D.036 Temple of Antonine

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Creator

Denis Baly

Image ID

D.036

Alternate Identifier

B04.036

Subcollection

D: North Africa

Abstract

The remains of the Temple of Antonine at the ancient city of Sabratha.

Description

The temple "was surrounded on three sides by a colonnade of columns carrying Corinthian capitals, and behind the southwest colonnade a grouping of rooms and a hall formed an impressive entranceway from the street. Against the northeast wall of the courtyard rose a high podium fronted by a flight of marble steps rising up to the temple proper. Four Corinthian columns supporting a marble entablature and pediment spanned the front of the temple, while a single column behind each of the end columns gave depth to the porch. The cella itself was ornamented on the exterior sides and front with fluted pilasters, the side pilasters being modeled in stucco while those in front were carved of marble" (50). "Situated on the Tripolitanian coast to the west of modern Tripoli, Sabratha was one of the ancient triad of cities, consisting of Sabratha, Oea (Tripoli), and Leptis Magna, which gave the name of Tripolitana to this territory. Like its two sister settlements Sabratha was in origin a mere Phoenician trading center, dating perhaps to the seventh century B.C. The vestiges of this early outpost, situated between the harbor and the Forum, offer no evidence of solid permanent structures, but rather consist of the remains of Punic storage jars and Greek vases. This would indicate that the site was merely one where occasional traders stopped or might even have resided during the good sailing season" (Matthews, 48).-MA

References

Matthews, Kenneth D., and Alfred W. Cook. Cities in the sand: Leptis Magna and Sabratha in Roman Africa. Philadelphia: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, 1957.

Image Notes

Creation date unknown. Processing date unknown. Formerly cataloged as B.04.036. Notes written on the slide or index: Sabratha Antonine Temple.

Curator Notes

Legacy Subcollection: "D: Sabratha"

Image Format

35 mm slide

Geographic Reference

Sabratha, Libya