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Apr

Birthday of Rome: Extra Virgin

By idcrome 0 Comments

Categories: Birthday of Rome, Archaeology, Historic Sites and On the Street

The Imperial Family Celebrating the Birthday of Rome

The story of Rome’s foundation is an action-packed tale populated by gods, heroes, kings, priestesses, and she-wolves - there’s scarcely a city in the world that could claim such an exciting beginning!

A king is overthrown and his daughter is forced to take a vow of chastity. Despite the girls’ good intentions, she is seduced by the war god Mars and finds herself pregnant with twin boys. Upon birth, the babies are taken from their mother and exposed on the banks of the Tiber River. Their lives, however, are saved when a she-wolf finds the children and takes them home to live alongside she and her newly-born pups. They are then rescued by a shepherd and his wife who raises them as their own children.

Later in life, these same boys, Romulus and Remus, decide to honor the astounding way in which their lives were saved by founding a city on the banks of the Tiber. They quarrel, however, about who will head up the city, and in an effort to insure his primacy, Romulus kills his brother Remus before founding the city of Rome on April 21st, 753 BC. Wow! It’s more of a mini-series than a story!

Vestal Virgins Celebrating the Birthday of Rome

In antiquity, the exciting legend of Romulus, Remus, and the She-Wolf was commemorated and honored in a variety of manners. The Lupercal, or the cave in which Romulus and Remus were believed to have lived with the wolf family was kept as a holy shrine on the side of Rome’s Palatine Hill, while the hut in which Romulus lived after founding the city (also on the Palatine), was likewise considered a holy place.

While the careful preservation of such heritage sites meant that ancient Romans (and no doubt many tourists) could follow the Romulean-trail through Rome, paying visits to places associated with the city’s founder and its earliest history - just as Americans today might follow the Lincoln Trail or visit sites important to the life of George Washington - the Romans also recalled their city’s foundation with a religious that was held each year on the city’s birthday, 21 April.

Vestal Virgins Celebrating the Palilia

On Roman religious calendars, 21 April was the day designated for the celebration of the Parilia - a festival held in honor of the god (or goddess - no one is sure) Pales who watched over and protected shepherds. Because Romulus and Remus began their lives in the care of a shepherd (and no doubt did some sheep herding themselves), it was commonly thought that Romulus must have been the first to have performed these rites as he founded his city.

So what do the rites entail? This evening - a bit in anticipation of Rome’s birthday - we got a glimpse of this festival when it was re-enacted by the Gruppo Storico Romano in front of the Temple of Hercules (formerly believed to be the Temple of Vesta) in Rome’s Forum Boarium.

In the presence of the Imperial Family (see top photo in this post), the Vestal Virgins processed to the front of the temple where they undertook a public purification by means of fire and smoke, burning the blood of an October Horse (the right hand horse of the team that won a particular chariot race on October 15 of the previous year), the ashes of an unborn calf, and the shells of beans. (We take this opportunity to emphasize that this was a re-enactment and that no animals were harmed in the recreation of this ritual.)

Smoke and spectators were in abundance as these six honorable virgins officiated at the rites meant to bring health and wealth for shepherds - but also to the city of Rome. And the performance was but a warm-up for the star-studded super-parade that will be staged by the Gruppo Storico Romano tomorrow in honor of Rome’s 2761st birthday. Stay tuned!

Vestal Virgins Re-enacting the Parilia

Apr

Tidying Up the Temple of Portunus

By idcrome 0 Comments

Categories: Archaeology, Historic Sites, Architecture and Art & Design

Temple of Portunus in Rome

Some months ago, when we published a brief article about Rome’s lovely little Temple of Portunus, we became aware that there are readers out there who are utterly and completely dedicated to this architectural gem. Thus, when a bit of recent web-surfing led us to a series of photos documenting how the temple and its position in the city have changed over time - as well as others depicting photos of the newly restored and conserved medieval frescoes inside - we were inspired to share the images with you.

As our February article discussed, the Temple of Portunus (once called the Temple of Fortuna Virilis) is currently being cleaned and restored. But, as the images here will show, it’s not the first time that this temple has been subjected to a bit of tidying up. For most of its post-antique life, the building was encased in the dense urban fabric that grew up around sturdy ancient monuments in the Middle Ages. It was liberated from these structures only in the early 20th century.

One can see just how cramped and crowded was the area round the temple in the print made by Piranesi in 1758 (above, left) in which one sees the Temple (really, at the time, a church as it was consecrated to the Virgin Mary c. 872 AD) with its left side disappearing into the wall of an abutting and later building. And the relationship between the two buildings is even clearer in the adjacent photo (above, right) taken in 1860.

Temple of Portunus in Rome

Like so many ancient ruins, the Temple of Portunus was “liberated” under the reign of Italy’s fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini. The process by which the abutting buildings were demolished is seen in the photos above, taken in 1924. While one of Mussolini’s aims was certainly that of showcasing such ancient artifacts as this first century BC temple, in this part of town his urban demolition was meant to fulfill another goal as well - that of creating a broad street that would lead from Rome’s historic center towards the sea - a road today known as Via Petroselli.

Fresco in Rome's Temple of Portunus

Mussolini’s “liberation” of the temple led to the discovery of early Christian frescoes inside the structure. Dating in the eighth or ninth century AD, the paintings show images from the life of the Virgin Mary as recounted by apocryphal texts. Though these frescoes have been known for some 90 years, they’re only now being cleaned and restored as part of the greater conservation and consolidation effort at the temple.

This recent conservation work allows us to see these frescoes clearly for the first time and they’re quite stunning. Above, is an image of Saint John the Baptist. Below, left, an image of soldiers, and below, right, a fragment of a fresco depicting the Virgin Mary.

For more on the Temple of Portunus, click here.

Medieval Frescoes at the Temple of Portunus, Rome

Apr

A Fortuitious Find at the Flavian Amphitheater

By idcrome 0 Comments

Categories: Archaeology and Historic Sites

Colosseum Reconstruction Showing Statues in Arches

Via AKI - A fragment of an ancient Roman equestrian statue that once adorned the Colosseum has been found during excavations near the world famous Italian landmark.

According to the Italian daily, Il Messaggero, the fragment was discovered among the remains of an ancient pavement that once surrounded the amphitheater.

“A marble fragment measuring one meter by a meter and a half, is from an equestrian statue, probably a statue that embellished the arches of the Colosseum,” said archaeologist Silvana Rizzo, advisor to the minister of culture and tourism, Francesco Rutelli.

“The left flank of a rider with the detail of a leg, bridle and harness of a horse, as well as a part of a dagger scabbard are perfectly visible from the fragment,” said Rizzo, who has spent his life doing Roman excavations.

“They are details that suggest the statue of an emperor and left us with the hope that we could find the entire statue.”

According to Il Messaggero, the archaeological find is a reminder of how many pieces of ancient sculpture are discovered on a regular basis in the Italian capital when centimeters of soil are swept away.

Angelo Bottini, Rome’s archaeological superintendent, called the discovery of the equestrian statue “an exceptional discovery”.

“What’s clear is this new discovery is the umpteenth demonstration of the underground surprises in Rome that are a gift to us,” Bottini told the Italian daily.

The new discovery could shed light on the statues that once adorned the exterior wall of the Colosseum.

The Colosseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, was constructed by the Emperor Vespasian in 72 A.D. and inaugurated by his son Titus in 80 A.D.

It was the largest amphitheater ever built in the Roman Empire and considered one of the greatest examples of Roman architecture and engineering.

But it has suffered extensive damage over the centuries due to earthquakes and pillaging.

The arches on the third floor of the Colosseum were decorated by three eagles, signs of power in Rome, while the second floor had statues of ancient gods such as Hercules, Apollo and Aesculapius.

Experts believe the uncovered equestrian fragment could have been part of a statue above the Imperial entrance to the amphitheater.

More archaeological discoveries are expected to be uncovered as the city proceeds with construction of its third subway line near the Roman Forum, in the heart of the Italian capital.

Construction on the 30-station line has already been interrupted several times as archaeologists have uncovered ancient and medieval treasures.

Under Italy’s strict conservation laws, the city must decide whether any historic objects are removed or preserved.

The 4.6 billion dollar subway line is expected to be completed in 2015.

Apr

Restoring the Circus Maximus

By idcrome 0 Comments

Categories: Archaeology and Historic Sites

Model of the Circus Maximus in Antiquity

From the Independent:

It still bears its thrilling ancient name, and the antique ruins on the Palatine Hill, the heart of ancient Rome and home of the Caesars, still gaze down upon it. But now it takes a feat of the imagination to see Circus Maximus as it must have been in its pomp.

Today it is little more than a long, narrow park, 340 metres in length, with a small archeological dig fitfully in progress at its south-eastern end. It can still hold a crowd: Genesis played a free concert here last year, and Bob Geldof persuaded Rome’s mayor, Walter Veltroni, to let him use it for the Italian leg of the Live-8 spectacular in 2005. The rest of the time it is the haunt of dog-walkers, joggers and the occasional conceptual artist.

But 2,000 years ago this was the most exciting spot in the city. Long before the building of the Colosseum, crowds in their hundreds of thousands packed the stands to watch 12 teams of charioteers scorch the earth. Gladiators and wild animals fought in mortal combat, and the central arena was often flooded so miniature triremes could battle it out for the Romans’ delight. If a particularly large number of people had to be crucified, Circus Maximus was the obvious place to do it.

The strip’s last big show was in AD549. Then the Barbarians arrived and laid it to waste, and for the next millenium and a half it was no more than a very large allotment with a fancy name.

But now, after the centuries of neglect and years of debate and campaigning, Circus Maximus is finally to get some attention. Beginning on 20 June, the city’s archeological authorities are to begin a careful and respectful restoration.

Eugenio La Rocca, Superintendent of Rome and lecturere in archeology at Rome’s Sapienza University, said: “We are trying to realise the old dreams that Rome has maintained from the 19th century up to the present. We will do our best to restore this site, which was of the utmost importance in our history. ”

[King] Tarquin drained the site 2,500 years ago, but it was Julius Caesar in 46 BC who erected the first buildings here, which were consumed by fire in AD64. With the Emperor Trajan, the performances began to assume the wondrous proportions that we only know today from films.”

Professor La Rocca stressed that he will not be attempting to restore the Circus to its former glory. “We will clean up the whole site to make it practicable and legible, and give it a simple curved enclosure,” he said. During chariot races the long track was divided by a raised spine of beaten earth, and this is one element the authorities plan to recreate.

They will also continue excavating, with greater urgency. Despite the fame of the Circus, Professor La Rocca told La Repubblica newspaper, “Paradoxically we have little information about it. Pliny claimed it could hold 250,000 spectators but others said 150,000, which seems much more likely.” Treasures recovered from the Circus and other sites will eventually find a home in a new Museum of the City of Rome, to be built a few steps away.

Rome's Circus Maximus Today

Mar

Trajan in Technicolor

By idcrome 0 Comments

Categories: Archaeology

The Column of Trajan

Before we share the exciting news about Trajan’s Column going technicolor, we’re eager to let our faithful readers know about a funny video regarding the use and abuse of the Trajan font that’s derived from the base of the column, Click here to watch it. (Our thanks to Lynne for letting us know about the video.)

And now for the story of Trajan’s Column in color. It comes to us via Ansa:

Roman history fans may get a chance to admire the marble of Trajan’s Column in its original color version, the city’s archeology department has said.

The department is in talks with electricity company ACEA and researchers from Rome university to create a beam of light that will shine up the column and superimpose long-lost colors that originally enlivened the battle scenes carved on the monument.

Most scholars agree that Roman statues and triumphal arches that survive today in white marble were once brightly colored (like the frescoes decorating the walls of Roman houses), but the pigment has worn off over the centuries.

The illumination of the column, built in 113 AD to celebrate the Emperor Trajan’s successful military campaigns, would be a way of restoring the colors in a non-intrusive and reversible way, the archaeological department said.

It added that the plan is to beam the light up the column for a few minutes every hour, but only at weekends.

”Nothing acts like light to deepen our understanding, activating our emotional brain,” said Maurizio Anastasi, head of the archeology department’s technical office.

The illumination of Trajan’s Column is planned for 2009 as part of a larger project to light up the entire Roman Forum. By illuminating sections of the sprawling ruins, visitors will be able to get a better idea of what was built when, the department said.

For more on Trajan’s Column and the famous inscription on its base, click here.

Detail from Trajan's Column in Rome

Mar

A Room With A View

By idcrome 0 Comments

Categories: Archaeology and Art & Design

House of Augustus on the Palatine

A few weeks ago, we announced the reopening of the House of Augustus on the Palatine. Today we bring you some great photos shot by Susan Sanders on a recent visit to this most extraordinary of archaeological attractions which includes a dining-room, bedroom, and an expansive reception hall at ground-level, as well as a small study on the first floor of a house belonging to Rome’s first emperor.

In Rome’s Republican Period (509 BC - 31 BC), the Palatine Hill was home to Rome’s rich and famous - so it should be no surprise that Augustus, the first emperor (27 BC - 14 AD), chose to make the hill his home as well. Even before he was given the title “Augustus” and the powers that effectively made him sole ruler of the Roman Empire, the emperor-to-be purchased several houses on the Palatine Hill and began a remodeling project that would unite them into a single residence.

The House of Augustus on the Palatine Hill in Rome

There, we are told, the Emperor lived modestly - shunning the ostentatious lifestyle that had become so popular in the late Republic. Suetonius, a Roman historian of the 2nd century AD, tells us about Augustus’s house and the frugal life he lived (or - at least - the frugality he wanted the public to associate with him):

[Augustus] lived at first next to the Forum Romanum…in a residence which once belonged to the orator Calvus. Later (he lived) on the Palatine, but still in the modest house of Hortensius, neither remarkably large nor very elaborate in decoration; the porticos were of Alban stone and not lofty, without any marble decorated living rooms or tesselated pavements. He lived in the same cubiculum (bedroom) for forty years or more, winter and summer; he resided in the city in the winter, which was hardly good for his health. If he proposed to conduct some business in private or without interruption, he had a place, private and remote, which he called ‘Syracuse’; he used to go here or to some suburban villa of a freedman. But if he fell ill, he always took refuge in the mansion of his friend Maecenas’ . . . . Such was his dislike of all pretentious country mansions that he went so far as to demolish one built on too lavish a scale by his granddaughter Julia. His own were rather modest, and less remarkable for their statuary and pictures than for their landscape gardening and the rare antiques on display . . . . (73) How simply Augustus’ residence was furnished may be deduced by examining the couches and tables still preserved . . . . (Divus Augustus 72)

The House of Augustus on the Palatine

Why did Augustus make his home in the pretentious part of town when he wanted to be thought of as a nothing more than an extraordinary citizen helping to save his country? Rhetoric and symbolism were everything for this emperor and the Palatine was loaded with mythological and historical meanings that enabled his subtle claims to power.

Roman legend said that Romulus had founded the city on the Palatine and then had taken up residence there in a modest hut that had been preserved through the centuries. For Augustus, who cast himself as a re-founder of Rome, there could be no better place to live than aside that relic of the city’s ancient past, for the visual and spatial connection between the homes of Romulus and Augustus powerfully emphasized his point.

The House of Augustus on Rome's Palatine Hill

But what of the splendid paintings themselves? Excavated in the 1960s and 1970s, this is first time that they’ve been available for public viewing. Archaeologists agree that the frescoes were created about 30 BC and that they’re some of the finest paintings that remain from the ancient world. Painted in the Second Style of Roman painting, they’re illusionistic masterpieces, meant to convince the viewer that the walls of these rooms have disappeared and that they can extraordinary landscapes and architectural vistas in the far distance.

Mar

Photo Friday: Going Underground

By idcrome 0 Comments

Categories: Archaeology, Photo Friday and Photography

Cryptoportiucs on the Palatine. A Photo by Susan Sanders.

Today, on Photo Friday, photographer Susan Sanders takes us to the Palatine Hill for a walk through an underground passageway, or cryptoportiucs, that served as an underground passageway for the Domus Tiberiana or Palace of Tiberius allowing easy movement from one side of the palace to another.

Susan shot this photo on a dark and rainy day, so that only the dim light thrown into the passageway by means of the windows in the vault gives pattern and texture to the mosaic floor below.

To enjoy more of Susan’s photographs of Rome, visit her photo blog: Rome With A View.

Mar

Beware the Ides of March: 44 BC Revisited

By idcrome 0 Comments

Categories: Ides of March, Archaeology and Historic Sites

Death of Caesar by Vincenzo Camuccini

On March 15, 44 BC, Julius Caesar was stabbed 23 times as he entered a meeting of the Roman Senate despite having received a warning to “beware the Ides of March.” As the Ides are drawing near, we at the eCool Compound are going to spend the next few days paying homage to Julius Caesar. Thus, today we kick things off by setting the stage for his violent death.

If you could time travel and make your way back to 44 BC, what would you see? What did Caesar see in his final days as he strolled through Rome, unaware that 60 senators were plotting to take his life?

To answer these questions and to learn a bit about Rome, past and present, we recommend an insightful slideshow about Caesar’s Rome that was created by The Institute of Design + Culture in Rome.

Click here to revisit the Year 44 BC

Click here to learn what else The Institute of Design + Culture in Rome has on offer.

Mar

More News from the Roman Forum

By idcrome 0 Comments

Categories: Archaeology

The

After changes made to the admission policy at the Roman Forum earlier this week, as well as the reopening of the House of Augustus on the Palatine Hill after years of restoration, the Superintendency of Archaeology blows us away with another announcement about increased accessibility to monuments.

As of yesterday, 11 March, two monuments previously closed to the public will be open on a limited schedule. One, seen in the image above, is the so-called Temple of Romulus, a building constructed by the Emperor Maxentius (late 3rd-early 4th century AD) and dedicated in the memory of his son Romulus who died at a young age. Probably not a temple at all, many think that the “Temple of Romulus” served as an audience hall for the Roman Emperor. The remarkable preservation of the building - which still has its original domed roof and bronze doors (there’s even a claim that the keys to this door still exist) - is due to the fact that it was converted into the vestibule for the Church of San Cosmos and Damiano in the 6th century BC.

The other newly-opened monument is the Oratory of the 40 Martyrs, adjacent to the Church of Santa Maria Antiqua and near the Temple of Castor & Pollux. The oratory is a single apsidal room frescoed with two separate images of 40 martyrs put to death by the Emperor Diocletian, who in the 3rd century AD had them killed by throwing them into a frozen lake while preparing a hot bath on the shore as a temptation to them. Though the frescoes are not very well preserved, they are remarkable for the fact that they date from the end of the 8th century AD.

How can you visit these site? Guided visits are scheduled every day from 10:00am to 1:30pm and are offered in both Italian (10:30am and 12:00pm) and English (1:00pm). You can make an appointment at the ticket office of the Roman Forum (at Largo Romolo e Remo, just off Via dei Fori Imperiali) or you can reserve in advance (recommended) by calling the offices of Pierreci at +39.06.39967700. The guided visit costs 4.50 euro (this atop the 11 euro entry fee to the Forum) and if you reserve in advance there’s an additional fee of 1.50 euro.

Mar

Changes at the Forum & the Palatine

By idcrome 0 Comments

Categories: Archaeology

The Roman Forum

As of tomorrow, Monday 10 March, changes are afoot at the Forum Romanum and the Palatine Hill. Entrance to the Forum - Rome’s most important archaeological site which for more than a decade has open to the public free of charge - will require the purchase of an 11 euro ticket that is good for two days and also provides admittance to the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill.

Though shelling out 11 euro for a visit to the Forum may be a bit hard on the pocketbook (especially if yours happens to be filled with American dollars), there’s good news to report as well. Tomorrow also marks the reopening of Augustus’s house on the Palatine Hill after years of restoration. No special reservation will be required to see the wonderful first-century paintings in the emperor’s abode, but there will be careful crowd control: only 5 people will be allowed to admire the artwork at a time. For more on the House of Augustus, click here.

The House of Augustus on Rome's Palatine Hill