DOC121/15231 - Ionic Portunus temple in Rome
Temple of Portunus (formerly known as Fortuna Virilis), travertine, tufa, and stucco, c. 120-80 B.C.E., Rome.
KAPPELMAYR, Barbara (Red.) (1995). Geïllustreerd handboek van de kunst. VG Bild-Kunst/De Hoeve, Alphen aan de Rijn. ISBN 90 6113 763 2
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The Temple of Portunus is a well preserved late second or early first century B.C.E. rectangular temple in Rome, Italy. Its dedication to the God Portunus—a divinity associated with livestock, keys, and harbors—is fitting given the building’s topographical position near the ancient river harbor of the city of Rome.
The city of Rome during its Republican phase was characterized, in part, by monumental architectural dedications made by leading, elite citizens, often in connection with key political or military accomplishments. Temples were a particularly popular choice in this category given their visibility and their utility for public events both sacred and secular.
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QUADRALECTIC ARCHITECTURE – A Panoramic Review by Marten Kuilman. Falcon Press (2011). ISBN 978-90-814420-0-8
quadralectics.wordpress.com/3-contemplation/3-2-temples/3...
The Roman ideas in the first century BC – which had their bearing on architecture – were expressed by the writer Cicero (106 – 43 BC), in particular in his book De Officiis (44 BC). He described the Roman society (civitas) and how its duties should be organized. Cicero sketched a scheme of ethics, which was based on the traditional cardinal virtues (COCHRANE, 1944). The four-fold scheme consisted of:
1. A life of wisdom or contemplation,
2. A life of justice and beneficence,
3. A life of courage of loftiness and strength of mind, and
4. A life of temperance or moderation and propriety.
These prerequisites for a healthy society follow the interpretation of the quadrants in a quadralectic outlook. The virtues can be considered as different points of view in ongoing communication.
The individual act of contemplation (1) – being an exercise in the handling of ideas – is, in essence, a Second Quadrant activity. However, Cicero’s emphasis on the outcome of this activity in the form of Wisdom (singular) points to a position in the First Quadrant (or the first quarter of the Second Quadrant).
Cicero noted that (private) salvation could only be realized in corporate life. He implied an inherent ‘multiplicity’ of the unity of the First Quadrant. There is no actual reference to an Upper Being (God) in this part of the communication, but Cicero made it clear that religion was the most important entity within the context of duties. The demands of religion should come first, then the desire of patriotism, thirdly the usefulness of domestic obligations and, finally, the remaining obligations of civilized man.
He disliked the Epicurean philosophy, which had an atheistic outlook and advocated a rejection of public life, and seriously misrepresented its teaching as a shameless pursuit of pleasures. The well-known Epicurean Lucretius – the creator of the poem ‘On the Nature of Things’ – was contemporary with Cicero at Rome and may have known him personally.
Justice (2) was seen as the basis of human relationships and – like a true Roman virtue – received a fuller treatment than the contemplative ideal. The complex field of justice can be placed in a Second Quadrant environment, being an offshoot of human ideas (or how to live and run a society). The basis lies in good faith and fidelity to the engagements. An understanding of the type of division environment – and the actions taken accordingly – should be added in a modern interpretation.
The third virtue or quality is courage or fortitude (3), which is more glorious than any of the other three (because it is often more visible). Cicero made it clear, that the pursuit of courage could become a vice if it was accompanied by the love of power. True courage lies, on the other hand, in the capacity for passive endurance with complete disregard for outward things. Fortitude fits, with its dual aspects and easy visibility, in the Third Quadrant of a quadralectic communication. The good statesman would be ‘lenient, affable, and courteous, strictly conscientious and exempt from passion when obliged to inflict punishment.’
The last of the cardinal virtues is temperance (4) or a type of behavior, which is compatible with the inherent dignity of human nature. This state of mind seems to meet the requirements of the Fourth Quadrant when the full width of communication is comprehended. The rules of propriety follow nature’s guidance and cultivate an earnest disposition, while the emotions are kept within their bounds. The final dualism of human existence, being a social entity and an individual at the same time, has to be solved here. Our individual being has to fit within the development of the common graces of humanity. ‘To succeed in life, one must know the true grounds of honor and esteem among men.’
These values were well known in the Third Quadrant of the Roman cultural period (lasting from 375 BC – 125 AD). It seems that the discussion of ethical sentiments (by Cicero and other rhetoricians) was a genuine effort to make feelings visible by putting them on paper. The architects, in the meantime, being aware of the same sentiments, recreated these moral ideas in stone. Building and the art of writing have their intention to visualize thought in common and provide a mental shelter in the meantime. Rome started in the last quarter of the first century BC with a serious building program, which is nearly unsurpassed in the history of mankind.
Its inspiration and search for identity were born the will to visualize power and control, but its philosophical background was found – possibly at an unconscious level – in the rich world of four-fold thinking. Cicero’s virtues and Aristotle’s enteleichia (causes) are members of the same (fourfold) stock. The final cause equates with wisdom, the formal cause with justice, the material cause with courage and the efficient cause with temperance. All this becomes evident in the fourth quarter of the Third Quadrant, not only in the Roman cultural presence but in any communication.
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The Temple of Portunus (formerly known as the Temple of Fortuna Virilis) is one of the more tetradic-orientated and older temples in Rome (100 BC). This small temple on the banks of the Tiber, close to the Temple of Vesta on the Forum Boarium (fig. 90), represented a merging of the Etruscan and Greek temple styles (fig. 99). Portunus’ temple is several decades younger than the nearby Temple of Vesta. The former features tetrastyle columns, while the latter is circularity.
Fig. 99 – The Temple of Portunus, formerly known as the Temple of Fortuna Virilis, is situated on the Forum Boarium near the Tiber. The prostylos temple, with Ionic columns (4 x 7), was built at the beginning of the first century BC. To the right is the circular Temple of Vesta partly visible and to the left the bell tower of the Church of S. Maria in Cosmedin, restored by Pope Clemens XI.
The position of these two temples in the Roman cultural history (fig. 88) can be pinpointed in the third part of the Third Quadrant, i.e. in the most oppositional transfiguration of the specter. Therefore, the use of the four-fold (as an idea) might well be used as a reaction against the two-fold spirit of the times. Similar ‘revolutionary’ use of the tetradic symbolism and imagery can be seen in the oppositional environment of the sixteenth century of the European cultural history in the architectonic styles of the Late Renaissance and Mannerism.
DOC121/15231 - Ionic Portunus temple in Rome
Temple of Portunus (formerly known as Fortuna Virilis), travertine, tufa, and stucco, c. 120-80 B.C.E., Rome.
KAPPELMAYR, Barbara (Red.) (1995). Geïllustreerd handboek van de kunst. VG Bild-Kunst/De Hoeve, Alphen aan de Rijn. ISBN 90 6113 763 2
---
The Temple of Portunus is a well preserved late second or early first century B.C.E. rectangular temple in Rome, Italy. Its dedication to the God Portunus—a divinity associated with livestock, keys, and harbors—is fitting given the building’s topographical position near the ancient river harbor of the city of Rome.
The city of Rome during its Republican phase was characterized, in part, by monumental architectural dedications made by leading, elite citizens, often in connection with key political or military accomplishments. Temples were a particularly popular choice in this category given their visibility and their utility for public events both sacred and secular.
---
QUADRALECTIC ARCHITECTURE – A Panoramic Review by Marten Kuilman. Falcon Press (2011). ISBN 978-90-814420-0-8
quadralectics.wordpress.com/3-contemplation/3-2-temples/3...
The Roman ideas in the first century BC – which had their bearing on architecture – were expressed by the writer Cicero (106 – 43 BC), in particular in his book De Officiis (44 BC). He described the Roman society (civitas) and how its duties should be organized. Cicero sketched a scheme of ethics, which was based on the traditional cardinal virtues (COCHRANE, 1944). The four-fold scheme consisted of:
1. A life of wisdom or contemplation,
2. A life of justice and beneficence,
3. A life of courage of loftiness and strength of mind, and
4. A life of temperance or moderation and propriety.
These prerequisites for a healthy society follow the interpretation of the quadrants in a quadralectic outlook. The virtues can be considered as different points of view in ongoing communication.
The individual act of contemplation (1) – being an exercise in the handling of ideas – is, in essence, a Second Quadrant activity. However, Cicero’s emphasis on the outcome of this activity in the form of Wisdom (singular) points to a position in the First Quadrant (or the first quarter of the Second Quadrant).
Cicero noted that (private) salvation could only be realized in corporate life. He implied an inherent ‘multiplicity’ of the unity of the First Quadrant. There is no actual reference to an Upper Being (God) in this part of the communication, but Cicero made it clear that religion was the most important entity within the context of duties. The demands of religion should come first, then the desire of patriotism, thirdly the usefulness of domestic obligations and, finally, the remaining obligations of civilized man.
He disliked the Epicurean philosophy, which had an atheistic outlook and advocated a rejection of public life, and seriously misrepresented its teaching as a shameless pursuit of pleasures. The well-known Epicurean Lucretius – the creator of the poem ‘On the Nature of Things’ – was contemporary with Cicero at Rome and may have known him personally.
Justice (2) was seen as the basis of human relationships and – like a true Roman virtue – received a fuller treatment than the contemplative ideal. The complex field of justice can be placed in a Second Quadrant environment, being an offshoot of human ideas (or how to live and run a society). The basis lies in good faith and fidelity to the engagements. An understanding of the type of division environment – and the actions taken accordingly – should be added in a modern interpretation.
The third virtue or quality is courage or fortitude (3), which is more glorious than any of the other three (because it is often more visible). Cicero made it clear, that the pursuit of courage could become a vice if it was accompanied by the love of power. True courage lies, on the other hand, in the capacity for passive endurance with complete disregard for outward things. Fortitude fits, with its dual aspects and easy visibility, in the Third Quadrant of a quadralectic communication. The good statesman would be ‘lenient, affable, and courteous, strictly conscientious and exempt from passion when obliged to inflict punishment.’
The last of the cardinal virtues is temperance (4) or a type of behavior, which is compatible with the inherent dignity of human nature. This state of mind seems to meet the requirements of the Fourth Quadrant when the full width of communication is comprehended. The rules of propriety follow nature’s guidance and cultivate an earnest disposition, while the emotions are kept within their bounds. The final dualism of human existence, being a social entity and an individual at the same time, has to be solved here. Our individual being has to fit within the development of the common graces of humanity. ‘To succeed in life, one must know the true grounds of honor and esteem among men.’
These values were well known in the Third Quadrant of the Roman cultural period (lasting from 375 BC – 125 AD). It seems that the discussion of ethical sentiments (by Cicero and other rhetoricians) was a genuine effort to make feelings visible by putting them on paper. The architects, in the meantime, being aware of the same sentiments, recreated these moral ideas in stone. Building and the art of writing have their intention to visualize thought in common and provide a mental shelter in the meantime. Rome started in the last quarter of the first century BC with a serious building program, which is nearly unsurpassed in the history of mankind.
Its inspiration and search for identity were born the will to visualize power and control, but its philosophical background was found – possibly at an unconscious level – in the rich world of four-fold thinking. Cicero’s virtues and Aristotle’s enteleichia (causes) are members of the same (fourfold) stock. The final cause equates with wisdom, the formal cause with justice, the material cause with courage and the efficient cause with temperance. All this becomes evident in the fourth quarter of the Third Quadrant, not only in the Roman cultural presence but in any communication.
---
The Temple of Portunus (formerly known as the Temple of Fortuna Virilis) is one of the more tetradic-orientated and older temples in Rome (100 BC). This small temple on the banks of the Tiber, close to the Temple of Vesta on the Forum Boarium (fig. 90), represented a merging of the Etruscan and Greek temple styles (fig. 99). Portunus’ temple is several decades younger than the nearby Temple of Vesta. The former features tetrastyle columns, while the latter is circularity.
Fig. 99 – The Temple of Portunus, formerly known as the Temple of Fortuna Virilis, is situated on the Forum Boarium near the Tiber. The prostylos temple, with Ionic columns (4 x 7), was built at the beginning of the first century BC. To the right is the circular Temple of Vesta partly visible and to the left the bell tower of the Church of S. Maria in Cosmedin, restored by Pope Clemens XI.
The position of these two temples in the Roman cultural history (fig. 88) can be pinpointed in the third part of the Third Quadrant, i.e. in the most oppositional transfiguration of the specter. Therefore, the use of the four-fold (as an idea) might well be used as a reaction against the two-fold spirit of the times. Similar ‘revolutionary’ use of the tetradic symbolism and imagery can be seen in the oppositional environment of the sixteenth century of the European cultural history in the architectonic styles of the Late Renaissance and Mannerism.