Chapter Four. A Marble Gallery For A City Of Marble

When, and how, did the idea of a Gallery of Heroes in his Forum first occur to Augustus? This, of course, is just a part of the question of the origins of the Forum. Even before discussing the issue it will be instructive to observe that there exist remarkable parallels between the Forum Augustum with the Temple of Mars Ultor, and the Forum Iulium of Julius Caesar, completed by Augustus, with the Temple of Venus Genetrix, and thus a short reminder of the main facts concerning the earlier complex is in order. The construction of a secular building project such as a forum was a private act devoid of religious implications, and the legal meaning of making it public was that the property passed into the ownership of the Roman People.Keywords: Augustus; Forum Augustum; marble gallery

Art · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Classical Antiquity Studies · Geology · Historical and Religious Studies of Rome