More information : [SU 6402 6229] Square Temple, Insula XXXV. This is not parallel with the streets, and measures 35 by 36 1/2 ft overall; the cella 12 by 14 ft internally. The entrance was on the east, where a foundation for steps exists, and was about 10 ft wide, flanked by columns. The floor was of red tesserae. Only the flint foundation of the cella floor remained. At the west end of the cella, a three-foot platform was built and here, doubtless, the statues described below were placed. As the walls of the building were under two feet thick, their superstructure must have been of a light nature. In and around the cella portions of three inscriptions were found cut on thin Purbeck Marble slabs, and some scraps of Bath stone statuary. By the style of their lettering, the inscriptions date from the early 3rd century. One of the stones bears the word 'MARTT', but this is more likely to be part of a personal name than a dedication to Mars. (1)
Further references. (2)
Temple situated within insula XXXV. It is likely to be of first century origins due to its alignment.. The building measures 10.7 metres north-south and 11.1 metres east-west with an entrance on the east side. The cella measures 3.7 metres by 4.3 metres and has walls 0.57 metres wide. An alter base measuring 0.80 metres by 0.60 metres was also present. Three inscriptions and statuary fragments were recovered from the temple. The inscriptions probably are the dedications of three statues, probably Peace, Victory and Mars. (3)
The temple within Insula XXXV of the Roman town of Calleva was recorded from cropmarks during the Aggregate Landscape of Hampshire NMP project and the Silchester Iron Age Environs mapping project. (4-5) |