Temples are probably among the most impressive structures left behind by the Romans. There are tons of literature about which columns were used and what the decorative ornaments mean. An important element for the game is the arrangement of the columns. In this temple, the columns are half in the wall and not visible. This construction is called: pseudoperipteral. Whereas the Greek temples built the columns with a distance to the walls.
RESEARCH
Actually, I always found temples boring buildings, until I visited the Maison Carre in Nimes (France) for the purpose of researching this game.
This almost completely preserved temple takes your breath away. Beautiful decorations, gigantic high columns and almost everything in original condition.
If you are in the south of France, you should definitely visit Nimes. The old town is extremely clean, small stores invite you to store and the inhabitants are incredibly friendly. In Nimes you can see the Maison Carre as well as the gigantic amphitheater.
Arena in Nimes (France)
Right next to the arena, which you should definitely visit with an audio guide, is a top modern Roman museum that is also highly recommended. You can see there the development before the arrival of the Romans until the collapse of Western Rome with reference to the city of Nimes.
If you are more in northwestern Europe and want to see a temple, it is best to go to the Xanten Archaeological Park. There you will find a partially reconstructed temple. The so-called harbor temple. Although you don’t see much, you can see right away how gigantic this temple must have looked. For copyright reasons, I am not allowed to show any photos here.
The temple built into the game should look as realistic as possible. Therefore, the building shell is exactly the same as the Maison Carre in Nimes. However, to avoid copyright infringement, I have adapted essential elements. So I used less columns than in the original and took a different kind of columns. There is also a small opening in the wall at the back with a small statue, which does not exist in the temple in Nimes. Also the two lion busts never existed like this. But if you build the temple in the game, you at least have an exact copy in terms of scale.
IS A VISIT TO NIMES WORTHWHILE?
Absolutely. Nimes is a beautiful and very well-kept city. Although the city has a lot to offer, the world-famous Roman aqueduct “Pont du Gare” or the enormous theater of Orange are still to be seen in the immediate vicinity. Under the central square in the Stat, it has a large parking garage, so you don’t have to walk far to the hotels, if you have booked in the center.
Augustus Tempel
A second temple that will be available in the game is the Temple of Augustus.
Again, I took the dimensions from an original temple, the one from the city of Pula in Croatia. I took this temple, because I assumed that it is a little smaller than the Maison Carre from Nimes and therefore could be an optimal intermediate stage between the Gallo-Roman temples and the Maison Carre. However, it turned out that both temples are somewhat the same size. The Maison Carre is a bit more massive, but the temple from Pula is a bit taller.
I’ve never been to Pula, although it’s on my to-do list. But if you look at the photos of the temple, it pulls you magically under its spell. A building that you must have seen.
So that I do not get problems with the copyright, I have changed some essential things. I used square columns instead of round columns at the corners and the columns at the front are slightly arched instead of straight. Also the statues do not correspond to those of the original. Thus, you have an exact copy in terms of size, but externally it is a mix of different Roman temples.
You can find the construction of this temple as a game asset on my YouTube channel: Time-Lapse Video of the Augustus Temple
TEMPLE COMPLEX ON SCHÖNBÜHL
Besides the two “normal” temples, I really wanted to have a larger temple complex in the game (i.e. one with a nice portico around the temple). For this, none was better suited than the temple complex on Schönbühl near Augusta Raurica [Link to Augusta Raurica]. As a student I visited Augusta Raurica for the first time and was amazed by the gigantic retaining walls on the side of the complex. Today you don’t see much of the temple complex. It is a childhood dream to recreate this building in 3D.
View from the beautiful theater in Augusta Raurica towards the temple complex. Behind the stairs you can see the base of the temple where excavations are in progress.
In rebuilding the temple, I relied on the following research paper [click here]. The appearance of the temple has been reinterpreted again and again by researchers. I deliberately chose an outdated version by R. Laur (1937), because the columns are arranged differently from the temples used in the game so far and thus bring some variety. Also, a small access or service staircase has been added to the back of the temple, which certainly did not exist like this. It is supposed to make the building a bit more realistic. However, I still don’t understand what function the portico has. So there is an outer walkway and an inner walkway. The purpose of the outer walkway is a mystery to me. To make the portico not look so monotonous, I added a few partitions. Also, the outer retaining wall is held by supports that did not exist in this way. The huge retaining wall on the side is smaller in the game than in reality, because I made the hill on which the temple stands only half as high.
This is what the temple complex might look like if it were still standing todayIn the picture just above this text, you can see that the theater is not enclosed by a straight wall, but there is a slightly curved wall behind it. This has two reasons:
- Originally, an arena for gladiator fights stood here. Therefore, you can still see a part of the oval arena on the picture.
- North of the Alps, respectively in Gaul, the stages of the theaters were usually not closed off by a wall, but open. Mostly a temple stood opposite. Thus, the theater could also be used for religious purposes, since one looked from the theater directly to the temple.
Researchers looking for temples in the region of Gaul only have to look in view of the theaters, since they were usually opposite.
SMALL ROMAN TEMPLE
So that players can reach religious buildings in the city even with less money, I really wanted to have a small temple in the game. However, I researched for a very long time and did not find one that I could replicate. Villa Rusticas sometimes had a small courtyard temple. But those are too small for my purposes. Therefore, I have included a temple that is just my imagination. It is not based on any real existing building.
Small fantasy temple
CONclusion
How the religion system exactly will work is not yet clear. I’ve never been a big fan of bonuses you got because god XY was gracious to you. But on the Discordserver [Link: https://discord.gg/anpNbRS6eC] there are already some users who have brought some very good ideas. Maybe you have a good idea how the topic religion, which was very important for the Romans, can be integrated into the game without it becoming unrealistic. I look forward to your comments on the topic of religion.
