Identification: Temples A and B in the Largo Argentina Together with frs. 37c, 37d, and the now missing fr. 37b, this piece depicts part of the sacred area of the Largo Argentina (PM 1960, p. 103, pl. 32; AG 1980, p. 130, pl. 28). Excavations have revealed four Republican temples, named A to D, in this area (LTUR II, fig. 97), two of which, A and B, are visible in this fragment. In its latest phase Temple A was a peripteral, hexastyle podium temple with nine columns along the sides and a frontal staircase consisting of ten stairs (Richardson 1992, p. 33). On the Plan, there are only seven columns along the sides, and the frontal staircase is represented with two stairs only. Temple B was originally a circular, peripteral temple on a platform, with 18 columns surrounding the cella. Under Domitian, the central cella was removed and the intercolumniations were filled in with a brick wall, essentially turning the peripteral temple into a circular cella on a pedestal (LTUR II, p. 270). The FUR fragment, however, shows the temple in its earlier state, with a central cella and surrounding columns. The identification of the four temples in the Largo Argentina is still disputed (see LTUR IV, pp. 137-138 [Porticus Minucia Vetus]); Temple B, however, is generally associated with the Aedes Fortuna Huiusce Diei (LTUR II, pp. 269-270).

The corners of Temples C and D are visible on frs. 37d and the now missing fr. 37b (see PM 1960, pl. 32; AG 1980, pl. 28). The fragments present Temple C as a platform temple, peripteral sine postico, and Temple D as simple structure that consisted of an uncolonnaded cella on a platform. While excavations have confirmed these outlines, they have also shown that Temple D was set back further than C, which was set back further than A and B (Richardson 1992, pp. 33-35). On the Plan, Temples A, B, and C are lined up, and only D is set back from them.

Identification: Porticus Minucia Vetus(?) In 1968, L. Cozza identified the great porticus east of the Largo Argentina as the Porticus Minucia or Minicia (Cozza 1968). Remains of this porticus, which was bordered by the Diribitorium to the north and by the Theater and Crypta Balbi to the south, were excavated underneath the Via delle Botteghe Oscure. Cozza's identification of the quadriporticus under the Via delle Botteghe Oscure as the Porticus Minucia did not solve all the problems of this enigmatic building, however. While most ancient sources refer to the Porticus Minucia as a single structure, the Regionary Catalogues list two buildings by the name of Porticus Minucia in Regio IX: The porticus Minucia Vetus and the porticus Minucia Frumentaria (LTUR IV, p. 137). The older structure, the porticus Minucia Vetus, which is known to have enclosed the Temple to the Lares Permarini and contained a statue of Hercules, was dedicated by M. Minucius Rufus, consul in 110 BCE, and completed in 100 BCE. It was repaired by Domitian, probably after the fire in 80 CE (LTUR IV, p. 137). The porticus Minucia Frumentaria, sometimes referred to as the "new" Porticus Minucia, was a center for grain distribution, probably built in the Claudian period, and it is known to have had 44 ostia, or openings (LTUR IV, p. 134). Scholars are still disputing whether to identify the porticus under the Via delle Botteghe Oscure as the Porticus Minucia Vetus or the Frumentaria. Stressing that there must have been two structures situated next to each other (one perhaps being an extension of the other), scholars like F. Coarelli (1968), C. Nicolet (1976), and E. Rodríguez-Almeida (AG 1980) associate the porticus that surrounds the Republican temples in the Largo Argentina, visible in this fragment, with the Porticus Minucia Vetus; they suggest that Temple D in the Largo Argentina is the Temple to the Lares Permarini; and they identify the quadriporticus underneath the Via delle Botteghe Oscure with the Porticus Minucia Frumentaria and the temple inside it with the Temple to the Nymphs (LTUR IV, p. 132, with bibliographical references; AG 1980, p. 122; Coarelli 1997). Others, such as Castagnoli (1946 and 1984), G. Rickman (1983), L. Richardson (1992, pp. 315-16), and F. Zevi (1993) follow Cozza's lead and associate the Botteghe Oscure porticus with the Porticus Minucia Vetus and the temple in its center with that of the Lares Permarini (LTUR IV, pp. 132-33, with bibliographical references). Emphasizing the utilitarian nature of the Frumentaria with its 44 ostia, they disassociate this building with the two traditional porticus-type buildings in the Largo Argentina and under the Via delle Botteghe Oscure, and situate it elsewhere in Rome.

Identification: Porticus Pompeianae This fragment shows the NE corner of the Porticus Pompeia (Prop. 2.32.11), or, in a plural form, Pompeianae (Vitr. 5.9.1)(PM 1960, pp. 103-104, pl. 32; AG 1980, pl. 28; LTUR IV, p. 148). Part of the latter name may be visible in the now missing fr. 39d (see PM 1960, pl. 32). The porticus was one of the components of Pompey's immense theater complex in the Campus Martius, constructed as a whole and inaugurated in 55 BCE (LTUR IV, p. 148) or 52 BCE (Richardson 1992, p. 318). Other parts of the porticus Pompeia(nae) are visible in frs. 37b (missing), 37d, 37e, 37l, 39ac, 39b, 39d (missing), and 39g (PM 1960, p. 103, pl. 32; AG 1980, p. 148, pls. 28 and 32). In addition to the porticus, the complex comprised a theater and temples (see fr. 39f for more info on the temples and on the theater itself).

Vitruvius (5.9.1) explains that Pompey built the porticus behind the theater as a shelter for the spectators in the case of rain, as a place for them to relax and converse, and as a storage area for stage machinery (LTUR IV, p. 148; Richardson 1992, p. 318). The porticus was one of the most popular places in Rome to gather and stroll, as fountains, trees, and expensive art works created an atmosphere of luxury and relaxation, (Richardson 1992, p. 318). The exedrae visible in the back wall of the porticus in this fragment and the missing fr. 37b may have held statues or other pieces of art. Food was probably sold in the shops and stalls behind the S wall of the porticus, seen in the missing fr. 39de, and public latrines, visible in this fragment, added to the overall comfort of the visitor.

According to ancient authors, the curia in which Julius Caesar was murdered on the Ides of March, 44 BCE, was incorporated into the back wall of the porticus Pompeia(nae)(Richardson 1992, p. 104; LTUR I, p. 335). Augustus later had this curia Pompeiana walled up and converted into latrines (Cass. Dio 47.19.1). Excavations have revealed the foundations of the curia behind Temple B in the Area Sacra of the Largo Argentina and also of the latrines (LTUR I, pp. 334-335, fig. 196; Richardson 1992, p. 104 and fig. 8). Both are visible in this fragment: The N edge of the curia foundation appears as a straight line right next to the arched niche in the back wall of the porticus Pompeia(nae); the wavy line and row of dots in the area between the Largo Argentina and the porticus represent the latrines installed by Augustus (LTUR I, p. 335).

Significance Excavations have confirmed that certain details in the representation of the Republican temples in the Largo Argentina area on the Plan are correct; others, such as their alignment, are not. Especially to be noted is what must be the conscious choice of the engravers of the Plan to depict Temple B in the Largo Argentina in its early, pre-Domitianic state as a peripteral temple, rather than in its walled-up form at the time of the execution of the Plan (LTUR II, p. 270).

Text by Tina Najbjerg