- Ingrid Edlund-Berry –
heights,^31 evidence for Etruscan round mouldings is lacking for the Capitoline temple
and the temple of Saturn. The fi rst Archaic temple at S. Omobono has a small Etruscan
round above the dado, but no base moulding, and it is not known how the moulding
fragment from the temple of Castor was originally placed.^32
Good examples of temple podia with Etruscan round crowning and base mouldings
have been found at Ardea in Latium.^33 In addition to the Casalinaccio temple in the
ancient city, recent discoveries at Fosso dell’Incastro on the coast include a sanctuary with
well-preserved temple podia,^34 whereas fragments of mouldings at Satricum and Pyrgi
may belong to similar temple podia with crowning and base mouldings.^35
Podia with double Etruscan rounds, of the same or different sizes, but without the
separating dado, appear in the second Archaic temple at S. Omobono,^36 and later in the
Ara della Regina temple at Tarquinia from the fourth century bc.^37 This design, known
also from monumental altars in Etruria and Latium,^38 is further used in temples built in
communities that had become part of the Roman political sphere, either in general terms
(as for example, the temple at Villa S. Silvestro) or specifi cally as colonies such as Isernia
and Sora (Figure 35.7).^39
The presence of podia became the hallmark of Roman temples built within Italy and
throughout the Roman Empire, often regarded as Capitolia, representing the religious
and political traditions of the mother city.^40 The Etruscan round moulding continues as
a variant form for temple podia even in the second century bc at Cosa in Etruria, both
as a crowning and base moulding, and at Samnite Pietrabbondante (Temple A) as a base
moulding, and even other mouldings (cyma reversa or cyma recta) often show rounded
elements derived from the Etruscan round.^41
With time, the Etruscan round was replaced in Imperial Roman architecture by a very
complex set of mouldings, but the use of a single horizontal round can be noted throughout
Figure 35.6 Rome, temple of Castor. Photo: Ingrid Edlund-Berry.