Temple of Jupiter Tonans

Temple of Jupiter Tonans

Aedes Iovis Tonantis
A denarius of Augustus (c. 19 BCE) showing a hexastyle temple with the label IOV TON (Iovis Tonantis, lit. 'Of Jupiter the Thunderer')
Temple of Jupiter Tonans Approximate location of the temple within ancient Rome
Location	Area Capitolina, Capitoline Hill, Rome
Coordinates	41°53′31″N 12°29′1″E / 41.89194°N 12.48361°E / 41.89194; 12.48361
History
Builder	Augustus Caesar
Founded	22 BCE
Periods	Roman Empire
Site notes
Excavation dates	1811–1812
Archaeologists	Giuseppe Camporese [it] Luigi Canina
Condition	Ruined

The Temple of Jupiter Tonans (Latin: Aedes Iovis Tonantis, lit. 'Temple of Jupiter the Thunderer') was a small temple in Rome, dedicated by Augustus Caesar in 22 BCE to Jupiter, the chief god of ancient Rome. It was probably situated at the entrance to the Area Capitolina, the sanctuary of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill, near the much older and larger Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. The temple was considered among Augustus's most impressive archaeological projects, and played an important role in the Secular Games, a religious and artistic festival that he revived in 17 BCE. It was also noted by Roman authors for the artworks, particularly statues, displayed in and around it.

Much of the temple's history is unclear, though it was mentioned in a fourth-century CE panegyric and may have been restored around the beginning of the second century CE. Nothing, except perhaps a small part of its foundations, survives of the temple. From 1555 until the nineteenth century, the Temple of Vespasian and Titus in the Roman Forum was misidentified as the Temple of Jupiter Tonans, but the Italian archaeologist Luigi Canina correctly identified the former temple during excavations in 1844.