| Votive altar dedicated to Tutela. MNAT 6702. |
In addition to the worship area of the
Provincial Forum complex, Tàrraco had other temples, which
we know of through inscriptions, coins and written sources.
We know of the Temple of Augustus from
coins minted in Tarraco and the writings of Tacitus (who tells
us that authorization was given for its construction in the year
15 AD). It was long thought to have been located in the Provincial
Forum. However, various factors now point to the possibility of
it being in the Colonial Forum. These factors include the chronology
of the Provincial Forum, the evidence of various inscriptions
related to the Imperial cult reused in the area of the early-Christian
Necropolis, near the Colonial Forum, and the discovery in the
area of a collection of Imperial statues.
Various elements tell us of other temples
in Tarraco, although at present we do not know where they were
located. The two votive altars found in this room are an example.
One contains a dedication to a builder
called Quintus Attius Messor, who, at his own expense,
painted and restored the exedra and facade of the, at that
time, rather deteriorated Temple of Minerva.
The inscription on the other refers to
a person called Baba who took part in the construction
of the Temple of Tutela. There are also several fragments of relief,
possibly part of a trophy, although unfortunately we do not know
their origin

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