Pilgrims in Cappadocia

1&2 Peter were written to Christians (likely Jewish) scattered across five Roman Provinces: “To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (1 Pet. 1:1). All of these provinces were in what is today Turkey.

The landscape of Cappadocia is fascinating. Ancient volcanic matter covered the area. When wind and rain eroded away the softer elements, the harder material was left behind, causing some really unusual formations.

Formations characteristic of Cappadocia. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

So when you pick up your New Testament to read the epistles of Peter, remember that some of his readers lived in this area.

Cappadocia. In NT times, a Roman Province. Currently in Turkey. BibleAtlas.com

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More Re: Omrit

Archaeologists have determined there were three building phases at Omrit: first, the temple built by Herod the Great, second, the temple built probably by Trajan (AD 98-117), and third, an industrial complex to the north constructed in the Byzantine period.

Entrance to Omrit. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

Here you can see the steps leading up to the temple. This site has been identified as a location for Imperial Cult Worship.

Steps to Imperial Temple at Omrit. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

This photo shows the southwest corner of the temple. The large stones horizontally placed at center have been identified as Herodian. Herod was a politician and he overtly courted the favor of the Emperor Augustus.

Section of Herodian stones in Omrit Temple. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

The site abounds with interesting architectural fragments.

Architectural fragment at Omrit. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

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Omrit, cont’d.

Among the interesting ruins at Omrit are several composite capitals. These are a combination of Corinthians and Ionic orders.

Composite Capital at Omrit. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

Note the beautiful acanthus leaves.

Omrit was destroyed by earthquakes in the 4th and 8th centuries AD.

Evidence of Earthquake at Omrit. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

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Herodian Imperial Cult Temple at Omrit

Omrit is located at the foothills of the Hermon Range, and is 2.5 miles from Caesarea Philippi (Banias). It was strategically situated near the crossroads of the Tyre-Damascus and Scythopolis (Beth-shean)-Damascus roads. Impressive remains of a temple devoted to Emperor worship may be seen here.

Herodian Imperial Cult Temple at Omrit. Excavators believe this temple was built by Herod to honor Caesar Augustus. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

I have enjoyed Dr. Carl Rasmussen’s recent posts re: Omrit. He said this was his “favorite site in Israel” (a statement I found very interesting) and just today posted another article on the site, dealing with Emperor worship that took place here in the Bible land. There are interesting implication of Peter’s confession that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God so near a site where the Roman Emperor was worshiped as a “son of god.”

I was glad to visit this site this past September 2011, along with Ferrell Jenkins when he and I made a personal study trip at that time. BTW, Mr. Jenkins is currently directing a tour in Israel. You can follow their journeys here.

The Tabularium

We continue to explore the Roman Forum. In our photo below we see the Tabularium, the large building in the back.

Tabularium in Roman Forum. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

“Tabularium” is a term for a record building. A number of other tabularia were scattered around Rome and other ancient Roman cities, but this article is about the prototype example.

The Tabularium was the official records office of ancient Rome, and also housed the offices of many city officials. Situated within the Roman Forum, it was on the front slope of the Capitoline Hill, below the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, to the southeast of the Arx and Tarpeian Rock.

Within the building were the remains of the temple of Veiovis. In front of it were the Temples of Vespasian & Concord, as well as the Rostra and the rest of the forum. Presently the Tabularium is only accessible from within the Capitoline Museum, although it still affords an excellent panoramic view over the Forum.

The Tabularium was first constructed around 78 BC, by order of M. Aemilius Lepidus and Q. Lutatius Catulus. It was later restored and renovated during the reign of the Emperor Claudius, about 46 AD. (Wikipedia).

The lower level, the gray portion, is the Roman period; upper level was built later.

In a entry entitled “Obtaining Citizenship,” (Roman citizenship) F.F. Bruce is referenced as stating

that legislation at the turn of the first century A.D. called for a legitimately born child of Roman citizens to be registered within thirty days of birth. Children born in the provinces would be legally acknowledged (professio) before the Roman provincial authority at the public record office (tabularium publicum). The professio was then entered in the register (album professionum). We do not know if Paul’s birth was before or after this legislation, but some such formal procedure had to have been in effect earlier. At regular intervals a citizen’s name, age, status and property holdings would thereafter be recorded by census. (Dictionary of New Testament Background: A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship.)

At right in the photo you can see the Arch of Septimius Severus, dedicated in AD 203.

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At present I am en route to Cyprus to join Ferrell Jenkins for a few days of photographing biblical sites, and biblically related sites, in Cyprus and Turkey.

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Temple of Vespasian and Titus

In our post today we continue to share some photos of sites of signifance in the Roman Forum. Today’s photo features the Temple of Vespasian and Titus.

Temple of Vespasian and Titus in Roman Forum. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

Wikipedia has some helpful generic info:

The Temple of Vespasian and Titus (Latin: Templum divi Vespasiani, Italian: Tempio di Vespasiano) is located in Rome at the western end of the Roman Forum between the Temple of Concordia and the Temple of Saturn. It is dedicated to the deified Vespasian and his son, the deified Titus. It was begun by Titus in AD 79 after Vespasian’s death and Titus’s succession. Titus’ brother, Domitian, completed and dedicated the temple to Titus and Vespasian in approximately AD 87.

Throughout Roman history, there was an emphasis on increasing the fame and glory of a family name, often through monuments commemorating the deceased. Therefore, the temple was constructed to honor the Flavian Dynasty, which comprised the emperors Vespasian (69-79), Titus (79-81), and Domitian (81-96). Historians question whether or not Titus and Domitian had a good relationship; however, Domitian ensured the deification of his brother into the imperial cult in order to exalt the prominence of the Flavian name. Titus and Vespasian were each deified through the ceremony of apotheosis. In doing so, tradition guaranteed that Roman citizens and subjects would honor Vespasian and Titus (or at least honor their genius) as Roman deities. This imperial cult worship was as much a sign of allegiance to the emperor of Rome, or as a political and diplomatic gesture, as it was a formal religion.

Structure. The Temple of Vespasian was in the Corinthian order, hexastyle (i.e., with a portico six columns wide), and prostyle (i.e., with free standing columns that are widely spaced apart in a row).[4] It was particularly narrow due to the limited space, measuring 33 meters long and 22 wide. In a constricted space between the temple and the Concord, a small, two story vaulted room made of brick and concrete, and lined with marble, was built against the wall of the Tabularium, and apparently was dedicated to Titus.

Construction and Renovation. Titus began construction and presumably finished the foundations, made of tufa concrete, and the core of the podium, made of white marble. Domitian, however, completed the interior work after Titus’ death. The cella (inner) walls were in travertine, lined with marbles imported at great expense from the eastern provinces. The interior is highly ornate and the frieze depicts sacred objects that would have been used as the symbols, or badges, of the various priestly collegia in Rome. Around 200 to 205, Emperors Septimius Severus and his son, Caracalla, conducted renovations on the temple.

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Temple of Vesta, Roman Forum

The Roman goddess Vesta was the goddess of the hearth. She

was considered the patron of the fire that symbolized the perpetuity of the state. It was the responsibility of the priestesses to maintain this sacred fire and to renew it each year on March 1, the first day of the Roman year (The Wycliffe historical geography of Bible lands).

We photographed the remains of the Temple of Vesta in the Roman Forum a few weeks ago.

Temple of Vesta in Roman Forum. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

 Vos, in his work, Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Manners & Customs: How the People of the Bible Really Lived, asks the reader to suppose that when Paul’s trial was conducted in Rome that he entered the Forum on the east side:

As Paul came into the Forum area down the Sacred Way from the east, the first building he would have passed was the house of the vestal virgins. He might have observed that the house was rather large for a sisterhood of only six priestesses. But such an objection is erased with the observation that the vestals were held in high esteem and that their house was chosen by private citizens and by the state as a safe deposit for documents.

Adjacent to this house was the Temple of Vesta, considered the goddess of the hearth and the patron of the fire that symbolized the perpetuity of the state. It was the responsibility of the priestesses to maintain this sacred fire and to renew it each year on March 1, the first day of the Roman year (p.606).

Wikipedia has this additional info:

The extant temple used Greek architecture with Corinthian columns, marble, and a central cella. The remaining structure indicates that there were twenty Corinthian columns built on a podium fifteen metres in diameter. The roof probably had a vent at the apex to allow smoke release.

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My friend Ferrell Jenkins is currently directing a biblical study tour in Turkey & Greece. He will be posting as time permits on Ferrell’s Travel Blog.

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The Twin Brothers, Castor and Pollux

After Paul had suffered shipwreck on the island of Malta (Acts 27:39-44; 28:1), and wintered there, he continued his trip (as a prisoner) to Rome. Luke writes, “After three months we sailed in an Alexandrian ship whose figurehead was the Twin Brothers, which had wintered at the island” (Acts 28:11, NKJV). The Twin Brothers were the mythical Greek gods (assimilated by the Romans) Castor and Pollux, sons of the god Zeus.

The NIV renders the text, “After three months we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered in the island. It was an Alexandrian ship with the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux” (cf. KJV).

The NET Bibles notes:

tn Or “the ‘Twin Gods’”; Grk “the Dioscuri” (a joint name for the pagan deities Castor and Pollux). sn That had the “Heavenly Twins” as its figurehead. The twin brothers Castor and Pollux, known collectively as the Dioscuri or “Heavenly Twins,” were the twin sons of Zeus and Leda according to Greek mythology. The Alexandrian ship on which Paul and his companions sailed from Malta had a carved emblem or figurehead of these figures, and they would have been the patron deities of the vessel. Castor and Pollux were the “gods of navigation.” To see their stars was considered a good omen (Epictetus, Discourses 2.18.29; Lucian of Samosata, The Ship 9).

Remains of the temple of Castor and Pollux may be seen in the Roman Forum.

Temple of Castor and Pollux in Roman Forum. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

The temple was built in gratitude for victory at the Battle of Lake Regillus (495 BC). This site furnishes yet another link between surviving archaeological artifacts and references in the biblical text.

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Temple of Venus Genetrix

Our photo today shows the Forum of Caesar, located in the north-east corner of the Roman Forum. Construction of Caesar’s Forum was begun in 54 BC. Three remaining columns indicate the location of the Temple of Venus in Caesar’s Forum.

Temple of Venus Genetrix, located in Forum of Caesar, Rome. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

The temple was introduced at a slightly later stage, having been vowed by Caesar the night before the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC, during  his civil war with Pompey, to win over Pompey’s favored goddess Venus Victrix, though when inaugurated in 46 BC (while still unfinished) it actually honored Venus as Venus Genetrix, “universal mother,’ from which Julius Caesar’s family (and thus all the emperors from August to Nero) claimed descent. (Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide, p.150).

Here is a close-up of the columns:

Temple of Venus Genetrix, close-up of columns. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

The Temple of Venus Genetrix contained an important collection of statues, paintings and engravings. A gilded statue of Cleopatra VII was erected, setting a precedent for dedications to notable women in the precinct. Paintings in the forum included one of Medea, mythological Greek hero of Euripides’ play Medea, as well as one of Ajax, mythological Greek hero of Sophocles’ Ajax, done by Timomachus. Perhaps more personal to Caesar were six collections of engraved gems. These surpassed in number the collection of Mithridates dedicated by Caesar’s rival Pompey. It is not known where or how Caesar obtained these six collections. (Wikipedia).

The location of a temple at the end of a long enclosure was a practice borrowed by the Romans from the Etruscans. This area suffered fire damage in AD 80; the temple was later rebuilt by Domitian and subsequently restored by Trajan.

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The Roman Forum

The Roman Forum was in ancient times at the very hub of western civilization.

Roman Forum At Night. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

The Roman Forum (Latin: Forum Romanum, Italian: Foro Romano) is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum. It was for centuries the center of Roman public life: the site of triumphal processions and elections, venue for public speeches, criminal trials, and gladiatorial matches, and nucleus of commercial affairs. Here statues and monuments commemorated some of the city’s most notable figures. Located in the small valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills, the Forum today is a sprawling ruin of architectural fragments and intermittent archeological excavations attracting numerous sightseers (Wikipedia).

It was here at the Forum, located between the Capitoline and Palatine hills, that justice was dispensed during the days of the Roman Republic and Empire (509 BC – AD 476). It is thought by some scholars that Paul’s appeal before Caesar would have been heard at the Basilica Julia.

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