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Graeco-Roman Astro-Architecture?:

The Temples of Pompeii

Vance Tiede

Astro-Archaeology Surveys, Inc

[email protected]

Presented at Historical Astronomy Division, AAS Meeting, Washington, DC

6 January 2014

Horalogium

Temple of Apollo

Winter Solstice Sun Set

Temple of Fortuna

Augusta

Equinox Sun Set

Temple of Isis

mailto:[email protected]

Vetruvius on Astronomy

& the Architect

• “…[O]ne who professes himself as an architect should be…acquainted with

astronomy and the theory of the heavens. (I:i:3)

• “From astronomy we find the east, west, south, and north, as well as the theory of the

heavens, the equinox, solstice and courses of the stars. If one has no knowledge of these

matters, he will not be able to have any comprehension of the theory of sundials

(Horalogium). (I:i:10, cf. IX:I in toto)

• “By means of optics, again, the light in buildings can be drawn from fixed quarters

of the sky. (I:i:4)

• “…in the case of hypaethral edifices, open to the sky, in honour of Jupiter Lightning,

the Heaven, the Sun or the Moon: for these are gods whose semblances…we behold

before our very eyes in the sky when it is cloudless and bright. (I:ii:5)

-Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (d. ca. 15 BC), De Architectura Libri Decem

Horalogium

Pompeii

Roman Temple

Astro-Architecture

“The quarter toward which temples of the immortal gods ought to face is to be determined on the principle that…the temple…

should face the western quarter of the sky. This will enable those who approach the altar with offerings or sacrifices to face the direction of the sunrise in facing the statue in the temple….”

-Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (d. ca. 15 BC),

De Architectura Libri Decem, IV:v:1

Roman Temple

Astro-Architecture Die Natalis (21 April)

Pantheon, Rome

Hannah, Robert and Giulio Magli, “The Role of the Sun in the Pantheon’s Design & Meaning,”

Numen 58(4), 486-513, 2011

The

Emperor

emerged in a

solar spot

light at

Meridian

Transit.

Greek Temple Astro-Architecture

Nell, Erin A. Greece's Debt to Egypt: the transmission of astronomical knowledge

applied to architectural alignments, PhD. Dissertation, University of Leicester, 2013

Proposed Preliminary Alignment Group Patterns:

I) Procyon ( CMi) and Aldebaran ( Tau) (E or

W), with either Hadar ( Cen) or Mimosa ( Cru)

(SSE or SSW), or both. (n=6)

II) Equinox (E or W) with Betelgeuse ( Ori) (E or

W) and Hadar ( Cen) or Mimosa ( Cru) (SSE or

SSW), or both. (n=6)

III) a small group of singular alignments. (n = 6)

Research Question:

Why do so many Graeco-Roman temples

NOT face west as prescribed by Vitruvius?

Hypotheses: Temple Orientation

H1: Random

H2: Vetruvius only applies to Roman temples

H3: Urban Street Grid/”Landscape” (= Mt. Vesuvius)

H4: Astro-Ritual (Equinox/Solstice/Star rise/set)

T. Apollo, Pompeii Pantheon, Rome

Reject H1: Orientation was not random.

Reject H1:

Roman agrimensores & gromatici

Systematically Surveyed Urban Grids

Groma, Perpendiculum & Signa

(Transit, Plumbline, Stakes) Tombstone of Surveyor Nicostratus

Pompeii

Dioptra

(Theodolite)

Chorobates of Vitruvius to level

hydraulic gradients for aqueducts

Reject H2:

Vetruvius applies to pre-Roman temples as well.

Date Event Temple Faces

79 AD TAQ: Vesuvius erupts All Buried

62 AD Earthquake All Damaged

c. 50 AD SPQR Fortuna Augusta, Public Lares W

1 AD SPQR (C. Augustus) Vespasian W

80 BC SPQR (Sulla) annexes Pompeii

c.150 BC Jupiter

Isis & Zeus Meilichios

S

NE

c.250 BC Socium of Rome ( 350-200 BC) Dionysus, Ceres W, SW

428 BC Samnites defeat Greeks

474 BC Greeks defeat Etruscans Venus (rebuilt c. 70 BC) S

c. 500 BC Port to Greeks & Phoenicians.

Etruscans defeat Oscans

Apollo (rebuilt c.150 BC)

Doric

S

S

c. 550 BC TPQ: Oscans found Pompeii

Accept H3:

Drainage Slope trumps Vetruvius: Gravity Pulls Water via Aqueduct

From Serino to Pompeii

Castellum Divisorium:

aqueduct terminus & start of the

water distribution at Pompeii http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/serino/

Pace, Pietrantonio, Acquedotti di Romao, 2010 p. 116,

Accept H3:

Pompeii’s Fountains & Urban Grid

Hodge, A.Trevor, Roman Aqueducts & Water Supply, Duckworth, London, 1992, p. 305

Castellum

Aquae

Accept H4:

Temples were oriented to the “equinox,

solstice and courses of the stars.”

Null-1: No major axis of a temple is oriented to the

Sun rise/set at the Equinox or Solstices.

Null-2: No major axis of a temple is oriented to the

Moon rise/set at the Lunar Standstills.

Null-3: No major axis of a temple is oriented to a

Star rise/set associated with myths of

the temple’s divinity or shared alignments

at other temples of the same divinity.

Astro-Archaeology Methodology

1. Collect Preliminary Input Data

- Construction Date (Archaeology)

- Latitude (GIS)

- Elevation of Structure (GIS)

- True Azimuth (GIS)

- Horizon-Skyline Vertical Angle (GIS/Digital Elevation Model)

2. Ground Truth X-Y-Z Angles -Theodolite/GPS Survey, 5-18 April 2013

3. Calculate Skyline Declinations Gerald S. Hawkins, Program STONEHENGE, Mindsteps to the Cosmos 1983, 328+

4. Photograph Predicted Astro-Alignment

http://www.difesa.suolo.regione.campania.it/content/view/39/80/

Pompeii

Digital Elevation Model (DEM)

Excel Program STONEHENGE

Inputs: Pompeii

1. Date: ca. 550 BC-79 AD

2. Latitude: N 40◦ 45’

3. Elevation Above Sea Level: 36 meters +

4. Azimuth, True: Varies by structure

[Magnetic Declination = 2.83◦ E, 5 April 2013] http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag-web/

5. Horizon-Skyline Vertical Angle: Varies

[Adjusted for Curvature of the Earth] Gerald S. Hawkins, Program STONEHENGE, Mindsteps to the Cosmos 1983, pp. 328-330.

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag-web/



Findings: Temple Skyline Astro-Targets

Doric Temple ca. 550 BC

Nappo 1998, 79

β Orionis (Rigel) Summer Solstice

Heliacal Rise

-14.50◦ decl, -550 Year

Mag. 0.34

Hawkins & Rosenthal 1967, p. 148

T. Doric

Target decl = -14.50◦ Horizon decl = -14.58◦

Δ = - 0.08º

Az True = 113.00◦

V. Angle = +3.98◦

Elev. = 24m

Date = 550 BC

Punishment of Ixion

Doric Temple:

Landscape Orientation

Interpretation

Was Vesuvius’ summit originally on

the temple’s major axis? NO

Temple of

Dionysius ca. 250 BC

Equinox Sun Set

Last Gleam on Horizon (Sea)

0◦ decl, -250 Year

Oscan mosaic

T. Dionysus

Target decl = 0.00◦

Horizon decl = + 0.34◦

Δ = - 0.34º

Az True = 271.0◦

V. Angle = -0.05◦

Elev. = 18m

Date = 250 BC

Temple of Ceres ca. 250 BC

Midsummer Moon Set

Major Stand Still

Last Gleam on Horizon (Sea)

-28.87◦ decl, -250 Year

T. Ceres

Target decl = -28.87

Horizon decl = -28.18◦

Δ = - 0.69º

Az True = 231.53◦

V. Angle = -0.38◦

Elev. = 20m

Date = 250 BC

Temple of Jupiter (Capitolium) 150 BC

Θ Scorpionis Summer Rise

Babylonian Sargas

(-38.1◦ decl) 150 BC,

2.04 mag Hawkins & Rosenthal 1967, 163

T. Jupiter Θ Scorpionis Summer Rise

Target decl = -38.10◦ Horizon decl = -38.03◦

Δ = - 0.69º

Az True = 151.75◦

V. Angle = +4.46◦

Elev. = 25m

Date = 150 BC

Orion & Scorpio

Skorpios (Scorpius) was a giant scorpion sent by the earth-goddess Gaia to slay the giant Orion when he threatened to kill all the beasts of the earth. The Scorpion stung Orion on the heel (marked by the star Rigel, β Orion) and killed him. These two opponents Orion and the Scorpion were placed amongst the stars as their namesake constellations, but are positioned on opposite sides of the sky, one sets as the other rises. The Scorpion rises as Orion starts to sink into the other side of the sky, and this was seen as Orion running away from the attacker, and still in fear of him.

"Scorpius, because of its position, is one of the two ‘gateways’ to the Milky Way, the other being the opposite constellation of Orion. The Scorpion men attacked Osiris in Egyptian legend, and the Scorpions sting killed Orion in Greek myth." [3].

http://www.constellationsofwords.com/Constellations/Scorpio.html

http://www.constellationsofwords.com/Constellations/Orion.html

http://www.constellationsofwords.com/stars/Rigel.html

http://www.tonykline.co.uk/PITBR/Latin/OvFastIndexPQRSTUVXZ.htm

Temple of Jupiter:

Landscape Orientation Interpretation

Was Vesuvius’ summit originally on

the temple’s major axis? YES

Temple of

Apollo 550 BC (rebuilt c. 150 BC)

Nappo 1998, p. 108

α Columbae (Phact) Heliacal Rise

X-Quarter Day, 8 August

Arabic Al Fakhita (The Dove)

(-37.10◦ decl) 150 BC, 2.6 mag

Hawkins & Rosenthal 1967, p. 149

T. Apollo

α Columbae (Phact) Rise

Mag = 2.6

Target decl = -37.10◦


Δ = - 0.01º Az True = 149.67◦

V. Angle = +4.4◦

Elev. = 34m

Date = 150 BC Rebuilt

Temple of Apollo:

Landscape Orientation

Interpretation

Was Vesuvius’ summit originally on the

temple’s major axis? YES

Temple of Venus Physica ca. 150 BC (70 BC Rebuilt by Sulla)

“The cult of Venus had ancient origins

in Pompeii, although it originally

related to Venus Physica, a goddess

who ruled over life and death, and

therefore both a celestial deity and a

deity of the underworld.” Nappo 1998, 164 Venus Physica Pompeiana

VII.xvi, 17-22 Pompeii

House of Maius Castricius

Marble from

rebuilding by

Romans, 70 BC Looking South, Major Axis

Temple of Venus:

Astronomical Orientation

Interpretation

T. Venus α Columbae (Phact) Hiliacal Rise

X-Quarter Day, 8 August

Mag = 2.6



Δ = - 0.63º Az True = 151.17◦ V. Angle = +4.5◦

Elev. = 38m

Date =150 BC

Hawkins & Rosenthal 1967, 149

Temple of Venus:

Landscape Orientation Interpretation

Was Vesuvius’ summit originally on the temple’s major axis? YES

Temple of Isis ca. 100 BC

Mid-Winter Major Stand Still

Full Moon Rise (+28.86◦ decl. )

Disk Tangent on Horizon

Spring/Autumn

Equinox Sun Set (0◦ decl. )


Temple of Isis

Bacchus Niche

Bacchus pouring wine into

panther’s mouth

Spring/Autumn

Equinox Sun Set (0◦ decl. )


T. Isis

Target decl = 0.0◦ Horizon decl = -0.3 ◦

Δ = - 0. 3º Az True = 234.85◦

V. Angle = +33.3◦

Elev. = 24m

Date = 100 BC

Isis &

Harpocrates

Initiates of the Isis worshipped a compassionate goddess who promised eventual salvation and a perpetual relationship throughout life and after death.

The Diaspora Cults. (1970) Ancient History XI, High Empire 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press

"Upon her [Isis'] brow stood the crescent moon-horns, garlanded with glittering heads of golden grain, and grace of royal dignity; and at her side the baying dog Anubis, dappled Apis, sacred Bubastis and the god [Harpokrates] who holds his finger to his lips for silence sake."

Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.691.

Isis with

Ankh

Metaphors of Duality:

Bacchus & Equinox He was also known as Bacchus (Greek: Βάκχος,

Bakkhos), the name adopted by the Romans and the frenzy he induces, bakkheia. His companion is a panther and his thyrsus is sometimes wound with ivy and dripping with honey . It is a beneficent wand but also a weapon, and can be used to destroy those who oppose his cult and the freedoms he represents. He is also called Eleutherios ("the liberator"), whose wine, music and ecstatic dance frees his followers from self-conscious fear and care, and subverts the oppressive restraints of the powerful. Those who partake of his mysteries are possessed and empowered by the god himself.[12] His cult is also a "cult of the souls"; his maenads feed the dead through blood-offerings, and he acts as a divine communicant between the living and the dead.[13]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Rome




Midwinter Moon

Major SS Rise

Target decl = +28.8◦

Horizon decl = +28.5◦

Δ = - 0.3º

Az True = +57.68◦

V. Angle = 3.0◦

Elev. = 24m

Date = 100 BC

Temple of Isis: East Wall = Artificial Horizon

Sir W. Hamilton 1776

Original

wall

height

North-East Wall:

Original Artificial Horizon

& 18th Century Addition

Piranesi, F, 1804. Antiquites de la Grande

Grece: Tome II. Paris: Piranesi and Le

Blanc. (plate 61).

Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803), “View of the

first discovery of the temple of Isis at

Pompeii,” Campi Phlegraei, 1776 (w/c on

paper) Plate 41, 99

Harpocrates Niche

Temple of Aesculapius (Ἀσκληπιός) God of Medicine, 100 BC (Jupiter Meilichios, 62-79 AD)

Nappo 1998, 88

Mid-Summer Moon

Major Stand Still Set, Last Gleam



Δ = 0.69º Az True = 227.83◦, V.Angle = 2.4◦

Elev. = 23m, Date = 100 BC

Temple of

Aesculapius

β Persei Rise

Greek Γοργών (Demon)

Arabic Al-gol (The Ghoul)

mag = 2.2

Target decl = +31.0◦

Horizon decl = +33.0◦

Δ = 2.0º Az True = +47.83◦

V. Angle = 3.5◦

Elev. = 23m

Date = 100 BC

Hawkins & Rosenthal

1967, 146

Perseus, Gorgons

&

Aesculapius

In late myths, Medusa was the only one of the three Gorgons who was not immortal. King Polydectes sent Perseus to kill Medusa in hopes of getting him out of the way, while he pursued Perseus's mother, Danae.

In some Greek myths, blood taken from the right side of a Gorgon could bring the dead back to life, yet blood taken from the left side was an instantly fatal poison.

Athena gave a vial of the healing blood to Aesculapius, which ultimately brought about his demise.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorgon

β Persei (Algol) (Γοργών)

(Gorgoneum Caput of Vitruvius, IX,iv,2)

It was known to ancient astronomers because it is one of the few variable stars which changes brightness enough that you can notice the change with your naked eye.

http://www.astro.cornell.edu/~brs/algol/main.html

Algol's magnitude is usually near-constant at 2.1, but regularly dips to 3.4 every two days, 20 hours and 49 minutes [= 2.87 days] during the roughly 10-hour long partial eclipses.

Investigating a calendar for lucky and unlucky days composed in Egypt some 3,200 years ago, a periodicity of 2.85 days has been noted and it has been conjectured to correspond to the dimming of Algol.[7][8]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apparent_magnitude



Temple of Fortuna Augusta ca. 1 AD

Nappo 1998, 113

Temple is Rotated from Urban Grid

“The temple was built at the crossroads between Via del Foro and

Via di Nola, on a site previously occupied by shops and probably

by a house, as suggested by some floors decorated with opus

signum, found behind and beneath the podium on the south side.”

Temple of Fortuna Augusta

Winter Solstice

Sun Set, Last Gleam



Δ = - 0.76º

Az True = 237.83◦ V. Angle = +4.0◦

Elev. = 38m

Date =1 AD

Temple of Vespasian (reign 71-79 AD)

Originally of C. Augustus (reign 27 BC-14 AD)

ca. AD 1 7 November/3 February Cross-Quarter Day Sun Set

(average -16.23 ◦ decl) Looking West

Augustus Vespasian

Temple of Vespasian ca. AD 1, E-W

Winter X-Quarter

Sun Set, Last Gleam



Δ = - 0.01º

Az True = 243.83◦

V. Angle = +2.08◦

Elev. = 28m

Date = 1 AD

Sanctuary of the Public Lares

ca. AD 50, E –W

7 November/3 February Cross-Quarter Day Sun Set

(average -16.23 ◦ decl) Looking West

Sanctuary of the Public Lares ca. AD 50, E –W

Winter X-Quarter

Sun Set, Last Gleam



Δ = - 0.27º Az True = 244.80◦

V. Angle = +3.6◦

Elev. = 34m

Date = 50 AD

Conclusions

1. The previously unrecognized temple astro-orientations at Pompeii are consistent with Graeco-Roman culture and deserve equal consideration with Urban Grid/Landscape interpretations.

2. Strongest candidates for Astro- orientation: Doric, Dionysus, Ceres, Isis, Aesculapius, Fortuna Augusta, Augustus/Vespasian, Public Lares.

3. Strongest candidates for Landscape orientation (i.e., towards Vesuvius): Venus, Apollo, Jupiter.

4. Additional comparative research could determine the geographical distribution of any Graeco-Roman temple astro-orientation patterns.

5. GIS & Satellite Imaging are efficient tools for preliminary survey in Astro-Archaeology.

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References-1

Allen, Richard H. (1899) Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning, Dover, New York, nd.

Boutsikas, E. (2011) Temples, Stars, and Ritual Landscapes: The Potential for Archaeoastronomy in Ancient Greece. American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 115, 1: 55-67.

(2009) Placing Greek Temples: An Archaeoastronomical Study of the Orientation of Ancient Greek Religious Structures. Archaeoastronomy: The Journal of Astronomy in Culture, vol. 21, 4–16.

Cumont, Franz V. M, Astrology and Religion Among the Greeks and Romans, Dover,

New York, 1912 (reprinted 1960).

Hannah, Robert and Giulio Magli, “The Role of the Sun in the Pantheon’s Design and

Meaning,” Numen 58(4), 486-513, 2011.

Hawkins, Gerald S. Mindsteps to the Cosmos, Harper & Row, New York, 1983.

“Astro-Archaeology-The Unwritten Evidence,” Vistas in Astronomy 10:45-88, 1968.

Hawkins, G.S. & S.K. Rosenthal, 5,000 & 10,000-Year Star Catalogs, Washington: Smithsonian 1967.

Hodge, A.Trevor, Roman Aqueducts & Water Supply, Duckworth, London, 1992.

References-2

Jones, Alexander, “The Place of Astronomy in Roman Egypt,” The Sciences in Greco-Roman

Society (T.D. Barnes, ed.) Academic Printing and Publishing, Edmonton, 46-7, 1994.

Nappo, Salvatore C. , Pompeii: A Guide to the Ancient City, Vercelli, Italy: White Star, 1998.

Nell, Erin A. Greece's Debt to Egypt: the transmission of astronomical knowledge

applied to architectural alignments, PhD. Dissertation, University of Leicester, 2013.

North, J.D., “Astronomical Symbolism in the Mithraic Religion,” Centaurus: International

Magazine of the History of Mathematics, Science and Technology, 33:115-148, 1990.

Oudet, J.F., “Le Panthéon de Rome à la lumière de l’equinoxe”, in Readings in

Archaeoastronomy, (S. Iwaniszewski, ed.) 25–52. Warsaw: State Archaeological Museum, 1992.

Pace, Pietrantonio. Acquedotti di Roma e il De Aquaeductu di Frontino, 2010.

Vitruvius Pollio, Marcus, The Ten Books of Architecture (De Architectura Libri Decem)

(M.H. Morgan, trans. Harvard University Press, 1914.

Acknowledgements

José Maria Luzón, Professor, Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Vincenzo G. Sabini, Assistente Tecnico Scientifico, Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei

Il Personale dell’ Istituto Vesuviano, Castellemmare di Stabia

Istituto Vesuviano Il Personale