Il quadriportico del tempio maggiore : architettura e decorazione

The analyses and the new detailed surveys of the structures around the Temple of Hercules allow to update the architectural study of the porticus that surrounded the aedes, studied in its main phases of transformation. During the 2nd half of the 2nd century BC, the area was surrounded by a colonnaded square with a suite of rooms aligned opposite to the temple. The wide courtyard (63 x 94,5 metres) refers to Hellenistic architectural models imported in Rome from the eastern Mediterranean in the same period and the columns, built by round bricks, reveal the use of updated construction techniques too. Moreover, the hypothetical interpretation of the external front of the complex as a porticus, suggests that the area outside the sanctuary was included in the monumental renovation too, confirmed by the pillared front of a second sanctuary (Area B) build close to the major one in this period. In the 2nd phase, after the earthquake of 99 BC, the south rooms and the front of the complex were both transformed; the discovery of many terracotta fragments supports the hypothetical reconstruction of the porticus with Doric columns, wooden lintels covered by decorated revetment plaques and a single pitch roof with palmette antefixes. Few transformations have to be attributed to the last phase (late 1st century BC-beginning 1st AD), included an exedra built in the south side of the complex. Villa San Silvestro offers an interesting study case of a typical Italic-Hellenistic architecture built in the late Republic, located in a peripheral area but likely inspired by Rome