The Portico Dii Consentes (Italian: Portico degli Déi Consenti) is formed by the row of columns located on the far west side of the Roman Forum. The Porticus Deorum Consentium was also known as the Porticus of the Twelve Gods or of the Harmonious Gods.
Portico Dii Consentes in the Roman Forum
In 1834, a building was discovered on the west side of the Temple of Saturn. It consisted of eight rooms with a portico preceded by a number of columns. Below the portico, there were a number of tabernas, a type of open store rooms. The monument was restored in 1858.
The portico now consists of 12 columns, of which, however, only seven are original.
It is thought that six of the eight rooms were used to display the statues of the 12 most important Roman Gods (or “Council of the Gods”) in pairs. These were Jupiter and Juno, Neptune and Minerva, Apollo and Diana, Mars and Venus, Vulcan and Vesta and finally Mercury and Ceres.
The inscription on the portico recalls that both the statues and the building itself were restored in 367 by order of Prefect Vettio Agorio Pretestato. At the time it was common practice to restore a pagan monument to its former glory and thus fight the spread of the increasingly powerful Christian religion.
The tabernas, the architrave and the Corinthian capitals depicting trophies date from an earlier period, however.
Address, opening hours and admission
The Basilica di Massenzio is located along the Clivo di Venere Felice inside the Foro Romano. The official address is that of the Forum Romanum itself. The opening hours and the entrance fee are those of the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Palatine.