ProQuest Dissertations - Historia Antigua

The Capitolium IssueEven as the general assumption that the Romans imposed their religion on the colonieshas been abandoned in favor of a nuanced view of religious choice, the belief in theubiquitous colonial capitolium stemming from that assumption has remained hard toshake. In general studies on the spread of Roman power through Italy, the presence of acapitolium is cited as the ultimate evidence that Republican colonies were ideologicallylinked to Rome. 139When attempting to identify the key elements of the ideal Romancity, Zanker, too, imagines that the principle sanctuary of most colonies is the capitolium,placed prominently in the forum or gathering place of the colony. 140Furthermore, heasserts that: "I take it as self-evident that the new Roman colonies in the provinces weredramatically different in appearance from the venerable cities of the native inhabitants,and that this difference conferred on the new foundations a special status." 141WhileZanker is distilling an idealized Roman environment from a broad spectrum of colonialsituations, he does not adequately account for the timing of the construction of thecapitolia, nor the fact that many mid-Republican colonies did not have one. Again, thisis an issue of imposing late Republican and imperial phenomena on early Romancolonization efforts.Lomas (2004), p. 211. Lomas acknowledges that urban sanctuaries had symbolic connections with theidentity of the community, but she then implies that a capitolium was built contemporaneously with everycolony, either on acropolis or in forum. This argument is circular and based on the assumption thatcolonies identified themselves as Roman in every way.140 Zanker (2000), pp. 33-35. Zanker does admit that it is difficult to say if Rome dictated the mimicking ofthe Capitoline Hill through a colonial capitolium on an arx or on a podium overlooking the forum. He stillimplies that the capitolium was a very early feature of the colonies, however.141 Ibid. p. 35.42