It stood on
the right side going north of the ancient Via Lata (now Via del Corso)
immediately south of the arches of the Aqua
Virgo, in the area where the Galleria
Sciarra is today
It was
designed by Agrippa, begun by his sister Vipsania Polla, after whom it was
named and finished by Augustus (27 BC/14 AD)
Agrippa had
a great map of the empire (orbis pictus) exhibited in the building
It was
adjacent to the CATABULUM (in the area where now is the church of S. Marcello)
headquarters of the organization of public transport
It was
maybe the CENTRAL OFFICE OF THE CURSUS PUBLICUS or the Imperial Post, which was
used to cover in emergency up to 250 km (155 miles) per day (the normal average
was 40 km - 25 miles - per day) using the stations for the exchange horses
placed along the Roman roads
It is
estimated that the Roman road network covered, in its entirety, about 80,000 km
(50,000 miles), equivalent to about twice the circumference of the Earth
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