Julius Caesar was born in 100 B.C. and died a sudden and violent death in 44 B.C..
Unfortunately, his funeral reflected the confusion the Empire had been thrown
into. Ancient accounts of Caesar’s
funeral say that Marc Antony stirred the crowd by reading a proclamation of the
Senate that granted Caesar all the honors of both man and deity. Antony also
displayed a wax figure of the emperor, complete with the knife wounds of his assassination.
Roused by the show Antony put on, the crowd rioted, carrying
Caesar’s body to a makeshift funeral pier of haphazardly stacked benches,
treasures, and other items the mob threw in. The fire burned through the night,
but failed to cremate the emperor. Cicero called the funeral a mockery, blaming
Mark Antony for starting the flames that left Caesar “half burnt” (Cicero, Philippics 2.90-1).
In 42 BC, Augustus began building the Temple of Caesar to
honor his predecessor. It was completed, renovated, and repaired through the
height of the Roman Empire. After the fall of the Empire, the decorative marble
was stolen or repurposed for other state projects, and all we have left today
is the dilapidated concrete base.
We know very little of the building’s original architecture.
Historians have to piece together ancient historical accounts, images on coins,
and findings of modern archeology. An account by Vitruvius says that the porch
of the temple was in pycnostyle, meaning it had six columns on the front spaced
close together. The type of column is not known, though Corinthian scrolls have
been recovered close to the site. While
ancient coins depict Ionic columns on the temple, some historians make it out
to be poor artistry. However, the temple was destroyed in a fire after the
coins were minted, so it is possible that the architecture was changed in the
rebuilding.
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| One depiction of many possibilities |
Though we do not know the placement of the altar or steps,
there is a theory that the temple was modeled after the Temple of Venus
Genetrix that sits nearby. If this is true, the staircase would have been to
the sides and rear of the podium, a backwards model from traditional buildings
with steps in front.
The remains of what is thought to be the altar, and the spot
where Caesar was cremated, can still be seen today. Flowers and candles are
still left by modern Romans to honor their great ruler.
