The Temple of Apollo and Diana in Rome

Abstract

Summary: 'The temple of Apollo and Diana' is Vitruvius' example of the diastylos type, with comparatively wide-spaced columns. Since there were only two Apollo temples in Rome, and that of Apollo 'Sosianus' outside the Porta Carmentalis was of the pycnostylos type, Vitruvius must have been referring to the temple on the Palatine dedicated by Imperator Caesar (soon to be Augustus) on 9 October 28 BC. That conclusion is normally contested or ignored, on the grounds that it is inconsistent with the remains of the concrete core of the platform on which the Palatine temple stood. I argue that the archaeological evidence should not be treated as decisive, and that the identification of the Palatine temple as a joint dedication to Apollo and his sister, perhaps with back-to-back cellae, may help to resolve the recent controversy over which way the temple faced. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.