Ancient Cities Final

Pompeii-

• ~6th c. BCE to 79 CE

• Southern Italy, near coast of Tyrrhenian Sea

• Very well preserved buildings, great insight into Roman daily life

Forum at Pompeii

• Not in city center

• Capitolium (Temple to Jupiter) at far end

• Temple of Apollo sideways

• Eumachia building, dedicated by a woman

Theatre district at Pompeii

• Roman theatres were free standing

• Two theatres at Pompeii, main one and smaller one

• Very early example of a Roman theatre

Roman baths (at Pompeii)

• Run and subsidized by the state

• Places for hygiene, exercise, social interaction

• Preferred by Romans over anything else

Typical Roman house

• Atrium, room right as you walk in, pool to collect rainwater

• Townhouse style, short side facing street

• Tublinium, at the back of the Atrium, is where head of the household sat

Rome

• ~10th century BCE

• Central Italy

• Center of Roman Republic, later Roman Empire, largest city in the ancient world

Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus

• Built on Capitoline hill, 510 BCE

• Worship of Jupiter, Juno, Minerva (Triad)

• For Roman citizens only

Harbor Temple at Rome

• Smaller temple, statue of Hercules

• Built to make visitors familiar, comfortable

Theater of Pompey

• Built by Pompey in 50 BCE

• Massive system of arches, a temple at the top

Roman Fora

• Many added over the years:

• Caesar, Augustus, two by the Flavians, and Trajan

Temple of Mars

• Built by Augustus, worships war god

• Symbol of vengeance, Augustus killed Caesar’s murderers

Altar of Peace

• Augustus calling for internal peace in Rome

• Contrast to Rome’s culture of war

Triumphal Arch

• Began with Titus’s quelling of the Jewish rebellion

• Became a permanent symbol for the victories of Roman generals

Colosseum

• Built by Flavians, starting in 1st c. CE

• Largest amphitheater built

• Arch system, decorated with columns + statues

• Rooms underneath sand housed gladiators, animals

Main Flavian Forum

• Forum for Peace, includes Temple for Peace

• Garden, signifies move towards leisure rather than politics

Column of Trajan

• Located in Forum of Trajan, largest Forum

• Trajan oversaw peak of Roman Empire

• Has depictions of Trajan’s conquests

Markets of Trajan

• Sort of like a mall

• Also acted as a retaining wall for the Forum of Trajan

Pantheon

• Portico w/ columns as entrance

• Rotunda w/ concrete dome

• “Temple to all gods”- signifying emergence of monotheism

• Rebuilt by Hadrian

Ostia

• Becomes Roman colony in the 4th century BCE

• Mouth of the Tiber River, west of Rome

• Main port city for Rome during its peak

Piazza of the Corporation

• Theatre with rectangular building behind it

• Contained business offices for merchants and contractors from across the Mediterranean

Horreum

• Large warehouse used for storage in Ostia

• Ground floor for retail, everything else was rented out storage space

Apartments at Ostia

• First known instances of multi-storied apartment buildings

• Mostly short-term rental for merchants

• Bottom floor also retail

Public baths and latrines at Ostia

• Similar to baths in other Roman cities

• Gray water from the baths would be used to wash away sewage from public latrines

Mithraism

• Monotheistic religion, peaking in 2nd c. CE

• Underground cults, required membership

• More popular than Christianity at the time, popular among people who were uprooted

Milan

• Northern Italy

• Develops as industrial city in the Empire, becomes capital in 3rd c. CE

• Good for studying Christianity in Ancient Rome

Christian Basilica

• As Christianity became legal, new places of worship were built

• Designed after Roman Basilicas

• Two kinds: Greek vs. Latin cross

• Greek cross: equal arms, popular in East

• Latin cross: different sized arms, popular in West

Constantinople

• Founded in 7th c. BCE as Greek colony (called Byzantium)

• Constantine moves Eastern capital here in 4th c. CE

• Now called Istanbul, modern Turkey, straits of Hormuz between Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea

• Center of Eastern Christianity, and capital of Eastern Roman Empire for ~1000 years

Forum of Constantine

• Column made of royal red stone

• Triumphal arches on either end

• Constantine creates a new senate, equal to the one in Rome, in a building similar to Pantheon

Hippodrome

• Racetrack at Constantinople

• Middle (“spine”) decorated with famous artwork, e.g. Egyptian obelisk, tripod from Delphi

• Place for emperor to show face

Church of the Holy Apostles

• Mausoleum for Constantine

• 5 domes

• Contained skulls of 3 apostles, became pilgrimage site

Hagia Sophia

• Center for Christianity in East

• “Floating” dome, golden mosaics

• Made of domes and arches

• Depiction of Justinian and Constantine giving gifts to Jesus and Mary