The Temples of the Forum Boarium

Lying on a flat area between the Tiber and the Capitoline and Palatine Hills, this was Rome's original port district - the Portus Tiburinas. It later became the city's principal cattle market - the forum venalium. Legend has it that the demigod Hercules visited Rome and slew a monster which lived in a cave at the foot of the Capitoline Hill.
In 264 BC, the first recorded gladiatorial fight took place here, as part of a funeral ceremony. It is also recorded that a human sacrifice was conducted here. In order to avert a war, two Gaul slaves - a man and a woman - were buried alive on the site.
Today, the area is a small park surrounded by busy roads - one running alongside the sharp bend of the Tiber, and the other along the foot of the hills. Two temples can be seen, dating from before the Imperial era. Both have survived due to their being converted into churches in the early medieval period.

The circular one is the Temple of Hercules Victor - also known as Hercules Olivarius, as Hercules was supposed to protect the lucrative olive trade. He had a great altar set up to him nearby as well. The building dates to the second century BC, and is Rome's oldest marble temple. 20 Corinthian columns surround the central cella, and it sits on a base of the volcanic tufa rock. It once had an architrave, which would have made it look like a mini Pantheon, but this has long gone. The roof is modern. Its circular appearance led it to be misidentified as the Temple of Vesta for many years.
In 1132 it was converted into the church of S. Stefano alle Carozze ("of the Carriages"). In the 17th Century it was rededicated to S. Maria del Sole ("of the Sun").

Close by is the later rectangular Temple of Portunas. Built between 120 - 80 BC, it is also known as the Temple of Fortunas Virilis ("manly fortune"). Portunas was the god of locks, keys and also of livestock - and so would watch over the cattle being delivered to the market here. The columns are Ionic. The ones holding up the portico are free-standing, whilst the ones along the side and across the back are only half-columns - embedded into the walls of the cella.
This temple was converted into a church in 872 - S. Maria Egyziaca ("of Egypt").

The Palatine Ephebos

A popular statue form in ancient Greece was the Ephebe - an adolescent male, always presented nude. The philhellene Romans adopted this fashion - as they invariably did with any Greek artworks - and latinised the name to Ephebos. The Ephebe - usually aged around 17 or 18 - was a boy who had been removed from his family setting (generally the supervision of his mother) and placed in isolation so that he could become a man - and was thus ready to do adult things like join the army.

The Romans made a big deal of the transition from youth to adulthood. The Emperor Nero, for instance, held several day's worth of Games to celebrate the first shaving of his beard. The statue - clearly badly damaged - which you can see in the Palatine Museum, set in what was once a convent in the middle of the Palatine complex, used to adorn a Temple of Apollo which Augustus had built right beside his house. Apollo was his favoured God, and is invariably represented as a handsome young man. On the occasion of his wedding to Livia, Augustus had dressed as Apollo, and he believed that it was Apollo who had favoured him throughout the Civil Wars which led to his rise to power. It dates to between 17 - 14 BC.

This particular museum is often overlooked by the many tourists who wander around the Palatine Hill - from where we get "palace" and "palatial". Its exhibits all derive from the excavations on the hill itself - the location for Romulus' (legendary) hut and the later palaces of the Caesars. When Augustus set up home there, it was an exclusive residential district for the rich and powerful. Augustus' home was quite modest in comparison with its neighbours. However, over time, his successors would quickly take over the entire hill and it became exclusively the domain of the Emperors. In the aftermath of the Great Fire of 64 AD, Nero would attempt to spread his palace to two nearby hills - the Oppian and the Caelian - with his Golden House.

The Capitoline Apartment Block

Often overlooked by tourists scurrying to or from the steps up to Capitoline - sandwiched between these and the steps of the Victor Emmanuel monument - is a well preserved Roman apartment block (or insula). A rare survivor in Rome itself, this five storey block was buried beneath the 17th Century church of S. Rita, which was built on the remains of an earlier church - S. Biagio "of the Market" which dated from the 12th / 13th Centuries. S. Rita's was demolished in 1927, and the apartment block uncovered.

It is a fresco from the earlier church that you can see roughly at today's street level, though the church was actually built into the 3rd and 4th floors of the insula. The later church got its name from its proximity to Trajan's Market, and this insula was built around the same time they were, in the 2nd Century CE.
The lower portion, which you can now see deep below you, was buried by the rising ground level.
These lower storeys would have contained shops. The fourth floor - due to the hill behind sloping back - was big enough for 11 rooms. These cramped, lightless chambers would have housed some of the very poorest of Romans, perhaps even slaves employed on the Capitoline or on the Palatine, though the latter had extensive slave quarters of its own.

Livia's Dining Room

In the 1590's, a substantial villa was uncovered on the Via Lata, in the grounds of a convent. The building appeared to have been constructed in four stages, the earliest in Republican times, and the latest during the reign of Constantine the Great. In the 19th Century, the famous statue known as the Augustus of Prima Porta was found nearby, and the villa was finally identified as that which had belonged to his wife, the Empress Livia. It was known as the Villa Ad Gallinus Alba - from the pure white chickens that were reared there.
There is not a lot to see now of the actual structure, but the fresco walls of Livia's dining room have been reconstructed at Rome's national museum - the Palazzo Massimo Alle Terme.

Diners would have used the room in the cooler autumn and winter months. They would have found themselves surrounded by a beautiful garden of trees and bushes, with a pale blue sky. Birds and animals are to be seen amongst the foliage. The effect would have been like dining al fresco on a warm summer's day.

Very little remains of the vaulting that would have gone above, save for a few pieces of stucco work.
The room in which the dining room frescoes are housed has a number of very comfortable, though somewhat low, padded benches. It is an ideal spot in which to rest your weary feet, and contemplate how the room might have looked had you been fortunate enough to be one of Livia's dinner guests - provided you don't subscribe to the Gravesian image of her as an arch poisoner...

The Hellenistic Prince

The other bronze statue found on the Quirinal within a few weeks of the Boxer, which has been on display beside it for many years in both the Terme of Diocletian and (currently) in the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme.
It is a life size nude, again made from the lost wax process. It dates to the late 2nd Century BC.
Widely believed to represent King Attalus II of Pergamon, the lack of any royal diadem has led many to believe that it is actually a victorious Roman General, commissioned to celebrate a successful campaign. The features of the face do suggest that it is supposed to be a particular individual, rather than a type. The faint beard might show that he has not had the time to shave during his travails.
It is possibly based on a Pergamese original.
There is a distinct hint of a Hercules about it, without any of the obvious attributes like a club or lion skin.
This particular general might have simply wanted to show himself as comparable to that god in his victory.
Like the Boxer, it would have originally had lifelike eyes made of stone.

The Boxer

One of the highlights of the collection at the Palazzo Massimo Alle Terme, not far from Rome's Termini Railway Station and the Baths (Terme) of Diocletian. The statue known as the Boxer is a life-size bronze piece. It depicts a mature fighter, with injuries from his most recent bout, as well as the scars from a lifetime of boxing. In antiquity, boxers were only permitted to land punches on the head.
He has a broken nose, cauliflower ears, and missing teeth.
He's naked, although Roman boxers were expected to wear a small jockstrap affair to cover the genitals. The gloves on his hands run from the knuckles up the forearm, ending in a metal band. The knuckles themselves are protected by a band of thicker leather. This style of glove was typical of the Imperial period, but was also of a type known to the Greeks. As with a lot of Roman statuary, it is believed to be a copy of a Hellenistic original, created using the lost wax process. It is actually composed of eight separate sections. Details such as the blood flowing from his facial wounds, created by adding a different alloy, and the detail such as the chest hair were added later. He would have had eyes that were also added in later, made of different coloured stone.

Believed to date to the First Century BC, the Boxer was found in the 19th Century (1885) on the southern slopes of the Quirinal Hill. It is thought that it was housed in the private residence of a senior senatorial figure, rather than in the ownership of the Imperial family.

For many years it was to be seen in the Octagonal Hall of the Baths of Diocletian, alongside the bronze known as the Hellenistic Prince, found in the same area within the same month. Now both statues have been relocated to the ground floor of the Palazzo nearby.

Bad Emperors No.1

Commodus.
It's funny, but he looks nothing like Joaquin Phoenix, or Christopher Plummer, does he? Any TV series or movie that wants to depict someone from recent history always goes to great lengths to find someone who looks like them. We know from photos and newsreel what they are supposed to look like. When it comes to figures from the more distant past, that seems not to matter, despite there being portraits and busts of the real individuals. Producers and directors just don't seem to bother.
There are many busts of Commodus to be seen, in Rome and elsewhere. Probably the most famous is the depiction of him as Hercules which can be seen, flanked by a pair of Tritons, in the Capitoline Museums in Rome.
Hercules was a popular deity in Rome. Not just because of the strength and fortitude he embodied, but because he was supposed to have actually visited the city and killed a monster that lived in a cave on the Palatine Hill.
The Capitoline statue shows the Emperor Commodus with the attributes of Hercules - the skin of the Nemean lion, the club in his right hand, and the apples of the Hesperides in his left. The base of the statue has a couple of figures of Amazons, though the one on the right has long gone. They hold a pair of cornucopias, and there is a globe with astrological symbols.

Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus Augustus was born in 161 AD, the son of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. He became Emperor himself in 180 AD on his father's death, after acting as co-Emperor since 177 AD. He was the first Emperor since Titus to be the natural son of his predecessor. He was the youngest of twin boys - his brother dying at the age of 4.
He was made a Consul at age 15 - the youngest in history at that point. He became sole ruler when his father died fighting a campaign on the Danube.
He had little interest in the administration of the Empire - leaving that to his favoured officials - but he was popular with the army and the people for his staging of gladiatorial games, in which he did like to take part. He also liked to take part in horse races and chariot competitions.
In 182 AD a conspiracy to assassinate him, was foiled. It had been led by one of his sisters, Lucilla. She was exiled to Capri and later killed.
From this point Commodus began to play more of a part in the ruling of his Empire, but in an increasingly dictatorial style. He also tended to stay away from Rome, preferring his various country estates.
His chief adviser had been murdered during the conspiracy, and he promoted in his place a man named Cleander - not knowing that it was actually Cleander who had been the murderer.
Cleander would eventually over-reach himself and was put to death.
Over time, Commodus grew more and more megalomaniacal. He became obsessed with the cult of Hercules, seeing himself as the re-embodiment of the deity and thus a son of Jupiter, rather than the heir of Marcus Aurelius. He gave himself new names - twelve of them - and these became the new months of the year. Everything, and everyone, would be named after him - Romans now becoming Commodians. Nero's golden statue, which gave its name to the Colosseum, had its head replaced with his own.
In November 192 AD, an assassination attempt by some political rivals failed. The poison he was given he vomited up. Then on 31st December, his wrestling partner Narcissus strangled him in his bath. There then followed the Year of the Five Emperors, his successor - Pertinax - not lasting very long.
Initially his memory was damned by the Senate, but three years later he was deified on the request of the incoming Emperor Septimius Severus, who wanted to placate the surviving members of his family.
The chief source of information about Commodus comes from the writer Dio Cassius, and this has tended to paint him as very much a bad Emperor. Movies such as The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) and Gladiator (2000) have entrenched this view. There were no mass persecutions of Christians under Commodus' rule. Rather, one of his officials actually freed many Christian slaves from the mines on Sardinia, and his mistress Marcia is said to have been a Christian herself.

The inclusion of a pair of statues of Triton in the group refer to Commodus' apotheosis - becoming divine. Triton was a son of Poseidon, and always represented as a Merman, with a human torso, covered in scales and barnacles, and a fish tail. Over time, Tritons became a whole species - aquatic cousins of the Centaurs. Disney fans will know that Triton is the father of Ariel, the Little Mermaid.

The Dying Gaul(s)

One of the masterpieces of the Capitoline Museums, for many years this statue was thought to represent a dying gladiator. Indeed, the room in which it is to be seen - in the Palazzo Nuovo - is still called to this day the Hall of the Gladiator, because of this erroneous misidentification.

The statue is now known to represent a Galatian warrior, nude except for a torque around his neck, with short chopped hair and a moustache. He has a wound just below the right pectoral. It is known that the Gauls often fought naked, and with lime in their hair that made it look like that represented here.
It was found in the Gardens of Caesar, once owned by Julius Caesar, near the Via Salaria. After his assassination they were bought by the historian Sallust - becoming known as the Horti Sallustius. They later reverted to the Imperial Family and were much frequented by Tiberius. The Emperor Nerva died of a fever there in 98 AD.
The statue, along with others, was discovered in 1734 when the site was bought by Ludovici Ludovisi, nephew to Pope Gregory XV, in order to build a villa. Alongside it was another statuary group which can now be seen in the Palazzo Altemps, close by Piazza Navona, which contains other Ludovisi finds. This is the group known as "The Gaul Killing Himself And His Wife".

Here, another Galatian warrior has already killed his wife to prevent her falling into the hands of the Romans, and he is seen in the act of killing himself - plunging his sword into his heart through his chest. He has the same short chopped hair and a moustache, but this time wears a cloak - so may be of higher rank than the "Dying Gaul", perhaps his chieftain. Despite the fact that these two masterpieces reside in museums a mile or so apart, they were once part of a single composition.

As with many of Rome's greatest statues, the originals are thought to be Greek, and these later copies. The original for the Palazzo Altemps group was probably in bronze. It is known that the Greeks defeated Gauls who had attempted to settle in their territory around 279 BC. The date for these marble copies is not known. It might seem likely that, as they were found in gardens belonging to Julius Caesar, they dated from his time - commemorating his own victory over Vercingetorix - but equally they may have been commissioned by Sallust or a later Emperor in tribute to the deeds of the first Caesar.
Perhaps one day the two statues will be finally brought back together again, as Caesar, Sallust, or one of the later Emperors intended them to be seen.

The Temple of Minerva Medica

In one of central Rome's less touristy sections - standing alongside the tracks leading into Termini railway station - sits what has become known as the Temple of Minerva Medica. It has been known as this since the 16th Century, but it was never a temple of any kind.
It is a 12-sided building and it used to have a concrete dome. There is evidence of underfloor heating - which led some to think it was part of a baths complex - and the walls were veneered in marble, with statues placed in niches around the interior. Unlike the Pantheon, the dome was made of thin panels of concrete attached to brick ribs. The roof survived until the 19th Century when it finally collapsed. The design was found to be too weak quite early on, as heavy buttresses were built into the structure within 20 years of its construction.

It is now widely believed to be a dining pavilion - part of a larger summer residence built by the Emperor Gallienus (253 - 268 AD). His horti (gardens) lay in this area, and he moved his entire court here each summer. Some 6th Century AD statuary was found embedded in Medieval walls built into the pavilion - suggesting the building was still in use at this time. With a busy road and tram-line on one side, and the railway tracks on the other, it is a remarkable survivor, which features in very few guidebooks.

Castrense Amphitheatre

A short distance from the church of Santa Croce Gerusalemme lies the remains of a small oval amphitheatre. Only the first and part of the second levels survive, but it originally had three tiers. The name probably derives from it being located next to the castra or barracks of the Imperial Cavalry. It is believed to date from the short reign of the Emperor Elagabalus (218 - 222 AD), designed to keep the Cavalry on his side. (The plan failed, as he and his mother were assassinated by their troops). It could seat 3500 spectators. Excavations in the 18th Century found a large number of large animal bones, so it is believed that the amphitheatre was used as a training ground for animals that would go on to feature at the Colosseum. It may also have been used for more intimate gladiatorial contests for the Emperor and his friends and family.

It owes its survival in part due to its incorporation into the Aurelian Walls in the 270's AD. This is when the open arcades were bricked up. There is a long section of well-preserved Wall in the area, running from the Castrense all the way to the Lateran.

According to Procopius the Aurelianic Walls were breached by the Goths in 537 AD at a weak point near the Praenestine Gate "at the animal enclosure" (vivarium). This may well refer to the Castrense Amphitheatre.

The Ludovisi Sarcophagus

So named from its first owner after rediscovery - Ludovico Ludovisi - and currently to be seen in the Palazzo Altemps, a short walk away from Piazza Navona.
It dates from the mid 3rd Century AD, and is believed to have been intended for Gaius Valens Hostilianus - a son of the short-lived Emperor Decius (ruled 249 - 251).
Hostilian is seen top centre, without a helmet. His outstretched arm represents both leadership and victory. The young man has an "X" on his forehead - which was a sign that he was a follower of the god Mithras, who was very popular with soldiers at this time.
The sarcophagus was found in 1621 on the Via Tiburtina, which runs NE out of Rome.
Hostilian is depicted on the sarcophagus engaged in battle against the Goths, but he was not destined to follow the fate of his father and brother.
Decius and his eldest son, Herrenius Etruscus - who co-ruled with his father - were both killed at the Battle of Abritus, in what is now Bulgaria. He was the first Roman Emperor to die in battle against a foreign enemy.
Hostilian, who became Emperor himself very briefly in 251 AD, died from the plague.
Decius' short reign was most notable for a resumption in persecutions of groups who refused to sacrifice to the Emperor. Though they weren't the only ones targeted, a large number of Christians met their deaths - including Pope Fabian in 250. Decius built a bath complex on the Aventine, the ruins of which survived until the 16th Century, and he is recorded as having repaired the Colosseum when it was struck by lightning.
This is a late example of this type of sarcophagus. Ornately carved "battle" sarcophagi were at their most popular c. 190 - 210AD.

History With The TARDIS - The Great Fire of Rome

Before I get back into the swing of things with this blog, let's take another look at how Doctor Who has portrayed key moments / figures in history. This time, it's the story commonly entitled The Romans.
On screen, the Doctor and his companions have arrived outside Rome in the year 64AD. They spend a month or so relaxing at a villa, whose owner is off campaigning in Gaul. One day, the Doctor decides to visit Rome, and young companion Vicki goes with him. Ian and Barbara stay behind - only to be captured by slave-traders. The Doctor and Vicki find the body of an elderly lyre player on their travels - one Maximus Pettulian. The Doctor decides to impersonate him, in order to find out how the old man came to be killed. Believing he has failed, the assassin tries again, but is chased off. The Doctor and Vicki arrive in Rome and meet the Imperial family - Nero and his wife Poppaea. Ian and Barbara also find themselves in the city (he having first of all spent a few days as a galley-slave).
Vicki stops Poppaea from poisoning Barbara, and almost kills Nero instead. The Doctor upsets the Emperor by playing the lyre better than him. Nero plans to have him fed to alligators in the arena, but the Doctor inadvertently sets fire to the Emperor's plans for a new Rome with his spectacle lens - inspiring Nero to deliberately torch the city so that his dream will be built. Nero plucks his lyre as the city burns. Under cover of the fire, the time-travellers make their way back to the villa, and thence off to the TARDIS.

This story was written intentionally to have a lot of humour, and so not to be taken too seriously, despite some grim things happening in it. When it comes to the real facts, it is often way off the mark.
First of all, there is the villa that the travellers are staying in. The writer seems to be thinking of a villa as a small holiday home like those round the Med you might rent today. In fact, this would have been a vast agricultural estate with an army of slaves working it all year round.
As for the absence of the owner, there wasn't any campaigning going on in Gaul at this time. He is much more likely to have been in Britain, Boudicca having rebelled just 3 - 4 years earlier.
Then we have the portrayal of the Emperor.
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was 17 when he came to the throne. His mother was wife to the Emperor Claudius, and it is commonly held that she arranged the old Emperor's death in order that her son should inherit. This was 10 years before the Great Fire, so Nero should be under 30. On screen, we get Derek Francis playing him as a much older character. Very handsome as a youth, Nero did pile on the pounds thanks to his debauched lifestyle, and his double chins appear on both coins and statuary.

He certainly enjoyed the arts and performing himself - something which the Roman aristocracy disapproved of. Nero certainly planned to totally remodel Rome. He began by buying up huge sections of the Caelian Hill and extended the palace on the Palatine (from whence the word 'palace' derives) onto it. Today, under a park, lie the remains of part of his complex - the Domus Aurea or Golden House. In the flat area between the hills he had a vast ornamental lake built, and next to it a huge golden statue of himself was set up. A colossal statue in fact - which might give you a clue as to what his successors built on the site of the lake.
Two characters who appear at Nero's court are based on real figures - the cup-bearer Tigellinus, and the poisoner Locusta. The real Tigellinus was a Prefect of the Praetorian Guard. He outlived Nero - but only just. He backed the wrong successor - the short-reigned Galba - and was executed by the equally short-reigned Otho, in what is known as the Year of the Four Caesars.

Locusta, meanwhile, is supposed to have been the one employed by Nero's mother, Agrippina the Younger, to poison Claudius. She also did away with Claudius' own son and heir Britannicus. She also outlived Nero - but again only just. Galba had her executed as well.
A significant character in the TV programme is the slave-trader Sevcheria. He is a totally fictitious figure. The programme seems to be cutting the costs of an extra actor by having him suddenly become Nero's sadistic right hand man in the second half of the story. In fact, this role was closer to the real Tigellinus.
And what of the Great Fire itself? There is an old adage about Rome burning whilst Nero fiddles. Well, the programme at least has the Emperor playing a lyre, which you pluck, rather than a fiddle which you play with a bow. The ancient Romans themselves came up with a number of theories as to the cause of the fire. One was indeed that Nero was behind it, so that the Senate would allow him to build his dream Rome. He wasn't there in person, however. He was in Antium. Another story had him closer to the city, playing his lyre in the gardens of Maecenas (now a district of low rent housing just to the south of Termini station). Another theory, which Nero himself promoted, was that the fire had been started by a religious sect known as the Christians. Whatever happened to them? Christians were subjected to a dreadful persecution after the fire. Which brings us to the slave Tavius. He is shown to be a secret devotee of this new-fangled cult. He is seen to wear a crucifix. In reality, it would more likely have been the symbol of a fish he would have worn.
The theories that have Nero deliberately starting the fire all tend to come from writers who were patronised by later Emperors, so who had an agenda. At the time, Nero was only criticised for his tardiness in returning to the city to supervise the relief effort. Thousands of people were made homeless.
Nero lived only a further four years after the Great Fire. He was deposed, and chose to commit suicide rather than be captured and executed. His ashes were buried near the northern gate of the city - beside what is now the church of Santa Maria Del Popolo. This used to have a monastery attached and a tree in its grounds was supposed to be haunted by Nero's ghost - so the Pope had it cut down.
[Santa Maria Del Popolo is worth visiting for two superb Caravaggio altar pieces - The Crucifixion of St Peter, and The Conversion of St Paul. There's a side chapel designed by Raphael. Martin Luther stayed at the adjoining monastery on his trip to Rome - the one that initially triggered his desire to see the Church reformed].
One last thing - the stuff about "the arena". The Romans would probably have gone for crocodiles (from Egypt) rather than alligators. One well-respected Doctor Who guide book bemoans the fact that what we see on screen of the arena where Ian has to fight Delos is far too small to be the Colosseum... (And a Big Finish audio set during the Boudiccan Revolt has a couple of soldiers talking about visiting that well-known Roman landmark). Oh dear...
Yes, as mentioned above, at the end of Nero's life you would have got your feet wet if you visited the site of the Colosseum. Otho's successors, Vespasian and then his son Titus, drained the lake and built the famous arena. It was the first stone-built - so permanent - arena in the city. Prior to this there were only Theatres, plus temporary wood-built arenas.