Tabularium

Tabularium
Tabularium
Location	Regione VIII Forum Romanum
Built in	78 BC
Built by/for	M. Aemilius Lepidus and Q. Lutatius Catulus
Type of structure	Basilica
Related articles	Roman Forum
Tabularium

"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.

The interior

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.

Architecture

The building itself had a facade of peperino and travertine blocks. The interior vaults are of concrete. The facade, faced the back of the Temple of Concord in the Forum and consisted of three levels. The first story was a large and tall fortified wall with a single door and only small windows near the top to light the interior, forum level rooms. The second story featured a Doric arcade (partially preserved) and the third, no longer extant story, had a high Corinthian order colonnade.

See also

• Roman architecture
• List of Roman domes
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Tabularium". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links

• Tabularium at UCLA's Digital Roman Forum