Location on Forum Plan
Via Sacra
Lapis Niger
Curia (Senate House)
Basilica Aemilia
Templum Antonini et Faustinae
Basilica Constantini
Templum Veneris et Romae
Arcus Titi
Regia
Atrium Vestae
Templum Vestae
Templum Juli
Templum Castoris
Basilica Julia
Templum Saturni
Tabularium
Templum Divi Vespasiani
Templum Concordiae
Lacus Curtius
Rostra
Miliarium Aureum
Arcus Septimii Serveri
Carcer (Prison) |
 Temple of Antoninus and Faustina
When the wife of emperor Antoninus Pius died in A.D. 141,
he had this temple constructed in her honor, and twenty years later at his
own death, the temple was rededicated to them both. Since the temple was
turned into a church in the Middle Ages, much of it is very well preserved,
but by the time the church was built, the ground level of the forum had
been raised considerably. Now that the forum has been excavated down to
the level of the Roman Empire, the Church door in the front of the temple
is suspended half way up the wall. The front steps of the temple were "borrowed"
for another church in Rome. Only this and the Temple of Saturn have the
original porch intact, but the left side here is also standing. One can
see the blocks of tufa that make up the foundation and wall. If you look
closely, though, you see the large pits where people in metal-starved Medieval
times chipped into this wall to dig out the little iron pins that Roman
builders used to lock the blocks more securely. (When Rome fell, a lot of
its technology went with it!) |
