page_title: Temple of Venus and Roma
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Temple of Venus and Roma / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: English: bronze follis struck in Rome 308-310 AD obverse laureate head right IMP C MAXENTIVS P F AVG reverse: Roma seated left within hexastyle temple, holding globe and sceptre, a shield to her right and rear; wreath in thympanon, 2 Victories on the corners CONSERV_VRB SVAE exergue: RBQ reference: RIC VI Rome 210 weight: 7,51g
context_page_description: The Temple of Venus and Roma is thought to have been the largest temple in Ancient Rome. Located on the Velian Hill, between the eastern edge of the Forum Romanum and the Colosseum, in Rome, it was dedicated to the goddesses Venus Felix and Roma Aeterna.
  The building was the creation of the emperor Hadrian and construction began in 121. It was officially inaugurated by Hadrian in 135, and finished in 141 under Antoninus Pius. Damaged by fire in 307, it was restored with alterations by the emperor Maxentius.
context_section_description: It was set on a platform measuring 145 metres (476 ft) x 100 metres (330 ft). The peripteral temple itself measured 110 metres (360 ft) x 53 metres (174 ft) and 31 metres (102 ft) high (counting the statues) and consisted of two main chambers (cellae), each housing a cult statue of a god—Venus, the goddess of love, and Roma, the goddess of Rome, both figures seated on a throne. The cellae were arranged symmetrically back-to-back. Roma's cella faced west, looking out over the Forum Romanum, and Venus' cella faced east, looking out over the Colosseum. A row of four columns (tetrastyle) lined the entrance to each cella, and the temple was bordered by colonnaded entrances ending in staircases that led down to the Colosseum. As an additional clever subtlety by Hadrian, Venus also represented love (Amor in Latin), and "AMOR" is "ROMA" spelled backwards. Thus, placing the two divinities of Venus and Rome back-to-back in a single temple created a further symmetry with the back-to-back symmetry of their names. Within Venus' cella was another altar where newly wed couples could make sacrifices. Directly adjacent to this altar stood gigantic silver statues of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina the Younger.
  The west and east sides of the temple (the short sides) had ten white marble columns (decastyle) while the south and north sides featured twenty columns. All of these columns measured 1.8 metres (5 ft 11 in) in width, making the temple very imposing.
  Most of the remains are incorporated in the church of S.Francesca Romana and due to the rebuilding by Maxentius. A coffered vaulted ceiling replaced the original wooden roof and the walls were doubled in thickness to take the increased load. The walls were inset with niches with small statues between small red porphyry columns standing above the floor on a plinth, all fronted by a colonnade in red porphyry.
caption: Bronze follis struck by Maxentius in Rome 308 - 310 AD. This coin is commemorating the reconstruction of the temple of Roma following the fire in 307 AD.  Roma holding globe and sceptre seated within hexastyle temple with shield on the ground is depicted on the reverse.
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