus in the Roman Forum.
The Temple of Bellona was an temple dedicated to the goddess of war Bellona in ancient Rome. It was located at the northern end of the Forum Olitorium, the Roman vegetable market, near the Carmental Gate. The Temple of Apollo Sosianus and the Theater of Marcellus were located nearby.
Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, a Roman republican consul in the year 238 BC, was the first man from his branch of the family to become consul.
The gens Cluvia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, known from the later Republic, and early imperial times. The first member of the gens to achieve prominence was Gaius Cluvius Saxula, praetor in 175 and 173 BC.
Manius Acilius Glabrio Gnaeus Cornelius Severus was a senator of the Roman Empire. He was consul ordinarius in 152 with Marcus Valerius Homullus as his colleague. Acilius Glabrio is known almost solely from surviving inscriptions.
Tiberius Claudius Cleobulus was a Roman senator.