PANTHEON (third part)

4^th AEDICULA ON THE LEFT

Statue “S. Anastasio” 1717 by Francesco Moderati (about 1680/after 1724)

3^rd CHAPEL ON THE LEFT

“Crucifix” of the fifteenth century

On the left painting “Pentecost” 1790 by the Roman Pietro Labruzzi (1738/1805) who was court painter to the king of Poland Stanislaw August

On the right “Monument to Cardinal Ercole Consalvi” 1824 Secretary of State of Pius VII Chiaramonti (1800/23) who had signed for the pope in the agreement with Napoleon in 1,801 and relief “Returning to Pius VII of the provinces of the Papal States” works by the Danish Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770/1844)

3^rd AEDICULA ON THE LEFT

Statue “Virgin Mary of the Rock” 1523/24 by Lorenzo Lotti aka Lorenzetto (1490/1541) for Raffaello Sanzio (Raphael) (1483/1520) who had asked Lorenzetto to sculpt the statue to be located above his own tomb

On the right “Plaque in memory of Maria Bibbiena”, nephew of the powerful Cardinal Bernard Bibbiena and “girlfriend” of Raphael. In fact, the artist's letters show that, despite the pressure of the cardinal, he was absolutely determined not to get married

Below is the inscription of the “Tomb of the immense Annibale Carracci (1560/1609)” who wished to be buried here in 1609 alongside Raphael, his great inspiration

On the left “Bust of Raphael” 1833 by Giuseppe De Fabris (1790/1860)

“To Raphael we return for the beautiful forms he lent to antiquity as we had dreamed them, and as long as the world of the Greeks and the Romans will be for us (...) not just a cultural thing, but an aspiration and a desire, until then, when we will read the Greek and Latin poets, we will picture their images as Raphaelite images, or derived from these, and we will see that world as Raphael saw it: a world in which the birds at dawn never cease their singing” (Bernard Berenson)

On the tomb of Raphael is engraved in Latin a couplet by Pietro Bembo, which translated into Italian reads: Here lies Raphael the one by whom, the great mother of all things, Nature, feared to be won and, once he died, she feared to die herself

2^nd CHAPEL ON THE LEFT

“Tomb of Umberto I” (king of Italy 1878/1900) 1900 by Giuseppe Sacconi (1854/1905), the same architect of the Victor Emmanuel Monument, with a slab of alabaster and reliefs at the sides with female allegorical figures “Goodness” by Eugenio Maccagnani (1852/1930) and “Bounty” by Arnaldo Zocchi (1851/1922)

“Tomb of Margherita of Savoy” 1926 wife and cousin of Umberto I

On the occasion of a visit of Queen Margherita of Savoy in Naples, the Neapolitan pizza makers invented PIZZA MARGHERITA with the colors of the Italian flag: mozzarella for white, tomato for red and basil for green

In front of the tombs “Altar of porphyry” with the royal insignia by Guido Cirilli (1871/1954) who executed Sacconi's project of the tombs

2^nd AEDICULA ON THE LEFT

Statue “St. Agnes” by Vincenzo Felici (active 1667/1702)

On the left “Funerary monument of Baldassare Peruzzi (1481/1536)” 1921 made from a cast of Giovanni Dupré (1817/1882)

1^st CHAPEL ON THE LEFT – CHAPEL OF THE VIRTUOSI OF THE PANTHEON or CHAPEL OF S. JOSEPH OF THE HOLY LAND

Marble group “St. Joseph and the Child Jesus” 1550/60 by Vincenzo De Rossi (1525/87)

On the sides:

Oil paintings on the wall “Nativity” and “Adoration of the Magi” about 1660 by Francesco Cozza (1605/82)

On the side walls:

Stuccos “Rest from the Flight into Egypt” 1728 by Carlo Monaldi (about 1690/1760) and “Joseph's Dream” 1728 by Paolo Benaglia (?/1739)

Above:

“Sibyl of Cuma” 1674 by Ludovico Gimignani (1643/97)

“Moses” 1674 by Francesco Rosa (active since 1674/d. 1687)

“Eternal Father” 1674 by G.B. Peruzzini (1629/94)

“David” 1674 by Luigi Garzi (1638/1721)

“Sibyl from Eritrea” 1674 by Giovanni Andrea Carlone aka Genovese (1639/97)

Funerary epigraphs:

Tombstones of “virtuosi” Flaminio Vacca (1538/1605) 1605, Taddeo Zuccari (1529/66), Pietro Bonaccorsi aka Perin del Vaga (1501/47) buried here

Here are also buried the composer Arcangelo Corelli, and the architect Jacopo Barozzi aka Vignola (1507/73)

“The Congregation of the Virtuosi of the Pantheon was established in 1543 by Pope Paul III (1534/49). It was an association of painters, sculptors and architects who were celebrating the feast of St. Joseph with an exhibition of works of art in the portico of the Pantheon, to which, in the seventeenth century, participated also Velásquez and Salvator Rosa. These exhibitions are historically significant because they constitute one of the first signs of a free market for works of art in Rome. Offices of the Congregation, with the historical archive and an interesting collection of works, is located in the Pantheon in some rooms within the porch” (Giovanni Belardi, Federico De Martino)

1^st AEDUCULA ON THE LEFT

Oil on canvas painting “Assumption of the Virgin Mary” 1638 by Andrea Camassei (1602/49)

PANTHEON (second part)

Porch

33 x 16 m (108 x 52 feet) with “Sixteen monolithic columns in Egyptian granite gray and pink” 13 m (43 feet) high

The Egyptian origin of these huge columns would immediately be recognized in antiquity by the inhabitants of the Roman Empire, unlike now, accustomed as we are to so many different types of materials

Marble of this type does not exist in Italy or in Europe and the mere fact of having been able to bring the columns to Rome on barges all the way from Egyptian quarries that are even distant from the Nile, was a statement and a display of enormous power on the part of the Roman government

The columns are surmounted by a pediment on which there was a bronze relief representing an enormous crowned eagle, the eagle of the apotheosis of Romulus, the true symbol of Rome

The big inscription reads: Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius did this during his third consulship

The small inscription reads: Emperor Caesar Septimius Severus and Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus restored with great care the Pantheon ruined by ancientness

The porch (pronaos) was preceded by a staircase which has recently been found and buried again. The illusion of being in front of a classic Greek style temple was also due to the fact that the dome could not be seen from the large square surrounded by a portico in front of the Pantheon

Therefore Hadrian had obviously wanted to surprise those who would enter the building and find themselves surrounded by a spherical and modern interior

DOORS

The doors were restored at the time of Pius IV Medici (1559/65) but the structure is most likely the original, perhaps that of Augustus, kept as a sort of relic in the reconstruction of Hadrian

They are huge: 7.53 x 4.45 m (24.7 x 14.6 feet)

On the sides of the doors there are two niches where there were maybe statues of Augustus and Agrippa

BRICK WALLS

They have the incredible thickness of 6.2 m (20.4 feet) and are marked by niches and arches to lighten the structure

Dome

Internal diameter of 43.30 m (142.06 feet) of height from the floor to the top

The perfect proportions give the impression of walking into a huge ball

It was raised using a single extraordinary wooden hemisphere centering filled with a jet of conglomerate containing volcanic pumice to lighten it up

The Romans invented concrete the use of which disappeared after the fall of the Roman Empire. It was rediscovered only a thousand years later and it began to be used extensively, as the Romans did, only from the end of the eighteenth century onward

This dome is one of the most extraordinary examples in the world of the capacity of human ingenuity

The hole (oculus) has a diameter of about 9 m (29.52 feet) and is trimmed with bronze

It is still the dome with the largest diameter in Italy:

The dome of the Basilica of St. Peter, albeit higher, has a diameter of 42.52 m (139.50 feet), the dome of Florence Cathedral has a real diameter of 41.47 m (136.05 feet), although the major diagonal of the octagon is 44.97 m (147.53)

Outside Italy, the Capitol Dome in Washington has a diameter of 29.26 m (96 feet) and the Cathedral of St. Paul's in London has a diameter of 31 m (102.10 feet)

A greater dome without internal supports was only built in 1881 in England as part of the Devonshire Royal Hospital building: 44.20 m (145.01 feet)

Now the largest dome in the world is that of the Cowboys Stadium finished in 2009 and located in Arlington, Texas with a diameter of 275 m (902 feet)

The Pantheon is oriented with the façade to the north and it was built in such a way that, on every April 21^st, the birthday of Rome, at noon, the light rays passing through the hole in the dome would strike precisely on the big doors

“It is significant that the Pantheon is located exactly opposite the Mausoleum of Augustus, 500 steps (740 meters - 2,428 feet) away and maybe it used to be visually connected to the Mausoleum itself with a path that would open the view of the two obelisks at the sides. Now this correspondence, if it really existed, must have dated back to the Augustan system, because in the second century other buildings arose obstructing the view. So the world of cosmic references involved the whole system consisting of Pantheon, Mausoleum, Sundial and Ara Pacis: if we accept the identity of the site of the Pantheon and the Palus Caprae, the place of the apotheosis of Romulus, there is a clear correspondence between the apotheosis of the founder of Rome and that of Augustus” (Francesca de Caprariis and Fausto Zevi)

FOURTEEN MONOLITHIC FLUTED COLUMNS 8.9 m (29 feet) high in ancient yellow marble from Tunisia and pavonazzetto marble from Turkey

ATTIC ABOVE THE ENTABLATURE

Rebuilt in 1747 by Paolo Posi (1708/76) for Benedict XIV Lambertini (1740/58)

A restoration in 1930 has revived, over the last niche on the right, the original decoration with polychrome marble derived from Renaissance drawings

The FLOOR also made of polychrome marble, including porphyry from Egypt, is largely original

Aediculae and Chapels

1^st AEDICULA ON THE RIGHT

Altarpiece “Madonna of the Girdle and St Nicholas of Bari” 1686 by an anonymous seventeenth-century artist

1^ST CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT

At the center:

“Annunciation” maybe by Melozzo degli Ambrosi aka Melozzo da Forlì (1438/94)

On the sides:

On the right “Incredulity of St. Thomas” by Pietro Paolo Bonzi aka the Hunchback of Carracci (about 1576/1636)

On the left “Ss. Lorenzo and Agnes” by Clemente Maioli (1634/73) from Ferrara, a painter influenced by Pietro da Cortona and close to the style of Giovanni Francesco Romanelli

On the sides there are also “Four marble busts of prelates” and “Two angels in marble” 1696 of Bernini school

2^nd AEDICULA ON THE RIGHT

Fragmentary fresco “Coronation of the Virgin Mary” of the fourteenth century

2^nd CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT

“Tomb of Victor Emmanuel II” 1878 by Manfredo Manfredi (1859/1627) sculpted by Adolfo Laurenti (1856/1944)

“The execution of the work (...) did not correspond precisely to the design of Manfredi, who had planned the placement of an altar of porphyry, never made, and a richer decoration of the frame of the large bronze plaque. The project, which effectively makes use of the most essential elements of the classical language, is well weighted according to the monumentality and the prestige of the architectural context” (Raffaella Catini - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

The golden lamp hanging in front of the tomb is a symbolic reminder of Victor Emmanuel III who died in exile in Alexandria, Egypt in 1947

3^rd AEDICULA ON THE RIGHT

Statue “St. Anne and the Virgin Mary” 1715/16 by Lorenzo Ottoni (1648/1736)

3^rd CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT

Fresco “Madonna and Sts. Francis and John the Baptist” XV sec. by an artist from Umbria or Lazio regions. It is known as Our Lady of Mercy or of the Gate because it was located until 1837 in a niche of the pronaos protected by a gate

On the right canvas “Consecration of the Pantheon” 1750

4^th AEDICULA ON THE RIGHT

Statue “S. Rasio martyr” in 1725 by Bernardino Cametti (1669/1736)

MAIN ALTAR

Rearranged at the beginning of the eighteenth century by Alessandro Specchi (1668/1729)

Copy of the Roman-Byzantine “Madonna and Child” of the seventh century coated in silver that had been placed on the altar during the consecration of the Pantheon to the Virgin Mary in the year 609. It replaced the original in the early twentieth century

During the refurbishment of Alessandro Specchi the relics of the saints Rasio and Anastasio were found and were put in a medieval bronze box which is shown to the faithful during the most important celebrations

Clement XI Albani (1700/21), who had wanted to carry out the work, commissioned then the statues of the two saints located in the aediculae to the right and to the left of the altar

He also commissioned the MOSAIC MADE OUT OF GOLD AND LAPIS LAZULI, which replaced a sixteenth century fresco by Giovanni Guerra

“Wooden Choir” 1840 by Luigi Poletti (1792/1869)

PANTHEON (first part)

PANTHEON

Piazza della Rotonda

The original Pantheon, rectangular, smaller and corresponding to the site of the porch was built in the years 27/25 BC at the behest of MARCUS VIPSANIUS AGRIPPA, Augustus' son-in-law

It was restored after the fire of the year 80 AD by Domitian (81/96) and again by Trajan (98/117)

According to ancient Roman tradition it was the Palus Caprae, the place where the apotheosis of Romulus happened, that is, his ascent to heaven carried by an eagle

The name comes from the Greek and it means all the gods, indicating the kind of worship that used to be carried out here

It was completely rebuilt in the years 118/125 by Hadrian (117/138), who perhaps was directly involved in the architectural design and revisited the original inscription confusing the dating for archeologists until the excavations in 1892

On that year the French architect Georges Chedanne found out that all the bricks, including the ones in the basement, have marks pinpointing the dating between 120 and 125 AD

The works were completed in the period of Antoninus Pius (138/161)

In 202 Septimius Severus (193/211) and his son Caracalla carried out restorations mentioned in the small relief of the pediment under the main one

Many scholars since the fifteenth century consider the Pantheon as the starting point and the most important work of all western architecture

“Notwithstanding the interpretation of the building as a sort of covered Forum where Adriano was holding court, the sacredness of the Pantheon seems unquestionable if the great oculus at the top of the vault has the function, typical of a templum, to maintain the relationship between heaven and earth. The interpretation of the building as a kind of microcosm on earth, in whose conception the Chaldean astrologer Dionysius of Miletus would have had part alongside Hadrian, has as its corollary the repeated and even authoritative modern attempts to interpret individual elements of the structure in an astral way: 7 exedras = 7 planets, 28 pilasters = 28 days of the lunar phases; 5 rows in the coffered vault = 5 planets except the sun and moon and so on” (Francesca de Caprariis and Fausto Zevi)

'The Pantheon is primarily a dynastic shrine with a cosmic vocation. Dio Cassius says that Adrian loved to administrate justice in it, so that it also had the palatial function of a Royal Hall. It is the largest covered space without intermediate supports that have been implemented before the invention of reinforced concrete” (Andrea Carandini)

Among the STATUES OF GODS there was the famous “Diana of Nemi” with a crown adorned with twenty-topaz, eighty other precious stones, a tiara, nine earrings, eight necklaces, and bracelets with beryl and other gems of which there is a written catalog

The statues in here would have been of course painted with bright colors, just like most of the statues in antiquity originally were

The Pantheon after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire

In 608 it was given by the Emperor Phocas to Pope Boniface IV (608/615) and in 609 it was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and all the martyrs as S. Maria ad Martyres (St. Mary near the Martyrs)

It is said that on this occasion Pope Boniface IV brought from the catacombs twenty-eight wagons full of bones of martyrs that were buried in the altar area

The emperor of the Byzantium, Constantius II (641/668), in 663 stripped it of the gilded bronze covering of the roof which was redone in lead at the behest of Gregory III (731/741) in 735

It ended up becoming a palace with additional buildings around it and it was even used as a papal residence by Anastasius IV (1153/54)

In 1625 Pope Urban VIII Barberini (1623/44) took the bronze coating the beams of the porch (about 200 long tons - about 220 short tons) to make 80 cannons for Castel Sant'Angelo and the columns of the canopy of S. Peter's Basilica

He also had the column on the left corner replaced and had Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) build in 1626/27 two bell-towers known as “donkey ears” who were destroyed in 1882

The removal of the bronze by Urban VIII resulted in the famous lampoon written on the “talking statue” Pasquino: “In Rome, what the barbarians didn't do, the Barberini did”

Alexander VII Chigi (1655/67) replaced other two columns on the left side and had the level of the square lowered. It is the lowest point of Rome, 13.40 m (44 feet) above sea level

Clement IX Rospigliosi (1667/69) in 1668 surrounded the porch with a fence to keep out the market that took place on the square

Pius VII Chiaramonti (1800/23) began restorations and Pius IX Mastai-Ferretti (1846/78) continued the job renewing part of the interior floor

In 1870 it became the sanctuary of the kings of Italy

In the years 1881/83 it was restored by removing the fence, isolating the sides, digging around it and demolishing the two bell-towers

In 1906 the square was paved with wood from Argentina trees donated by the Italian emigrants “to surround with religious silence the venerated tombs of the first kings of Italy” Naturally, the wooden floor did not last long

The Pantheon was for centuries the scene of actual staged events in the days of religious celebration of the Assumption of Mary and the Ascension of Christ: statues of Mary and Christ were raised to the sky through the large hole in the dome, creating an evocative dramatic effect

During the celebration of Pentecost, an impressive ceremony is still celebrated nowadays during which rose petals are thrown inside through the hole of the dome with the symbolic meaning of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the faithful

At the beginning of the seventeenth century a butcher shop run by a couple used to sell very successfully sausages of incredible and peculiar quality in Piazza della Rotonda

Investigators of Urban VIII discovered that the incredible and peculiar quality was due to the fact that the sausages were made of human flesh: the couple used to draw the victims in the basement of their shop and there they would kill them and turn into sausages. They were sentenced to death and executed in 1638

ROMAN FORUM (first part)

FORO ROMANO (prima parte)

Largo della Salara Vecchia

The valley of the Forum, swampy and inhospitable, was used between 900 and 600 BC as a necropolis for the villages located on the surrounding hills

Only around 610 BC it was drained with the construction of the CLOACA MAXIMA by the Etruscan king Tarquinius Priscus and a pavement made of tufa was built

The rectangular square arose primarily as a place in which and around political and judicial (in the comitium) life used to take place and also as a market place in the area properly known as Forum further south

Here in 450 BC the renowned "Twelve Tables", the basis of Roman law, were created and posted to the rostra

After the end of the Punic Wars in 146 BC there was a large building development: FOUR BASILICAS (Porcia, Fulvia-Emilia, Sempronia, Opimia) and reconstruction of temples

Julius Caesar had the floor rebuilt, got rid of the Comitium and moved and rebuilt the Curia

The FLOOR was redone again (it is the one visible now) after a fire in 9 BC by Lucius Naevius Surdinus, maybe praetor, as the inscription near the Column of Phocas says. It is a copy and the original is in the Tabularium in the Capitoline Museums

Only Domitian (81/96) would dare to put a huge equestrian statue in the center of the Forum. It was removed after his death and the square of the Forum stayed clear until 284 with the Tetrarchy of Diocletian (284/305)

A statue of an emperor on a horse will be back in the Forum only with Constantine (306/337)

MANY MAJOR ROADS converged to the Forum:

The most important was VIA SACRA the Sacred Way, which ran from the foot of Capitol Hill to the area known as Carinae passing through the area outside the Temple of Venus and Rome

Then there were the VICUS IUGARIUS and the VICUS TUSCUS almost parallel, under Palatine Hill. The two roads joined the Forum with the Circus Maximus and the Forum Boarium

Both ended in Velabro and the etymology is uncertain: Varro referred it to vehere "to carry" or velaturam facere "to transport by ferry", Sextus Pompeius Festus to the ventilation of grain and Plutarch to the use of sails to cover the triumphal procession route, which also included the Velabro

To the north, between the Basilica Fulvia-Emilia and the Curia, entered the road called ARGILETUM, which was later transformed by Nerva in the Transitory Forum

Under the northern slope of Capitol Hill towards the Campus Martius ran a road known in the Republic period as LAUTUMIAE and in the late empire period as Clivus Argentarium

ARCHEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS

Before the excavations the area was known as Campo vaccino (Field of the cows) because it had become a pasture for cows

The first scientific excavation of the Forum was in 1788 with the Swedish nobleman von Fredenheim who explored the Basilica Julia

From the beginning of 1800 the systematic excavation of the ruins began with Carlo Fea and Antonio Nibby until the middle of the century

Then between 1871 and 1905 almost the whole area visible today was excavated under the direction of Pietro Rosa, Giuseppe Fiorelli and especially Giacomo Boni. The work was later continued by Alfonso Bartoli

CELLARS OF A PRIVATE RESIDENCE

Three small rooms to the left of the Temple of Romulus, below the level of the Augustan period of the Via Sacra

They have been thought to be service rooms of a private home, maybe reserved for slaves. This hypothesis was considered after the archeologists found a similar underground accommodation in the house of Marcus Aemilius Scaurus

It is more likely that they are just the basement's rooms of one of the shops along the Via Sacra

ALTAR OF SATURN

A modern shed next to the Umbiliculus Urbis covers an area of worship carved in the rock and completed with blocks of tufa

This site has been identified with the Altar of Saturn, one of the oldest shrines in the city, founded according to tradition, by the god himself or Hercules, dating to the sixth century BC. Therefore it is older than the Temple of Saturn nearby

ARCH OF AUGUSTUS

Erected after the victory of 29 BC in Actium

It is also known as the Arco Aziaco (the Actium Arch)

Another arch was built later as a counterpart between the Temple of Divus Julius and the Basilica Julia, the PARTHIAN ARCH. It was erected by the Senate in 20 BC after the return of the Eagle to Tiberius who was still a General at the time. It had been taken by the Parthians in 53 BC from Crassus at Carrhae

The Parthian Arch was destroyed in the sixteenth century but it has been described and drawn by Pirro Ligorio. The "Consular and Triumphal Fasti" now in the Capitoline Museums come from this arch 

ARCH OF SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS

Dedicated in 203 by the Senate to Septimius Severus (193/211) and his two sons, Caracalla and Geta to celebrate the victory over the PARTHIANS (now IRAN-IRAQ), over the ARABS (now SAUDI ARABIA) and over the ADIABENES (now KURDISTAN) with two military campaigns ended respectively in 195 and 203

It is 20.88 m (67 feet) high, 23.27 m (76 feet) wide and 11.20 m (37 feet) deep

Above the side arches FOUR LARGE RELIEFS depict episodes over several levels of the war against the Parthians:

Forum side from left to right:

1) "Departure of the Roman army, combat, speech of Septimius Severus and release of Nisibis besieged by the Parthians"

2) "Roman army attacks Edessa with war machines. Subjugation of Osroene people and their King Abgar. Speech of Septimius Severus"

Capitoline Hill side from left to right:

3) "Attack on Seleucia on the Tigris River (30 km - 19 miles - from Baghdad) and escape of the Parthians. Surrendering of Seleucia and submission of the Parthians"

4) "Attack on Ctesiphon (located on the opposite river bank of Seleucia) with war machines and fall of the city. Final speech of Septimius Severus in front of Ctesiphon"

Below there is a frieze with "Triumphal procession"

On the bases of columns "Barbarians prisoners"

The fourth line of the inscription, optimis fortissimisque principibus, replaces the text with the name of Geta and was canceled after his murder and his damnatio memoriae

The representation of the human figure has been flattened in crowd scenes

Above the arch there was a bronze quadriga with the Emperors

"While the accessory decoration is carried out according to standards imbued with classicism, the four large reliefs make abundant use of those modes of expression of symbolic type, where vividness is emphasized as well as clarity of immediate actions and situations. We are fully in the tradition of the historical relief, which narrates the exploits in standardized moments and situations, particularly regarding military events and emperor achievements" (Gian Luca Grassigli - TMG)

ARCH OF TITUS

The inscription facing the Forum bears the dedication of the Senate to Titus (79/81) who died at age 40. Being mentioned as Divus (god) the dedication must have been made after his death

It is made in opus quadratum of marble, pentelic (from near Athens) up to the capitals and luni (from Carrara) in the upper part, with base in travertine and inner core made out of concrete

The foundations are visible as a result of the excavations that went as far as the Augustan level

The sides in travertine are part of the restoration of 1822 by Raffaele Stern (1774/1820) and Giuseppe Valadier (1762/1839) for Pius VII Chiaramonti (1800/23) as the inscription on the side toward the Colosseum mentions

In the ENTABLATURE frieze "Triumph of Vespasian and Titus over the Jews"

ABOVE THE ARCHWAY there are  Victories with globes with banners"

At the CENTER OF THE VAULT of the arch there is "Titus brought to heaven by an eagle", an allusion to its apotheosis. This relief made some scholars think that the arch was also the tomb of Titus, but this idea doesn't seem to be backed up by enough evidence

ON THE INTERIOR WALLS two reliefs about the capture of Jerusalem in 70 AD, which ended the first Jewish War begun in 66 and ended up for good with the final victory of the fall of Masada in 72:

On the south side:

"Entrance of the triumphal procession", with the loot consisting of the seven-branched candlestick, the menorah, the table with the sacred vessels, the silver trumpets, the table for the bread of proposition

On the north side:

"Titus on the triumphant chariot", crowned by Victory, with the goddess Roma in person holding the horses and behind the personifications of the Roman people (shirtless) and of the Senate (in a toga)

The arch was almost certainly an honorary arch on the road leading from the valley of the Colosseum to the Palatine Hill. Surely the road that passes beneath the arch was not the Via Sacra (Sacred Way) which began from the Comitium and ended at the Carinae

In the Middle Ages the arch was built in the Fortress of the Frangipane family

When it was proclaimed the state of Israel in 1948 some Roman Jews symbolically passed under the Arch of Titus, something they had not done for many centuries

Another Arch of Titus, now disappeared, was inserted in the Circus Maximus on the short side toward Porta Capena

BASE OF THE DECENNIAL CELEBRATION

In memory of the tenth anniversary of the Tetrarchy in 303 of the four emperors (two Augusti and two Caesars) inaugurated by Diocletian (284/305) in 293

On the same year, 303, Diocletian visited Rome. It was the year of the last persecution against the Christians, the most violent one

Side facing the Curia Julia: two winged Victories supporting a shield with an inscription dedicated to the ten years (decennial Cesarum feliciter)

Side toward the Arch of Titus: procession of senators

Side toward the Arch of Septimius Severus: a bull, a sheep and a pig ready to be sacrificed (suovetaurilia), with servants and a character with a toga

Side facing the Basilica Julia: the emperor is at the center before an altar in the act of making a libation, and a Victory flies to crown him. In the scene there are also an attendant, a priest with a pointed hat (the Flamen Martialis), a naked figure with helmet (Mars) and a figure robed and bearded. Behind the emperor there is a character with a toga (maybe the Senate), with the goddess Roma seated and her head radiant as the Sun god

BASE OF THE STATUE OF MARS

Dedicated "To Mars and the founders of the Eternal City" by Maxentius (306/312), whose name was deleted after the victory of Constantine (306/337)

BASE OF ARCADIUS, HONORIUS AND THEODOSIUS

Large inscription on a base of an equestrian statue commemorating the victory of the emperors Arcadius, Honorius (395/423) and Theodosios over the barbarian hordes of Alaric in 403

In the fifth from the end it is possible to see the chiseling of the name of the general Stilicho, who was executed by order of Honorius in 408

BASE OF COSTANTIUS II

Base of the equestrian statue dating back to the years 352/353 dedicated to the Emperor Constantius II (337/361) in remembrance of the victory at the BATTLE OF MURSA MAIOR (today Osijek in Croatia) against Magnentius in 351, the bloodiest battle in all the twelve centuries of Roman history:

Constantius II had an army of 60,000 men, Magnentius 36,000: the result was 54,000 deaths (30,000 Constantius II, 24,000 Magnentius) all soldiers of Rome

It was also the terrible and bloody civil wars that contributed eventually to the fall of the Western Roman Empire greatly weakened in its military strength

BASILICA OF MAXENTIUS

Begun by Maxentius (306/312) over the area where previously there was a large complex including utilitarian warehouses for processing and storage of spices, the Horrea Piperitaria

It was completed by Constantine (306/337), and finally restored in the late fourth century

Classical scheme of the basilica with three naves, the central one larger and higher than the two sides of equal size, and punctuated by tall marble Proconnesian columns (the Sea of Marmara in Turkey) all lost but one which was moved in 1613 in Piazza S. Maria Maggiore

Originally the entrance was on the east side, toward the Temple of Venus and Rome and the Colosseum

Five major entrances led to a kind of atrium from which it was possible to enter the nave 80 meters (262 feet) long, 25 meters (82 feet) wide and 35 meters (115 feet) high

There was another monumental gateway built at a later time on the south side toward the Via Sacra

Inside there was a GIGANTIC STATUE originally depicting Maxentius but later adapted as Constantine, of the acrolito type with exposed parts of the body in marble and the rest in wood covered with metal, maybe gilded bronze.

It was placed in the apse of the lower west side

The marble pieces found in 1487 (head 2.6 m - 8.5 feet - high and foot 2 m - 6.5 feet long) are in the courtyard of the Palace of the Conservatives on Capitol Hill

The basilica was recently identified as the seat of the Urban Prefecture, the most important of the offices of the city in late antiquity

The apse of the north aisle was added in the fourth century to transfer in it the Secretarium Senatus (the tribunal for trials against members of the Senate) from the Curia Julia

The gilded bronze plates that covered the roof were removed by Honorius I (625/638) in 626 to decorate the Basilica of St. Peter

Remarkable example of engineering and architectural at the beginning of the fourth century. If the arts had lost adherence to the real and could probably be considered in the process of decline, this was not the case of architecture as this building proves showing incredible vitality and magnitude

BASILICA FULVIA-EMILIA (PAULI)

179 BC, built by the censor Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and Marco Fulvio Nobilior over an earlier basilica, the remains of which in Grotta Oscura tufa can be seen on the west side under a roof

During the late Republican period it was restored several times by Emilia family members and took the name of BASILICA PAULI whereas before it was known as "Fulvia" or "Fulvia-Emilia"

One of the most important restoration is due to the consul Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (same name as the one of 179 BC) in 78 BC: he had a façade built toward the Forum with portraits of his ancestors, and African marble columns added to the interior colonnade

Other works were done by the Emilia family but with financial aid from others: in 54 BC from Julius Caesar and in 22 AD from Tiberius (14/37)

The last restoration took place in about 430 due to the significant damage caused by the fire during the sack of Rome in 410 by the Visigoths under Alaric. On this occasion, the floor was raised

It is the only building of this type dating back to Republican times

The original basilica had three naves. The present structure has four naves with two naves on the north side and one on the south side, while the main nave (the largest) had a raised floor with large windows

According to a recent hypothesis the real Basilica Emilia would actually be identified with a 159 BC building due to the censor Aemilius Paulus to be located under the Temple of Divus Julius

In the porch on the side of the Via Sacra, there are the TABERNAE NOVAE, a series of workshops originally from the republican period, but rebuilt in the imperial age. They were used by bankers and money changers (argentarii) and were also known as Tabernae Argentariae

BASILICA JULIA 41

Begun in about 54 BC by Julius Caesar in the place of the ancient BASILICA SEMPRONIA that had been built in 170 BC by Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus (father of the famous Tiberius and Gaius) demolishing the house of Scipio Africanus and some shops

Inaugurated incomplete in 46 BC, it was completed by Augustus (27 BC/14 AD)

It measured 101 x 49 m (331 x 161 feet), with a large central hall of 82 x 18 m (269 x 59 feet)

It burned in the fire of 9 BC. Rebuilt by the will of Augustus and dedicated to the two adopted sons, Gaius and Lucius, but it kept the original name

It was again damaged by the fire of Carino (283/285) in 283 and again restored by Diocletian (284/305)

It was the seat of the CENTUMVIRI COURT. Wooden partitions or curtains divided it into sectors, with four courts active at the same time. It was opened on the north side facing the square, with a portico with pillars in the center of which was the main entrance on the long side

Only the podium remains with the remains of the pavement and some semi-columns

On steps and on the floor there are still traces of game boards carved similar to the modern game of checkers, the tabulae lusoriae

In the east side there is an iron door that gives access to the CLOACA MAXIMA, the culvert that was and still is (incredibly, after 2,600 years) making sewage flow from the Forum to the Tiber River. It was originally built in the era of the monarchy, about 600 BC

To the south of the basilica in the non-excavated under the former hospital of Consolation there are still probably the remains of the Temple of Augustus (Templum Novum Divi Augusti) begun by Tiberius (14/37) and finished by Caligula (37/41)

A fragment of the Severan Marble Plan (the Forma Urbis) represents it at the center of a square with an inscription identifying it as the Graecostadium maybe a slave market

HOUSE OF MARCUS AEMILIUS SCAURUS

Private residence of the late-republican period, now covered by a roof, identified as the home of Marcus Aemilius Scaurus famous character of Rome in the first century BC. He is the one who built the Ponte Milvio (Milvian Bridge)

Sector underground with a small room with lararium and some other very small rooms built in opus reticulatum and simple floor made out of pieces of travertine. These rooms were probably intended for slaves

Other rooms with black and white mosaic floors probably belong to the spa area of the house

COLUMN OF PHOCAS

Last monument in order of time to be built in the Forum

Height 13.60 m (45 feet)

According to the inscription on the plinth, it was surmounted by a golden statue dedicated to the Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus Phocas (602/610)

The dedication was curated by Smaradgo, Patrician and Exarch of the Byzantine Empire, and it was made in 608 AD by the church (Smaradgo was only the curator) to thank Phocas "for the countless benefits, for peace returned to Italy and for the preservation of liberty" but especially for having given the church the most important pagan temple, the Pantheon, which was then consecrated to Christian worship of Santa Maria ad Martyres

The column is much older (about second century AD) and most likely was part of another monument, maybe the Temple of Hercules (or Olivarius) in the Forum Boarium

HONORARY COLUMNS

Seven high bases in brick for the honorary columns dating back to the tetrarchical period, early fourth century AD

Two were reassembled at the end of 1800s with columns of gray granite and white marble found around the area. The disappearance of all inscriptions made it impossible to figure out to whom they were dedicated

COMITIUM

Open space dedicated by the augurs, priests who interpreted the will of the gods by looking at the flight of birds, positioned according to the cardinal points (therefore it was a templum), marked by ritual wells and surrounded by terraces on which the citizens of the popular assembly sat down

Originally its shape was square, but from the first half of the third century BC it became circular

It was the oldest seat of city politics with the THREE ELEMENTS OF THE ROMAN CONSTITUTION:

1) The People's Assembly in the oldest form of the comizi curiati in the central square

2) The Senate in the Curia and in the Senaculum

3) The magistrates in the Rostra. In the late Republican period the Comitium's functions would move to the Forum

It was full of statues and monuments including: the bronze chapel of Concord, the statue and the well of the augur Atto Navio, the statue of Marsyas, republican symbol of freedom and those of Pythagoras and Alcibiades, "the bravest and wisest of Greek". There were also the statues of Camillo and the three Sibyls

Around the square there were a number of monuments:

The CURIA HOSTILIA

The BASILICA PORCIA, erected by Cato the Censor in 184 BC, destroyed by fire in 52 and never rebuilt

The SENACULUM another meeting place of the senators

The GRECOSTASI platform from which foreign ambassadors (including, as the name clearly indicates, many Greeks) could attend the meetings of the senate

The ROSTRA or speakers' stage, so-called since 338 BC when the rostra of the ships captured at Anzio were hung on it

The VOLCANALE, probably corresponding to the Niger Lapis. Maybe the Comitium was even used during ancient gladiatorial games