Saepta Julia

The Saepta Julia was a building in the Campus Martius of Rome, where citizens gathered to cast votes. The building was conceived by Julius Caesar and dedicated by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa in 26 BCE. The building replaced an older structure, called the Ovile, built as a place for the comitia tributa to gather to cast votes. The Saepta Julia can be seen on the Forma Urbis Romae, a map of the city of Rome as it existed in the early 3rd century CE. Part of the original wall of the Saepta Julia can still be seen right next to the Pantheon. History The conception of the Saepta Julia, which also goes by Saepta or Porticus Saeptorum, began during the reign of Julius Caesar. It took the form of a quadriporticus, an architectural feature made popular by Caesar. After Caesar's assassination in 44 BCE, work continued on projects that Caesar had set into motion. Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, who had supported Caesar before his death, and subsequently aligned with his successor Octavian, took on the continuation of the Saepta Julia building project. The building was finally completed and dedicated by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa in 26 BCE. Agrippa also decorated the building with marble tablets and Greek paintings. The Great Fire of Rome led to its destruction in 80 CE, and was rebuilt sometime before the reign of Domitian. Restoration also took place under Hadrian, as is evidenced by brick-work and literary sources. The building is also attested on a post-Constantine bronze collar of a slave, but there is no known mention of the building in the Middle Ages.