1 Earliest Rome

4- R E L I G I O U S P L A C E S
100
Administrative Buildings
1. The form of die building and its dedication to the 'Capitoline triad' (note the partitions
at the rear of the cellaxa accommodate three cult statues) date from the early years of the
veteran colonia- probably replacing an earlier temple whose exact appearance and dedi­
cation is unknown. This temple is a conscious reflection of the religious traditions or the
city of Rome itself and dominates the forum, as if the whole of the open piazza were its
precinct. For the Capitolium in Rome, see 1.9b; and in other parts of the Roman world,
10.2c.
2. At the far (eastern) cud of the market a central shrine, approached by a series of steps, was
prohablv connected with the imperial cult. Among the statues that once stood here was,
almost certainly, the figure of an emperor - for fragments of an arm with a globe, sym­
bol of sovereignty, have been discovered. The area just north of this is a small unroofed
court with an altar, possibly the meeting-place for a college of priests.
3. The walls of this building included niches for numerous statues and a central pedestal
(in the apse) similar to the lararhim of a private house (see 4.12) - suggesting that this