At the back of the ruins of the temple are the remains of the Basilica
Opimia. Part of the ground-plan is shown on a fragment of the marble
map of Rome, with a fragment of a basilica behind. On examination of
the ruins, the two buildings can be distinctly made out.
In front are the ruins of the steps and portico, with the cella
behind. There seems to have been at the back of the cella an entrance
into the basilica, both being closed with independent doors. The
marble threshold of the temple is _in situ_, and upon it is cut a
_caduceus_, the emblem of Concord, which was once filled in with
bronze; parallel to this, but distinct, is the marble threshold of the
basilica, with the holes where the pivots of the doors turned. Under
the podium of the basilica is a long narrow vault of _opus incertum_,
but it does _not_ lead into the Tabularium, that being built long
afterwards, A.U.C. 675, as the old inscription records, B.C. 78. It
was probably the place where the utensils for the temple were
deposited. Some of the marble decorations of the basilica still
remain; and this was no doubt the hall used when the Senate are spoken
of as having sat in the Temple of Concord. "The Senate assembled in
the building near the Temple of Concord" (Dion Cassius, lviii. 2). "In
this temple, in which, whilst I was advising the Senate, you placed
around it armed men" (Cicero, "2 Phil." vii. and viii.). "Here, in
this Cella of Concord, on the slope of the Capitol."
It may be that this is the basilica spoken of in later times as the
Basilica Argentaria, probably taking that name from being frequented
by the silversmiths. It was restored, after a fire, by Septimius
Severus, and the inscription quoted is probably of his date. In A.D.
731-741, Pope Gregory III. turned the remains into a Christian church,
which exists no longer. In 1817, three inscriptions were found here,
referring to the temple and basilica. Cicero ("Per Sest." lxvii.) tell
us "that the monuments of L. Opimius in the Forum were very much
frequented."
A Temple of Concord seems to have been decorated with many statues,
but there is nothing to show whether it was that of Camillus on the
Capitol, or Opimius's.
"Piston also made the statues of Mars and Mercury, which are in the
Temple of Concord at Rome." "Sthenius made the statues of Ceres,
Jupiter, and Minerva, which are now in the Temple of Concord."
"Augustus consecrated in the Temple of Concord, as something
marvellous, four figures of elephants made of obsidian stone." "Also,
a picture of Marsyas bound by Leuxis" (Pliny, xxxiv. 19, xxxv. 36,
xxxvi. 67).
"Vitellius left the palace to lay down the ensigns of sovereignty in
the Temple of Concord" (Tacitus, "H." iii. 68).
_To the left is_