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<p>[QUOTE="Ocatarinetabellatchitchix, post: 4955776, member: 99554"]<b><span style="color: #ff0000">OCTOBER 18th</span></b> 17 AD. The temple of Janus, near the Theatre of Marcellus and recently rebuilt, is dedicated.</p><p><br /></p><p>The temple of Janus , Janus Geminus, is mentioned by a great number of ancient writers: Horace, Ovid, Plutarch, Cassius Dio, Servius etc. It's real origin remain unknown, but my favorite version is this one : according to legend, the orinal temple of Janus was built either by Quirinus or Romulus. The ancient writer <b>Macrobius</b> (400 AD) noted that, during the Sabine wars, the enemy were rushing into Rome through the Porta Janualis when they were overwhelmed by a vast torrent of boiling water which impetuously flowed from the Janus' temple. From then it was decreed that as Janus had come to their help during a time of war the doors should remain open...</p><p><br /></p><p>The temple contained a statue of the god with the right hand showing the number 300 and the left the number 55—i.e., the length in days of the solar year. We can not situate its exact location, but it is possible to estimate its approximate size. The frontal view of the shrine on Nero's aurei presents a facade roughly half again as tall as its width. The historian <b>Procopius</b> (550 AD) reported that the walls were just high enough to enwrap the five-cubic statue of Janus in it. The facade dimensions, then, may have been around 6 by 9 roman feet. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1191137[/ATTACH] </p><p>Front view of the temple. (Not my coin !)</p><p><br /></p><p>The three-quarters views of the shrine on Nero's Sestertiii, Dupondii and Asses indicate that the sides were at least as long as the width of the facade, maybe a bit longer; so the footprint is likely to have been 6 X 9 feet or less. Procopius also claimed that the structure was entirely made of bronze. From the coinage we can see that it had 2 doors opposite each other; these doors were arched and flanked by 2 columns; the two other walls consisted of four courses of ashlar work with with a grating above; then came a frieze with scroll decoration and another one with palmettes which ran all around the building . The existence of an horizontal roof is still debated but a large window can be noticed on the side.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1191139[/ATTACH] </p><p>A nice 3/4 view with the window. (Again not my coin)</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1191140[/ATTACH] </p><p>Another 3/4 view with so many details. (Definitely not my coin)</p><p><br /></p><p>About the meaning of the opening and closing of the doors, the philosopher <b>Plutarch</b> (100 AD) wrote : " <i>Janus also has a temple at Rome with double doors, which they call the gates of war; for the temple always stands open in time of war, but is closed when peace has come</i>". In another passage, the poet <b>Virgil</b>, a contemporary of the Emperor Augustus, explains the meaning of the ritual closing of the gates: " <i>The terrible iron-constricted Gates of War shall shut; and safe within them shall stay the godless and ghastly Lust of Blood, propped on his pitiless piled armory, and still roaring from gory mouth, but held fast by a hundred chains of bronze knotted behind his back</i>". (Aeneid 1, 293-296)</p><p><br /></p><p>During the reign of the famous king of Rome, Numa Pompilius, the doors of the Ianus Geminus were opened to indicate that Rome was at war and closed during times of peace. Since the time of Numa and before the time of Nero, the doors were said to have been closed only in 235 BC, after the first Punic war; and three times during the reign of Augustus; the first time was in 29 BC, after Augustus had defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra: " <i>Nevertheless, the action which pleased him more than all the decrees was the closing by the senate of the gates of Janus, implying that all their wars had entirely ceased</i>". (<b>Cassius Dio</b> LI, 20) The second closure happened in 25 BC, when the Spanish Cantabrians were subdued : " <i>After these achievements in the wars Augustus closed the precinct of Janus, which had been opened because of these wars</i>". (<b>Cassius Dio</b> LIII, 26) The last time probably occurred in 13 BC based on the joint return of Augustus and Agrippa to Rome after pacifying the provinces.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1191141[/ATTACH] </p><p>Augustus closing the Janus' temple. Louis de sylvestre, 1757. (Not my painting)</p><p><br /></p><p>According to <b>Ovid</b>, the doors were closed once again under Tiberius. Thus, when in 65 peace generally had been established on the empire’s fronts, Nero did not hesitate to close the temple’s doors. He marked the event with great celebrations and struck by the mints of Rome and Lugdunum a large and impressive series of coins to document this rare event. Another famous closures also occurred under the Emperor Vespasian in 70 AD.</p><p>The historian <b>Eutropius</b> informs us that Gordian III opened the doors in 241 AD. He wrote : " <i>After Gordian, when quite a boy, had married Tranquillina at Rome, he opened the temple of Janus, and, setting out for the Parthians, who were then proceeding to make an irruption</i>." (Eutropius Short History 9.2).</p><p>There is a theory about the fact that the gates may had been closed for almost 170 years. Neither history nor numismatics tells us that any emperors of the 2nd century would have opened the doors, and this forces us to accept that the gates were closed, even though emperors like Trajan, Marcus Aurelius and Septimius Severus were well-known warriors. </p><p><b>So time to show-off now. Please present us your Nero's coins featuring the temple of Janus !</b></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1191138[/ATTACH] </p><p>(My coin this time !)[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Ocatarinetabellatchitchix, post: 4955776, member: 99554"][B][COLOR=#ff0000]OCTOBER 18th[/COLOR][/B] 17 AD. The temple of Janus, near the Theatre of Marcellus and recently rebuilt, is dedicated. The temple of Janus , Janus Geminus, is mentioned by a great number of ancient writers: Horace, Ovid, Plutarch, Cassius Dio, Servius etc. It's real origin remain unknown, but my favorite version is this one : according to legend, the orinal temple of Janus was built either by Quirinus or Romulus. The ancient writer [B]Macrobius[/B] (400 AD) noted that, during the Sabine wars, the enemy were rushing into Rome through the Porta Janualis when they were overwhelmed by a vast torrent of boiling water which impetuously flowed from the Janus' temple. From then it was decreed that as Janus had come to their help during a time of war the doors should remain open... The temple contained a statue of the god with the right hand showing the number 300 and the left the number 55—i.e., the length in days of the solar year. We can not situate its exact location, but it is possible to estimate its approximate size. The frontal view of the shrine on Nero's aurei presents a facade roughly half again as tall as its width. The historian [B]Procopius[/B] (550 AD) reported that the walls were just high enough to enwrap the five-cubic statue of Janus in it. The facade dimensions, then, may have been around 6 by 9 roman feet. [ATTACH=full]1191137[/ATTACH] Front view of the temple. (Not my coin !) The three-quarters views of the shrine on Nero's Sestertiii, Dupondii and Asses indicate that the sides were at least as long as the width of the facade, maybe a bit longer; so the footprint is likely to have been 6 X 9 feet or less. Procopius also claimed that the structure was entirely made of bronze. From the coinage we can see that it had 2 doors opposite each other; these doors were arched and flanked by 2 columns; the two other walls consisted of four courses of ashlar work with with a grating above; then came a frieze with scroll decoration and another one with palmettes which ran all around the building . The existence of an horizontal roof is still debated but a large window can be noticed on the side. [ATTACH=full]1191139[/ATTACH] A nice 3/4 view with the window. (Again not my coin) [ATTACH=full]1191140[/ATTACH] Another 3/4 view with so many details. (Definitely not my coin) About the meaning of the opening and closing of the doors, the philosopher [B]Plutarch[/B] (100 AD) wrote : " [I]Janus also has a temple at Rome with double doors, which they call the gates of war; for the temple always stands open in time of war, but is closed when peace has come[/I]". In another passage, the poet [B]Virgil[/B], a contemporary of the Emperor Augustus, explains the meaning of the ritual closing of the gates: " [I]The terrible iron-constricted Gates of War shall shut; and safe within them shall stay the godless and ghastly Lust of Blood, propped on his pitiless piled armory, and still roaring from gory mouth, but held fast by a hundred chains of bronze knotted behind his back[/I]". (Aeneid 1, 293-296) During the reign of the famous king of Rome, Numa Pompilius, the doors of the Ianus Geminus were opened to indicate that Rome was at war and closed during times of peace. Since the time of Numa and before the time of Nero, the doors were said to have been closed only in 235 BC, after the first Punic war; and three times during the reign of Augustus; the first time was in 29 BC, after Augustus had defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra: " [I]Nevertheless, the action which pleased him more than all the decrees was the closing by the senate of the gates of Janus, implying that all their wars had entirely ceased[/I]". ([B]Cassius Dio[/B] LI, 20) The second closure happened in 25 BC, when the Spanish Cantabrians were subdued : " [I]After these achievements in the wars Augustus closed the precinct of Janus, which had been opened because of these wars[/I]". ([B]Cassius Dio[/B] LIII, 26) The last time probably occurred in 13 BC based on the joint return of Augustus and Agrippa to Rome after pacifying the provinces. [ATTACH=full]1191141[/ATTACH] Augustus closing the Janus' temple. Louis de sylvestre, 1757. (Not my painting) According to [B]Ovid[/B], the doors were closed once again under Tiberius. Thus, when in 65 peace generally had been established on the empire’s fronts, Nero did not hesitate to close the temple’s doors. He marked the event with great celebrations and struck by the mints of Rome and Lugdunum a large and impressive series of coins to document this rare event. Another famous closures also occurred under the Emperor Vespasian in 70 AD. The historian [B]Eutropius[/B] informs us that Gordian III opened the doors in 241 AD. He wrote : " [I]After Gordian, when quite a boy, had married Tranquillina at Rome, he opened the temple of Janus, and, setting out for the Parthians, who were then proceeding to make an irruption[/I]." (Eutropius Short History 9.2). There is a theory about the fact that the gates may had been closed for almost 170 years. Neither history nor numismatics tells us that any emperors of the 2nd century would have opened the doors, and this forces us to accept that the gates were closed, even though emperors like Trajan, Marcus Aurelius and Septimius Severus were well-known warriors. [B]So time to show-off now. Please present us your Nero's coins featuring the temple of Janus ![/B] [ATTACH=full]1191138[/ATTACH] (My coin this time !)[/QUOTE]
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