Earth and Space News: Caesar Venus Genetrix Temple Rome

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Thursday, October 6, 2022

Quintilii Marble Head May Copy Cleopatra Statue in Temple of Venus

Summary: A Villa of the Quintilii marble head may copy the Cleopatra statue in the Temple of Venus Genetrix located in Rome's Forum of Caesar (Forum Caesaris).

Identified as portraying Cleopatra, a Villa of the Quintilii marble head may copy the Cleopatra statue in the Temple of Venus Genetrix that Julius Caesar dedicated in his new forum, Forum Iulium, in Rome in 46 BCE.

The Villa of the Quintilii (Italian: Villa dei Quintili) is sited at the fifth milestone of the Via Appia Antica ("Old or Ancient Appian Way"). In its greatest span of 362 miles (582 kilometers), the ancient Roman road linked central Rome's Roman Forum (Forum Romanum) with the port of Brindisi in southeast Italy's heel, according to Encyclopedia Britannica's online "Appian Way" entry. The road's construction began in 312 BCE, during the consulships of Marcus Valerius Maximus and Publius Decius Mus (died 295 BCE), according to classics professors Matthew Dillon and Lynda Garland in Ancient Rome: Social and Historical Documents From the Early Republic to the Death of Augustus (2.4).

The Villa of the Quintilii occupies an approximately rectangular property with an east-to-west stretch between Via Appia Nuova ("New Appian Way") and Via Appia Antica. Construction of Via Nuova Appia, which parallels the older road, originated with the late 18th-century papacy (Feb. 15, 1775-1799) of Pius VI (born Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi; Dec. 25, 1717-Aug. 29, 1799).

The construction of the Villa of the Quintilii dates to the first half of the second century CE, according to conservation scientist Giusj Valentina Fichera and seven co-authors in "Limestone Provenance in Roman Lime-Volcanic Ash Mortars From the Villa dei Quintili, Rome," published in the February 2015 issue of Geoarchaeology. The residential complex was built during the Roman emperorships of Trajan and Hadrian (page 81). Caesar Nerva Traianus "Trajan" (Sep. 18, 53-Aug. 8, 117 CE) began his reign Jan. 27, 98 BCE, upon the death of his predecessor, Nerva (Marcus Cocceius Nerva; Nov. 8, 30-Jan. 27, 98 CE). Nerva, Trajan and Trajan's successor, Hadrian (Caesar Traianus Hadrianus; Jan. 24, 76-July 10, 138 CE), are recognized as the first, second and third, respectively, of the "Five Good Emperors" in the Roman Empire's seven-member Nerva-Antonine dynasty.

The Villa of the Quintili was home for Sextus Quintilius Condianus (Italian: Sesto Quintilio Condiano) and his brother, Sextus Quintilius Valerius Maximus (Italian: Sesto Quintilio Valerio Massimo). The brothers held government positions during the reigns of the fourth and fifth "Five Good Emperors," Antoninus Pius (Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius; Sep. 19, 86-March 7, 161 CE) and Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (April 26, 121-March 17, 180 CE). The Quintilii brothers served as consuls in 151 CE, during Marcus Aurelius's emperorship.

The Quintilii brothers lost their property to imperial confiscation and also their lives in 182 CE. Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus (Aug. 31, 161-Dec. 31, 192 CE), who succeeded his father, Marcus Aurelius, had the brothers executed as purported conspirators in the failed assassination and coup orchestrated by Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla "Lucilla" (March 7, 148 or 150-182 CE), Marcus Aurelius's second daughter.

A marble head with a diadem and a melon hairstyle of braided rows gathered into a nape neck bun numbered among sculptures retrieved by Venceslao Pezolli during his 1783-1784 excavations at the Villa of the Quintilli, according to ancient art curators Carlos A. Picón and Seán Hemingway in the Catalogue (page 303) published in conjunction with "Pergamon and the Hellenistic Kingdoms of the Ancient World," exhibited Monday, April 18, through Sunday, July 17, 2016, at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art. The marble head was added to the collections of the Vatican Museum (Musei Vaticani) in 1784, according to the museum's online catalogue (inventory number MV.38511.0.0). Its inventory record dates the marble portrait to 47 to 44 BCE.

The Quintilii marble head was identified as a portrait of Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII Philopator (Ancient Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ, Kleopatra Philopator; ca. 69-Aug. 10 or 12, 30 BCE) by German archaeologist Ludwig Curtius (Dec. 13, 1874-April 10, 1954) in "Ikonographische Beiträge zum Porträt der Römischen Republik und der Julisch-Claudischen Familie: IV Kleopatra VII. Philopator," published in 1933 in Römische Mitteilungen (band 48: 182-192). A raised scar on the left cheek suggested for Curtius the remnant of a sculpture of Cupid, Roman goddess Venus's son. The lost Cupid and the interpretation of the diadem's front bump as a jewel possibilitized the Quintilii marble head as a replica of the lost statue of Cleopatra commissioned by Roman general and statesman Gaius Julius Caesar (July 12 or 13, 100-March 15, 44 BCE) for the Temple of Venus Genetrix (Venus the Mother; Venus the Ancestress) that he located in his new forum, Forum Iulium (Forum of the Iulius; Julius Caesar's paternal gens Iulia lineage), popularly known as Forum Caesaris (Forum of Caesar), in Rome. Caesar held a joint dedication of the forum and the temple on Sep. 26, 46 BCE.

A hidden mother with child wall painting in Pompeii's House of Marcus Fabius Rufus (Marco Fabio Rufo) offers support for Curtius's association of the Quintilii marble head with the Temple of Venus Genetrix's lost Cleopatra statue, according to archaeologist Susan Walker (born Sep. 11, 1948) in "Cleopatra in Pompeii?", published in the November 2008 issue of Papers of the British School at Rome (page 40). The Pompeii painting portrays Cleopatra with her and Caesar's son, Ptolemy XV Caesar Philopator Philometor (Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Καῖσαρ Φιλοπάτωρ Φιλομήτωρ, Ptolemaios Kaisar Philopator Philometor, "Ptolemy Caesar, Beloved of his Father, Beloved of his Mother"; 47-30 BCE), known as Caesarion (Ancient Greek: Καισαρίων, Kaisarion, "Little Caesar"), posing as Venus with Cupid, according to Walker's reading of the painting (pages 35, 39-40).

Curtius's findings of concordance between the Quintilii marble head and the Forum Iulium's lost Cleopatra statue and Walker's "points of correspondence" between Cleopatra's face in the Pompeii painting and in the Quintilii marble head suggest the lost statue as the inspiration for the Quintilii marble head (page 40).

A ginger tabby pauses before the bath house complex, comprising caldarium (room with bath of hot water) and frigidarium (room with bath of cold water), on the grounds of Rome's Villa of the Quintilii; Wednesday, Sep. 29, 2021: Pat.no54, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Dedication

This post is dedicated to the memory of our beloved blue-eyed brother, Charles, who guided the creation of the Met Opera and Astronomy posts on Earth and Space News. We memorialized our brother in "Our Beloved Blue-Eyed Brother, Charles, With Whom We Are Well Pleased," published on Earth and Space News on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, an anniversary of our beloved father's death.

Image credits:

Villa of the Quintilii's marble head of Cleopatra is displayed in Museo Gregoriano Profano (Gregoriano Profano Museum), which is located on the lower floor of Musei Vaticani (Vatican Museums); Friday, May 9, 2008, 14:12: Sergey Sosnovskiy (Ancientrome), CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cleopatra_VII,_Marble,_40-30_BC,_Vatican_Museums_004.jpg; Sergey Sosnovskiy, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Ancientrome.ru @ http://ancientrome.ru/art/artworken/img.htm?id=6364

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Bellomo, M. (Mariangela); and S. (Salvatore) D'Agostino. "Excavation, Restoration and Conservation of Archaeological Sites -- Villa dei Quintili on the Appia Antica in Rome." WIT Transactions on the Built Environment, vol. 42 (1999): 451-460.
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Bignamini, Ilaria; and Amanda Claridge. "55. . . . Venceslao Pezzoli employed only four to ten workmen in his larger scale excavations on the site of the Villa dei Quintili in 1788-90 (U. Schädler, "Dallo scavo al museo di Pio VI nella Villa dei Quintili', Bollettino monumenti, musei e gallerie pontificie 16 (1996), 296 n. 32)." Page 241. "The Tomb of Claudia Semne and Excavations in Eighteenth-Century Rome." Papers of the British School at Rome, vol. 66 (1998): 215-244.
Available via JSTOR @ https://www.jstor.org/stable/40310981

The British Museum. "Coin Sabina Augusta Veneri Genetrice." The British Museum > Collection.
Available @ https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_R-12360

Broughton, T. (Thomas) Robert S. (Shannon). The Magistrates of the Roman Republic. Vol. I: 509 B.C.-100 B.C. Phillip H. De Lacy, ed., Philological Monographs, no. XV, vol. I. New York: The American Philological Association, 1951.
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Broughton, T. (Thomas) Robert S. (Shannon). The Magistrates of the Roman Republic. Vol. II: 99 B.C.-31 B.C. Phillip H. De Lacy, ed., Philological Monographs, no. XV, vol. II. New York: The American Philological Association, 1952.
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Broughton, T. (Thomas) Robert S. (Shannon). Supplement to The Magistrates of the Roman Republic. Phillip H. De Lacy, ed., Philological Monographs, no. XV, vol. I. New York: The American Philological Association, 1960.
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Catalogo Musei Vaticani. "Inventario: MV.179.0.0. Description: Statua acefala femminile da modelli della fine V-inizi IV sec. a.C., integrata come Cerere, integrata con il calco di una testa di Cleopatra (inv. 38511). Datazione: prima metà II sec. d.C. Materia: marmo bianco. Misure: h cm 179. Periodo acquisizione: 1784. Tipo acquisizione: venduta da Ferdinando Lisandroni. Provenienza: da Roma, scavi Venceslao Pezolli nella Villa dei Quintili sulla via Appia ("Roma Vecchia"), 1783-1784; la provenienza dallo scavo alla Tomba di Nerone sulla via Cassia (Visconti) è errata. Location: SCV > Museo Pio Clementino > Sala a Croce Greca > 21." Musei Vaticani > Collections > Online Catalogue > Consult the Catalogue.
Available @ https://catalogo.museivaticani.va/index.php/Detail/objects/MV.179.0.0

Catalogo Musei Vaticani. "Inventario: MV.38511.0.0. Descrizione: Testa ritratto di Cleopatra VII, pertinente a una statua eseguita probabilmente quando la regina era ospite di Cesare a Roma. Il diadema regale a fascia poteva essere rivestito da una lamina in bronzo doratoe completato da un ureo, anch'esso in metallo. Datazione: 47-44 a.C. a.C. Materia: marmo pario. Misure: cm 39 x 20 x 20. Provenienza: da Roma, Villa dei Quintili, scavi 1784. Collocazione: SCV > Edificio Paolino > Museo Gregoriano Profano > Settore 4 -- Aurai." Musei Vaticani > Collections > Online Catalogue > Consult the Catalogue.
Available @ https://catalogo.museivaticani.va/index.php/Detail/objects/MV.38511.0.0

Collins, Jeffrey. ". . . . Among the best documented are the extensive papal campaigns at the Villa dei Quintili (so-called Roma Vecchia) on via Appia. conducted by Venceslao Pezzoli in 1983-4 and 1788-92. Pezzoli conducted eighteen such excavations in the space of a single decade, and the records kept at Roma Vecchia are allowing modern historians of archeology to reconstruct the origin and destination of works whose provence has often been lost. . . ." Page 166. Papacy and Politics in Eighteenth-Century Rome: Pius VI and the Arts. Chapter Four: The Gods' Abode, pages 132-.
Available via Google Books @ https://www.google.com/books/edition/Papacy_and_Politics_in_Eighteenth_Centur/SxDYM3cnSpwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=venceslao+pezzoli&pg=PA166&printsec=frontcover

Corvinus, Messalla (Laurens Dragstra). "Commodus: The Years 186-190." Corvinus > Roman history > From Commodus to the Crisis of the Third Century (180-238). Dec. 20, 2015.
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Curtius, Ludwig. "Ikonographische Beiträge zum Porträt der Römischen Republik und der Julisch-Claudischen Familie: IV Kleopatra VII. Philopator." Römische Mitteilungen, band 48 (1933): 182-192.

de Grummond, Nancy Thomson, ed. "Clement XIV (Giovanni Vincenzo Ganganelli: 1705-74) . . . . commissioner of antiquities (*Commissario delle Antichità), G.B. *Visconti . . . . initiated systematic campaigns of excavation directed by the sculptor and restorer Gaspare Sibilla and with Venceslao Pezolli as inspector, in order to acquire further material." Page 291. An Encyclopedia of the History of Classical Archaeology. New York NY: Routledge, 1996.
Available via Google Books @ https://www.google.com/books/edition/Encyclopedia_of_the_History_of_Classical/LeE4CQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Venceslao+Pezolli&pg=PA291&printsec=frontcover

Dillon, Matthew; and Lynda Garland. "2.4 Frontinus On Aqueducts 1.5: Rome's water supply . . . . In the consulship of Marcus Valerius Maximus and Publius Decius Mus (312 BC), the thirtieth year after the start of the Samnite War, the Appian aqueduct was brought into the city by Appius Claudius Crassus, the censor, who was later given the surname Caecus ('the blind'); he was also responsible for the construction of the Appian Way from the Capena gate up to the city of Capua." Ancient Rome: Social and Historical Documents From the Early Republic to the Death of Augustus, "2 The Public Face of Rome; The Infrastructure of the City: 2.1-2.4." Routledge Sourcebooks for the Ancient World. Second edition. First published 2005. New York: Routledge, 2015.
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Fichera, Giusj Valentina; Cristina Maria Belfiore; Mauro Francesco La Russa; Silvestro Antonio Ruffolo; Donatella Barca; Riccardo Frontoni; Giuliana Galli; and Antonino Pezzino. "Limestone Provenance in Roman Lime-Volcanic Ash Mortars From the Villa dei Quintili, Rome." Geoarchaeology: An International Journal, vol. 30 (February 2015): 79-99.
Available via ResearchGate @ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272165601_Limestone_Provenance_in_Roman_Lime-Volcanic_Ash_Mortars_from_the_Villa_dei_Quintili_Rome#pf3

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Available via ResearchGate @ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261884555_Roma_1985-2011_Tutela_e_valorizzazione_della_Villa_dei_Quintili

Frontoni, Riccardo; and Giuliana Galli. "Il Complesso Residenziale." Forma Urbis, anno XVII, no. 2 (febbraio 2012): 9-26.
Available via ResearchGate @ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261884555_Roma_1985-2011_Tutela_e_valorizzazione_della_Villa_dei_Quintili

Frontoni, Riccardo; and Giuliana Galli. "Xystus (Area R-H) Cisterne (Aree G E P) Grande Ninfeo (Area H)." Forma Urbis, anno XVII, no. 2 (febbraio 2012): 27-39.
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Frontoni, Riccardo; Giuliana Galli; and Rita Paris. "L'Antiquarium." Forma Urbis, anno XVII, no. 2 (febbraio 2012): 43-44.
Available via ResearchGate @ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261884555_Roma_1985-2011_Tutela_e_valorizzazione_della_Villa_dei_Quintili

Frontoni, Riccardo; Giuliana Galli; Rita Paris; and Antonella Rotondi. "Roma 1985-2011. Tutela e Valorizzazione Della Villa dei Quintili." Forma Urbis, anno XVII, no. 2 (febbraio 2012): 1-48.
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Galli, Giuliana. "Le Anfore da Trasporto." Forma Urbis, anno XVII, no. 2 (febbraio 2012): 40-42.
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Grossi, Olindo. "The Forum of Julius Caesar and the Temple of Venus Genetrix." Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome, vol. 13 (1936): 215-220+2.
Available via JSTOR @ https://www.jstor.org/stable/4238590

Grossi-Gondi, F. (Felice). "Qualora poi il nostro cippo ricordasse appunto uno dei due famosi fratelli Quintili, proprietari di questa villa, convien dire che, non facendosi quivi cenno nel cursus honorum del consolato di Massimo, l'iscrizione è anteriore al 151. In quest'anno infatti tanto Massimo che Condiano furono consoli. Indi governarono insieme la Grecia (verso il 173 d.C.), l'Illirico (177 d. C.). Seguirono Marco Aurelio in Oriente (175-176 d. C.), ed ebbero anche qualche vittoria contro gli Alemanni. Nelle controversie che ebbe Atene con Erode Attico i Quintili tennero per quella. Verso il 183 vennero entrambi fatti uccidere da Commodo. . . ." La Villa dei Quintili e la Villa di Mondragone, Chapter II, page 40. Le Ville Tusculane Nell'Epoca Classica e Dopo Il Rinascimento. Roma: Tip. Dell'Unione Cooperativa Editrice, 1901.
Available via Forgotten Books @ https://www.forgottenbooks.com/en/readbook/LaVilladeiQuintilielaVilladiMondragone_11088102#55
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Hansson, Ulf R. "Bovillae Rediscovered and Removed: Antiquarians and Treasure Hunters South of Rome in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries." In: P. Hatlie and D. Berry, eds., Ancient Bovillae: History, Art, and Archaeology of a Lost City in the Roman Hinterland. Ann Arbor MI: University of Michigan Press, 2022.
Available via Academia @ https://www.academia.edu/25723314/Bovillae_Rediscovered_and_Removed_Antiquarians_and_Treasure_Hunters_South_of_Rome_in_the_Eighteenth_and_Nineteenth_Centuries

Hengel, Livia. "A Brief History Of Via Appia Antica, Rome's Oldest Road." Culture Trip > Europe > Italy > Lazio > Rome > Things To Do. Oct. 15, 2016.
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Jane Sancinito, PhD @JaneSancinito. "Broke: Low ponytail Woke: Imitating the style of Roman Empress Sabina Augusta." Twitter. Nov. 8, 2019.
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Lucius Cassius Dio. ". . . . Thus Cleopatra, though defeated and captured, was nevertheless glorified, inasmuch as her adornments repose as decorations in our temples and she herself is seen in gold in the shrine of Venus." Book LI.22, pages 62-65. Dio's Roman History, vol. VI. With an English Translation by Earnest Cary, Ph.D. On the Basis of the Version of Herbert Baldwin Forster, Ph.D. Loeb Classical Library LBL 175. First printed 1917. Reprinted 1955. London: William Heinemann Ltd; Cambridge MA Harvard University Press, MCMLV [1955].
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Marriner, Derdriu. "Beware the Ides of March: The Assassination of Julius Caesar." Earth and Space News. Thursday, March 3, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/03/beware-ides-of-march-assassination-of.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Beware the Ides of March Meal: Caesar or Brutus Salad, Cleopatra's Dulcis Coccora, Caesar Cocktail." Earth and Space News. Thursday, March 10, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/03/beware-ides-of-march-meal-caesar-or.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Caesar Commissioned Gilt Statue of Cleopatra for Venus Genetrix Temple." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Sep. 22, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/09/caesar-commissioned-gilt-statue-of.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Caesar Salad Recipe: Named for Chef Cesare Cardini, Not Julius Caesar." Earth and Space News. Thursday, March 17, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/03/caesar-salad-recipe-named-for-chef.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Caesarion Sought to Refuge in India But Was Lured Away To Be Murdered." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/08/caesarion-sought-to-refuge-in-india-but.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cleopatra Had Planned Flight From Egypt But Nabateans Burned Her Ships." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Sep. 1, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/09/cleopatra-had-planned-flight-from-egypt.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cleopatra or Caesarion Could Have Refuged in Five Ports in Western India." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Sep. 8, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/09/cleopatra-or-caesarion-could-have.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cleopatra Painting in Pompeii May Copy Statue in Venus Genetrix Temple." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Sep. 29, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/09/cleopatra-painting-in-pompeii-may-copy.html

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Marriner, Derdriu. "Mother and Child Fresco in Pompeii May Depict Cleopatra With Caesarion." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Sep. 15, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/09/mother-and-child-fresco-in-pompeii-may.html

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Ricci, Adreina. La Villa dei Quintili: Fonti Scritte e Fonti Figurate. Roma: Lithos, 1998.

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Available via Academia @ https://www.academia.edu/5496615/La_Villa_dei_Quintili

Ulrich, Roger B. "Julius Caesar and the Creation of the Forum Iulium." American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 97, no. 1 (January 1993): 49-80.
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Waldstein, Charles. "Pasiteles and Arkesilaos, the Venus Genetrix and the Venus of the Esquiline." The American Journal of Archaeology and of the History of the Fine Arts, vol. III, nos. 1 and 2 (June 1887): 1-13.
Available via JSTOR @ https://www.jstor.org/stable/496373#metadata_info_tab_contents

White, Horace, trans. "Chap.XV.102. . . . He erected the temple to Venus, his ancestress, as he had vowed to do when he was about to begin the battle of Pharsalus, and he laid out ground around the temple which he intended to be a forum for the Roman people, not for buying and selling, but a meeting-place for the transaction of public business, like the public squares of the Persians, where the people assemble to seek justice or to learn the laws. He placed a beautiful image of Cleopatra by the side of the goddess, which stands there to this day. . . ." Pages 414-417. Appian's Roman History: The Civil Wars. In four volumes. Volume III. Book II: 229-515. First printed 1913. Reprinted 1933, 1958, 1964. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., MCMLXIV (1964).
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/appiansromanhist0000appi_s3m0/page/414/mode/1up
Available via Tufts University Perseus Digital Library @ http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0232%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D15%3Asection%3D102

Thursday, September 29, 2022

Cleopatra Painting in Pompeii May Copy Statue in Venus Genetrix Temple

Summary: Marcus Fabius Rufus house's hidden Cleopatra painting in Pompeii may copy a statue in the Venus Genetrix Temple, Rome, dedicated in 46 BCE by Caesar.

The painting of Cleopatra and her first son, Caesarion, depicted as Roman goddess Venus in her maternal aspect as Venus Genetrix (Latin: Genetrix, "mother, ancestress") with son, Cupid, has been likened to the lost statue of Cleopatra installed in the Temple of Venus Genetrix for Julius Caesar's Sep. 26, 46 BCE, dedication of the temple and his namesake forum, Forum Iulium (Forum of the Iulius; also Forum Caesaris, Forum of Caesar), in Rome; room 71, House of Marcus Fabius Rufus (Marco Fabio Rufo), Pompeii; created via UploadWizard, Saturday, April 19, 2008, 13:52: PericlesofAthens, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Marcus Fabius Rufus house's hidden Cleopatra painting in Pompeii may copy a statue in the Venus Genetrix Temple that Julius Caesar dedicated at his namesake forum in Rome in September 46 BCE.

The painting of a Mother With Child that is hidden behind a later-dated wall in Pompeii's House of Marcus Fabius Rufus represents Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII Philopator (Ancient Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ, Kleopatra Philopator; ca. 69-Aug. 10 or 12, 30 BCE) as Venus Genetrix (Venus the Mother) and her first child, Ptolemy XV Caesar Philopator Philometor (Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Καῖσαρ Φιλοπάτωρ Φιλομήτωρ, Ptolemaios Kaisar Philopator Philometor, "Ptolemy Caesar, Beloved of his Father, Beloved of his Mother"; 47-30 BCE), known as Caesarion (Ancient Greek: Καισαρίων, Kaisarion, "Little Caesar"), as Venus's son, Cupid, according to archaeologist Susan Walker (born Sep. 11, 1948) in "Cleopatra in Pompeii?", published in the November 2008 issue of Papers of the British School at Rome (page 35). The dedication of his Forum Iulium (Forum of the Iulius; Julius Caesar's paternal gens Iulia lineage) and Temple of Venus Genetrix, with adjacent statues of Venus and Cleopatra, on Sep. 26, 46 BCE, in Rome by Roman general and statesman Gaius Julius Caesar (July 12 or 13, 100-March 15, 44 BCE) most likely inspired the painting in Pompeii.

The location of the House of Marcus Fabius Rufus (Marco Fabio Rufo) is specified as Regione VII (region one), Insula 16 (block 16), Domus (house number) 22. Italian architect Giuseppe Fiorelli (June 7, 1823-Jan. 28, 1896), who supervised excavations of the ancient city from 1860 to 1875, devised the methodology of precise identification with a set of three numbers. He divided Pompeii into nine regions (Latin: regiones), numbered from I (1) to IX (9) in Roman numerals. Each region (Latin: regio) subdivided into blocks (Latin: insula, "block"; insulae, "blocks") that are distinguished by Western Arabic numerals beginning with 1 upward. Western Arabic numerals from 1 upward are assigned to building entrances in each insula.

The occurrence of House of Marcus Fabius Rufus in Regio VII places the dwelling in the southern half of Insula Occidentalis (western insula), which comprises Regio VI and Regio VII in the city's western sector. Via della Fortuna Augusta and Via Marina define Regio VII's northern and southern boundaries, respectively, according to Peter and Michael Clements' website, AD79 (AD79 > Pompeii > Regio VII).

Regio VII counts 16 insulae. The House of Marcus Fabius Rufus occupies Insula 16, which mixes commercial and domestic sites and marks Regio VII's western extent. Vico del Farmacista and Vico dei Soprastant trace Insula 16's eastern limit (AD79 > Pompeii > Regio VII > Tour of Regio VII).

Insula 16 numbers 22 entrances. Number 22 is assigned to the vast, multilevel House of Marcus Fabius Rufus.

The imposing dwelling projects vertically over at least four levels. Western façade terraces offer panoramic views of the Bay of Naples (Italian: baia di napoli; also golfo di Napoli, "Gulf of Naples").

A room number system used by historian Masanori Aoyagi and classical archaeologists Mario Grimaldi and Umberto Pappalardo has assigned 71 to a cubiculum (Latin: cubō, "lie down" + -culum, diminutive suffix) in the southwestern corner of the first lower floor in the House of Marcus Fabius Rufus. Room 71 faces west toward a corridor (72) and a grand salon (74) with sea views, as described by Susan Walker (page 38).

An excavational discovery of an enclosure behind Room 71's seeming east wall slightly enlarges the cubiculum and reveals a hidden, motherly portrait that reaches to the barrel vaulted wall's springs or springlines, i.e., the arch's rising points from vertical supports. Analyzed as Cleopatra and Caesarion posed as maternal Venus with Cupid, the high-quality portrait might signal the room's use as a shrine rather than a sleeping room (page 38).

The long-necked setting of the elegant female's aquiline nose and deep-set rounded eyes in a round face evoke facial features in Ptolemaic and Roman Alexandrian deific depictions (page 40). The head of the painting's goddess-Ptolemaic queen closely resembles a marble head discovered during 1783-1784 excavations at the Villa of the Quintilii (Italian: Villa dei Quintili), an ancient Roman villa sited between Via Appia Antica and Via Appia Nuova. The marble head represents Cleopatra and replicates her statue in Forum Iulium's Temple of Venus Genetrix, according to identifications that Susan Walker (page 40) credits to German archaeologist Ludwig Curtius (Dec. 13, 1874-April 10, 1954) in ""Ikonographische Beiträge zum Porträt der Römischen Republik und der Julisch-Claudischen Familie," published in Römische Mitteilungen in 1933 (pages 182-192).

The inspiration for the painted and sculpted likenesses has disappeared in two millennia that have elapsed since the statue's dedication Sep. 26, 46 BCE. Also, no helpful, specific descriptions of the statue exist.

Caesar ". . . placed a beautiful image of Cleopatra by the side of the goddess, . . ." (HR XIV, BCII.X.102, page 417), assessed Greek-born, later Roman citizen, writer Appian of Alexandria (Ancient Greek: Ἀππιανὸς Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Appianòs Alexandreýs; ca. 95-ca. 165 CE) in the De Bellis Civilibus (Of the Civil Wars) section of his Greek-language, 24-volume work, Historia Romana (Roman History).

Cleopatra ". . . is seen in gold in the shrine of Venus," noted Roman historian Lucius Cassius Dio (ca. 155-235 CE), known as Dio Cassius, in Roman History (Ῥωμαϊκὴ Ἱστορία, Historia Romana), his historical compendium of ancient Rome, written in Greek (Dio's Roman History, Vol. VI, Book LI.22, page 65).

Unfortunately, reconstruction of the lost statue of Cleopatra requires more than the admiring details of "beautiful" and "golden." Yet, imagination may glimpse the lost statue in associative artworks, such as the Pompeiian painting and the Quintilii marble head.

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Dedication

The marble bust of Cleopatra VII found during excavations at the Villa of the Quintilii has been likened to the lost statue of Cleopatra that Julius Caesar commissioned for the Temple of Venus Genetrix that was included in his namesake forum in Rome; the ca. 40-30 BCE bust is displayed in the Vatican Museum's (Musei Vaticani) Gregorian Profane Museum (Museo Gregoriano Profano); Friday, May 9, 2008, 14:11: Sergey Sosnovskiy (Ancientrome.ru), CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cleopatra_VII,_Marble,_40-30_BC,_Vatican_Museums_001.jpg; Sergey Sosnovskiy, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Ancientrome.ru @ http://ancientrome.ru/art/artworken/img.htm?id=6364

For further information:

Allison, Penelope. "Review: M. Grimaldi, Pompei: La Casa di Marco Fabio Rufu (Collana Pompei 2); M. Grimaldi, Pompei: Il Foro Civile Nella Pompeianarum Antiquitatum Historia di G. Fiorelli (Collana Pompei 3)." The Journal of Roman Studies, vol. 107 (2017): 346-348.
Available via Cambridge CORE @ https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-roman-studies/article/abs/m-grimaldi-pompei-la-casa-di-marco-fabio-rufo-collana-pompei-2-naples-valtrend-editore-2014-pp-388-illus-isbn-9788888623788-17000-m-grimaldi-pompei-il-foro-civile-nella-pompeianarum-antiquitatum-historia-di-g-fiorelli-collana-pompei-3-naples-valtrend-editore-2015-pp-255-illus-isbn-9788888623351-13500/665F3C7B4FCCB0B5825B9D8F0FD052AE
Available via JSTOR @ https://www.jstor.org/stable/26576059
Available via JSTOR @ https://www.jstor.org/stable/e26576041

Aoyagi, Masanori; and Umberto Pappalardo. Pompei (Regiones VI-VII) Insula Occidentalis. Collana Pompei, volume primo. Napoli: Valtrend Editore, 2006.

Archaeological Park of Pompeii. "House of Marcus Fabius Rufus and the Golden Bracelet." Archaeological Park of Pompeii > Pompeii > Regiones > Region VII.
Available @ http://pompeiisites.org/en/archaeological-site/house-of-marcus-fabius-rufus-and-the-golden-bracelet/

Bellomo, M. (Mariangela); and S. (Salvatore) D'Agostino. "Excavation, restoration and conservation of archaeological sites -- Villa dei Quintili on the Appia Antica in Rome." WIT Transactions on the Built Environment, vol. 42 (1999): 451-460.
Available via WIT Press @ https://www.witpress.com/Secure/elibrary/papers/STR99/STR99044FU.pdf

The British Museum. "Coin Sabina Augusta Veneri Genetrice." The British Museum > Collection.
Available @ https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_R-12360

Ciardiello, Rosaria. "VI 17 Insula Occidentalis 42 Casa del Bracciale d’Oro." In: Massanori Aoyagi and Umberto Pappalardo, eds., Pompei (Regiones VI-VII) Insula Occidentalis. Collana Pompei, volume primo. Napoli: Valtrend Editore, 2006.
Available via Academia @ https://www.academia.edu/es/4224088/VI_17_Insula_Occidentalis_42_Casa_del_Bracciale_dOro_in_Pompei_Regiones_VI_VII_Insula_Occidentalis_Tokyo_2006

Clarke, John R. "Pompei. La Casa di Marco Fabio Rufo. Collana Pompei, vol. 2." Bryn Mawr Classical Review, February 2015.
Available @ https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2015/2015.02.37/

Clements, Peter. "House of M. Fabius Rufus: Description of the House (Reg VII, Ins 16, 17-22)." AD79 Destruction and Re-Discovery > Map of Pompeii.
Available @ https://sites.google.com/site/ad79eruption/pompeii/regio-vii/reg-vii-ins-16/house-of-m-fabius-rufus

Clements, Peter. "Marina Gate." AD79 Destruction and Re-Discovery > Pompeii > The City Gates.
Available @ https://sites.google.com/site/ad79eruption/pompeii/the-city-gates/marina-gate

Clements, Peter. "Regio VII." AD79 Destruction and Re-Discovery > Excavations at Pompeii > Map of Pompeii > (c) Notable Private Houses > Rufus (House of M. Fabius).
Available @ https://sites.google.com/site/ad79eruption/pompeii/regio-vii

de Caro, Stefano; Roberto Cassanelli; Pier Luigi Ciapparelli; Enrico Colle; and Massimiliano David. Houses and Monuments of Pompeii: The Work of Fausto and Felice Niccolini. Los Angeles CA: J. Paul Getty Museum.

Di Maio, Rosa; Ester Piegari; Cecilia Mancini; and Antonella Chiapparino. "Quantitative analysis of pulse thermography data for degradation assessment of historical buildings." EPJ Plus The European Physical Journal Plus, vol. 130, no. 6 (June 2015), article no. 105.
Available via ResearchGate @ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277414313_Quantitative_analysis_of_pulse_thermography_data_for_degradation_assessment_of_historical_buildings

Dunn, Jackie and Bob. "VII.16.17-22 Pompeii. December 2007. Looking east into cubiculum. East wall concealing hidden wall with a painting of a woman standing in a doorway." Pompeii in Pictures > Pompeii Regio VII.
Available @ http://www.pompeiiinpictures.com/pompeiiinpictures/r7/7%2016%2022%20p6.htm

Dunn, Jackie and Bob. "VII.16.22 Pompeii. Casa di Fabio Rufo or House of M Fabius Rufus. Linked to VII.16.17, VII.16.20 and VII.16.21. Excavated 1759, 1910, 1940, 1958-1980. Shown as number 19 on Eschebach site plan. Also includes the inside pictures of VII.16.17 Casa di Maius Castricius." Pompeii in Pictures > Pompeii Regio VII.
Available @ http://pompeiiinpictures.com/pompeiiinpictures/R7/7%2016%2022%20p1.htm

Grimaldi, Mario. "VII 16 Insula Occidentalis 22." In: Massanori Aoyagi and Umberto Pappalardo, eds., Pompei (Regiones VI-VII) Insula Occidentalis. Collana Pompei, volume primo. Napoli: Valtrend Editore, 2006.

Jashemski, Wilhelmina F. (Feemster). The Gardens of Pompeii: Herculaneum and the Villas Destroyed by Vesuvius. Volume 2: Appendices. New Rochelle NY: Aristide D. Caratzas, 1993.

Marriner, Derdriu. "Caesar Salad Recipe: Named for Chef Cesare Cardini, Not Julius Caesar. Earth and Space News. Thursday, March 17, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/03/caesar-salad-recipe-named-for-chef.html

Noack, Ferdinand, and Karl Lehmann Hartleben, Baugeschichtliche Untersuchungen am Stadtrand von Pompeji. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1936.

Notomista, Mario; and Eva Piccirilli. "VII.16.22 Pompeii. Casa di Fabio Rufo or House of M Fabius Rufus. Planimetra del primo piano sottostante. Plan of first lower floor." In: Massanori Aoyagi and Umberto Pappalardo, Pompei (Regiones VI-VII) Insula Occidentalis, Collana Pompei, volume primo (Napoli: Valtrend Editore, 2006), Tav. 9, page 271.
Available via Pompeii in Pictures @ https://www.pompeiiinpictures.com/pompeiiinpictures/R7/7%2016%2022%20plan.htm

Pappalardo, Umberto; and Mario Grimaldi. "Insula Occidentalis." Parco Archeologico di Pompei (Archaeological Park of Pompeii) > Pompeii Sites > Progetti e Ricerca (Projects and Research) > Progetti di scavo (Excavation Plans). June 7, 2018.
Available @ http://pompeiisites.org/en/excavations-plan-en/insula-occidentalis/

Paris, Rita. Via Appia: la Villa dei Quintili. Milano: Electa, 2000.

Parco archeologico di Pompei. "Casa di Marco Fabio Rufo e Bracciale d'Oro." Parco archeologico di Pompei > Pompei.
Available @ http://pompeiisites.org/sito_archeologico/casa-di-marco-fabio-rufo-e-bracciale-doro/

Ulrich, Roger B. "Julius Caesar and the Creation of the Forum Iulium." American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 97, ,o. 1 (January 1993): 49-80.
Available via JSTOR @ https://www.jstor.org/stable/505839

Varriale, Ivan. "VI 17 Insula Occidentalis 32-36." In: Massanori Aoyagi and Umberto Pappalardo, eds., Pompei (Regiones VI-VII) Insula Occidentalis. Collana Pompei, volume primo. Napoli: Valtrend Editore, 2006.
Available via Academia @ https://www.academia.edu/4231374/VI_17_INSULA_OCCIDENTALIS_32-36

Thursday, September 22, 2022

Caesar Commissioned Gilt Statue of Cleopatra for Venus Genetrix Temple

Summary: Caesar commissioned a gilt statue of Cleopatra for the Venus Genetrix Temple, dedicated Sep. 26, 46 BCE, in his Forum Iulium, known as Caesar's Forum.

The three fluted columns of white Carrara marble, with entablature, that iconically announce the location of the west portico of the Temple of Venus Genetrix (Venus the Mother or Ancestress) and northwesternmost Forum of Caesar (Forum Caesaris; Forum Iulium) in the ancient architectural landscape of central Rome's 10th district, Rione Campitelli, were reconstructed and re-erected on the temple's podium in 1932-1933, during the forum's first excavation; Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, 14:11, image of Temple of Venus Genetrix columns: Wolfgang Moroder (Moroder), CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Julius Caesar commissioned a gilt statue of Cleopatra for the Venus Genetrix Temple that he dedicated Sep. 26, 46 BCE, in his Forum Iulium (Forum of the Iulius; Julius Caesar's paternal gens Iulia lineage), also known as Forum Caesaris (Forum of Caesar).

As early as 54 BCE, Roman general and statesman Gaius Julius Caesar (July 12 or 13, 100-March 15, 44 BCE) had envisioned construction of his namesake forum. In their entry on "Forum Iulium" in A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (1929), American classicist and archaeologist Samuel Ball Platner (Dec. 4, 1863-Aug. 20, 1921) and British archaeologist Thomas Ashby (Oct. 14, 1874-May 15, 1931) traced the forum's origins to an epistolary mention of Caesar's arranging for the purchase of land as an expansion of the Roman Forum (Latin: Forum Romanum), central Rome's overcrowded commercial and political nucleus (pages 225-226).

"Accordingly, the friends of Caesar -- I mean myself and Oppius, though you burst with anger -- have thought nothing of 60,000 sestertia for that monument, which you used to speak of in such high terms, in order to enlarge the forum and extend it right up to the Hall of Liberty. The claims of private owners could not be satisfied for less. We will make it a most glorious affair," Roman statesman and orator Marcus Tullius Cicero (Jan. 3, 106-Dec. 7, 43 BCE) wrote in a letter, ca. June 24, 54 BCE, to wealthy Roman publisher Titus Pomponius Atticus (110-March 31, 32 BCE).

Additional land continued to be purchased for Caesar's forum project. Construction of the forum probably commenced in 51 BCE, while Caesar was concluding the Gallic Wars (58-50 BCE). The land for Caesar's forum ". . . cost him above a hundred millions of sesterces" (Book I, XXVI, page 22), wrote Roman historian Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (ca. 69-after 122 BCE) in his biography of Caesar in De Vita Caesarum (Life of the Caesars), commonly known as The Twelve Caesars. Platner and Ashby valued 100,000,000 sesterces at an equivalence of one million pounds (page 226).

After winding down the Gallic Wars, Caesar was confronted with hostility from his former political ally and son-in-law, Roman general and statesman Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Sep. 29, 106-Sep. 28, 48 BCE), known in English as Pompey. Their military and political opposition induced Caesar's Civil Wars, which lasted from Jan. 10, 49-March 17, 45 BCE. Caesar achieved final victory over Pompey in the Battle of Pharsalus, fought Aug. 9, 48 BCE, in southern Thessaly (Greek: Θεσσαλία, Thessalía), near the ancient city of Pharsalus (Ancient Greek: Φάρσαλος, Pharsalos) and the Enipeus (Ancient Greek: Ἐνιπεύς, Enipeus) River in central Greece.

On the battle's eve, Caesar vowed to honor Roman goddess Venus with a temple in her aspect as Venus Victrix (Venus the Victorious) as thanksgiving for his decisive defeat of Pompey at Pharsalus. Caesar's paternal Julian lineage, gens Julia, traced descent back to Venus and Trojan prince Anchises as first ancestors.

Greek-born, later Roman citizen, writer Appian of Alexandria (Ancient Greek: Ἀππιανὸς Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Appianòs Alexandreýs; ca. 95-ca. 165 CE) narrated the setting for the vow in the De Bellis Civilibus (Of the Civil Wars) section of his Greek-language, 24-volume work, Historia Romana (Roman History). "He offered sacrifice at midnight and invoked Mars and his own ancestress, Venus (for it was believed that from Aeneas and his son, Ilus, was descended the Julian race, with a slight change of name), and he vowed that he would build a temple in Rome as a thank-offering to her as the Bringer of Victory if everything went well. Thereupon a flame from heaven flew through the air from Caesar's camp to Pompey's, where it was extinguished. Pompey's men said that it signified a brilliant victory for them over their enemies, but Caesar interpreted it as a meaning that he should fall upon and extinguished the power of Pompey" (HR XIV, BCII.X.68, page 353).

Caesar subsequently decided to emphasize his lineage's personal connection with Venus by dedicating a temple to her epithet of Venus Genetrix (Venus the Ancestress; Venus the Mother). Caesar's Temple of Venus Genetrix was incorporated into his Forum Iulium, his forum's official name, despite regular naming as Forum Caesaris in ancient sources, according to Platner and Ashby (page 226). The temple was sited in the forum's northwesternmost part. It was elevated on a podium in the rectangular forum's northern side.

The Temple of Venus Genetrix was designed as an octostyle (Ancient Greek ὀκτώ, okto, “eight” + στῦλος, stulos, “pillar, column”). Eight columns, counting two corners, defined each of the temple site's façade (French: façade, "front") and two sides.

The columns exhibited pycnostyle placement. Indeed, first century BCE Roman architect and engineer Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (ca. 80-ca. 15 BCE) cited the Temple of Venus Genetrix as the exemplar of the pycnostyle, the narrowest of five intercolumniations, or spaces between columns, in his Latin architectural treatise, De Architectura, Libri Decem (The Ten Books on Architecture). "The pycnostyle is a temple in an intercolumniation of which the thickness of a column and a half can be inserted: for example, the temple of the Divine Caesar, that of Venus in Caesar's forum, and others constructed like them" (III.III.2, page 79).

The Temple of Venus Genetrix featured two attention-getting sculptures. Caesar commissioned first century BCE Greek sculptor Arcesilaus (Ancient Greek: Ἀρκεσίλαος, Arkesilaos) to create the temple's cult statue. Roman polymath and writer Marcus Terentius Varro ". . . speaks very highly of Arcesilaus . . . and says that his sketch-models of clay used to sell for more, among artists themselves, than the finished works of others; and that this artist made the statue of Venus Genetrix in Caesar’s Forum and that it was erected before it was finished as there was a great haste to dedicate it; . . ." (XXXV.XLV, pages 374-375), explained Roman encyclopedist Gaius Plinius Secundus (23-Aug. 25, 79), known as Pliny the Elder, in the 35th book of his 37-book Historia Naturalis (Natural History).

A gilt statue of Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII Philopator (Ancient Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ, Kleopatra Philopator; ca. 69-Aug. 10 or 12, 30 BCE) also was displayed in the Temple of Venus Genetrix. "He placed a beautiful image of Cleopatra by the side of the goddess, which stands there to this day," Appian noted (BCII.XV.102, page 417).

Various other objects of art adorned the temple. Paintings of Ajax and of Medea by Greek painter Timomachus of Byzantium were displayed. "But it was the Dictator Cæsar who gave outstanding public importance to pictures by dedicating paintings of Ajax and Medea in front of the temple of Venus Genetrix" (XXXV.IX, pages 278-279), observed Pliny the Elder. The paintings had ". . . been bought at the price of 80 talents . . ." (XXXV.XL, page 361).

The statues and the other works of art have disappeared. Their fates, in the 20 centuries that have passed since the Sep. 26, 46 BCE, dedication of the Temple of Venus Genetrix and the Forum of Caesar, are unknown.

Reconstructed view of Forum of Caesar (Forum Caesaris; Forum Iulium) shows the forum's rectangular plan, with Temple of Venus Genetrix (back) centered on the forum's northern side: Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali, via Facebook April 14, 2020

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Dedication

Bostock, John; and H.T. (Henry Thomas) Riley. "Chap. 9. -- At What Period Painting Was First Held in High Esteem at Rome, and From What Causes. But it was the Dictator Cæsar that first brought the public exhibition of pictures into such high estimation, by consecrating an Ajax and a Medea before the Temple of Venus Genetrix." Book XXXV, page 232-233. The Natural History of Pliny. Vol. VI, Book XXXV: Pages 223-304. London: Henry G. Bohn, MDCCCLVII [1857]. Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/naturalhistoryof06plinrich/page/232/mode/1up
Available via Tufts University Perseus Digital Library @ http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:abo:phi,0978,001:35:9

Bostock, John; and H.T. (Henry Thomas) Riley. "Chap. 40. . . . Timomachus of Byzantium, in the time of the Dictator Cæsar, painted an Ajax and a Medea, which were placed by Cæsar in the Temple of Venus Genetrix, having been purchased at the price of eighty talents; the value of the Attic talent being, according to M. Varro, equivalent to six thousand denarii." Book XXXV, page 277. The Natural History of Pliny. Vol. VI, Book XXXV: Pages 223-304. London: Henry G. Bohn, MDCCCLVII [1857]. Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/naturalhistoryof06plinrich/page/277/mode/1up
Available via Tufts University Perseus Digital Library @ http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D35%3Achapter%3D40

Bostock, John; and H.T. (Henry Thomas) Riley. "Chap. 45. -- He speaks very highly also of Arcesilaüs, . . . whose models in plaster used to sell at a higher rate, among artists themselves, than the works of others, lie informs us, also, that it was by this modeller that the Venus Genetrix in the Forum of Cæsar was executed, it having been erected before completion, in the great haste that there was to consecrate it; . . ." Book XXXV, page 285. The Natural History of Pliny. Vol. VI, Book XXXV: Pages 223-304. London: Henry G. Bohn, MDCCCLVII [1857]. Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/naturalhistoryof06plinrich/page/285/mode/1up
Available via Tufts University Perseus Digital Library @ http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D35%3Achapter%3D45

CWA Current World Archaeology. "Digging Caesar’s Forum: three thousand years of daily life in Rome." The Past > Feature. May 17, 2022.
Available @ https://the-past.com/feature/digging-caesars-forum-three-thousand-years-of-daily-life-in-rome/

Gareth Harney @OptimoPrincipi. "The Forum of Caesar, to the rear of the Roman Curia, as it may have appeared in the tenth century with medieval settlement. #roman #archaeology." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/optimoprincipi/status/1108456700116418560

Gavorse, Joseph. "He began a forum with the proceeds of his spoils, the ground for which cost more than a hundred million sesterces." Pages 16-17. The Lives of the Twelve Caesars by Suetonius. Book I Julius Caesar: 1-50. New York: The Modern Library, 1931.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/livesofthetwelve035040mbp/page/n39/mode/1up

Hülsen, Ch. (Christian). "Zur Architektur des Caesar-Forums." 139-142. Strena Helbigiana. Sexagenario Obtulerunt Amici. Lipsiae: B.G. Teubneri, MCM {1900].
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_fqpBAAAAYAAJ/page/n154/mode/1up

Jacobsen, Jan Kindberg; Claudio Parisi Presicce; Rubina Raja; and Massimo Vitti. "Excavating Caesar's Forum: Present Results of the Caesar's Forum Project." Pages 239-245. Analecta Romana Instituti Danici 2019. Romae [Italy]: Accademia di Danimarca, MMXX (2020).
Available via ResearchGate @ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350689305_Excavating_Caesar's_Forum_Present_results_of_the_Caesar's_Forum_Project

Lucius Cassius Dio. ". . . . After this came the festival appointed in honour of the completion of the temple of Venus, which some, while Caesar was still alive, had promised to celebrate, but were now holding in slight regard . . .; so to win the favour of the populace, he provided for it as his private expense, on the ground that it concerned him because of his family. . . . When, however, a certain star during all those days appeared in the north toward evening, which some called a comet, claiming that it foretold the usual occurrences, while the majority, instead of believing this, ascribed it to Caesar, interpreting it to mean that he had become immortal and had been received into the number of the stars, Octavius then took courage and set up in the temple of Venus a bronze statue of him with a star above his head. And when this act also was allowed, no one trying to prevent it through fear of the populace, then at last some of the other decrees already passed in honour of Caesar were put into effect. Thus they called one of the months July after him. . . ." Book XLV.6, pages 416-419. Dio's Roman History, vol. IV. With an English Translation by Earnest Cary, Ph.D. On the Basis of the Version of Herbert Baldwin Forster, Ph.D. Loeb Classical Library LBL 175. London: William Heinemann Ltd; Cambridge MA Harvard University Press, MCMXVI [1916].
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/diosromanhistory04cassuoft/page/416/mode/1up

Lucius Cassius Dio. ". . . . Among other features, an effigy of the dead Cleopatra upon a couch was carried by, so that in a way, she, too, together with the other captives and with her children, Alexander, called also Helios, and Cleopatra, called also Selene, was a part of the spectacle and a trophy in the procession. . . ." Book LI.21, pages 60-63. Dio's Roman History, vol. VI. With an English Translation by Earnest Cary, Ph.D. On the Basis of the Version of Herbert Baldwin Forster, Ph.D. Loeb Classical Library LBL 175. First printed 1917. Reprinted 1955. London: William Heinemann Ltd; Cambridge MA Harvard University Press, MCMLV [1955].
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/diosromanhistory06cassuoft/page/60/mode/1up

Lucius Cassius Dio. ". . . . For he had himself constructed the forum called after him, and it is distinctly more beautiful than the Roman Forum; yet it had increased the reputation of the other so that that was called the Great Forum. So after completing this new forum and the temple to Venus, as the founder of his family, he dedicated them at this very time, and in their honour instituted many contests of all kinds. . . ." Book XLIII.10, pages 250-251. Dio's Roman History, vol. IV. With an English Translation by Earnest Cary, Ph.D. On the Basis of the Version of Herbert Baldwin Forster, Ph.D. Loeb Classical Library LBL 175. London: William Heinemann Ltd; Cambridge MA Harvard University Press, MCMXVI [1916].
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/diosromanhistory04cassuoft/page/250/mode/1up

Morgan, Morris Hicky. "Chapter III The Proportions of Intercolumniations and of Columns. 1. There are five classes, designated as follows: pycnostyle, with the columns close together. . . 2. The pycnostyle is a temple in an intercolumniation of which the thickness of a column and a half can be inserted: for example, the temple of the Divine Caesar, that of Venus in Caesar's forum, and others constructed like them. . . ." Pages 78-79. Vitruvius: The Ten Books on Architecture. Book III: 67-97. Cambridge: Harvard University Press; London: Humphrey Milford Oxford University Press, 1914.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/vitruviustenbook00vitruoft
Available via Tufts University Perseus Digital Library @ http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Vitr.%203.3&lang=original

Platner, Samuel Ball. "Chapter X The Imperial Fora." Pages 274-290. The Topography and Monuments of Ancient Rome, Chapter IX The Forum: 167-273. Second edition. Revised and enlarged. Boston [MA]: Allyn and Bacon, 1911.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/topographymonume00platiala/page/274/mode/1up

Platner, Samuel Ball. "The Temple of Julius Caesar." Pages 183-186. The Topography and Monuments of Ancient Rome. Second edition. Revised and enlarged. Boston [MA]: Allyn and Bacon, 1911.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/topographymonume00platiala/page/183/mode/1up

Platner, Samuel Ball; and Thomas Ashby. "Forum Iulium." Pages 225-227. A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome > F. Completed and revised by Thomas Ashby. London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1929
Available via Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg (Heidelberg University Library) @ https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/platner1929/0277/image,info
Available via Tufts University Perseus Digital Library @ http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0054:id=forum-iulium
Available via The University of Chicago Library @ http://www3.lib.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/eos/eos_page.pl?DPI=100&callnum=DG16.P72&object=257

Rackham, H. (Harris). "IX. But it was the Dictator Cæsar who gave outstanding public importance to pictures by dedicating paintings of Ajax and Medea in front of the temple of Venus Genetrix; . . ." Book XXXV, pages 278-279. Pliny Natural History With an English Translation in Ten Volumes. Volume IX Libri XXXIII-XXXV. Book XXXV: pages 259-411. Loeb Classical Library 394. First printed 1952. Reprinted 1961. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd, MCMLXI [1961].
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/natural-history-in-ten-volumes.-vol.-9-libri-xxxiii-xxxv-loeb-394/page/278/mode/1up

Rackham, H. (Harris). "XL. . . . Timomachus of Byzantium in the period of Caesar's dictatorship painted an Ajax and a Medea, placed by Caesar in the temple of Venus Genetrix, having been bought at the price of 80 talents (Marcus Varro rates the Attic talent at 6000 denarii)." Book XXXV, pages 360-361. Pliny Natural History With an English Translation in Ten Volumes. Volume IX Libri XXXIII-XXXV. Book XXXV: pages 259-411. Loeb Classical Library 394. First printed 1952. Reprinted 1961. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd, MCMLXI [1961].
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/natural-history-in-ten-volumes.-vol.-9-libri-xxxiii-xxxv-loeb-394/page/360/mode/1up

Rackham, H. (Harris). "XLV. . . . Varro also speaks very “highly of Arcesilaus, who was on terms of intimacy with Lucius Lucullus, and says that his sketch-models of clay used to sell for more, among artists themselves, than the finished works of others; and that this artist made the statue of Venus Genetrix in Caesar’s Forum and that it was erected before it was finished as there was a great haste to dedicate it; . . ." Book XXXV, pages 374-375. Pliny Natural History With an English Translation in Ten Volumes. Volume IX Libri XXXIII-XXXV. Book XXXV: pages 259-411. Loeb Classical Library 394. First printed 1952. Reprinted 1961. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd, MCMLXI [1961].
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/natural-history-in-ten-volumes.-vol.-9-libri-xxxiii-xxxv-loeb-394/page/374/mode/1up

Ricci, Corrado. "Il Foro di Cesare." Capitolium, vol. 8 (1932): 365–390.

Shuckburgh, Evelyn S. (Shirley). "CXLII (A IV, 16 and part of 17) To Atticus (in Epirus or on his journey to Asia) . . . . Accordingly, the friends of Cæsar -- I mean myself and Oppius, though you burst with anger -- have thought nothing of 60,000 sestertia (about £480,000) for that monument, which you used to speak of in such high terms, in order to enlarge the forum and extend it right up to the Hall of Liberty. The claims of private owners could not be satisfied for less. We will make it a most glorious affair." Page 283. The Letters of Cicero; The Whole Extant Correspondence in Chronological Order. In four volumes. Vol. I. B.C. 68-52. London: George Bell and Sons, 1899.
Available via Project Gutenberg @ https://www.gutenberg.org/files/21200/21200-h/21200-h.htm
Available via Tufts University Perseus Digital Library @ https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0022%3Atext%3DA%3Abook%3D4%3Aletter%3D16

La Sovrintendenza Capitolina. "Il Foro di Cesare." Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali > Patrimonio > Roma antica > Aree archeologiche > Fori Imperiali.
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Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali. "Added a new photo." Facebook. Feb. 1, 2019.
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Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali. "Added a new photo." Facebook. June 3, 2020.
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Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali. "Added a new photo." Facebook. June 3, 2017.
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Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali. "Fori Imperiali -- veduta ricostruttiva." Facebook. Oct. 8, 2018.
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Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali. "Foro di Cesare." Facebook. Oct. 8, 2018.
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"Il Foro di Cesare." Facebook. June 3, 2020.
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"Il Foro di Cesare." Facebook. Sep. 13, 2019.
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Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali. "Fregio con amorini dal Tempio di Venere Genitrice." May 25, 2018.
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"Fregio con Amorini, dalla cella del Tempio di Venere Genitrice, 112-113 d.C. (Museo dei Fori Imperiali)." Facebook. April 14, 2020.
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Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali. "I lavori sono terminati e l'area è visitabile." Facebook. March 26, 2019.
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Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali. "I palazzi che saranno demoliti nell'area del Foro di Cesare in una fotografia del 1932." Facebook. March 4, 2019.
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Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali. "Il Foro di Cesare oggi." Facebook. April 14, 2020.
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Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali. "Le prime operazioni di sterro." Facebook. March 26, 2019.
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Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali. "Lo sterro del Foro di Cesare in corso." Facebook. March 26, 2019.
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Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali. "Lo sterro del foro di Cesare in un acquerello di Maria Barosso (1932) conservato al Museo di Roma." Facebook. March 26, 2019.
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Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali. "Pianta del Foro di Cesare. L'area occupata dalla basilica Argentaria è evidenziata in verde -- at Foro di Cesare." Facebook. Dec. 4, 2018.
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Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali. "Riaprono i musei del Sistema Musei Civici di Roma, con i capolavori delle loro collezioni permanenti, le mostre già in corso e prorogate, e quelle di prossima partenza, come Colori dei Romani. I mosaici dalle Collezioni Capitoline alla Centrale Montemartini (27 aprile). Tornano inoltre a essere visitabili anche le nostre aree archeologiche, come i Fori Imperiali e il Circo Massimo, dove è di nuovo attiva la visita immersiva in realtà aumentata e virtuale Circo Maximo Experience. Informazioni generali: https://bit.ly/3nkvW2t Informazioni sulle modalità di ingresso: https://bit.ly/3aI9Fq2." Facebook. April 26, 2021.
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Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali. "ricostruzione del Tempio di Venere Genitrice." Facebook. June 30, 2020.
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Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali. "Veduta ricostruttiva del Foro di Cesare. La Basilica Argentaria è a sinistra del Tempio di Venere Genitrice -- at Foro di Cesare." Facebook. Dec. 4, 2018.
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Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali. "Veduta del Foro di Cesare oggi: i resti del colonnato del portico occidentale e le taberne.." Facebook. April 14, 2020.
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Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali. "Veduta ricostruttiva del Foro di Cesare in età cesariana." Facebook. April 14, 2020.
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Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali. "Veduta ricostruttiva del Foro di Cesare nel IV secolo d.C." Facebook. April 14, 2020.
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Stewart, Andrew. Greek Sculpture: An Exploration. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990.

Thomson, Alexander, trans. "XXVI. . . . With money raised from the spoils of the war, he began to construct a new forum, the ground-plot of which cost him above a hundred millions of sesterces." Page 22. The Lives of the Twelve Caesars by C. Suetonius Tranquillus. 1. Caius Julius Caesar: 1-72. Philadelphia: Gebbie & Co., 1883.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/livesoftwelvecsa00suet/page/22/mode/1up

Ulrich, Roger B. "Julius Caesar and the Creation of the Forum Iulium." American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 97, no. 1 (January 1993): 49-80.
Available via JSTOR @ https://www.jstor.org/stable/505839

White, Horace, trans. "Chap.X.68. (Prodigies before the battle). That same night three of Caesar's legions started out to forage; for Caesar himself approved Pompey's dilatory proceedings, and had no idea that he would change, and accordingly sent them out to procure food. When he perceived that the enemy was preapring to fight he was delighted at the pressure which he conjectured had been put upon Pompey by his army, and he recalled all of his forces at once and made preparations on his own side. He offered sacrifice at midnight and invoked Mars and his own ancestress, Venus (for it was believed that from Aeneas and his son, Ilus, was descended the Julian race, with a slight change of name), and he vowed that he would build a temple in Rome as a thank-offering to her as the Bringer of Victory if everything went well. Thereupon a flame from heaven flew through the air from Caesar's camp to Pompey's, where it was extinguished. Pompey's men said that it signified a brilliant victory for them over their enemies, but Caesar interpreted it as a meaning that he should fall upon and extinguish the power of Pompey. . . ." Pages 352-353. Appian's Roman History: The Civil Wars. In four volumes. Volume III. Book II: 229-515. First printed 1913. Reprinted 1933, 1958, 1964. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., MCMLXIV (1964).
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/appiansromanhist0000appi_s3m0/page/352/mode/1up
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YaleCourses. "9. From Brick to Marble: Augustus Assembles Rome." YouTube. Sep. 11, 2009.
Available via YouTube @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBTiRUSNXYA