dyls weekly #2 | Page 3

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The Temple of Apollo was built in the third centruy B.C. Originally it was formed of 48 Ionic columns, but in Nero's age they were changed into Corinthian columns. There were several different deities in the temple: Apollo, Diana the Huntress, and possibly Mercury. The cella is on a high platform and is the most sacred part of the temple. The Temple of Jupiter was built in the second century B.C. during the Samnite age, and closes the forum square on the north. Dedicated to Juno, Minerva, and Jupiter, it had a vestible or pronaos of twelve Corinthian columns, three on each side and six at the front. Inside, the cella had mosaic marble floors. The arch that face the main road of the city, called Road of Fortuna, is decicated to Caligola, and the arch to the right of the Temple of Jupiter is in honor of Nero Caesar.. The temple of the emperor. This building was incomplete at the moment of the eruption.

It presents some unique construction features, starting with the entrance courtyard preceded by a vestibule with portico, at the end of which two stairways lead to a tall podium surmounted by the temple's cella. This temple was built after the earthquake of 62 A.D. and was dedicated to Pompeii’s tutelary gods as an act of expiation for the calamity the town had suffered.

Temples