콜로세움 (Colosseo. Colosseum. Amphietheatrum Flavium)(2). 로마 (Rome)

 콜로세움 (Colosseo. Colosseum. Amphietheatrum Flavium)(2).

로마 (Rome). 이탈리아(Italy)

archeoroma.beniculturali.it

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Structures of the Domus Aurea

In the flowerbed adjacent to the Arch of Constantine are the remains of some structures which made up part of the complex of the Domus Aurea. the grand residence created by Nero after the fire of 64 AD, which extended between the Oppian, Velian, Palatine and Caelian hills, occupying the same Valley

According to a recent reconstruction of the Neronian project, the structures which are present in the Valley formed an ensemble of terraces descending the slopes of the Velian hill, where the vestibule-atrium was situated, towards the artificial lake, where the Colosseum now rises. The visible remains form part of the support structure of the vast terraces, with porticoes and loggias facing over the lake, where the complex terminated dramatically with a monumental portico and two avant-corps at the end.

 

Suggested reconstruction of the Domus Aurea from cary and of the artificial lake

(Progetto Katatexilux, info@katatexilus.com)

 

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Nero's lake

In the Neronian period, the area nowadays occupied by the Colosseum was a vast artificial lake (Stagnum Neronis).

After the fire of 64 AD, the floor level of the valley was raised by about 4 metres to carry out the project of Nero's imperial residence, the Domus Aurea, with the exception of the area which was intended to contain the artificial basin, which was instead lowered to a lower level, down to the alluvial deposits of the Tiber, which were naturally watertight. The water-supply for the lake was guaranteed by a spur of the Caludian acqueduct. According to recent studies, the basin was 4-6 metres deep and could contain between 122,000 and 183,000 cubic metres of water: it took 3 or 4 days to fill it. The lake was encircled by a portico measuring c.200 metres on the north, south and east sides, which was intended to join up with the terraces of the vestibule on the west side.

 

Suggested reconstruction of the Domus Aurea form cary and of the artificial lake

(Progetto Katatexilus, info@tatatexilus.com)

 

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The Meta Sudans

In the Flavian period a monumental fountain was built near the Amphitheatre, called the Meta Sudans by the sources of the 4th century AD because of its conical shape. This fountain, depicted on coins from 80-81 AD, was in use until the 5th century when the silting up of the Valley began to obstruct the drainage channels for the water. The ruins were demolished in 1933 for the creation of the via dei Trionfi. Thanks to representations on coins and to drawings made at the time of the demolition, it is possible to reconstruct its original appearance: it had a cylindrical base faced in marble, perhaps articulated into niches, and a conical upper part decorated on its summit by a flower or a sphere. Today only the foundations of the circular basin are visible, and those of a concentric perimeter wall which was added in the 4th century.

The Meta Sudans occupied a site of great urban importance, near to one of the vertices of the sacred ground of Romulus' city, at the cross-roads of two roads connecting to the triumphal procession-route and at the point where four regions of Augustan Rome met. Augustus had already rected a smaller fountain in the same area, recorded by the sources and discovered in the course of recent archaeological excavations. In this way, the Flavians perpetuated the memory of a highly symbolic monument.

 

The Meta Sudans before its demolition (1933)

(Archivio SSBAR)

 

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The Flavian Amphitheatre

The Flavian Amphitheatre, a huge public building intended for enormously popular shows such as hunts and gladiatorial fights, was built on the site of the artifical lake of Nero's Domus Aurea by the emperors of the Flavian dynasty. Its original name, Amphitheatrum or Amphitheatrum magnum, was replaced in the High Middle Ages by Colysaeum, probably because of its proximity to the very famous Colossus erected by Nero.

Builing work for the Amphitheatre began in 72 AD and was financed by the booty from the Judean war. The building was solemnly inauguranted in 80 AD by Titus, completed by Domitian and restored several times up until the 5th century.

In the 6th century, the Amphitheatre lost its original function and was used for other purposes.

The structure, with its oval plan and facade consisting of 4 orders of architecture, one on top of another, still visible only on the north side, seems greatly altered today, in consequence of re-use and spoliation of materials, which weakened the monument, making it vulnerable to earthquakes.

The imposing architecture of the Amphitheatre has dominated the landscape of the Valley throughout time, constituting an urban sign of extraordinarily evocative power.

 

Wooden model of the Flavian Amphitheatre

(C. Lucangeli-P. Dalbono, end of 18th-beginning of 19th century. Rome, MNR, Palazzo Altemps)

 

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The porticoes

In the Flavian period, a portico with ornate pillars decorated by half-columns on the front and pilaster strips on the back surrounded the Amphitheatre along three sides. The remains which are still visible along the via dei Fori Imperiali and on the eastern side of the Valley date back to restorations in the Severan period, carried out during the reigns of Elagabalus (218-222 AD) and Alexander Severus (222-235 AD) after the fire of 217 AD which seriously damaged the Amphitheatre. A later adjustment, during the reign of Gordian III (238-244 AD), probably due to structural problems, re-inforced and enlarged the portico, to which was added an avant-corps towards the Amphitheatre: the adjacent basalt road was thus incorporated and transformed into a covered street. The remains of plasterwork and marble cladding visible on the brick structures date back to this restoration.

The remains of the avant-corps, depicted on some coins, are still under the via dei Fori Imperiali. In the 6th century, the covered area was used as a burial ground.

 

Axonometry of the northern wing of the portico which surrounded the Amphitheatre on three sides (G. Schingo)

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The Colossus

The vestibule of the Domus Aurea housed the bronze statue of Nero, which was c. 35 metres high, and made, according to Pliny the Elder, by the sculptor Zenodoros on the model of the Colossus of Rhodes. The statue, which is depicted on some coins, represented Nero identified as Helios (the sun), his head encircled by rays, and his right hand perhaps leaning on a support and a globe in his left.

After Nero's death (68 AD), the physical features of the Colossus were changed to cancel the memory of the hated emperor (damnatio memoriae), and the statue was transformed into Helios.

The emperor Hadrian moved the Colossus in the Valley in order to build the Temple of Venus and Rome in the space occupied by the vestibule of the Domus Aurea: this complicated project was entrusted to the architect Decrianus, who is supposed to have used 24 elephants to move it. Commodus ordered that the status should take on his likeness in the guise of Hercules: when he died, the features of Helios were restored.

The name Colosseum (Colysaeum), given to the amphitheatre from the 8th century onwards, is due to the memory of the statue, which has now been lost. The base supporting the Colossus, which measured 270 square metres was destroyed in 1933 by the creation of the via dei Trionfi. Nowadays there is a raised flowerbed in its place.

 

 

Coin of Gordian III (238-244 AD) depicting a show in the Amphitheatre; on the left is the Colossus and the Meta Sudans, on the right the portico

(Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano)

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The temple of Venus and Rome

Among the largest cult buildings on Rome, it was built on the Velian hill between 121 and 135 AD by the emperor Hadrian (117-138 AD) and completed in 140 AD by Antoninus Pius (138-161 AD). This temple, the only example of its kind in the West, has two cellae orientated in opposite directions with adjacent back walls. The cella facing towards the Forum contained the statue of the goddess Rome; the cella towards the Colosseum, visible from the square in the version restored in 307 A.D by Maxentius (306-312 AD), was dedicated to Venus, the ancestress of the Roman people. The building comprised 10 columns on its short sides, 4 in front of the cellae, and 20 along the long sides; two double colonnades, the grey granite columns of which were partly repositioned in the 1930s, marked off the sacred area to the north and south, opening out in the centre in two monumental entrances. With this temple, dedicated on April 21st, the birthday of Rome, Hadrian celebrated the absolute and eternal value of the city (Aeternitas Urbis). reasserting the diving origins of its people and reviving a theme dear to the emperor Augustus (27 BC - 14 AD), from whose peaceful politics he claimed to draw inspiration.

 

Reconstructive sketch of the Temple of Venus and Rome

(Archivio Fot. Com. di Palazzo Braschi)

 

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