The Date of the Temple of Sulis Minerva at Bath

INCE the first discovery of its remains in 1790, or rather since Samuel Lysons published his exceptionally fine reconstruction-drawing of it in 1802, the Temple of Sulis Minerva at Bath has remained outstanding among the monuments of Roman Britain that are known to have been built and decorated in the classical style.' It has, however, proved difficult to establish its date. There are two available sources for this, in the absence of any inscription: the archaeological evidence, and the ornament of the temple's architecture. Cunliffe has summarized what little can be said of the former :2 although the precinct wall appears to post-date the wall of the reservoir of the baths, the temple itself may well have been built before its precinct was enclosed; since it is likely that the baths and the temple were planned together, the late first-century date indicated for the baths renders probable a firstor early secondcentury date for the other buildings. The arguments depend on circumstantial evidence. Unless excavations in the future produce more closely-datable archaeological material, it would seem that we are not on very strong ground here. This paper will therefore review what can be said independently about the dating of the temple's architectural ornament. The overall scheme of decoration, in particular the sculpture of the pediment, in which the expressively-carved head of a male Gorgon is dominant, has been discussed with characteristic thoroughness and insight by Professor Ian Richmond and Professor Jocelyn Toynbee.3 The present article has nothing to add to their general analysis of the temple's design or to their restoration and interpretation of the iconography of the pedimental sculpture. That some further comments can now be offered about the Corinthian capital and the cornice which also decorated the building is only possible as a result of a study of architectural ornament in the province as a whole, something well beyond the intended scope of Richmond's and Toynbee's paper

Ancient history · Apollo · Archaeology · Art · Circumstantial evidence · Egyptology · Excavation · Frieze · Mount · Nothing · Precinct · Sculpture · Style (visual arts · Temple · Tower · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Architecture · Classical Antiquity Studies · Engineering · Historical and Architectural Studies · History · Philosophy

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