TERME DI CARACALLA
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 52
212/216 AD
for Caracalla (211/217)
The baths
were known as Thermae Antoninianae
from the real name of the emperor Caracalla, which was Marcus Aurelius
Antoninus
He was
nicknamed Caracalla from the name of the Gallic hooded robe he used to dress.
He was in fact born in Gaul, in the city of Lugdunum, today Lyon
Tha baths
were dedicated in the year 216 but were completed by Elagabalus (218/222) and
Alexander Severus (222/235), a great lover of athletics, with the external
enclosure
The baths
were restored by Aurelian (270/275)
The complex
remained in operation until the year 537 (about 300 years!) when the Goths of
Vitige cut the acqueduct of the Aqua
Antoniniana Iovia derived from the Aqua
Marcia and passing on the Arch
of Drusus
Since 1938
the baths were used for summer performances of operas and here sang for the
first time ever in 1990 the three tenors Luciano Pavarotti, Jose Carreras and
Placido Domingo
“The water
flow of the aqueduct service of the Baths of Caracalla could have been up to
20,000 m³ (5,283,500 gallons) per day, enough for a modern city of 70,000
inhabitants; at least 3,500 m (11,500 feet) of lead piping, 550 tons (606 tons)
heavy, distributing water in different rooms; 49 ovens warmed the rooms up,
consuming no less than 10 tons (11 tons) of wood a day, which required warehouses
for 2,000 tons (2,200 tons), of supply for 7 months. The number of users of
1600, also provided by an ancient source, refers only to one shift lasting 2
hours, which allows to evaluate between 6500 and 8000 the number of swimmers
who used the complete cycle of the baths, and about 10,000 people daily. On
this basis it is possible to calculate the number of people using daily the whole
system of the Rome public and private baths, which could reach 150,000 people,
a figure roughly equivalent to that of those entitled to free wheat and representing
therefore a real ‘baths culture’ that, in this size, knows no parallel in any
period of history” (Filippo Coarelli)
PERIMETER
337 x 328 m
(1,105 x 1,076 feet) but with the projection of the square the larger side
would have been 400 m (1,312 feet)
Interior:
STADIUM
that hid the huge tanks (64 rooms) capable of 80,000 liters (21,100 gallons)
APODYTERIUM
(dressing room), GREEK LIBRARY LIBRARY and LATIN
FRIGIDARIUM,
TEPIDARIUM and round CALDARIUM WITH dome of 34 m (112 feet) in diameter
CENTRAL
BASILICA 58 x 24 m (190 x 79 feet)
NATATIO
(swimming pool) with no ceiling
Vast
underground areas on two levels: the upper for services, the lower for drainage
Near the
large exedra of northwest was installed the largest MITHRAIC TEMPLE ever found in Rome, which retains
the white mosaic floor with black bands
Among the works of art found here:
Taurus,
Flora and the Hercules Farnese in Naples
The tanks of
the fountains on Piazza Farnese
The mosaic with athletes at the
Vatican Museums
One of
the four pillars of the natatio is in
Piazza S. Trinita in Florence
TERME DI AGRIPPA
Via dell’Arco della Ciambella 12
25/19 BC
for Agrippa (about 63/12 BC) who used the water of the acqueduct Aqua
Virgo which had been completed just then
Restored in
80 AD and then again by Hadrian (117/138) simultaneously to the construction of
the Pantheon
Restored
again in the years 344/345 at the time of Constantius II (337/361) and Constant
(337/350)
The size
was about 120 x 100 m (400 x 330 feet)
It
consisted of large rooms irregularly arranged around a large circular hall
Half of
this LARGE CIRCULAR HALL is still visible in Via dell’Arco
della Ciambella (diameter 25 m - 82 feet)
Here was
kept the original “Apoxyomenos” by Lysippus, one
of the most popular statues among the Romans
To the
west of the baths was the STAGNUM AGRIPPAE, artificial lake maybe used for
naval battles, from which came off the Euripos
channel which ended up into the Tiber River near today's Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II
TEMPIO DI VENERE E ROMA
Piazza
del Colosseo
Begun in
the year 121 AD for Hadrian (117/138) who, maybe,
was the architect
Built on
the vestibule of the Domus Aurea, after having leveled the Velia Hill
It seems
that Apollodorus of Damascus, architect of Trajan, had criticized the ability of
Hadrian as an architect and had been sentenced to death by the offended emperor
Dedicated on
April 21, 135 AD
It was
completed at the time of Antoninus Pius (138/161)
Restored on
the year 307 AD for Maxentius (307/312)
It was the
largest temple of ancient Rome and perhaps in the world, together with the Temple of Serapis of similar
size:
Platform
100 x 145 m (330 x 476 feet) occupied for about ¾ by the temple
To give an
idea of the size it can be said that the Parthenon in Athens is 31 x 70 m (101
x 230 feet) and the Temple of Apollo Didimeo in Miletus is 51 x 110 m (167 x 361
feet)
It was a dipteral
decastile temple, with 10 x 22 columns, three rows of columns on both sides and
two opposing cellas according to a tradition definitely Greek, on a crepidoma of
seven steps
Two porticos
with double colonnade with a central small propylaeum on the long sides of the
platform
Inside the
two cellas there used to be statues of Venus Felix (towards the Colosseum) and
Eternal Rome (towards the Forum)
It was
opened to the public in November 2010. During the restorations traces of gold
that covered the roof shingles were found
The BRONZE
COLOSSUS 35.40 m (116 feet) high by Zenodorus, representing Nero (54/68), the
largest bronze statue ever made in the world (the Colossus of Rhodes was 32 m
high - 105 feet) later transformed by Vespasian (69/79) in the Sun God Helios, formerly
placed in the vestibule of the Domus Aurea, was moved at the behest of Hadrian
near the Colosseum with the help of 24 elephants
“The temple
is placed in alignment with the axis of the Colosseum: it renews, in a
different key, the relationship between theater and temple we saw frequently in
the Hellenistic period, where, however, to represent the gathered community of
the Roman people is now the (…) more prestigious building of the city, its
amphitheater: the colossus of Sol Invictus, erected between the two buildings,
in front of the façade of the temple, represented the cosmic guarantee of the
eternity of the city. It has been said, effectively modernizing, that Hadrian
had established a proper national cult” (Francesca de Caprariis and Fausto
Zevi)
TEMPIO DI SERAPIDE
Piazza del Quirinale
Built by Caracalla (211/217)
It was the
largest temple of ancient Rome and perhaps in the world together with the Temple of Venus and Rome, of
similar size:
135 x 98 m
(443 x 322 feet) with an area of 13,230 m² (3.25 acres)
The columns
had a diameter of nearly 2 m (6.5 feet) and were 21.17 m (70 feet) high
Serapis was
a Greek-Egyptian god, whose cult was introduced in Alexandria by Ptolemy I, who
built there the Serapeum
There are
conflicting theories about the origins of the deity: the most reliable are the
Sinopitic-Babylonian origin (Sinope is in northern Turkey) and the Memphis
origin connected with Osiris-Apis
For the
syncretistic phenomenon typical of the Hellenistic age, it was identified with
various Greek gods, especially Zeus
In the
nearby Villa Colonna there is the largest architectural element existing in
Rome of 34 sqm (366 square feet) and weighing 100 tons (110 tons)
Important
statues found in the nearby Baths
of Constantine were probably part of the decoration of the
temple:
“Two
Dioscuri” now in Piazza del Quirinale
Two colossal river gods “Tiber”,
originally the Tigris River, later transformed with the addition of the twins,
and “Nile”, both now in Piazza del Campidoglio
TEMPIO DI SEMO SANCUS DIUS
FIDIUS
Via
XXIV Maggio
Maybe
originally founded by Titus Tatius the Sabine king who, according to tradition,
shared power with Romulus
Semo Sancus
was a deity of Sabine origin
The temple
area corresponds to the current area of the church of S. Silvestro al Quirinale
The temple
building was probably begun by Tarquinius Superbus and inaugurated in the year
466 BC
Inside
there was a bronze statue of Tanaquil, wife of Tarquinio Prisco, and the Foedus Gabinus, a treaty signed with Gabii, one of the oldest examples of treaties
of alliance of Roman history, written on a shield made out of cowhide
“His
sanctuary stood on the Quirinal Hill, and it gave the name to the Sanqualis
Gate. Another shrine was on the Tiberina Island. This temple, generally
attributed to the Tarquin kings (Varro, De Ling. Lat., V, 52 and 66), was
dedicated in 466 by the consul Spurious Posthumus Regillense, according to the
Venosino Calendar. Dius Fidius can be linked for some of his attributes to
Hercules and Jupiter. Like Hercules he was worshiped ‘propter viam’, and in
Rome people used to swear ‘Mehercle’ and ‘Me and Dius Fidius’ (Prop., Iv, 9, 71
ff .; Tertull., De idol., 20). Jupiter is also called Dius Fidius, Ζεὺς πίστιος
(Dion Hal., Ant. Rom., iv, 58, 4; ix, 60, 8), so we can consider Semo Sancus, a
‘Genus Iovis’, a demigod protector of marital fidelity and of the law of
nations. On the other hand it was also a rural divinity, protector of the
fields and crops” (Susanna Meschini - Enciclopedia dell’Arte Antica Treccani)
TEMPIO DI PORTUNUS
Piazza
Bocca della Verità
Built in
the fourth or third century BC
Rebuilt in
the second half of the second century BC with renovations in the first century
BC
Mistakenly
believed to be the Tempio della Fortuna
Virile (Temple of Manly Fortune)
It is a
temple pseudoperipteral, ionic and tetrastyle
Travertine
columns, half-columns and wall of the cella in tuff of the Aniene River with bases
and capitals in travertine
It was
originally completely covered with stucco
It became a
church in the year 872 with the name of S. Maria Egiziaca (St. Mary of Egypt), the patron saint
of prostitutes, and it was granted to the Armenians
It was
commonly called S. Maria ad Gradellis
(S. Mary at the Steps) for the staircase that used to connect this area with
the River Tiber
It was
deconsecrated in 1924 and the copy of the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre of
Jerusalem, which was kept in it, was moved to St.
Nicholas of Tolentino
MAIN ALTAR
“St.
Mary of Egypt” by Federico Zuccari (about
1542/1609)
TEMPIO DI “MINERVA MEDICA”
Via
Giovanni Giolitti 409
Built in
the fourth century AD
Grandiose
structure maybe formerly part of the HORTI LICINIANI (Gardens of Licinius) of
the emperor Licinius Gallienus (253/268) according to Filippo Coarelli
According
to Federico Guidobaldi it was rebuilt for Constantine (306/337) with bricks
marked with dates of the time of Maxentius (306/312) and used for the private
sector of Costantine’s PALATIUM SESSORIANUM, the large urban residence of Constantine and his family
Unusual
plan with ten sides and a diameter of 25 m (82 feet)
The
polygonal-shaped DOME gradually assumes an hemispheric aspect
Is often
mistakenly considered a nympheum or a fountain
Among the
statues found here:
A “Minerva
with serpent” called “Athena Giustiniani”
now in the Vatican Museums that gave the arbitrary name to the building
“Two
judges in place to launch a small sack to start the races in the circus”, “Statue
of dancing satyr” and “Statue of Dionysus with a panther” now on display at the
Centrale Montemartini, together
with the mosaic “Hunting Scenes” found in the vicinity and in part still
incredibly buried under rail tracks
TEMPIO DI MATIDIA
Vicolo
della Spada d'Orlando
Built on
the year 119 AD for Hadrian (117/138) who had it built in honor of his
mother-in-law Matidia (mother of his wife Sabina) who had died during that same
year
There are
remains visible in Vicolo della Spada d'Orlando: a column of cipollino marble
that had to be high not less than 17 m (56 feet) and a brick wall
The site of
the temple corresponds to the current Piazza Capranica
It was
placed between two buildings similar to porticos probably the BASILICA OF
MATIDIA on the site of the present church of St.
Mary in Aquiro and the BASILICA MARCIANA (mother of Matidia) on
the area of the buildings along Via dei Pastini
TEMPIO DI MARTE
Via degli Specchi/Piazza S.
Salvatore in Campo
135 BC
maybe Hermodoros of Salamis (active in Rome in
the II century BC) for Brutus Callaicus
Nothing is
left to be seen of this temple
It was
located at the west end of the Circus
Flaminius corresponding precisely to the block between Via degli
Specchi, the Via and the Piazza di San Salvatore in Campo to left the Palazzo
del Monte di Pietà
It was a
peripteral temple made out of Pentelic marble on a crepidoma with no podium and
therefore in purely Greek style
The
church of S. SALVATORE IN CAMPO was built
on the exact area of the temple
TEMPIO DI IUNONIS MONETAE
Via di S. Pietro in Carcere
On the prominence
of the Capitol Hill known as Arx
The
festival of Iuno Moneta, Juno Warner,
was celebrated here every June 1st
It was the
anniversary of the dedication
(dedication) of the temple made by the son of Camillus in the year 343 BC
Nearby,
between the late fourth and early third century BC, was built the mint of Rome,
later moved by Domitian in the area of the church
of St. Clement
From the
name of the goddess came the Italian word moneta
(money in English): it dates from the time of the siege of the Gauls of Brennus
in the year 396 BC, when the sacred geese of the Temple of Juno, the famous
geese of the Capitol, with their squawking woke former consul Manlius who gave
the alarm
In the area
of the Garden of the Aracoeli there were other facilities:
AUGURACULUM
Used for ritual
observations to foresee the future
CAPITOLINE
ISEUM
Dating back
at least to the year 58 BC, when it was mentioned for the first time by the
sources
To the
temple maybe belonged the Obelisk
of Villa Celimontana built for Ramses II (1297/1213 BC) around 1200
BC
There
were also the TEMPLE OF CAELESTIS and the TEMPLE OF MITHRAS
TEMPIO DI ISIDE
Via di S. Stefano del Cacco 26
Maybe built
at the behest of the members of the second triumvirate in the year 43 BC
It was
known as Iseum Campensis and it was
the most important sanctuary of the Egyptian religion in Rome
The site of
the temple corresponds to the present church of S.
Stefano del Cacco (St. Stephen of Cacco)
It was
hardly tolerated by Augustus and Tiberius, and it was rebuilt by Caligula,
Domitian and Alexander Severus
Grand
entrance from the north in the current Via del Seminario and two side entrances
closer to the temple. The east side entrance was the so-called ARCO DI
CAMIGLIANO (Arch of Camigliano) the left pilaster of which is still visible
“The
historian Dio Cassius says that in 53 BC the Senate ordered the demolition of
all the private temples, within the walls, not only dedicated to Isis, but also
to Serapis, other male deity imported from Egyptian, corresponding to the
Hellenized form of the god Osiris, brother and husband of Isis. The
construction of the Iseum Campensis took place significantly in 43 BC, ten
years after the senatorial ban, if another testimony of Dio Cassius is properly
interpreted, and the patrons are the protagonists of the second triumvirate, who
most likely continued the building program begun by Julius Caesar in the Campus
Martius. After a few years after its construction, the Temple of Isis was, on
and off, at the center of repressions and temporary suspensions, from Agrippa
in 21 BC, to the more incisive one of Tiberius, who even had the priests
executed. After the reintroduction of the cult by Caligula, and the complete
reconstruction of Domitian after the fire of 80 AD, the Iseum Campensis and the
worship of the goddess Isis continued until the end of the imperial period”
(Paolo Vigliarolo - ArcheoCommons)
The
structure was decorated with five small obelisks of about 6 m (20 feet) in
height:
1) Piazza della Rotonda from
Heliopolis by Ramses II (1297/1213 BC) about 1250 BC
2) War Memorial of Dogali from
Heliopolis by Ramses II about 1250 BC
3) Piazza
della Minerva by Apries about 500 BC
4)
Florence, Boboli Gardens from Heliopolis by Ramses II about 1250 BC
5) Urbino,
Palazzo Ducale by Apries by 500 BC
There was
also a higher one, perhaps the Agonal
Obelisk later moved to the Circus of Maxentius and later on again
to Piazza Navona, with the name of Domitian in hieroglyphics
Filippo
Coarelli and Jean-Claude Grenier deem it however coming originally from the TEMPLUM
GENTIS FLAVIAE that was erected in Via Vittorio Emanuele Orlando where now the Hall Octagonal or Hall of Minerva
is, the former Planetarium
Maybe it
was another obelisk whose pieces of pink granite were used for the thresholds
of the Collegio
Romano, Palazzo
Giustiniani and S. Andrea della Valle
Maybe it
corresponds to the square in the center of Via Pie' di Marmo on the Forma
Urbis marble map
MANY
STATUES were found in the area of the temple, including:
The two
statues of men representing rivers lying down: the “Nile” in the Vatican Museums and
the “Tiber” in the Louvre
Those that
make up the Egyptian Collection of the
Capitoline Museums found here in 1883
The “Pie' di
Marmo” placed in the street with the same name, Via del Pie’ di Marmo
The “Madama Lucretia” in Piazza Venezia
The “Dog-headed God Thoth” now the
Gregorian Egyptian Museum in the Vatican and mistakenly considered a macaque
monkey
TEMPIO DI HONOS E VIRTUS
Piazza di Porta Capena
Built in
the year 234 BC
The
location just outside Porta Capena is known, but no trace of it remains
Augustus
(27 BC/AD 14) fixed to May 29, the date of the feast of Honos and Virtus
TEMPLE OF
HONOS
Built by
Quintus Fabius Maximus the Procrastinator (275/203 BC)
Honos was
the deified personification of Honor, maybe specifically Military Honor,
revered in Rome from the third century BC on
TEMPLE OF
VIRTUS
Added in
208 BC by Claudius Marcellus, the conqueror of Syracuse
Virtus was
the deified personification of Military Virtue and almost always appears with
Honos in literary and epigraphic sources
“All
the figurative monuments present Honos as male personification, almost always
as a kind of a young man covered with pallium on one shoulder and on the lower
part of the body, with naked chest, and bearing in one or both hands
attributes, including frequently a cornucopia and an olive branch. We cannot
exclude that these iconographic characters would be the main differentiation in
worship between Honos and Virtus, the latter being constantly represented with
military attributes (helmet) as a warrior god” (Giovanni Scichilone -
Enciclopedia dell’Arte Antica Treccani)
TEMPIO DI HERCULES VICTOR
Piazza
Bocca della Verità
About 120
BC maybe by Hermodoros of Salamis (active in
Rome during the second century BC) in Pentelic Greek marble for the merchant
Marcus Octavius Herennus, perhaps enriched with the olive oil business
This temple
is mistakenly believed to be the “Temple of Vesta”
On a block
of stone that was found here, probably the base of the statue of worship, there
is the name of the deity Hercules
Olivarius, and the name of the sculptor of the statue Skopas Minor, Greek sculptor who also worked in the
area of the Circus Flaminius
So the
temple was dedicated to Hercules
Olivarius and maybe not to Hercules
Victor
It was
restored under Tiberius (14/37), perhaps after the flood of the year 15 AD
On that
occasion nine columns and eleven capitals of marble from Luni were rebuilt
It is the
oldest marble building remained in Rome. The first to be built in marble was
the Temple of Jupiter Stator in the Porticus
of Octavia
It is a
peripteral round temple (Tholos) with
twenty columns (there is only one base and perhaps the missing column is the “Column of Phocas” of the Roman
Forum) on a stepped plinth (crepidoma)
with circular foundation of tuff from Grotta Oscura
It became a
church in 1132 as S. Stefano delle Carrozze (St. Stephen of the Coaches)
from the name of the nearby street Via delle Carrozze (Coahes Street) now
disappeared
In 1560 the
name was changed into S. Maria del Sole
(S. Mary of the Sun) maybe because of a legend (a woman of 115 years emanated
light after a picture of the Virgin Mary found in the Tiber River was taken in
her house), or maybe because of the proximity of the Mithraeum of the Circus Maximus with the god Mithra
represented as the Sun
The
structures and the walls of the church were dismantled during the years 1809/14
by Giuseppe Valadier (1762/1839)
Last
renovation in 1996
Frescoes
with “Scenes of the Virgin Mary and Saints” 1475 by Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere
(1471/84) who wanted to place a commemorative plaque on the floor
TEMPIO DI HERCULES CUBANS
Via
Portuense/Via Ettore Rolli
About first
century BC
It was
discovered in 1889
Here
were found the “Eight herms of charioteers”
now at the National Roman Museum of Palazzo Massimo
