Temple of the Sun (Rome)

41°54′09″N 12°28′52″E / 41.90256°N 12.48112°E / 41.90256; 12.48112

The Temple of the Sun was a temple in the Campus Agrippae in Rome. It was dedicated to Sol Invictus on 25 December 274[1] by the emperor Aurelian[2] to fulfill a vow he made following his successful campaign against Palmyra in 272 and funded by spoils from that campaign. A college of pontifices (Dei) Solis and annual games with circus races was established for the cult, as well as four-year games (agon Solis) to be held at the end of the Saturnalia.[3]

The temple was located in the Regio VII Via Lata. It was decorated with the spoils of war taken from Palmyra and was praised in the ancient sources for its beauty.[4] Although it stood to the east of the via Lata, its exact location is not certain. Near the temple was a porticus where wine was stored. Aurelian had decided that in the future the Roman citizens would also receive free wine and pork from the state in addition to bread and other foodstuffs. This suggests that the temple must have stood in the immediate vicinity of the Castra Urbana built by Aurelian and the Forum Suarium (the wine market), and this location coincides with where the church of San Silvestro in Capite is currently situated.

It was the fourth temple dedicated to the Sun in Rome – the other three were in the Circus Maximus, on the Quirinal Hill and in Trastevere.[5] The appearance of the temple is not described in the ancient sources. No remains of the temple have been found and no images of the temple on coins are known.

  1. ^ Manfred Clauss, Die römischen Kaiser – 55 historische Portraits von Caesar bis Iustinian, ISBN 978-3-406-47288-6, p. 250
  2. ^ Jerome, Chronicon, ab Abr. 2291 (275 AD); Cassiodorus, Chronicles, 990
  3. ^ Historia Augusta, Divus Aurelianus, 35.3
  4. ^ Aurelius Victor, De Caesaribus 35–37
  5. ^ Hijmans, Steven E (2009), Sol : the sun in the art and religions of Rome (Thesis/dissertation), University Library Groningen] [Host], ISBN 978-90-367-3931-3, chapter 5