- Tabularium
"':"Tabularium" is the general term for any building containing records. There were a number of other "tabularia" scattered around the city of Rome and other ancient Roman cities. This article is on the precursor."
The Tabularium was the official records office of
ancient Rome , and also housed the offices of many city officials. Situated within theForum Romanum , it was on the front slope of theCapitoline Hill , below the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, to the southeast of the Arx andTarpeian 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 theRostra 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 Romanum.The Tabularium was first constructed around
78 BC , possibly by order of Sulla or maybe even Pompey the Great. It was later restored and renovated during the reign of the EmperorClaudius , about46 AD .Architecture
The building itself had a facade of
peperino andtravertine blocks. The interior vaults are ofconcrete . The rear facade, facing the ruins of Temple ofJulius Caesar in the Forum, consisted of three stories, the upper two probably stuccoed. The first story was largely blank with small doors and windows. The second story featured a Doric arcade (partially preserved). The third, no longer extant story had a highCorinthian order colonnade. This triple story effect, with a different order on each story had a strong influence on later architecture, such as theColosseum .See also
*
Roman architecture
*List of Roman domes
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