Saepta Julia

The Saepta Julia was a building in the Campus Martius of Rome, where citizens gathered to cast votes.

The building replaced an older structure, called the Ovile, built as a place for the comitia tributa to gather to cast votes.

[1] 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 AD.

[2] 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.

[6] 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 AD.

Located on the Campus Martius, between the Baths of Agrippa and the Serapeum, the Saepta Julia was a rectangular porticus complex, which extended along the west side of the Via Lata to the Via di S. Marco.

A portion of the western wall survives, and is located beside the Pantheon, and suggests that it was made of brick-faced concrete, and covered in marble.

[18] Statius and Martial report that it was used intermittently as a public space for Roman citizens, as well as a market for luxury goods.