The Great Altar of Unconquered Hercules (Herculis Invicti Ara Maxima[1]) stood in the Forum Boarium, of ancient Rome. It was the earliest cult-centre of Hercules in Rome, predating the circular Temple of Hercules Victor that stood until it was demolished by order of Pope Sixtus V. Roman tradition made the spot the site where Hercules slew Cacus and ascribed to Evander its erection.[2] In modern Rome, the site is in the north-east corner of Piazza di Bocca della Verità , north of Santa Maria in Cosmedin.
The original altar burned in the Great Fire of Rome[3], but was rebuilt and was still standing in the fourth century. No traces of it have been identified.[4]
References
- ^ Tacitus and Juvenal both refer to the altar as magna (great") instead of maxima ("greatest")
- ^ The exhaustive treatment of the foundation myths surrounding the Ara Maxima is in James G. Winter, The Myth of Hercules at Rome (University of Michigan Studies 4) 1910.
- ^ Tacitus, Annals, xv.41
- ^ Platner and Ashby 1929.
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