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Italy- Pompeii- The BasilacaBASILICA
Forum of Pompeii c. 120 B.C. These more massive columns are from the basilica, the most important public building in Pompeii. Constructed prior to the Roman period, the basilica had three aisles and five entrance doors onto the forum. In the rear we see a two-tiered colonnade which has columns in the Doric style on the bottom and slender Ionic columns on top of a cross beam. In Pompeii many columns were made of brick and covered with stucco.
BASILICA (VIII,1,1)
Built in the second half of the 2nd cent. BC, as part of the plan to create monuments throughout the city. It has a rectangular layout, with three naves, with a ceiling sloping straight down in both directions from the central columns and half columns at the top of the walls, where there are still remains of decorations in ‘first style’: at the back is the tribunal, where the magistrates sat, reached by a wooden staircase. The building was dedicated to administering justice and for business negotiations.
Peter Wissing
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Fuengirola- Roman ComplexThe complex was discovered in 1970 when the town of Fuengirola was making a new railroad, and is dated back to the I and V century.
The excavation area consist of 2 areas, Industrial and Termal zone.
The Industrial zone consist of 2 large living rooms, and 8 columns in a pair of 2 series with 4 columns. Within the Industrial area and to the north there are 4 central pillar ovens and a 5th smaller one. All these represents the access corridor (praefurnium) and combustion chamber. The ovens are made basically from Amphoras and common ceramics.
The Termal zone consist of several units corresponding to heated rooms, and several other rooms which not yet have been determined. The Termal is ruled by a large square in which there have been circular swimming pool with a diameter of 4,70 m, deep 1,50 m, and with 4 small steps. There has also been a porched room witk mosaics and 2 ovens ((Praefurnium) to heat op the thermaes.
Yacimiento romano, descubierto en 1970 mientras se realizaban las obras de una nueva línea de ferrocarril.
En este paraje, después de diversas excavaciones, se han hallado valiosos restos arqueológicos, entre los que cabe mencionar una escultura realizada en mármol, conocida popularmente como la venus de Fuengirola, una pequeña factoría para salar el pescado y un edificio termal de pequeñas dimensiones
El yacimiento se ubica en la margen derecha del arroyo Pajares (en la confluencia con la variante de Fuengirola), entre la vía del tren Fuengirola-Málaga y el Barrio de los Pacos. El complejo arqueológico se encuentra dividido, artificialmente, por la referida carretera en dos grandes áreas, norte y sur.
El terreno excavado, situado en el área sur del yacimiento, presenta dos espacios constructivos: zona industrial y zona termal.
La zona industrial se compone de dos grandes habitaciones, desarrollándose, en la más meridional, un conjunto de ocho piletas en dos series de cuatro; más al sur una extensa nave cuya planta permanece aún incompleta. Las estructuras existentes presentan diversas huellas de reparaciones y reutilizaciones. Dentro del complejo industrial, y al noreste de las habitaciones reseñadas, se ubican cuatro hornos de pilar central y un quinto de pequeñas dimensiones. Todos ellos presentan corredor de acceso (praefurnium) y cámara de combustión. El material producido en dichos hornos se compone, básicamente, de Ánforas y de cerámica común.
En la zona termal, situada en el extremo noreste del área sur del yacimiento, presenta varias dependencias, correspondientes a habitaciones calefactadas, y otras estancias, aún no definidas, que se desarrollan hacia el norte y oeste. De todo el conjunto cabría resaltar la sala de planta cuadrada en la que se inscribe una piscina circular de 4,70 metros de diámetro y 1,50 metros de profundidad, con cuatro pequeñas exedras-accesos. Así mismo habría que indicar la presencia de una sala porticada decorada con mosaicos y de dos hornos (Praefurnium) para la calefacción de las termas. La cronología del yacimiento se estima entre los siglos I y V de nuestra era.
Peter Wissing
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Fuengirola- Roman ComplexThe complex was discovered in 1970 when the town of Fuengirola was making a new railroad, and is dated back to the I and V century.
The excavation area consist of 2 areas, Industrial and Termal zone.
The Industrial zone consist of 2 large living rooms, and 8 columns in a pair of 2 series with 4 columns. Within the Industrial area and to the north there are 4 central pillar ovens and a 5th smaller one. All these represents the access corridor (praefurnium) and combustion chamber. The ovens are made basically from Amphoras and common ceramics.
The Termal zone consist of several units corresponding to heated rooms, and several other rooms which not yet have been determined. The Termal is ruled by a large square in which there have been circular swimming pool with a diameter of 4,70 m, deep 1,50 m, and with 4 small steps. There has also been a porched room witk mosaics and 2 ovens ((Praefurnium) to heat op the thermaes.
Yacimiento romano, descubierto en 1970 mientras se realizaban las obras de una nueva línea de ferrocarril.
En este paraje, después de diversas excavaciones, se han hallado valiosos restos arqueológicos, entre los que cabe mencionar una escultura realizada en mármol, conocida popularmente como la venus de Fuengirola, una pequeña factoría para salar el pescado y un edificio termal de pequeñas dimensiones
El yacimiento se ubica en la margen derecha del arroyo Pajares (en la confluencia con la variante de Fuengirola), entre la vía del tren Fuengirola-Málaga y el Barrio de los Pacos. El complejo arqueológico se encuentra dividido, artificialmente, por la referida carretera en dos grandes áreas, norte y sur.
El terreno excavado, situado en el área sur del yacimiento, presenta dos espacios constructivos: zona industrial y zona termal.
La zona industrial se compone de dos grandes habitaciones, desarrollándose, en la más meridional, un conjunto de ocho piletas en dos series de cuatro; más al sur una extensa nave cuya planta permanece aún incompleta. Las estructuras existentes presentan diversas huellas de reparaciones y reutilizaciones. Dentro del complejo industrial, y al noreste de las habitaciones reseñadas, se ubican cuatro hornos de pilar central y un quinto de pequeñas dimensiones. Todos ellos presentan corredor de acceso (praefurnium) y cámara de combustión. El material producido en dichos hornos se compone, básicamente, de Ánforas y de cerámica común.
En la zona termal, situada en el extremo noreste del área sur del yacimiento, presenta varias dependencias, correspondientes a habitaciones calefactadas, y otras estancias, aún no definidas, que se desarrollan hacia el norte y oeste. De todo el conjunto cabría resaltar la sala de planta cuadrada en la que se inscribe una piscina circular de 4,70 metros de diámetro y 1,50 metros de profundidad, con cuatro pequeñas exedras-accesos. Así mismo habría que indicar la presencia de una sala porticada decorada con mosaicos y de dos hornos (Praefurnium) para la calefacción de las termas. La cronología del yacimiento se estima entre los siglos I y V de nuestra era.
Peter Wissing
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Fuengirola- Roman ComplexThe complex was discovered in 1970 when the town of Fuengirola was making a new railroad, and is dated back to the I and V century.
The excavation area consist of 2 areas, Industrial and Termal zone.
The Industrial zone consist of 2 large living rooms, and 8 columns in a pair of 2 series with 4 columns. Within the Industrial area and to the north there are 4 central pillar ovens and a 5th smaller one. All these represents the access corridor (praefurnium) and combustion chamber. The ovens are made basically from Amphoras and common ceramics.
The Termal zone consist of several units corresponding to heated rooms, and several other rooms which not yet have been determined. The Termal is ruled by a large square in which there have been circular swimming pool with a diameter of 4,70 m, deep 1,50 m, and with 4 small steps. There has also been a porched room witk mosaics and 2 ovens ((Praefurnium) to heat op the thermaes.
Yacimiento romano, descubierto en 1970 mientras se realizaban las obras de una nueva línea de ferrocarril.
En este paraje, después de diversas excavaciones, se han hallado valiosos restos arqueológicos, entre los que cabe mencionar una escultura realizada en mármol, conocida popularmente como la venus de Fuengirola, una pequeña factoría para salar el pescado y un edificio termal de pequeñas dimensiones
El yacimiento se ubica en la margen derecha del arroyo Pajares (en la confluencia con la variante de Fuengirola), entre la vía del tren Fuengirola-Málaga y el Barrio de los Pacos. El complejo arqueológico se encuentra dividido, artificialmente, por la referida carretera en dos grandes áreas, norte y sur.
El terreno excavado, situado en el área sur del yacimiento, presenta dos espacios constructivos: zona industrial y zona termal.
La zona industrial se compone de dos grandes habitaciones, desarrollándose, en la más meridional, un conjunto de ocho piletas en dos series de cuatro; más al sur una extensa nave cuya planta permanece aún incompleta. Las estructuras existentes presentan diversas huellas de reparaciones y reutilizaciones. Dentro del complejo industrial, y al noreste de las habitaciones reseñadas, se ubican cuatro hornos de pilar central y un quinto de pequeñas dimensiones. Todos ellos presentan corredor de acceso (praefurnium) y cámara de combustión. El material producido en dichos hornos se compone, básicamente, de Ánforas y de cerámica común.
En la zona termal, situada en el extremo noreste del área sur del yacimiento, presenta varias dependencias, correspondientes a habitaciones calefactadas, y otras estancias, aún no definidas, que se desarrollan hacia el norte y oeste. De todo el conjunto cabría resaltar la sala de planta cuadrada en la que se inscribe una piscina circular de 4,70 metros de diámetro y 1,50 metros de profundidad, con cuatro pequeñas exedras-accesos. Así mismo habría que indicar la presencia de una sala porticada decorada con mosaicos y de dos hornos (Praefurnium) para la calefacción de las termas. La cronología del yacimiento se estima entre los siglos I y V de nuestra era.
Peter Wissing
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|
Fuengirola- Roman ComplexThe complex was discovered in 1970 when the town of Fuengirola was making a new railroad, and is dated back to the I and V century.
The excavation area consist of 2 areas, Industrial and Termal zone.
The Industrial zone consist of 2 large living rooms, and 8 columns in a pair of 2 series with 4 columns. Within the Industrial area and to the north there are 4 central pillar ovens and a 5th smaller one. All these represents the access corridor (praefurnium) and combustion chamber. The ovens are made basically from Amphoras and common ceramics.
The Termal zone consist of several units corresponding to heated rooms, and several other rooms which not yet have been determined. The Termal is ruled by a large square in which there have been circular swimming pool with a diameter of 4,70 m, deep 1,50 m, and with 4 small steps. There has also been a porched room witk mosaics and 2 ovens ((Praefurnium) to heat op the thermaes.
Yacimiento romano, descubierto en 1970 mientras se realizaban las obras de una nueva línea de ferrocarril.
En este paraje, después de diversas excavaciones, se han hallado valiosos restos arqueológicos, entre los que cabe mencionar una escultura realizada en mármol, conocida popularmente como la venus de Fuengirola, una pequeña factoría para salar el pescado y un edificio termal de pequeñas dimensiones
El yacimiento se ubica en la margen derecha del arroyo Pajares (en la confluencia con la variante de Fuengirola), entre la vía del tren Fuengirola-Málaga y el Barrio de los Pacos. El complejo arqueológico se encuentra dividido, artificialmente, por la referida carretera en dos grandes áreas, norte y sur.
El terreno excavado, situado en el área sur del yacimiento, presenta dos espacios constructivos: zona industrial y zona termal.
La zona industrial se compone de dos grandes habitaciones, desarrollándose, en la más meridional, un conjunto de ocho piletas en dos series de cuatro; más al sur una extensa nave cuya planta permanece aún incompleta. Las estructuras existentes presentan diversas huellas de reparaciones y reutilizaciones. Dentro del complejo industrial, y al noreste de las habitaciones reseñadas, se ubican cuatro hornos de pilar central y un quinto de pequeñas dimensiones. Todos ellos presentan corredor de acceso (praefurnium) y cámara de combustión. El material producido en dichos hornos se compone, básicamente, de Ánforas y de cerámica común.
En la zona termal, situada en el extremo noreste del área sur del yacimiento, presenta varias dependencias, correspondientes a habitaciones calefactadas, y otras estancias, aún no definidas, que se desarrollan hacia el norte y oeste. De todo el conjunto cabría resaltar la sala de planta cuadrada en la que se inscribe una piscina circular de 4,70 metros de diámetro y 1,50 metros de profundidad, con cuatro pequeñas exedras-accesos. Así mismo habría que indicar la presencia de una sala porticada decorada con mosaicos y de dos hornos (Praefurnium) para la calefacción de las termas. La cronología del yacimiento se estima entre los siglos I y V de nuestra era.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Forum Romanum- Basilica Emilia- Frisco with everyday lifeThe Basilica Julia was built in 54-48 BCE by Julius Caesar as a part of his reorganisation of the Forum Romanum, where it replaced the Basilica Sempronia. It is located on the S. side of the main square of the Forum Romanum, between the Temple of Saturn and the Temple of Castor and Pollux.
Julius Caesar started construction in 54 BCE, but it was still unfinished at his death. It was built on the site of the Basilica Sempronia and a series of shops, the tabernae veteres, that were all demolished.
Augustus finished the building after Caesar's death, but had to reconstruct it again shortly after, due to its destruction by fire in 9 BCE. It was dedicated again in 2 BCE, this time in the name of Gaius Caesar and Lucius Caesar, Augustus' designated heirs at the time.
The basilica was later damaged much by the fire in 283 CE, and restored a few years after by Diocletian. It was again destroyed when Alaric sacked the city in 410 CE.
The Basilica Julia was of huge proportions. The basilica rested on a low podium, seven steps high on the E. side and just one on the W. side, due to the sloping terrain. Of outer dimensions 101×49m, the central nave of the basilica was 82×18m. The four lateral aisles, two on each side, were two storeys high, with vaulted ceiling and arches decorated by semi-columns. The central nave was three storeys high.
A series of shops stood behind the basilica towards the Velabrum. A Temple of Augustus was also built in the area behind the basilica by Tiberius.
The function of the Basilica Julia was to house tribunals and other activities from the Forum when weather didn't permit outdoor meetings. The central nave probably divided in four by wooden removable structures to allow the hearing of more cases at a time. The basilica also housed some administrative offices of the city.
Game boards and graffiti are incised in the steps and in the pavement of the side aisles by idling visitors to the Forum. Some of this can still be seen on the side of the main square of the forum.
The building was in ruin already in late Antiquity, and subsequently stripped of all reusable material, i.e., almost everything.
Very little of the building remains now. The basic floor plan can be seen, and some parts of brick walls remain towards the Temple of Saturn, some bases of statues still in their original position, and the four step podium remain. The brick column bases are reconstructions of the 19th century.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Forum Romanum- Part of the Forum of Caesar 0The Forum of Caesar, in addition to being one of the most evident monuments of self-representation of political power, was constructed as an extension to the Roman Forum. Caesar himself behaved like a greco-oriental sovereign, escorted by a procession of elephants and, against every republican norm, once received the Senate sitting in the center of the temple. The dictator also had placed in front the temple a statue of himself riding Bucefalo, the celebrated horse of Alexander the Great and symbol of absolute power. The Temple of Venus Genetrix, intentionally placed at the end of the piazza was the unifying and conclusive element to the architectural complex. This strict centralized vision corresponded to the ideological function, following the propaganda of the Hellenistic sanctuaries.
The choice of the Forum site is also significant: the future dictator didn't want to be far from the central power, represented in the Curia, seat of the Senate. In fact, not long before Caesar's death, the Senate agreed to reconstruct the Curia on the site.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Forum Romanum- Part of the Forum of Caesar 1The Forum of Caesar, in addition to being one of the most evident monuments of self-representation of political power, was constructed as an extension to the Roman Forum. Caesar himself behaved like a greco-oriental sovereign, escorted by a procession of elephants and, against every republican norm, once received the Senate sitting in the center of the temple. The dictator also had placed in front the temple a statue of himself riding Bucefalo, the celebrated horse of Alexander the Great and symbol of absolute power. The Temple of Venus Genetrix, intentionally placed at the end of the piazza was the unifying and conclusive element to the architectural complex. This strict centralized vision corresponded to the ideological function, following the propaganda of the Hellenistic sanctuaries.
The choice of the Forum site is also significant: the future dictator didn't want to be far from the central power, represented in the Curia, seat of the Senate. In fact, not long before Caesar's death, the Senate agreed to reconstruct the Curia on the site.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Forum Romanum- Part of the Forum of Caesar and a statue of CeasarThe Forum of Caesar, in addition to being one of the most evident monuments of self-representation of political power, was constructed as an extension to the Roman Forum. Caesar himself behaved like a greco-oriental sovereign, escorted by a procession of elephants and, against every republican norm, once received the Senate sitting in the center of the temple. The dictator also had placed in front the temple a statue of himself riding Bucefalo, the celebrated horse of Alexander the Great and symbol of absolute power. The Temple of Venus Genetrix, intentionally placed at the end of the piazza was the unifying and conclusive element to the architectural complex. This strict centralized vision corresponded to the ideological function, following the propaganda of the Hellenistic sanctuaries.
The choice of the Forum site is also significant: the future dictator didn't want to be far from the central power, represented in the Curia, seat of the Senate. In fact, not long before Caesar's death, the Senate agreed to reconstruct the Curia on the site.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Forum Romanum- The basilica of Majencius front and backThe Basilica of Maxentius (Basilica Maxentii) or the Basilica of Constantine (Basilica Constantini) was the last of the great civilian basilicas on the Roman Forum. The ruins of the basilica is located between the Temple of Amor and Roma and the Temple of Romulus, on the Via Sacra.
The construction of the basilica was initiated by Maxentius in 308 CE, and finished by Constantine after he had defeated Maxentius in the battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 CE. As other similar buildings, it was destined for commercial and administrative activities. It is likely that the basilica housed the offices of the Prefect of the City, the highest imperial official in late antiquity.
The site chosen for the basilica was on the Velia, a low ridge connecting the Esquiline Hill and the Palatine Hill. Large parts of the Velia was levelled in preparation for the construction of the basilica. Literary sources tell that earlier the site was occupied by the Horrea Piperatica, the central market and storage facility for pepper and spices, built in the time of Domitian. Also on the site was a sanctuary of the penates publici which had to be moved.
The Basilica of Maxentius is built with arches, which is very atypical. All the other public basilicas had flat ceilings supported by wooden beams. The construction techniques used borrowed more from the great imperial baths than from the traditional basilica.
The basilica is one of the most impressive buildings on the Forum Romanum. The ground plan is rectangular, oriented E.-W., covering an area of 100×65m divided into a central nave and to lateral aisles and an atrium on the E. side where the original entrance was.
The central nave measured 80×25m and was covered by three groin vaults with a maximum height of 35m, supported by eight monolithic Corinthian columns of 14.5m. Each of the two aisles was made up of three interconnected coffered vaults, 20.5m wide and 24m high, communicating with the central nave by three huge openings.
Light was provided by two rows of three large windows in five of the six lateral vaults, and by windows in the sides of the now collapsed cross vaults over the central nave. The windows in two of the vaults in the surviving N. side of the building give a good idea of the amount of light inside the building.
The floor in both the central and the lateral spaces were a geometric pattern of squares with circles and lozenges of multi-coloured marble, similar to the floor in the Pantheon.
The walls were in opus latericium, originally with a marble veneer. The vaults were in opus caementicium with a gilded stucco finish. The roof was covered with gilded bronze tiles.
The entrance of the original project of Maxentius was to the east, from a branch of the old Via Sacra behind the Temple of Amor and Roma. It lead into an elongated atrium, connected to the central nave and the lateral aisles by five gateways.
In the W. end was a huge apse, 20m in diameter, where a colossal seated statue of Maxentius stood. This statue was later changed to look like Constantine. The statue was an acrolith (the head, hands and feet were of marble, while the rest was of other materials), and the remains of the statue were found in 1486 in the apse.
Constantine changed the plan when he took over the unfinished basilica. He had a another entrance added on the S. side, on the Via Sacra, where a monumental stairway led to a porch of four porphyry columns and via three double doorways into the central part of the S. aisle. In front of this new entrance, in the central vault of the N. aisle, another apse was added, smaller than the apse in the W. end. In back of this apse a niche held a standing statue of Constantine, and smaller, square-headed niches, two rows of four niches on each side, which might have housed a gallery of Constantine's relatives and lieutenants. This room could be closed by wooden doors, and it is likely the central part of the office of the Prefect of the City was there.
Of the original building only the three vaults of the N. aisle remain, devoid of all decorations. The vaults of the S. and central nave probably collapsed under an earthquake in c. 847. The floor plan is clearly visible, however, and the remaining structures give a vivid impression of the grandeur of the original edifice.
The remains of the Colossal Statue of Constantine I are in the courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori on the Campidoglio, and one of the columns from the central nave was moved to the Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore in 1614. The remaining columns have disappeared. The bronze tiles from the roof were reused for the first Basilica of Saint Peter.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Forum Romanum- The Forum of TrajanThe Forum of Trajan has a more complicated foundation than the other Imperial Forums. The piazza is closed, with the Basilica Ulpia. At the back of this the Trajan column was elevated between the two Libraries, and it was believed that the complex concluded with the Temple dedicated to Divo Trajan. One entered the piazza through a curved arch passageway, a type of arch of triumph, in the center of a convex wall decorated with jutting columns.
An equestrian statue of Trajan occupied the center of the piazza, which was bordered by porticos with decorated attics-similar to the Forum of Augustus but with Caryatids instead of Daci. Spacious covered exedras opened up behind the porticos. The facade of the basilica, that closed the piazza, also had an attic decorated with Daci statues. The inside of the Basilica had 5 naves with columns along the short sides and apses at both ends; the very spacious central nave had two floors.
The Trajan Column was closed in a small courtyard, bordered by porticos opposite of the Library's facade. These were constituted of large rooms with niches in the walls and decorated with two types of columns.
The temple was probably of an enormous dimension and probably closed by a fenced portico. Today's archeological excavations in the Forum of Trajan have demonstrated that the Temple of Trajan's position is not what it was hypothesized to be in the past. Archeological evidence has clarified the findings in the area to be Insulae- remains of houses rather than those from a temple structure. These findings lie underneath what is today the Province headquarters- the palazzo of Valentini, next to the Column's location.
Rather, the temple was probably situated exactly in the middle of the forum area, where excavation is now taking place.
The Forum of Trajan was utilized as a splendid area of representation for public ceremonies. We know, for example, that in 118 A.D. Adriano publicly burned tables with citizen's debts in the piazza, as a statement to the treasury.
Also, in the late epoch, exedras behind the lateral porticos were used to host poetry readings and conferences.
Court hearings and ceremonies for the freedom of slaves were probably held in the apses of the Basilica.
The Library was probably used as a sort of historical archive of the Roman state and also conserved republican annals.
The sculptural decorations in the various Forum spaces transmitted messages of imperial propaganda of Trajan.
Above all was the celebration of the Daci conquest and the victorious army with focus on the achievement of peace. The representation was sculpted into the walls with images of the conquests.
Images of cupids watering griffins on the entrance wall allude again to the peacefulness of the Empire's power.
The expansion and growth of the Empire, completed with the campaign towards the Orient and interrupted by the death of the Emperor, would have allowed Trajan to consider himself the new founder of Rome.
His representation as a hero is justified in his sepulcher in the base of the Column, in the heart of the city.
Forum of Trajan
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107 A.D. - Dacia (Romania) conquered and work begins;
January 15th 112 A.D. – Inauguration of the Forum and the Basilica Ulpia;
May 18th 113 A.D. – Inauguration of the Trajan Column;
117 A.D. – Trajan dies and the arch of triumph is ordered by the Senate;
125-138 A.D. – Probable dedication to the temple on behalf of Adrian.
Complex Area: 300x180 meters
uncovered piazza area: 120x90 meters
Area of the Basilica Ulpia: 180x60 meters
Height of Trajan's Column: 39.81 meters
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Napoli Museum- Sacrofaq and a woman from PompeiiPeter Wissing
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Italy- Napoli Museum- Small Bronze figures from PompeiiPeter Wissing
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Italy- Napoli Museum- The famous couple Paquio and wife from PompeiiPortrait of Paquio and His Wife
Pompeii, Wall Painting, c. A.D. 70
Another relevante contribution to the Naples Museum, and under many aspects a peculiar one, derived from the excavations of the cities buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. , mainly Herculaneum and Pompeii.
It was a sudden catastrophe which buried the cities under a layer of volcanic material, so that buildings, art works and often also remains of organic material have been miraculously preserved underground much better than on any other archaeological site, where gradual abandonment destruction have deprived us of most documents of its culture.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Napoli- Mount_vesuviusOn August 24 of 79 A.D., the area around Mount Vesuvius shook with a huge earthquake. The mountain's top split open and a monstrous cloud raced upward. The inhabitants of Pompeii were showered with ash, stones, and pumice. A river of mud was beginning to bury the city of Herculaneum. The uncle of Pliny the Younger, known as Pliny the Elder, was a commander of a fleet of war ships at Misenum (see map). He decided to use his ships to rescue people close to the volcano. The nephew describes the huge cloud towering over the area (Radice, 1969):
. . . its general appearance can best be expressed as being like a pine rather than any other tree, for it rose to a great height on a sort of trunk and then split off into branches, I imagine because it was thrust upwards by the first blast and then left unsupported as the pressure subsided, or else it was borne down by its own weight so that it spread out and gradually dispersed. Sometimes it looked white, sometimes blotched and dirty, according to the amount of soil and ashes it carried with it. (p. 427)
Pliny the Elder's ship approached the shore near Pompeii.
Ashes were already falling, hotter and thicker as the ships drew near, followed by bits of pumice and blackened stones, charred and cracked by the flames . . . Meanwhile on Mount Vesuvius broad sheets of fire and leaping flames blazed at several points, their bright glare emphasized by the darkness of night. (pp. 429, 431)
But they could not land because the shore was blocked by volcanic debris, so they sailed south and landed at Stabiae. Hoping to quiet the frightened people, the uncle asked to be carried to the bath house. Afterward he lay down and ate. Next, hoping to quiet the inhabitants, he went to bed. The volcano did not do likewise, however.
By this time the courtyard giving access to his room was full of ashes mixed with pumice-stones, so that its level had risen, and if he had stayed in the room any longer he would never had got out. . . . They debated whether to stay indoors or take their chance in the open, for the buildings were now shaking with violent shocks, and seemed to be swaying to and fro as if they were torn from their foundations. Outside on the other hand, there was the danger of falling pumice-stones, even though these were light and porous. . . . As a protection against falling objects they put pillows on their heads tied down with cloths. (pp. 431, 433)
Finally, the uncle decided to leave. The level of ash and pumice-stone had risen to the point that a hasty departure seemed the best option.
. . . the flames and smell of sulphur which gave warning of the approaching fire drove the others to take flight and roused him to stand up . . . then [he] suddenly collapsed, I imagine because the dense fumes choked his breathing by blocking his windpipe which was constitutionally weak and narrow and often inflamed . . . his body was found intact and uninjured, still fully clothed and looking more like sleep than death. (p. 433)
Later, Pliny the Younger and his mother leave Misenam to escape from the approaching volcanic conflagration. They travel across country to avoid being trampled by the crowds of people on the road.
We also saw the sea sucked away and apparently forced back by the earthquake: at any rate it receded from the shore so that quantities of sea creatures were left stranded on dry sand. On the landward side a fearful black cloud was rent by forked and quivering bursts of flame, and parted to reveal great tongues of fire, like flashes of lightning magnified in size. . . . We had scarcely sat down to rest when darkness fell, not the dark of a moonless or cloudy night, but as if the lamp had been put out in a closed room. You could hear the shrieks of women, the wailing of infants, and the shouting of men; some were calling their parents, others their children or their wives, trying to recognize them by their voices. People bewailed their own fate or that of their relatives, and there were some who prayed for death in their terror of dying
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- a barFOOD AND WINE SHOP Via dell'Abbondanza Pompeii
The thermopolium was a shop selling wine and warm food. At this busy corner on the Via dell'Abbondanza, the food was kept in terra-cotta pots sunk in the serving counter. It could be eaten at the shop or taken out.Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- Bakery with its grain millBAKERY Strada Stabiana Pompeii
These are some mill-wheels which ground the flour in the bakery or pistrinum. The top part rotates around the bottom stationary stone.
HOUSE OF THE BAKER (VI,3,3)
This dates from the 2nd cent. BC, but the remodelling after the 62 AD earthquake converted the ground floor of the house into workrooms, while the residential function moved to the top floor, reached by the stairs to the right of the atrium entrance: it appears that work was not yet complete at the time of the eruption (79 AD). For a long time this was the only large bakery brought to light in Pompeii, among the 35 now known. The hortus (garden) contained the machinery for grinding wheat and for preparing and baking bread: the water basins, the vaulted oven, four millstones of lava rock on a base in opus incertum. In the open room on the right, two stone blocks supported the table on which the bread rested before baking, while the room to the left of the tablinum was the kitchen. The feed bin was against the wall of the stalls, which open onto the garden and Vico di Modesto: here it seems that a fully harnessed mule skeleton was found.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- Big House and house with drain in the cornerWhat strikes you most about Pompeii - and also Herculaneum for that matter - is that they are both very neatly laid-out cities, very elegant and very orderly. There was running water in the houses, as the numerous indoor fountains would testify. There were public baths - Roman style - with separate entrances for men and women; while the walls of both were decorated with terracotta statues, the women's baths were much more elegant with exquisite floral mosaics. There were separate dressing rooms called apodyterium, cold bath - frigidairium - warm bath - tepidarium - and hot bath - calidarium. The calidarium was heated by a system of double walls and a hollow floor, which provided circulation for hot air and steam. The large cold water basin has inscriptions with names of the donors who funded its construction. There was also the palaestra or the gymnasium and separate areas for ablutions. There were public latrines with running water channels. In fact, the baths take up quite a bit of space in Pompeii and Herculaneum, pointing to the fastidiousness of early Romans when it came to personal hygiene. In Herculaneum, there is even a bronze bath-tub that is still intact.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- BrothelSome of the most fascinating clues about the lives of the ancient peoples who made their lives in Pompeii can be found in the numerous brothels in the city. It is an indication of the prosperity of the city -- people had money to burn. Here is one example of the Pompeian "houses of ill repute". I chose this one because of its unusual architecture and fine frescoes.
Ancient Pompeii was full of erotic or pornographic frescoes, symbols, inscriptions, and even household items. The ancient Roman culture of the time was much more sexually permissive than most present-day cultures.
When the serious excavation of Pompeii began in the 18th century, a clash of the cultures was the result. A fresco on a wall that showed the ancient god of sex and fertility, Priapus with his extremely enlarged penis, was covered with plaster and only rediscovered because of rainfall in 1998.[1] In 1819, when king Francis I of Naples visited the exhibition at the National Museum with his wife and daughter, he was so embarrassed by the erotic artwork that he decided to have it locked away in a secret cabinet, accessible only to "people of mature age and respected morals." Re-opened, closed, re-opened again and then closed again for nearly 100 years, it was made briefly accessible again at the end of the 1960s (the time of the sexual revolution) and has finally been re-opened in the year 2000. Minors are not allowed entry to the once secret cabinet without a guardian or a written permission.As previously mentioned, some of the paintings and frescoes became immediately famous because they represented erotic, sometimes explicit, sexual scenes. One of the most curious buildings recovered was in fact a Lupanare (brothel), which had many erotic paintings and graffiti indicating the services available -- patrons only had to point to what they wanted. The Lupanare had 10 rooms (cubicula, 5 per floor), a balcony, and a latrina. It was one of the larger houses, perhaps the largest, but not the only brothel. The town seems to have been oriented to a warm consideration of sensual matters: on a wall of the Basilica (sort of a civil tribunal, thus frequented by many Roman tourists and travelers), an immortal inscription tells the foreigner, If anyone is looking for some tender love in this town, keep in mind that here all the girls are very friendly (loose translation).
The function of these pictures is not yet clear: some authors say that they indicate that the services of prostitutes were available on the upper floor of the house and could perhaps be a sort of advertising, while others prefer the hypothesis that their only purpose was to decorate the walls with joyful scenes (as these were in Roman culture). The Termae were, however, used in common by males and females, although baths in other areas (even within Pompeii) were often segregated by sex.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- Entrance 1AUGUST 23, A.D. 79. The day dawned bright and sunny as usual and seemed full of promise. The citizens of Pompeii went about their daily business, blissfully unaware of what destiny had in store for them. They were totally unprepared when late in the evening their world erupted in a pyroclastic flow - of molten lava, pumice, ash, hot stones and debris, suffocating, singeing, charring and melting everything that lay in its path as a river of fire gushed out in primordial fury down the slopes of Mount Vesuvius. Pompeii and its 20,000 inhabitants were buried alive in an instant.
"Ashes were already falling, hotter and thicker as the ships drew near, followed by bits of pumice and blackened stones, charred and cracked by the flames . . . Meanwhile on Mount Vesuvius broad sheets of fire and leaping flames blazed at several points, their bright glare emphasised by the darkness of night."
This is an excerpt from a live account of the events of that fateful day, recorded for posterity by Pliny the Younger, a Roman historian. At the time of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, the Roman fleet under the command of Pliny the Elder was stationed across the Bay of Naples. A foolhardy Pliny the Elder launched ships and sailed toward the erupting volcano for a closer look only to be suffocated to death. Pliny's nephew, known as Pliny the Younger, was with him on that day, but had stayed back at Misenum. He had witnessed the eruption and also received first-hand reports from those who were with his uncle in the latter's last moments.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- Entrance PORTA MARINA AND THE CITY WALLSPORTA MARINA AND THE CITY WALLS
Similar to a bastion, facing west, together with Porta Ercolano it is the most imposing of the seven gates of Pompeii. It takes its name from the fact that its road led to the sea. It has two barrel arches (round arch opening), later combined into a single, large barrel vault in opus caementicium. The ring of the walls visible today, already present in the 6th cent. BC, is over 3200 m long: it is generally a solid ring of wall, protected on the outside by a moat and inside by an embankment, atop which runs the patrol walkway. Twelve towers to the north, where the flat ground made Pompeii most vulnerable, also ensured its defense. Pompeii's definitive entry into the Roman orbit (with the Sullan colonization: 80 BC) reduced the importance of the walls, which were occasionally reused or destroyed to make room for houses and baths.
THE CITY WALLS
Pompeii rests on a plateau of Vesuvian lava, whose walls represented a solid natural protection, just the wall to the north were more vulnerable.
The ring of walls was 3220 m. long. Seven identified gates opened in the walls, while the existence of an eighth (Porta Capua) one was uncertain.
The materials used for the walls were mostly: Sarno stone and grey Nucerian tufo. At the beginning the walls were made of Vesuvian lava or ‘pappamonte’ blocks, later made of a double parallel row, than filled with stones and ground.
During the Samnite wars were built the fortifications with the ‘ad aggere’ system, with an embankment inner the city.
During the 3rd century B.C. was probably built an inner calcareous and tufo row, with buttresses and round the top of the walls ran a patrol walkway.
The last phase of construction of the fortifications was dated about the age before Sulla’s conquest: on the more vulnerable side of the walls guard towers in opus incertum were built, with regular distance.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- Entrance to the house of FaunoHOUSE OF THE FAUN (VI,12,2)
With its 3000m² it is the largest house in Pompeii: built over a previous dwelling at the beginning of the 2nd century BC, its current form is the result of subsequent alterations. The entrance on the left leads directly into the public section, the door on the right to the private rooms: an atrium whose roof is supported by four columns, stalls, latrine, baths, kitchen. In the entrance is the Latin message HAVE. The ‘first style’ decoration, the floors of sectile opus, and the mosaic threshold (now at the Naples Museum) highlight the dignity of this house, more similar to the aristocratic Roman domus than local upper class dwellings. In the center of the impluvium is a bronze statue of the ‘faun’ (2nd cent. BC: original in Naples); around it are rooms that held mosaic paintings on the floor and ‘first style’ decorations on the walls. Between the two porticoed gardens is the exedra, the core of the dwelling, with Corinthian columns, stuccoed and painted capitals, a splendid mosaic (now at the N
aples Museum) depicting the victory of Alexander the Great over Darius, King of Persia, which has helped to suggest a connection between the Macedonian ruler and the unknown, educated, and wealthy owner of the
FLOOR PLAN OF THE HOUSE OF THE FAUN Pompeii 2nd Century Courtesy of Professor Barbette Spaeth, Tulane University (Excerpted from Professor Spaeth's accompanying text) This house was among the largest and most elegant of the houses of Pompeii. It took up an entire city block (c. 80 m. long by 35 m. wide or 315 by 115 ft.) and was filled with beautiful works of art, including the famous mosaic depicting Alexander the Great at the Battle of Issus, and wall paintings of the First, Second and Fourth Styles. The decoration of the house is heavily influenced by Hellenistic models. The House of the Faun was originally built in the early second century. In this period, the house was focused around two atria, one a large Tuscan atrium (3), and the other a smaller tetrastyle atrium (10), while the back of the house had a large kitchen garden. The two-atria plan represented an attempt to separate the formal functions of the atrium, i.e., the reception of clients and conduct of business by the patron of the house, from its private functions, i.e., the course of everyday family life. This type of plan is an intermediate step between the simple atrium house, with a single atrium complex, and the atrium and peristyle house. Apparently, the two-atria plan did not prove ultimately satisfactory for the owners of the House of the Faun. In the late second century B.C. they added a peristyle (8) to the north of the original two-atria nucleus, along with a service quarter to the eastern side (12-16), and reception rooms to the north. The rear of the house contained the kitchen garden. To this later period of the house belong its wall decorations in First Style and its famous mosaics. Finally, another peristyle was added around the time of the Early Roman Colony (20), that is, in the early first century B.C. This peristyle included more reception rooms along the south side (17 & 18), and smaller rooms, perhaps for servants, to the north (22) . The center of the new peristyle was occupied by the kitchen garden (19). With these renovations, the house acquired a new focus around the peristyles. The peristyles represented a private retreat for the family, a place where they could relax and entertain special guests. The front part of the house was kept for more formal occasions. The addition of service quarters reflects a further differentiation of function in the house, again separating the daily life of the family from the more public reception areas. The House of the Faun, with its elaborate decoration and extensive plan, represents one of the most important examples of Roman domus architecture of the second to first century B.C.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- Entrance to the house of Fauno 1House of the Faun. Fauces
FLOOR PLAN OF THE HOUSE OF THE FAUN Pompeii 2nd Century Courtesy of Professor Barbette Spaeth, Tulane University (Excerpted from Professor Spaeth's accompanying text) This house was among the largest and most elegant of the houses of Pompeii. It took up an entire city block (c. 80 m. long by 35 m. wide or 315 by 115 ft.) and was filled with beautiful works of art, including the famous mosaic depicting Alexander the Great at the Battle of Issus, and wall paintings of the First, Second and Fourth Styles. The decoration of the house is heavily influenced by Hellenistic models. The House of the Faun was originally built in the early second century. In this period, the house was focused around two atria, one a large Tuscan atrium (3), and the other a smaller tetrastyle atrium (10), while the back of the house had a large kitchen garden. The two-atria plan represented an attempt to separate the formal functions of the atrium, i.e., the reception of clients and conduct of business by the patron of the house, from its private functions, i.e., the course of everyday family life. This type of plan is an intermediate step between the simple atrium house, with a single atrium complex, and the atrium and peristyle house. Apparently, the two-atria plan did not prove ultimately satisfactory for the owners of the House of the Faun. In the late second century B.C. they added a peristyle (8) to the north of the original two-atria nucleus, along with a service quarter to the eastern side (12-16), and reception rooms to the north. The rear of the house contained the kitchen garden. To this later period of the house belong its wall decorations in First Style and its famous mosaics. Finally, another peristyle was added around the time of the Early Roman Colony (20), that is, in the early first century B.C. This peristyle included more reception rooms along the south side (17 & 18), and smaller rooms, perhaps for servants, to the north (22) . The center of the new peristyle was occupied by the kitchen garden (19). With these renovations, the house acquired a new focus around the peristyles. The peristyles represented a private retreat for the family, a place where they could relax and entertain special guests. The front part of the house was kept for more formal occasions. The addition of service quarters reflects a further differentiation of function in the house, again separating the daily life of the family from the more public reception areas. The House of the Faun, with its elaborate decoration and extensive plan, represents one of the most important examples of Roman domus architecture of the second to first century B.C.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- ExitAUGUST 23, A.D. 79. The day dawned bright and sunny as usual and seemed full of promise. The citizens of Pompeii went about their daily business, blissfully unaware of what destiny had in store for them. They were totally unprepared when late in the evening their world erupted in a pyroclastic flow - of molten lava, pumice, ash, hot stones and debris, suffocating, singeing, charring and melting everything that lay in its path as a river of fire gushed out in primordial fury down the slopes of Mount Vesuvius. Pompeii and its 20,000 inhabitants were buried alive in an instant.
"Ashes were already falling, hotter and thicker as the ships drew near, followed by bits of pumice and blackened stones, charred and cracked by the flames . . . Meanwhile on Mount Vesuvius broad sheets of fire and leaping flames blazed at several points, their bright glare emphasised by the darkness of night."
This is an excerpt from a live account of the events of that fateful day, recorded for posterity by Pliny the Younger, a Roman historian. At the time of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, the Roman fleet under the command of Pliny the Elder was stationed across the Bay of Naples. A foolhardy Pliny the Elder launched ships and sailed toward the erupting volcano for a closer look only to be suffocated to death. Pliny's nephew, known as Pliny the Younger, was with him on that day, but had stayed back at Misenum. He had witnessed the eruption and also received first-hand reports from those who were with his uncle in the latter's last moments.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- House of Fauno with bronze statuette of Fauno and nice mosaic floorFLOOR PLAN OF THE HOUSE OF THE FAUN Pompeii 2nd Century Courtesy of Professor Barbette Spaeth, Tulane University (Excerpted from Professor Spaeth's accompanying text) This house was among the largest and most elegant of the houses of Pompeii. It took up an entire city block (c. 80 m. long by 35 m. wide or 315 by 115 ft.) and was filled with beautiful works of art, including the famous mosaic depicting Alexander the Great at the Battle of Issus, and wall paintings of the First, Second and Fourth Styles. The decoration of the house is heavily influenced by Hellenistic models. The House of the Faun was originally built in the early second century. In this period, the house was focused around two atria, one a large Tuscan atrium (3), and the other a smaller tetrastyle atrium (10), while the back of the house had a large kitchen garden. The two-atria plan represented an attempt to separate the formal functions of the atrium, i.e., the reception of clients and conduct of business by the patron of the house, from its private functions, i.e., the course of everyday family life. This type of plan is an intermediate step between the simple atrium house, with a single atrium complex, and the atrium and peristyle house. Apparently, the two-atria plan did not prove ultimately satisfactory for the owners of the House of the Faun. In the late second century B.C. they added a peristyle (8) to the north of the original two-atria nucleus, along with a service quarter to the eastern side (12-16), and reception rooms to the north. The rear of the house contained the kitchen garden. To this later period of the house belong its wall decorations in First Style and its famous mosaics. Finally, another peristyle was added around the time of the Early Roman Colony (20), that is, in the early first century B.C. This peristyle included more reception rooms along the south side (17 & 18), and smaller rooms, perhaps for servants, to the north (22) . The center of the new peristyle was occupied by the kitchen garden (19). With these renovations, the house acquired a new focus around the peristyles. The peristyles represented a private retreat for the family, a place where they could relax and entertain special guests. The front part of the house was kept for more formal occasions. The addition of service quarters reflects a further differentiation of function in the house, again separating the daily life of the family from the more public reception areas. The House of the Faun, with its elaborate decoration and extensive plan, represents one of the most important examples of Roman domus architecture of the second to first century B.CPeter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- House of Fauno with nice mosaic floorFLOOR PLAN OF THE HOUSE OF THE FAUN Pompeii 2nd Century Courtesy of Professor Barbette Spaeth, Tulane University (Excerpted from Professor Spaeth's accompanying text) This house was among the largest and most elegant of the houses of Pompeii. It took up an entire city block (c. 80 m. long by 35 m. wide or 315 by 115 ft.) and was filled with beautiful works of art, including the famous mosaic depicting Alexander the Great at the Battle of Issus, and wall paintings of the First, Second and Fourth Styles. The decoration of the house is heavily influenced by Hellenistic models. The House of the Faun was originally built in the early second century. In this period, the house was focused around two atria, one a large Tuscan atrium (3), and the other a smaller tetrastyle atrium (10), while the back of the house had a large kitchen garden. The two-atria plan represented an attempt to separate the formal functions of the atrium, i.e., the reception of clients and conduct of business by the patron of the house, from its private functions, i.e., the course of everyday family life. This type of plan is an intermediate step between the simple atrium house, with a single atrium complex, and the atrium and peristyle house. Apparently, the two-atria plan did not prove ultimately satisfactory for the owners of the House of the Faun. In the late second century B.C. they added a peristyle (8) to the north of the original two-atria nucleus, along with a service quarter to the eastern side (12-16), and reception rooms to the north. The rear of the house contained the kitchen garden. To this later period of the house belong its wall decorations in First Style and its famous mosaics. Finally, another peristyle was added around the time of the Early Roman Colony (20), that is, in the early first century B.C. This peristyle included more reception rooms along the south side (17 & 18), and smaller rooms, perhaps for servants, to the north (22) . The center of the new peristyle was occupied by the kitchen garden (19). With these renovations, the house acquired a new focus around the peristyles. The peristyles represented a private retreat for the family, a place where they could relax and entertain special guests. The front part of the house was kept for more formal occasions. The addition of service quarters reflects a further differentiation of function in the house, again separating the daily life of the family from the more public reception areas. The House of the Faun, with its elaborate decoration and extensive plan, represents one of the most important examples of Roman domus architecture of the second to first century B.CPeter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- House with nice mosaic and fountain 1FOUNTAIN
House of the Small Fountain Pompeii Another fountain with mosaic decorations, including abstract and geometric designs, fish, shells, and other sea life.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- House with remains of painting and streetPeter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- Human body and artefactsThis plaster cast shows a man when disaster struck in Pompeii. The fascinating story of the last days of Pompeii lives on in plaster casts obtained by pouring plaster into human-shaped empty spaces that a 19th century archaeologist found among the ruins.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- Human body and artefacts 1Jars used for holding wines and olive oil found in Pompeii, still intact.
This plaster cast shows a prone man when disaster struck in Pompeii. The fascinating story of the last days of Pompeii lives on in plaster casts obtained by pouring plaster into human-shaped empty spaces that a 19th century archaeologist found among the ruins.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- Human body of a kid praying before dieing and artefacts 1This plaster cast shows a man huddled up in his shop when disaster struck in Pompeii. The fascinating story of the last days of Pompeii lives on in plaster casts obtained by pouring plaster into human-shaped empty spaces that a 19th century archaeologist found among the ruins.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- Mensa Ponderaria marbel tabel to weigh grainCorrect units of measurementPeter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- Street and a housesINTERSECTION Pompeii After 80 B.C.
This is a typical intersection. Wheeled traffic passed over and around the pedestrian stepping stones.Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- Street and a wall with a fallos in the top leftINTERSECTION Pompeii After 80 B.C.
This is a typical intersection. Wheeled traffic passed over and around the pedestrian stepping stones.
House with a fallos in the top left cornerPeter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- Street and the Arch of CaligulaINTERSECTION Pompeii After 80 B.C.
This is a typical intersection. Wheeled traffic passed over and around the pedestrian stepping stones.
The Arch of Caligula
Pompeii. The arch of Caligula leading to the House of Mercurio at the top of the street. The Arch of Caligula with a view of Mt. Vesuvius in the background. The gaps in the stone barrier were meant for chariot wheels to pass through.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- Street with wheel tracks and stonesINTERSECTION Pompeii After 80 B.C.
This is a typical intersection. Wheeled traffic passed over and around the pedestrian stepping stones.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- Street with wheel tracks and stonesINTERSECTION Pompeii After 80 B.C.
This is a typical intersection. Wheeled traffic passed over and around the pedestrian stepping stones.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- The Basilica and The Forum BASILICA
Forum of Pompeii c. 120 B.C. These more massive columns are from the basilica, the most important public building in Pompeii. Constructed prior to the Roman period, the basilica had three aisles and five entrance doors onto the forum. In the rear we see a two-tiered colonnade which has columns in the Doric style on the bottom and slender Ionic columns on top of a cross beam. In Pompeii many columns were made of brick and covered with stucco.
The Forum
ENTRANCE TO THE FORUM Forum of Pompeii After 80 B.C. One of the two arches originally covered with marble which flank the Temple of Jupiter and are the main entrances to the forum. The temple was built under the Samnites in the second century B.C.
FORUM OF POMPEII After 80 B.C. The Forum of Pompeii has a central rectangular space, 466 feet long by 124 feet wide, surrounded by the most important public buildings in the city. Like other forums, it is set up on an axial plan. A colonnade lines three sides. In the center of the fourth side, visible in the distance, is the Temple of Jupiter, known as the Capitolium. The forum was paved with travertine stone and only pedestrians were permitted in its precinct. Situated on an old site, it was largely rebuilt after 80 B.C. when Pompeii became a Roman colony. The forum was again in the process of rebuilding after the earthquake of 62 AD. It was buried under the eruption of Vesuvius seen in the distance in 79.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- The big theatre and the Gladiator school in the backgroundThe big theatre
Built in the 2nd century BC, this theatre takes advantage of the natural slope of the land to create the tiers of seats (cavea), in a horseshoe shape divided into three zones, of which the lower (ima cavea), covered with marble, was reserved for the decurions and important citizens. The ring corridor supporting the upper tiers, and the 'balconies' above the side entrances, were added during the Augustan period: thus the theatre could hold approximately 5,000 spectators. The stage and opus latericium backdrop decorated with marbles and statues date from the restoration in 62 AD, after the earthquake. The works performed here quite likely included the Atellanae (popular farces in the Oscan language), the plays of Plautus and Terentius, mimes and pantomimes (with dancing and music).
Gladiators Barracks in the background.
This building was originally a meeting-place for spectators who went to the Great Theatre.
In Neros time it was converted to quarters for the gladiators who used to live there with their
families and used it to practice gladiatorial contests. The family living areas were spread over two floors.
Many fascinating weapons were discovered here and are on display in the Archeological Museum
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- The big theatre and the Odeon small theatreThe Big theater and Odeon the small theatre beside.
This ‘small theatre’, perhaps used for musical performances and poetry readings, was built in the early years of the Sullan colony (around 80 BC). According to inscriptions found here, it had a roof to ensure excellent acoustics: this rested on outer walls that bordered the tiers of seats (cavea), decorated with sculpted telamons: the lower part (ima cavea) has low, wide seating steps (bisellia) reserved for the decurions; a balustrade decorated with winged gryphon paws distinguishes it from the media cavea.Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- The BUILDING OF EUMACHIABUILDING OF EUMACHIA
Forum of Pompeii Under reconstruction in 79 Headquarters of the guild of fabric washers and dyers, known as fullones. Fabrics also were sold and stored here. To be located on the forum the guild had clearly achieved a prominence in city life. Here we see the brick columns faced with stucco. The doorway in the rear is decorated with spiral acanthus leaves. The building was badly damaged in 62 and was still not rebuilt in 79.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- The Forum 1The Forum
ENTRANCE TO THE FORUM Forum of Pompeii After 80 B.C. One of the two arches originally covered with marble which flank the Temple of Jupiter and are the main entrances to the forum. The temple was built under the Samnites in the second century B.C.
FORUM OF POMPEII After 80 B.C. The Forum of Pompeii has a central rectangular space, 466 feet long by 124 feet wide, surrounded by the most important public buildings in the city. Like other forums, it is set up on an axial plan. A colonnade lines three sides. In the center of the fourth side, visible in the distance, is the Temple of Jupiter, known as the Capitolium. The forum was paved with travertine stone and only pedestrians were permitted in its precinct. Situated on an old site, it was largely rebuilt after 80 B.C. when Pompeii became a Roman colony. The forum was again in the process of rebuilding after the earthquake of 62 AD. It was buried under the eruption of Vesuvius seen in the distance in 79.
FORUM (VII,8)
The first monumental arrangement dates from the 2nd cent. BC, with a few buildings and the porticos with their double row of tufa columns, replaced with white limestone in the imperial age, when the site was repaved and buildings added on the east side where shops had previously stood. Located at the intersection between the two main streets of the original urban center, the Forum was the city's main square, where cart traffic was forbidden: it was surrounded on all sides by religious, political, and business buildings. In the 1st cent. AD the Forum highlighted the celebratory intention of the imperial house, where the monumental bases for commemorative statues were placed on the south side, in front of the city's administrative buildings, while those of illustrious citizens stood along the porticos : the sculptures have not been found, perhaps because they were removed by the people of Pompeii who returned after the eruption to take whatever they could. In the center of the western side stands an orators' tribune.
MEMORIAL ARCHES
In opus latericium, at one time covered with marble, these elegantly enclose the Forum to the north, in celebration of the imperial family. Of the two built on either side of the Temple of Jupiter, the one to the west is attributed to Augustus, the east to Nero, perhaps demolished following the death (68 AD) and sentencing of the emperor, or simply to avoid blocking the view of the other arch behind it, at the north entrance to the Forum. This has two niches on one side that once held statues of Nero and Drusus, on the other side two fountains; an equestrian statue (perhaps of the emperor Tiberius) topped this arch. The other arch, in the back at the start of Via di Mercurio, is called the Caligula Arch because an equestrian statue was found nearby, that may have depicted the emperor Caligula and probably stood on the arch.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- The Forum columns 1The Forum
ENTRANCE TO THE FORUM Forum of Pompeii After 80 B.C. One of the two arches originally covered with marble which flank the Temple of Jupiter and are the main entrances to the forum. The temple was built under the Samnites in the second century B.C.
FORUM OF POMPEII After 80 B.C. The Forum of Pompeii has a central rectangular space, 466 feet long by 124 feet wide, surrounded by the most important public buildings in the city. Like other forums, it is set up on an axial plan. A colonnade lines three sides. In the center of the fourth side, visible in the distance, is the Temple of Jupiter, known as the Capitolium. The forum was paved with travertine stone and only pedestrians were permitted in its precinct. Situated on an old site, it was largely rebuilt after 80 B.C. when Pompeii became a Roman colony. The forum was again in the process of rebuilding after the earthquake of 62 AD. It was buried under the eruption of Vesuvius seen in the distance in 79.
FORUM (VII,8)
The first monumental arrangement dates from the 2nd cent. BC, with a few buildings and the porticos with their double row of tufa columns, replaced with white limestone in the imperial age, when the site was repaved and buildings added on the east side where shops had previously stood. Located at the intersection between the two main streets of the original urban center, the Forum was the city's main square, where cart traffic was forbidden: it was surrounded on all sides by religious, political, and business buildings. In the 1st cent. AD the Forum highlighted the celebratory intention of the imperial house, where the monumental bases for commemorative statues were placed on the south side, in front of the city's administrative buildings, while those of illustrious citizens stood along the porticos : the sculptures have not been found, perhaps because they were removed by the people of Pompeii who returned after the eruption to take whatever they could. In the center of the western side stands an orators' tribune.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- The Temple of Apolo and figure of ApoloTEMPLE OF APOLLO Forum of Pompeii 120 B.C. The temple sits on a platform built on ground sacred since the sixth century B.C.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Pompeii- The Temple of Venus and figure of VenusThe temple of Venus
Venus is the patron goddess of Pompeii and her sanctuary, from where one can enjoy a view of the Gulf of Naples, dominates the plain below. The earthquake of 62 A.D. destroyed the edifice and its reconstruction was still in process when the eruption occurred. The area was surrounded by arcades. Still existing in the middle of the temple is its podium (29,15 x 15,5 m.).Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome -circusmaximus modelA circus designates a circle or course for chariot racing. Aside from the Circus Maximus, the largest and oldest, there were three other circuses in Rome: the Circus Flaminius (221 BC), which actually was not a circus at all but a public square; the Circus Gaii et Neronis (circa AD 40), where many of the Christian martyrdoms occurred and on which St. Peter's basilica was built (the obelisk brought to Rome by Caligula to adorn its spina still stands in the square); and the Circus Maxentius (AD 309), built as part of his villa on the Via Appia and the best preserved.
In this view, the starting gates are in the foreground, with the royal box dominating the viewing standing on the left" or "and the royal box dominating the viewing stands on the left. The palace overlooks the Circus from the Palatine Hill.
The Circus Maximus was another public entertainment center, and was just a single, specific facility in Rome. The Maximus was used mostly for chariot racing. It could seat 250,000 people! There were other circuses in ancient Rome.
This oval basin, nearly 600 meters long, is almost entirely filled in with dirt. It was once a race track. It was made in the time of the Etruscan kings (presumably Tarquinio Prisco). Augustus adorned the brick structure with an imperial stage, which was rebuilt by Trajan, enlarged by Caracalla and restored by Constantine. During the reign of Constantine, the Circus could hold more than 200,000 spectators. Today only the outline remains (the area it occupied is now a public garden).
The most popular events were the chariot races held in the Circus Maximus, an arena that held up to 300,000 spectators. Competing teams with brightly decorated horses attracted fierce loyalty, and up to a dozen four-horse chariots crowded together through the dangerous turns, lap after lap. Successful charioteers became so wealthy that even emperors envied their riches.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Actual roman street levelThe old roman street level is about 6- 10 m lower than comtemporary one.Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Actual roman street level and a templeThe old roman street level is about 6- 10 m lower than comtemporary one.Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- An Obelisk and The Obelisc of Ramses IIPeter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Circus Maximo seen from outside 1Circus Maximus
The Circus Maximus is an ancient arena and mass entertainment venue located in Rome, Italy.
Situated in the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills the location was first utilised for public games and entertainment by the Etruscan kings of Rome. Certainly, the first games of the Ludi Romani (Roman Games) were staged on the location by Tarquinius Priscus, the first Etruscan ruler of Rome. Somewhat later, the Circus was the site of public games and festivals influenced by the Greeks in the 2nd century BC. Meeting the demands of the Roman citizenry for mass public entertainment on a lavish scale, Julius Caesar expanded the Circus around 50 BC, after which the track measured approximately 600 metres in length, 225 metres in breadth and could accommodate an estimated 150,000 seated spectators (many more, perhaps an equal number again, could view the games by standing, crowding and lining the adjoining hills). Later, Titus Flavius built the Arch of Titus above the closed end, on the Forum Romanum, while the emperor Domitian connected his new palace on the Palatine to the Circus in order that he could more easily view the races. The emperor Trajan later added another 5000 seats and expanded the emperor's seating in order to increase his public visibility during the games.
The most important event at the Circus was chariot racing. The track could hold 12 chariots, and the two sides of the track were separated by a raised median termed the spina. Statues of various gods were set up on the spina, and Augustus erected an Egyptian obelisk on it as well. At either end of the spina was a turning post, the meta, around which chariots made dangerous turns at speed. One end of the track extended further back than the other, to allow the chariots to line up to begin the race. Here there were starting gates, or carceres, which staggered the chariots so that each travelled the same distance to the first turn.
Very little now remains of the Circus, except for the now grass-covered racing track and the spina. Some of the starting gates remain, but most of the seating has disappeared, the materials no doubt employed for building other structures in medieval Rome. This obelisk was removed in the 16th century by Pope Sixtus V and placed in the Piazza del Popolo. Excavation of the site began in the 19th century, followed by a partial restoration, but there are yet to be any truly comprehensive excavations conducted within its grounds.
The Circus Maximus retained the honour of being the first and largest circus in Rome, but it was not the only example: other Roman circuses included the Circus Flaminius (in which the Ludi Plebeii were held) and the Circus of Maxentius.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Coliseum constructed by Flavius and seen from outsideColosseum
The Colosseum or Coliseum, originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre (lat. Amphitheatrum Flavium), is an amphitheatre in Rome, capable of seating 50,000 spectators, which was once used for gladiatorial combat. It was built by Emperor Vespasian and his son, Titus, between AD 72 and AD 90. It was built at the site of Nero's enormous palace, the Domus Aurea. The Colosseum's name is derived from a colossus (a 130-foot or 40-metre statue) of Nero which once stood nearby.
Construction
The construction of the Colosseum began under the Emperor Vespasian in AD 72 and was completed by his son, Titus, in the 80s AD. It was built at the site of Nero's enormous palace, the Domus Aurea, which had been built after the great fire of Rome in AD 64. Some historians are of the opinion that the construction of the Colosseum might have been financed by the looting of King Herod the Great's Temple in Jerusalem which occurred about AD 70. Dio Cassius said that 9,000 wild animals were killed in the one hundred days of celebration which inaugurated the amphitheatre opening. The arena floor was covered with sand to sop up the blood.
The Colosseum hosted large-scale spectacular games that included fights between animals (venationes), the killing of prisoners by animals and other executions (noxii), naval battles (naumachiae, via flooding the arena), and combats between gladiators (munera). It has been estimated that between 500,000 and 1,000,000 people died in the Colosseum games.
History of the name Colosseum
The Colosseum's name is derived from a colossus (a 130-foot or 40-metre statue) of Nero nearby. This statue was later remodeled by Nero's successors into the likeness of Sol, the sun god, by adding the appropriate solar crown. The link to Nero's colossus seems to have been forgotten over time, and the name was corrupted to Coliseum in the Middle Ages. Both names are frequently used in modern English, but "Flavian Amphitheatre" is generally unknown. In Italy, it is still known as il colosseo, but other Romance languages have gone for forms such as le colisée and el coliseo.
Description
The Colosseum measured 48 metres high, 188 metres long, and 156 metres wide. The wooden arena floor was 86 metres by 54 metres, and covered by sand. Its elliptical shape kept the players from retreating to a corner, and allowed the spectators to be closer to the action than a circle would allow.
The Colosseum was ingeniously designed. It has been said that most spectacle venues (stadiums, and similar) have been influenced by features of the Colosseum's structure, even well into modern times. Seating (cavea) was divided into different sections. The podium, the first level of seating, was for the Roman senators, and the emperor's private, cushioned, marble box was also located on this level. Above the podium was the maenianum primum, for the other Roman aristocrats who were not in the senate. The third level, the maenianum secundum, was divided into three sections. The lower part (the immum) was for wealthy citizens, while the upper part (the summum) was for poor citizens. A third, wooden section (the maenianum secundum in legneis) was a wooden structure at the very top of the building, added by Domitian. It was standing room only, and was for lower class women.
Underneath the arena was the hypogeum (literally, "underground"), a network of tunnels and cages where gladiators and animals were held before contests began. There were also numerous trap doors in the arena floor for the various animals hidden underneath. The arena floor no longer exists, and the hypogeum walls and corridors are clearly visible in the ruins of the building. The entire base of the Colosseum was equivalent to 6 acres (160,000 m²).
A most ingenious part of the Colosseum was its cooling system. It was roofed using a canvas covered net-like structure made of ropes, with a hole in the center. This roof sloped down towards the center to catch the wind and provide a breeze for the audience. Sailors manipulated the ropes. The Colosseum also had vomitoria - passageways that open into a tier of seats from below or behind. The vomitoria of the Colosseum in Rome were designed so that the immense venue could fill in 15 minutes, and be evacuated in 5 minutes. Each entrance and exit was numbered, as was each staircase. There were 80 entrances at ground level, 76 for ordinary spectators, two for the imperial family, and two for the gladiators. The vomitoria quickly dispersed people into their seats and upon conclusion of the event disgorged them with abruptness into the surrounding streets - giving rise, presumably, to the name.
Later history
The Colosseum was in continuous use until 217, when it was damaged by fire after it was struck by lightning. It was restored in 238 and gladiatorial games continued until Christianity gradually put an end to those parts of them which included the death of humans. The building was used for various purposes, mostly venationes (animal hunts), until 524. Two earthquakes (in 442 and 508) caused a great damage to the structure. In the Middle Ages, it was severely damaged by further earthquakes (847 and 1349), and was then converted into a fortress. The marble that originally covered it was burned to make quicklime. During the Renaissance, but mostly in the Baroque age, the ruling Roman families (from which many popes came) used it as a source of marble for the construction of St. Peter's Basilica and the private Palazzi. A famous description is in the saying Quod non fecerunt Barbari, fecerunt Barberini; what the Barbarians weren't able to do, was done by the Barberinis (one such family).
The Venerable Bede (c. 672-735) wrote
Quandiu stabit coliseus, stabit et Roma; (As long as the Colosseum stands, so shall Rome)
Quando cadit coliseus, cadet et Roma (When the Colosseum falls, so shall Rome)
Quando cadet Roma, cadet et mundus. (When Rome falls, so shall the world)
Note that he used coliseus, i.e. he made the name a masculine noun. This form is no longer in use.
In 1749, as a very early example of historic preservation, Pope Benedict XIV forbade the use of the Colosseum as a quarry. He consecrated the building to the Passion of Christ and installed Stations of the Cross, declaring it sanctified by the blood of the Christian martyrs who were thought to have perished there. Later popes initiated various stabilization and restoration projects. Every Good Friday the pope leads a procession within the ellipse in memory of Christian martyrs. However, there is no historical evidence that Christians were tortured and killed in the Colosseum [2]. It is presumed that the majority of Christian martyrdom in Rome took place at the Circus Maximus.
In recent years, the local authorities of Rome have illuminated the Colosseum all night long whenever someone condemned to the death penalty gets commuted or released.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Coliseum seen from outsideColosseum
The Colosseum or Coliseum, originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre (lat. Amphitheatrum Flavium), is an amphitheatre in Rome, capable of seating 50,000 spectators, which was once used for gladiatorial combat. It was built by Emperor Vespasian and his son, Titus, between AD 72 and AD 90. It was built at the site of Nero's enormous palace, the Domus Aurea. The Colosseum's name is derived from a colossus (a 130-foot or 40-metre statue) of Nero which once stood nearby.
Construction
The construction of the Colosseum began under the Emperor Vespasian in AD 72 and was completed by his son, Titus, in the 80s AD. It was built at the site of Nero's enormous palace, the Domus Aurea, which had been built after the great fire of Rome in AD 64. Some historians are of the opinion that the construction of the Colosseum might have been financed by the looting of King Herod the Great's Temple in Jerusalem which occurred about AD 70. Dio Cassius said that 9,000 wild animals were killed in the one hundred days of celebration which inaugurated the amphitheatre opening. The arena floor was covered with sand to sop up the blood.
The Colosseum hosted large-scale spectacular games that included fights between animals (venationes), the killing of prisoners by animals and other executions (noxii), naval battles (naumachiae, via flooding the arena), and combats between gladiators (munera). It has been estimated that between 500,000 and 1,000,000 people died in the Colosseum games.
History of the name Colosseum
The Colosseum's name is derived from a colossus (a 130-foot or 40-metre statue) of Nero nearby. This statue was later remodeled by Nero's successors into the likeness of Sol, the sun god, by adding the appropriate solar crown. The link to Nero's colossus seems to have been forgotten over time, and the name was corrupted to Coliseum in the Middle Ages. Both names are frequently used in modern English, but "Flavian Amphitheatre" is generally unknown. In Italy, it is still known as il colosseo, but other Romance languages have gone for forms such as le colisée and el coliseo.
Description
The Colosseum measured 48 metres high, 188 metres long, and 156 metres wide. The wooden arena floor was 86 metres by 54 metres, and covered by sand. Its elliptical shape kept the players from retreating to a corner, and allowed the spectators to be closer to the action than a circle would allow.
The Colosseum was ingeniously designed. It has been said that most spectacle venues (stadiums, and similar) have been influenced by features of the Colosseum's structure, even well into modern times. Seating (cavea) was divided into different sections. The podium, the first level of seating, was for the Roman senators, and the emperor's private, cushioned, marble box was also located on this level. Above the podium was the maenianum primum, for the other Roman aristocrats who were not in the senate. The third level, the maenianum secundum, was divided into three sections. The lower part (the immum) was for wealthy citizens, while the upper part (the summum) was for poor citizens. A third, wooden section (the maenianum secundum in legneis) was a wooden structure at the very top of the building, added by Domitian. It was standing room only, and was for lower class women.
Underneath the arena was the hypogeum (literally, "underground"), a network of tunnels and cages where gladiators and animals were held before contests began. There were also numerous trap doors in the arena floor for the various animals hidden underneath. The arena floor no longer exists, and the hypogeum walls and corridors are clearly visible in the ruins of the building. The entire base of the Colosseum was equivalent to 6 acres (160,000 m²).
A most ingenious part of the Colosseum was its cooling system. It was roofed using a canvas covered net-like structure made of ropes, with a hole in the center. This roof sloped down towards the center to catch the wind and provide a breeze for the audience. Sailors manipulated the ropes. The Colosseum also had vomitoria - passageways that open into a tier of seats from below or behind. The vomitoria of the Colosseum in Rome were designed so that the immense venue could fill in 15 minutes, and be evacuated in 5 minutes. Each entrance and exit was numbered, as was each staircase. There were 80 entrances at ground level, 76 for ordinary spectators, two for the imperial family, and two for the gladiators. The vomitoria quickly dispersed people into their seats and upon conclusion of the event disgorged them with abruptness into the surrounding streets - giving rise, presumably, to the name.
Later history
The Colosseum was in continuous use until 217, when it was damaged by fire after it was struck by lightning. It was restored in 238 and gladiatorial games continued until Christianity gradually put an end to those parts of them which included the death of humans. The building was used for various purposes, mostly venationes (animal hunts), until 524. Two earthquakes (in 442 and 508) caused a great damage to the structure. In the Middle Ages, it was severely damaged by further earthquakes (847 and 1349), and was then converted into a fortress. The marble that originally covered it was burned to make quicklime. During the Renaissance, but mostly in the Baroque age, the ruling Roman families (from which many popes came) used it as a source of marble for the construction of St. Peter's Basilica and the private Palazzi. A famous description is in the saying Quod non fecerunt Barbari, fecerunt Barberini; what the Barbarians weren't able to do, was done by the Barberinis (one such family).
The Venerable Bede (c. 672-735) wrote
Quandiu stabit coliseus, stabit et Roma; (As long as the Colosseum stands, so shall Rome)
Quando cadit coliseus, cadet et Roma (When the Colosseum falls, so shall Rome)
Quando cadet Roma, cadet et mundus. (When Rome falls, so shall the world)
Note that he used coliseus, i.e. he made the name a masculine noun. This form is no longer in use.
In 1749, as a very early example of historic preservation, Pope Benedict XIV forbade the use of the Colosseum as a quarry. He consecrated the building to the Passion of Christ and installed Stations of the Cross, declaring it sanctified by the blood of the Christian martyrs who were thought to have perished there. Later popes initiated various stabilization and restoration projects. Every Good Friday the pope leads a procession within the ellipse in memory of Christian martyrs. However, there is no historical evidence that Christians were tortured and killed in the Colosseum [2]. It is presumed that the majority of Christian martyrdom in Rome took place at the Circus Maximus.
In recent years, the local authorities of Rome have illuminated the Colosseum all night long whenever someone condemned to the death penalty gets commuted or released.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Coliseum seen from outside 1Colosseum
The Colosseum or Coliseum, originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre (lat. Amphitheatrum Flavium), is an amphitheatre in Rome, capable of seating 50,000 spectators, which was once used for gladiatorial combat. It was built by Emperor Vespasian and his son, Titus, between AD 72 and AD 90. It was built at the site of Nero's enormous palace, the Domus Aurea. The Colosseum's name is derived from a colossus (a 130-foot or 40-metre statue) of Nero which once stood nearby.
Construction
The construction of the Colosseum began under the Emperor Vespasian in AD 72 and was completed by his son, Titus, in the 80s AD. It was built at the site of Nero's enormous palace, the Domus Aurea, which had been built after the great fire of Rome in AD 64. Some historians are of the opinion that the construction of the Colosseum might have been financed by the looting of King Herod the Great's Temple in Jerusalem which occurred about AD 70. Dio Cassius said that 9,000 wild animals were killed in the one hundred days of celebration which inaugurated the amphitheatre opening. The arena floor was covered with sand to sop up the blood.
The Colosseum hosted large-scale spectacular games that included fights between animals (venationes), the killing of prisoners by animals and other executions (noxii), naval battles (naumachiae, via flooding the arena), and combats between gladiators (munera). It has been estimated that between 500,000 and 1,000,000 people died in the Colosseum games.
History of the name Colosseum
The Colosseum's name is derived from a colossus (a 130-foot or 40-metre statue) of Nero nearby. This statue was later remodeled by Nero's successors into the likeness of Sol, the sun god, by adding the appropriate solar crown. The link to Nero's colossus seems to have been forgotten over time, and the name was corrupted to Coliseum in the Middle Ages. Both names are frequently used in modern English, but "Flavian Amphitheatre" is generally unknown. In Italy, it is still known as il colosseo, but other Romance languages have gone for forms such as le colisée and el coliseo.
Description
The Colosseum measured 48 metres high, 188 metres long, and 156 metres wide. The wooden arena floor was 86 metres by 54 metres, and covered by sand. Its elliptical shape kept the players from retreating to a corner, and allowed the spectators to be closer to the action than a circle would allow.
The Colosseum was ingeniously designed. It has been said that most spectacle venues (stadiums, and similar) have been influenced by features of the Colosseum's structure, even well into modern times. Seating (cavea) was divided into different sections. The podium, the first level of seating, was for the Roman senators, and the emperor's private, cushioned, marble box was also located on this level. Above the podium was the maenianum primum, for the other Roman aristocrats who were not in the senate. The third level, the maenianum secundum, was divided into three sections. The lower part (the immum) was for wealthy citizens, while the upper part (the summum) was for poor citizens. A third, wooden section (the maenianum secundum in legneis) was a wooden structure at the very top of the building, added by Domitian. It was standing room only, and was for lower class women.
Underneath the arena was the hypogeum (literally, "underground"), a network of tunnels and cages where gladiators and animals were held before contests began. There were also numerous trap doors in the arena floor for the various animals hidden underneath. The arena floor no longer exists, and the hypogeum walls and corridors are clearly visible in the ruins of the building. The entire base of the Colosseum was equivalent to 6 acres (160,000 m²).
A most ingenious part of the Colosseum was its cooling system. It was roofed using a canvas covered net-like structure made of ropes, with a hole in the center. This roof sloped down towards the center to catch the wind and provide a breeze for the audience. Sailors manipulated the ropes. The Colosseum also had vomitoria - passageways that open into a tier of seats from below or behind. The vomitoria of the Colosseum in Rome were designed so that the immense venue could fill in 15 minutes, and be evacuated in 5 minutes. Each entrance and exit was numbered, as was each staircase. There were 80 entrances at ground level, 76 for ordinary spectators, two for the imperial family, and two for the gladiators. The vomitoria quickly dispersed people into their seats and upon conclusion of the event disgorged them with abruptness into the surrounding streets - giving rise, presumably, to the name.
Later history
The Colosseum was in continuous use until 217, when it was damaged by fire after it was struck by lightning. It was restored in 238 and gladiatorial games continued until Christianity gradually put an end to those parts of them which included the death of humans. The building was used for various purposes, mostly venationes (animal hunts), until 524. Two earthquakes (in 442 and 508) caused a great damage to the structure. In the Middle Ages, it was severely damaged by further earthquakes (847 and 1349), and was then converted into a fortress. The marble that originally covered it was burned to make quicklime. During the Renaissance, but mostly in the Baroque age, the ruling Roman families (from which many popes came) used it as a source of marble for the construction of St. Peter's Basilica and the private Palazzi. A famous description is in the saying Quod non fecerunt Barbari, fecerunt Barberini; what the Barbarians weren't able to do, was done by the Barberinis (one such family).
The Venerable Bede (c. 672-735) wrote
Quandiu stabit coliseus, stabit et Roma; (As long as the Colosseum stands, so shall Rome)
Quando cadit coliseus, cadet et Roma (When the Colosseum falls, so shall Rome)
Quando cadet Roma, cadet et mundus. (When Rome falls, so shall the world)
Note that he used coliseus, i.e. he made the name a masculine noun. This form is no longer in use.
In 1749, as a very early example of historic preservation, Pope Benedict XIV forbade the use of the Colosseum as a quarry. He consecrated the building to the Passion of Christ and installed Stations of the Cross, declaring it sanctified by the blood of the Christian martyrs who were thought to have perished there. Later popes initiated various stabilization and restoration projects. Every Good Friday the pope leads a procession within the ellipse in memory of Christian martyrs. However, there is no historical evidence that Christians were tortured and killed in the Colosseum [2]. It is presumed that the majority of Christian martyrdom in Rome took place at the Circus Maximus.
In recent years, the local authorities of Rome have illuminated the Colosseum all night long whenever someone condemned to the death penalty gets commuted or released.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Forum Romanum and original door of the temple of Divo RomuloPeter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Forum Romanum and PalatinoPalatine Hill
The Palatine Hill (Latin Palatium) is the centermost of the seven hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city of Rome in Italy.
Legend tells us that Rome has its origins on the Palatine. Indeed, recent excavations show that people lived there since approximately 1000 BC. According to Roman mythology, the Palatine hill was where Romulus and Remus were found by the she-wolf that kept them alive. According to this legend, the shepherd Faustulus found the infants and, with his wife, Acca Larentia, raised the children. When they were older this is where Romulus decided to build Rome. (See Founding of Rome for a more detailed account of the myth.)
The emperors of Rome built their palaces on the Palatine. The ruins of the palaces of Caesar Augustus, Tiberius and Diocletianus are still to be seen. The term 'palace' itself stems from Palatium.
Palatine hill is some 70 meters high and looks down on one side upon the Forum Romanum and on the other side upon the Circus Maximus. The site is now a large open-air museum and can be visited during day time. The entrance can be found near the Arch of Titus on the Forum Romanum.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Forum Romanum and temple of SaturnThe Temple of Saturn (Templum Saturni or Aedes Saturnus) is the oldest temple in the Forum Romanum, consecrated for the first time in c. 498 BCE. It is located in the W. end of the Forum, behind the Rostra and the Basilica Julia, across the Clivus Capitolinus from the Temple of Vespasian and Titus.
There have been three temples dedicated to Saturn on the location. The first was built in the last years of the Roman Kingdom, but was first consecrated in the first decade of the Roman Republic. Very little is known about this archaic temple, but it was probably Etruscan in style, just as the contemporary Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus on the Capitolium.
The first temple was torn down in 42 BCE and a new temple built in stone, by the aedile L. Munatius Plancus. The tall, massive, travertine clad podium, measuring 40×22.5m with a height of 9m, is from this building. This temple was in turn destroyed by the fire of 283 CE, which destroyed major parts of the Forum Romanum.
The temple was reconstructed under Diocletian after the fire, but the ground plan and podium from 42 BCE was retained. The temple was of the Ionic order with six columns on the facade. The eight surviving columns of red and grey granite are from this third temple, which largely used recycled material—not all columns, bases and capitals match stylistically.
The inscription on the architrave is also from this period. It reads: "Senatus populusque romanus incendio consumptum restituit"; meaning "The Roman senate and people restored what fire had consumed".
In front of the podium, under the now collapsed stairway, were two rooms, one of which served as the Aerarium, the State Treasury. On the side of the podium holes remain from where a plate was attached for the posting of public documents and acts pertinent to the Aerarium.
An altar dedicated to Saturn, the Ara Saturni, stood in front of the temple, on the other side of the road that passes just in front of the temple. The remains of this altar are now under a roof just in front of the Umbilicus Urbis Romae, near the Arch of Septimius Severus. See this map for an illustration of the probable location of the altar.
Inside the temple stood a statue of of Saturn, which would be carried in procession when triumphs were celebrated. The feast of the Saturnalia on December 17th was a part of the cult of Saturn and was started with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Forum Romanum and temple of Saturn 1The Temple of Saturn (Templum Saturni or Aedes Saturnus) is the oldest temple in the Forum Romanum, consecrated for the first time in c. 498 BCE. It is located in the W. end of the Forum, behind the Rostra and the Basilica Julia, across the Clivus Capitolinus from the Temple of Vespasian and Titus.
There have been three temples dedicated to Saturn on the location. The first was built in the last years of the Roman Kingdom, but was first consecrated in the first decade of the Roman Republic. Very little is known about this archaic temple, but it was probably Etruscan in style, just as the contemporary Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus on the Capitolium.
The first temple was torn down in 42 BCE and a new temple built in stone, by the aedile L. Munatius Plancus. The tall, massive, travertine clad podium, measuring 40×22.5m with a height of 9m, is from this building. This temple was in turn destroyed by the fire of 283 CE, which destroyed major parts of the Forum Romanum.
The temple was reconstructed under Diocletian after the fire, but the ground plan and podium from 42 BCE was retained. The temple was of the Ionic order with six columns on the facade. The eight surviving columns of red and grey granite are from this third temple, which largely used recycled material—not all columns, bases and capitals match stylistically.
The inscription on the architrave is also from this period. It reads: "Senatus populusque romanus incendio consumptum restituit"; meaning "The Roman senate and people restored what fire had consumed".
In front of the podium, under the now collapsed stairway, were two rooms, one of which served as the Aerarium, the State Treasury. On the side of the podium holes remain from where a plate was attached for the posting of public documents and acts pertinent to the Aerarium.
An altar dedicated to Saturn, the Ara Saturni, stood in front of the temple, on the other side of the road that passes just in front of the temple. The remains of this altar are now under a roof just in front of the Umbilicus Urbis Romae, near the Arch of Septimius Severus. See this map for an illustration of the probable location of the altar.
Inside the temple stood a statue of of Saturn, which would be carried in procession when triumphs were celebrated. The feast of the Saturnalia on December 17th was a part of the cult of Saturn and was started with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Forum Romanum and Temple of the Castors remainsThe Temple of the Castors was dedicated by Postumius to the Dioscuri, demigods who, according to legend, appeared on the Roman Forum to announce the victory of the Romans over the Tarquins in 494 B.C. The temple was erected by Postumius' son on January 27, 484 B.C. The temple underwent many transformations throughout the centuries. At one point, Tiberius dedicated it with the names of him and his brother Druso. There is some dispute over the origins of the remains of the temple. Some think the three columns are from restorations by Trajan, while others hold that they are from restorations by Tiberius.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Forum Romanum and The Arch of Septimo SeveroThe Arch of Septimus Severus was built in AD 203 to celebrate his victories over the Parthians. The original inscription dedicated the arch to Severus and his two sons Geta and Caracalla. However, following Severus' death in AD 211 Caracalla had Geta murdered and his name was erased from all public buildings. On the arch, Caracalla had the words Optimis Fortissimique Princibus inscribed to replace Geta's name. The Arch is highly decorated with panels depicting scenes from the Parthian campaigns and the following triumphPeter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Forum Romanum and The Arch of Septimo Severo 1The Arch of Septimus Severus was built in AD 203 to celebrate his victories over the Parthians. The original inscription dedicated the arch to Severus and his two sons Geta and Caracalla. However, following Severus' death in AD 211 Caracalla had Geta murdered and his name was erased from all public buildings. On the arch, Caracalla had the words Optimis Fortissimique Princibus inscribed to replace Geta's name. The Arch is highly decorated with panels depicting scenes from the Parthian campaigns and the following triumph
The reign of Septimius provides an interesting example of the persecution meted out to Christians under the Roman Empire. Septimius made no new laws against Christians, but allowed the enforcement of laws already long-established. There is no evidence of systematic persecution, and there is much evidence that not only was the Emperor not personally hostile to the Christians, but he even protected them against the populace. There were doubtless Christians in his own household, and in his reign the Church at Rome had almost absolute peace. On the other hand, individual officials availed themselves of the laws to proceed with rigor against the Christians. Naturally the emperor, with his strict conception of law, did not hinder such partial persecution, which took place in Egypt and the Thebaid, as well as in proconsular Africa and the East. Christian martyrs were numerous in Alexandria (cf. Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, ii. 20; Eusebius, Church History, V., xxvi., VI., i.). No less severe were the persecutions in Africa, which seem to have begun in 197 or 198 (cf. Tertullian's Ad martyres), and included the Christians known in the Roman martyrology as the martyrs of Madaura. Probably in 202 or 203 Felicitas and Perpetua suffered for their faith. Persecution again raged for a short time under the proconsul Scapula in 211, especially in Numidia and Mauritania. Later accounts of a Gallic persecution, especially at Lyons, are legendary. In general it may thus be said that the position of the Christians under Septimius Severus was the same as under the Antonines; but the law of this Emperor at least shows clearly that the rescript of Trajan had failed to execute its purpose.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Forum Romanum and The Arch of Septimo Severo backsideThe Arch of Septimus Severus was built in AD 203 to celebrate his victories over the Parthians. The original inscription dedicated the arch to Severus and his two sons Geta and Caracalla. However, following Severus' death in AD 211 Caracalla had Geta murdered and his name was erased from all public buildings. On the arch, Caracalla had the words Optimis Fortissimique Princibus inscribed to replace Geta's name. The Arch is highly decorated with panels depicting scenes from the Parthian campaigns and the following triumphPeter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Forum Romanum and the Basilica of MajencioThe Basilica of Maxentius (Basilica Maxentii) or the Basilica of Constantine (Basilica Constantini) was the last of the great civilian basilicas on the Roman Forum. The ruins of the basilica is located between the Temple of Amor and Roma and the Temple of Romulus, on the Via Sacra.
The construction of the basilica was initiated by Maxentius in 308 CE, and finished by Constantine after he had defeated Maxentius in the battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 CE. As other similar buildings, it was destined for commercial and administrative activities. It is likely that the basilica housed the offices of the Prefect of the City, the highest imperial official in late antiquity.
The site chosen for the basilica was on the Velia, a low ridge connecting the Esquiline Hill and the Palatine Hill. Large parts of the Velia was levelled in preparation for the construction of the basilica. Literary sources tell that earlier the site was occupied by the Horrea Piperatica, the central market and storage facility for pepper and spices, built in the time of Domitian. Also on the site was a sanctuary of the penates publici which had to be moved.
The Basilica of Maxentius is built with arches, which is very atypical. All the other public basilicas had flat ceilings supported by wooden beams. The construction techniques used borrowed more from the great imperial baths than from the traditional basilica.
The basilica is one of the most impressive buildings on the Forum Romanum. The ground plan is rectangular, oriented E.-W., covering an area of 100×65m divided into a central nave and to lateral aisles and an atrium on the E. side where the original entrance was.
The central nave measured 80×25m and was covered by three groin vaults with a maximum height of 35m, supported by eight monolithic Corinthian columns of 14.5m. Each of the two aisles was made up of three interconnected coffered vaults, 20.5m wide and 24m high, communicating with the central nave by three huge openings.
Light was provided by two rows of three large windows in five of the six lateral vaults, and by windows in the sides of the now collapsed cross vaults over the central nave. The windows in two of the vaults in the surviving N. side of the building give a good idea of the amount of light inside the building.
The floor in both the central and the lateral spaces were a geometric pattern of squares with circles and lozenges of multi-coloured marble, similar to the floor in the Pantheon.
The walls were in opus latericium, originally with a marble veneer. The vaults were in opus caementicium with a gilded stucco finish. The roof was covered with gilded bronze tiles.
The entrance of the original project of Maxentius was to the east, from a branch of the old Via Sacra behind the Temple of Amor and Roma. It lead into an elongated atrium, connected to the central nave and the lateral aisles by five gateways.
In the W. end was a huge apse, 20m in diameter, where a colossal seated statue of Maxentius stood. This statue was later changed to look like Constantine. The statue was an acrolith (the head, hands and feet were of marble, while the rest was of other materials), and the remains of the statue were found in 1486 in the apse.
Constantine changed the plan when he took over the unfinished basilica. He had a another entrance added on the S. side, on the Via Sacra, where a monumental stairway led to a porch of four porphyry columns and via three double doorways into the central part of the S. aisle. In front of this new entrance, in the central vault of the N. aisle, another apse was added, smaller than the apse in the W. end. In back of this apse a niche held a standing statue of Constantine, and smaller, square-headed niches, two rows of four niches on each side, which might have housed a gallery of Constantine's relatives and lieutenants. This room could be closed by wooden doors, and it is likely the central part of the office of the Prefect of the City was there.
Of the original building only the three vaults of the N. aisle remain, devoid of all decorations. The vaults of the S. and central nave probably collapsed under an earthquake in c. 847. The floor plan is clearly visible, however, and the remaining structures give a vivid impression of the grandeur of the original edifice.
The remains of the Colossal Statue of Constantine I are in the courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori on the Campidoglio, and one of the columns from the central nave was moved to the Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore in 1614. The remaining columns have disappeared. The bronze tiles from the roof were reused for the first Basilica of Saint Peter.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Forum Romanum and the temple of Antonio and Faustina 1Temple of Antoninus and Faustina
The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina was built in 141 A.D., during the reign of Antoninus Pius to honor his wife Faustina. The Senate dedicated the temple in her memory and proclaimed her a goddess after her death. Antoninus' name was added after his death, and placed first.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Forum Romanum and the temple of Antonio and Faustina 2Temple of Antoninus and Faustina
The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina was built in 141 A.D., during the reign of Antoninus Pius to honor his wife Faustina. The Senate dedicated the temple in her memory and proclaimed her a goddess after her death. Antoninus' name was added after his death, and placed first.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Forum Romanum and the temple of CastorsTemple of the Castors
The Temple of the Castors was dedicated by Postumius to the Dioscuri, demigods who, according to legend, appeared on the Roman Forum to announce the victory of the Romans over the Tarquins in 494 B.C. The temple was erected by Postumius' son on January 27, 484 B.C. The temple underwent many transformations throughout the centuries. At one point, Tiberius dedicated it with the names of him and his brother Druso. There is some dispute over the origins of the remains of the temple. Some think the three columns are from restorations by Trajan, while others hold that they are from restorations by Tiberius.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Forum Romanum and the temple of Venus and RomaThe Temple of Venus and Roma (Templum Veneris et Romae in Latin) was the largest temple in Ancient Rome. It was located at the far east side of the Forum Romanum, near the Colosseum. It was dedicated to the goddesses Venus Felix (Venus the Happy) and Roma Aeterna (Eternal Rome). The designer was emperor Hadrian. Construction works on the temple started in 121 AD and though it was inaugurated by Hadrian in 135 AD, the building was finished in 141 AD under Antonius Pius.
The building measured 110 meters in length and 53 meters in width. It was placed on a stage measuring 145 meters in length and 100 meters in width. The temple itself consisted of 2 main chambers (cellae), where the cult statue of the god was, in this case the statues of Venus, the goddess of love, and Roma, the goddess of Rome, both of them seated on a throne. The cellae were placed symmetrically back-to-back. Roma's cella was faced west, looking out over the Forum Romanum, Venus' cella was faced east, looking out over the Colosseum. Each cella had its own line of 4 columns at the entrance. At the west and east sides of the temple (the short sides), 10 white columns were placed and at the south and north sides of the temple (the long sides) 18 white columns were placed. All of these columns measured 1.8 meters in width, making the temple very imposing to see.
Within Venus' cella, there was another altar where newly wed couples could make sacrifices. Right next to this altar stood gigantic, silver statues of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina.
In order to build the temple, which is placed on the remains of Nero's Domus Aurea, the statue of Nero, the Colossus, had to be moved. They placed it near the amphitheatre, which became known as the Colosseum shortly afterwards.
Hadrian's most brilliant architect, Apollodorus, wasn't impressed by his emperor's architectural skills. He made a scornful remark on the size of the statues within the cellae. He said that they'd surely hurt their heads if they tried to stand up from their thrones. He was banned and executed not long after this.
A serious fire in 307 AD caused major damage to the temple. It was restored by emperor Maxentius. Unfortunately, a gigantic earthquake at the beginning of the 9th century destroyed the temple once again. Around 850 though, Pope Leo IV ordered the building of a new church, the Santa Maria Nova, on the ruins of the temple. After a major rebuilding in 1612 this church was renamed the Santa Francesca Romana. This church has incorporated Roma's cella as the belltower.
Over the years, most of the columns around the temple have disappeared. Nowadays, only a few are still standing where they used to be, others that have gone missing have been replaced by buxus trees.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Venus_and_Roma"
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Forum Romanum and view of the temple of Antonio and FaustinaTemple of Antoninus and Faustina
The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina was built in 141 A.D., during the reign of Antoninus Pius to honor his wife Faustina. The Senate dedicated the temple in her memory and proclaimed her a goddess after her death. Antoninus' name was added after his death, and placed first.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Forum Romanum Basilica JuliaThe Basilica Julia was built in 54-48 BCE by Julius Caesar as a part of his reorganisation of the Forum Romanum, where it replaced the Basilica Sempronia. It is located on the S. side of the main square of the Forum Romanum, between the Temple of Saturn and the Temple of Castor and Pollux.
Julius Caesar started construction in 54 BCE, but it was still unfinished at his death. It was built on the site of the Basilica Sempronia and a series of shops, the tabernae veteres, that were all demolished.
Augustus finished the building after Caesar's death, but had to reconstruct it again shortly after, due to its destruction by fire in 9 BCE. It was dedicated again in 2 BCE, this time in the name of Gaius Caesar and Lucius Caesar, Augustus' designated heirs at the time.
The basilica was later damaged much by the fire in 283 CE, and restored a few years after by Diocletian. It was again destroyed when Alaric sacked the city in 410 CE.
The Basilica Julia was of huge proportions. The basilica rested on a low podium, seven steps high on the E. side and just one on the W. side, due to the sloping terrain. Of outer dimensions 101×49m, the central nave of the basilica was 82×18m. The four lateral aisles, two on each side, were two storeys high, with vaulted ceiling and arches decorated by semi-columns. The central nave was three storeys high.
A series of shops stood behind the basilica towards the Velabrum. A Temple of Augustus was also built in the area behind the basilica by Tiberius.
The function of the Basilica Julia was to house tribunals and other activities from the Forum when weather didn't permit outdoor meetings. The central nave probably divided in four by wooden removable structures to allow the hearing of more cases at a time. The basilica also housed some administrative offices of the city.
Game boards and graffiti are incised in the steps and in the pavement of the side aisles by idling visitors to the Forum. Some of this can still be seen on the side of the main square of the forum.
The building was in ruin already in late Antiquity, and subsequently stripped of all reusable material, i.e., almost everything.
Very little of the building remains now. The basic floor plan can be seen, and some parts of brick walls remain towards the Temple of Saturn, some bases of statues still in their original position, and the four step podium remain. The brick column bases are reconstructions of the 19th century.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Forum Romanum Cloaca MaximaDoor leading to the Cloaca Maxima, situated in the eastern stairs of the Basilica Julia at the Roman Forum. Here, you can sometimes hear (and smell) the sewer.
The outlet of the Cloaca maxima ("greatest sewer"). This drain was built as a canal through the Forum Romanum in the sixth century and its construction is generally attributed to king Tarquinius Priscus. In the second century BCE, the canal was covered.
The Cloaca Maxima was one of the world's earliest sewage systems. Constructed in ancient Rome in order to drain local marshes and remove the waste of one of the world's most populous cities, it carried effluent to the River Tiber, which ran beside the city.
The name literally means Great Sewer. According to tradition it may have been initially constructed around 600 BC under the orders of the king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus.
This public work was largely achieved through the use of Etruscan engineers and large amounts of semi-forced labour from the poorer classes of Roman citizens.
Although Livy describes it as being tunnelled out beneath Rome, he was writing a great deal after the event. From other writings and from the path that it takes, it seems more likely that it was originally an open drain, formed from streams from three of the neighbouring hills, that were channeled through the main Forum and then on to the Tiber. This open drain would then have been gradually built over, as building space within the city became more valuable. It is possible that both theories are correct, and certainly some of the lower parts of the system suggest that they would have been below ground level even at the time of the supposed construction.
There were many branches off from the main sewer, but all seem to be 'official' drains that would have served public toilets, bath-houses and other public buildings. Private residences in Rome, even of the rich, would have relied on some sort of cess-pit arrangement for sewage.
The Cloaca Maxima was well maintained throughout the life of the Roman Empire and there is evidence to suggest it was still working long after the traditional fall of the Western Empire. In 33 BC it is known to have received an inspection and overhaul from Agrippa, and archaeology reveals several building styles and material from various ages, suggesting that the systems received regular attention. In more recent times, the remaining passages have been connected to the modern-day sewage system, mainly to cope with problems of backwash from the river.
The Cloaca Maxima was thought to be presided over by the goddess Cloacina.
The Romans are recorded — the veracity of the accounts depending on the case — to have dragged the bodies of a number of people to the sewers rather than give them proper burial, among them the emperor Elagabalus and Saint Sebastian: the latter scene is the subject of a well-known artwork by Lodovico Carracci.
The outfall of the Cloaca Maxima into the river Tiber is still visible today near the bridge Ponte Rotto, and near Ponte Palatino. There is a stairway going down to it visible next to the Basilica Julia at the Forum.
It is often said that it is still in use; this is not untrue, but the whole truth is that only a trickle of water flows through the age-old sewer. The exit shown on this picture is just south of the ancient Roman bridge now known as Ponte Rotto.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Forum Romanum The Basilica of Majencio and the temple of CastorsThe Basilica of Maxentius (Basilica Maxentii) or the Basilica of Constantine (Basilica Constantini) was the last of the great civilian basilicas on the Roman Forum. The ruins of the basilica is located between the Temple of Amor and Roma and the Temple of Romulus, on the Via Sacra.
The construction of the basilica was initiated by Maxentius in 308 CE, and finished by Constantine after he had defeated Maxentius in the battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 CE. As other similar buildings, it was destined for commercial and administrative activities. It is likely that the basilica housed the offices of the Prefect of the City, the highest imperial official in late antiquity.
The site chosen for the basilica was on the Velia, a low ridge connecting the Esquiline Hill and the Palatine Hill. Large parts of the Velia was levelled in preparation for the construction of the basilica. Literary sources tell that earlier the site was occupied by the Horrea Piperatica, the central market and storage facility for pepper and spices, built in the time of Domitian. Also on the site was a sanctuary of the penates publici which had to be moved.
The Basilica of Maxentius is built with arches, which is very atypical. All the other public basilicas had flat ceilings supported by wooden beams. The construction techniques used borrowed more from the great imperial baths than from the traditional basilica.
The basilica is one of the most impressive buildings on the Forum Romanum. The ground plan is rectangular, oriented E.-W., covering an area of 100×65m divided into a central nave and to lateral aisles and an atrium on the E. side where the original entrance was.
The central nave measured 80×25m and was covered by three groin vaults with a maximum height of 35m, supported by eight monolithic Corinthian columns of 14.5m. Each of the two aisles was made up of three interconnected coffered vaults, 20.5m wide and 24m high, communicating with the central nave by three huge openings.
Light was provided by two rows of three large windows in five of the six lateral vaults, and by windows in the sides of the now collapsed cross vaults over the central nave. The windows in two of the vaults in the surviving N. side of the building give a good idea of the amount of light inside the building.
The floor in both the central and the lateral spaces were a geometric pattern of squares with circles and lozenges of multi-coloured marble, similar to the floor in the Pantheon.
The walls were in opus latericium, originally with a marble veneer. The vaults were in opus caementicium with a gilded stucco finish. The roof was covered with gilded bronze tiles.
The entrance of the original project of Maxentius was to the east, from a branch of the old Via Sacra behind the Temple of Amor and Roma. It lead into an elongated atrium, connected to the central nave and the lateral aisles by five gateways.
In the W. end was a huge apse, 20m in diameter, where a colossal seated statue of Maxentius stood. This statue was later changed to look like Constantine. The statue was an acrolith (the head, hands and feet were of marble, while the rest was of other materials), and the remains of the statue were found in 1486 in the apse.
Constantine changed the plan when he took over the unfinished basilica. He had a another entrance added on the S. side, on the Via Sacra, where a monumental stairway led to a porch of four porphyry columns and via three double doorways into the central part of the S. aisle. In front of this new entrance, in the central vault of the N. aisle, another apse was added, smaller than the apse in the W. end. In back of this apse a niche held a standing statue of Constantine, and smaller, square-headed niches, two rows of four niches on each side, which might have housed a gallery of Constantine's relatives and lieutenants. This room could be closed by wooden doors, and it is likely the central part of the office of the Prefect of the City was there.
Of the original building only the three vaults of the N. aisle remain, devoid of all decorations. The vaults of the S. and central nave probably collapsed under an earthquake in c. 847. The floor plan is clearly visible, however, and the remaining structures give a vivid impression of the grandeur of the original edifice.
The remains of the Colossal Statue of Constantine I are in the courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori on the Campidoglio, and one of the columns from the central nave was moved to the Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore in 1614. The remaining columns have disappeared. The bronze tiles from the roof were reused for the first Basilica of Saint Peter.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Forum Romanum The temple of Antonio and Faustina 1Temple of Antoninus and Faustina
The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina was built in 141 A.D., during the reign of Antoninus Pius to honor his wife Faustina. The Senate dedicated the temple in her memory and proclaimed her a goddess after her death. Antoninus' name was added after his death, and placed first.
Peter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Forum Romanum the temple of CastorsThe Temple of the Castors was dedicated by Postumius to the Dioscuri, demigods who, according to legend, appeared on the Roman Forum to announce the victory of the Romans over the Tarquins in 494 B.C. The temple was erected by Postumius' son on January 27, 484 B.C. The temple underwent many transformations throughout the centuries. At one point, Tiberius dedicated it with the names of him and his brother Druso. There is some dispute over the origins of the remains of the temple. Some think the three columns are from restorations by Trajan, while others hold that they are from restorations by TiberiusPeter Wissing
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Italy- Rome- Largo (di Torre) ArgentinaLargo di Torre Argentina is a square in Rome that hosts four Republican Roman temples, and the reminings of Pompey's Theater. It is located in the ancient Campus Martius.
Common knowledge refers the name of the square to a Torre Argentina, which is not related to the South American country, but to the city of Strasbourg, whose original name was Argentoratum. In 1503, in fact, John Burckhardt from Strasbourg built in via del Sudario a palace (now at number 44), Casa del Bucardo, annexing a tower, called Torre Argentoratina from the name of his hometown.
After Italian unification, it was decided to reconstruct part of Rome (1909), demolishing the zone of Torre Argentina, where the remainings of a medieval tower, Torre Papito or Torre Boccamazzi, and of one temple were to be included in the new buildings. During the works (1927), however, the colossal head and arms of a marble statue were discovered. The archeological investigation brought to light the presence of a holy area, dating to the Republican era, with four temples and part of Pompey's Theater.
The buildings
The four temples, designated today by the letters A, B, C, and D, front onto a paved street, which was reconstructed in the imperial era, after 80 AD fire.
Temple A was built in the 3rd century BC, and is probably the Temple of Juturna built by Gaius Lutatius Catulus after his victory against Carthaginians in 241 BC. It was later rebuilt into a church, whoes aprses are still present.
Temple B, a circular temple with six columns remaining, was built by Quintus Lutatius Catulus in 101 BC to celebrate his victory over Cimbri; it was Aedes Fortunae Huiusce Diei, a temple devoted to the Luck of the Current Day. The colossal statue found during excavations and now kept in the Capitoline Museums was the statue of the goddess herself. Only the head, the arms, and the legs were of marble: the other parts, covered by the dress, were of bronze.
Temple C is the most ancient of the three, dating back to 4th or 3rd century BC, and was probably devoted to Feronia the ancient Italic goddess of fertility. After the fire of 80 AD, this temple was restored, and the white and black mosaic of the inner temple cell dates back to this restoration.
Temple D is the largest of the four, dates back to 2nd century BC with Late Republican restorations, and was devoted to Lares Permarini, but only a small part of it has been excavated (a street covers the most of it).
Teatro Argentina is a 18th century theater, where Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville debuted in 1816, as well as Giuseppe Verdi's I due Foscari (1844) and La battaglia di Legnano (1849).
Located in the Largo Argentina is the Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary, a no-kill shelter for homeless cats (of which Rome has many). The presence of the shelter proves to be a point of interest for both tourists and locals, as the historical area abounds with various breeds of cat, cavorting and lounging about on the ancient (and semi-ancient) ruins.
Peter Wissing
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