The Capitolium of Narbo Martius
About
Narbo Martius's grandest temple stood on a marble-clad podium over 3 meters tall and 48 by 36 meters across, ringed by a colonnade enclosing the sanctuary of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. Excavators uncovered it in the late 19th century beneath the site of the city's high school. Both scholarly datings for its construction place it after Hadrian became emperor on 11 August 117 CE, so on the day Trajan died this temple didn't exist yet, even though Narbo's forum itself had already been the city's civic heart for well over two centuries.
What happened here
The building itself is a house for the god, and most people never go inside. Everything public happens on the steps and at the altar in front: an animal led up, examined, killed cleanly, its organs read, the meat divided and eaten. The priest covers his head and a flute player keeps up a noise so no ill-omened word is heard. Worshippers leave what they can afford — a terracotta figure, a coin, a model of the body part they want healed — and the accumulated clutter is periodically cleared and buried on site. On festival days the doors are opened and the cult statue is dressed, garlanded, and sometimes carried out through the streets. The temple also holds money, which is why towns keep their treasury in one.
Sources
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Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →