Tabularium

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Image:ForumPalazzzoSenatorioTabularium.jpg

The Tabularium was the official records office of ancient Rome, and also housed the offices of many city officials. Situated within the Forum Romanum, 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. Before it was the Temples of Vespasian & Concord, as well as the Rostra and the rest of the forum. Nowadays the Tabularium is only accessible from within the Capitoline Museum.

The building was constructed originally around 78 BC, possibly by order of Sulla or maybe even Pompey the Great. It was later restored and renovated during the reign of the Emperor Claudius, about 46 AD.

The building itself had a facade of peperino (tufa) and travertine blocks. The interior vaults are of concrete. The back facade, which faces into the Forum towards the ruins of Temple of Julius Caesar, consisted of three stories, the upper two were probably stuccoed. The first was largely blank with small doors and windows; the second features a partially preserved Doric arcade; the third (no longer extant) had a high Corinthian order colonnade. This triple story effect with a different order on each story had a strong influence on later architecture, including the Colosseum.

The building, which affords an excellent panoramic view over the Forum Romanum, can be accessed from the Campidoglio on the Capitoline Hill.

"Tabularium" was the general term for any building containing records. There were a number of other tabularia scattered around the city of Rome.bs:Tabularium de:Tabularium nl:Tabularium pl:Tabularium pt:Tabularium ru:Табуларий sv:Tabularium