MINERVA CAPTA (MINERVIUM)
a shrine on the Caelian (Ov.
Fast. iii. 835-
838:
Caelius ex alto qua mons descendit in aequum / hic ubi non plana
est sed prope plana via / parva licet videas Captae delubra Minervae /
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quae dea natali coepit habere suo). The site described by Ovid corresponds to that indicated in the procession of the Argei (
Varro v. 47:
circa
Minervium qua in Caelio monte itur in tabernola), where Minervium
undoubtedly is this shrine, which is therefore to be located on the northern
part of the Caelius, the Caeliolus, probably very near the present church
of the SS. Quattro Coronati (
Gilb. ii. 33-34). This also corresponds with
a possible indication of the Haterii relief, where a statue of Minerva is
seen through the arcus ad Isis (Mon. d.
Inst. v. 7 ; Ann. d.
Inst. 1849, 377).
If this is accepted as evidence, it shows that the shrine was standing in
the second century. An inscription (
CIL vi. 524) found on the Caelian
may also refer to it, and a statue of Minerva in alabaster found near
SS. Quattro Coronati, now in the Museo delle Terme, is attributed to it
(
NS 1926, 61).
Ovid gives four explanations (
Fast. iii. 839-848) of the epithet Capta,
of which only one has any probability (843-844:
an quia perdomitis ad
nos captiva Faliscis I venit ? et hoc ipsum littera prisca docet). If this
be true, the shrine was erected after the destruction of Falerii in 241 B.C.
The terms parva delubra and Minervium should indicate that this
shrine was not an aedes sacra but only a sacellum. If so, Ovid's statement
(see above) that the day of dedication was 19th March is an error, due
to the confusion of this sacellum-which would have no natale marked
on the calendar-with the temple of Minerva on the Aventine (HJ
226-227;
Rosch. ii. 2984-2985; WR 253;
Gilb. ii. 233-235, and other
literature cited in these places).