Roman Archaeology 3

Name, Location, Date, Significance

• Column of Trajan, Rome—>Forum of Trajan
  

• Early 2nd c. CE
  

• Had an inscription that said “this is the original terrain where we started the project”

• There is a spiral staircase inside of it

• survived the fall of Rome

• made of marble

• decorated by a frieze all the way up that depicts the two successful campaigns the emperors waged against the Dacians

• at the top there was a bronze statue of Trajan

• meant to be a memorial of Trajan and his ashes would be placed in a chamber created within the base of the column

Name, Location, Date, Significance

• Baths of Trajan, Rome
  

• Early 2nd c. CE
  

• Built over part of Nero’s Golden House

• Swimming pool, tepidarium, caldarium, frigidarium, apodyterium, palaestra, gardens

• Underground passageways for slaves and workers

Name, Location, Date, Significance

• Hadrian’s Villa, Tibur
  

• Early 2nd c. CE
  

• has greek and Egyptian architectural elements

• has baths, residential areas, pavilions, and gardens

• private retreat and administrative center

Name, Location, Date, Significance

• Pantheon, Rome
  

• Early 2nd c. CE
  

• built by Hadrian

• Best preserved Roman building

• Hadrian’s name is not on it 

• “Marcus Agrippa, the son of Lucius, three times consul, built this.”

• Have to get a foot away from it and climb on it to see that it says that hadrian fixed it

  • not true—>Hadrian commissioned it

• Temple to all the gods

  • Pantheon = all the gods collectively

• There have been many earthquakes that have taken down other buildings but the Pantheon has stood 

• The dome gets thinner as it gets to the top

• 90% of the decoration is the same

  • Any christian art is what is different

• The squares make it lighter and stronger

Name, Location, Date, Significance

• Theater and Piazzale of the Corporations, Ostia
  

• 1st c. BCE
  

• quadriporticus (columns on all 4 sides)

• floor mosaics

• subjects focus on maritime trade and mention guilds of traders from around the Mediterranean

• served as offices and bases for traders as well as spaces for guilds

Atrium

Area with a shallow pool in a Roman house that was a gathering place

• center of the house

• most decorative parts of the house

  • source of light and water

Insulae

The apartments

• top floors are cheapest

  • most in Ostia (biggest Port city and very condensed)

Domus

House

Order of the reigns of the Roman Emperors

• Julius Caesar

• Augustus

• Tiberius

• Caligula

• Claudius

• Nero

• Vespasian

• Titus

• Domitian

• Nerva

• Trajan

• Hadrian

Julio-Claudian Dynasty

• Augustus

• Tiberius

• Caligula

• Claudius

• Nero

Flavian Dynasty

• Vespasian

• Titus

• Domitian

Five Good Emperors

• Nerva

• Trajan

• Hadrian

Nero

• 54 - 68 CE

• Apparently a well behaved young man by the reports of the philosopher Seneca

• Unfortunately, he falls to the same fate as Caligula (“I can do whatever I want”)

• There is a great fire for 3 days during his reign which destroys most of Rome

  • decides not to do anything for future fires so people believe he started the fire (most likely not true but he probably didn’t try very hard to fight the fire)

  • there had been many fires before but they had been rebuilt (NOT THIS TIME)

• He thought he was the greatest actor and singer of his generation and it was a waste of his talents to be an emperor

• decides to instate eminent domain and take over 60% of monumental center of Rome

  • elites are kicked off their land

  • there is a revolt and he commits suicide

Year of the Four Emperors

• 68CE - 69CE

• after Nero’s suicide in 68 CE
  

• Galba

• Otho

• Vitellius

• Vespasian

Name, Location, Date, Significance

• The Forum of Peace

• Rome

• Late 1st c. CE
  

• Gives a sense of relaxation

• They care about their gardens

• Isn’t it nice that they aren’t fighting each other

• Take some time to worship the goddess Peace

  • She is at the same level as the the other gods but not as scary as one like Mars the Avenger

Name, Location, Date, Significance

• Colosseum/Flavian Amphitheatre

• Rome

• Late 1st. c. CE
  

• They drained the artificial lake and built the colosseum

  • Goes from being the private lake of the emperor, to being for the public

    • Anyone can go for free and get some food 

      • Bread

      • The meat from the animal that was in the gladitorial fight (ancient societies like Rome were protein starved)

• People are very grateful for this

  • Public use

  • Food

• Private land from people that were displaced wasn’t changed

  • They were still displaced

• Probably took about 5 years to build

  • Concrete and slave labor

• The bleachers are sitting on arches and planks

  • Planks were covered in sand

• Shows had anything to do with gore

  • Gladiators fighting animals

  • People condemned to death fighting animals

  • Gladiators fighting gladiators

Name, Location, Date, Significance

• Arch of Titus

• Rome

• Late 1st c. CE
  

• Not common to have rebellions in the Roman Empire

• Vespasian leaves so that he can set up his son Titus for rule

• Triumph

  • People celebrate your accomplishments

    • Some of the triumphs get memorialized

• Armies would go under the arch

• He was a good emperor

  • He was therefore considered a god after he died and they wrote that he was one on the arch

• There would have been paintings on it

  • Most decorations are on the inside

Name, Location, Date, Significance

• Arch of Titus, Spoils of Jerusalem

• Rome

• Late 1st c. CE

Name, Location, Date, Significance

• Arch of Titus decoration, Triumph of Titus

• Rome

• Late 1st c. CE
  

• he is with the goddess victory

Name, Location, Date, Significance

• Arch of Titus, vault with apotheosis of Titus

• Rome

• after 81 CE
  

• on the top of the Arch

• he is on an Eagle

Name, Location, Date, Significance

• Imperial Palace on the Palatine

• Rome

• Late 1st c. CE
  

• Only on a small area that Nero was building

• Nero lowered expectations so people didn’t care that it was still really big

• many different shaped rooms

  • circle

  • oval

Name, Location, Date, Significance

• Left: “Stadium”/ “Hippodrome” of Domitian at the Imperial Palace
  Right: Sunken garden of Third Court at the Imperial Palace

• Palatine Hill, Rome

• late 1st c. CE
  

  • private areas

• horse racing becomes popular (more than gladiatorial fights)

  • especially with the rise of Christianity