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Roman Forum

The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum. It was for centuries the center of Roman public life: the site of triumphal processions and elections; the venue for public speeches, criminal trials, and gladiatorial matches; and the nucleus of commercial affairs. Here statues and monuments commemorated the citys great men. The teeming heart of ancient Rome, it has been called the most celebrated meeting place in the world, and in all history. Located in the small valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills, the Forum today is a sprawling ruin of architectural fragments and intermittent archaeological excavations attracting 4.5 million sightseers yearly. Many of the oldest and most important structures of the ancient city were located on or near the Forum. The Roman kingdoms earliest shrines and temples were located on the southeastern edge. These included the ancient former royal residence, the Regia, and the Temple of Vesta, as well as the surrounding complex of the Vestal Virgins, all of which were rebuilt after the rise of imperial Rome. Other archaic shrines to the northwest, such as the Umbilicus Urbis and the Vulcanal, developed into the Republics formal Comitium . This is where the Senate—as well as Republican government itself—began. The Senate House, government offices, tribunals, temples, memorials and statues gradually cluttered the area. Over time the archaic Comitium was replaced by the larger adjacent Forum and the focus of judicial activity moved to the new Basilica Aemilia . Some 130 years later, Julius Caesar built the Basilica Julia, along with the new Curia Julia, refocusing both the judicial offices and the Senate itself. This new Forum, in what proved to be its final form, then served as a revitalized city square where the people of Rome could gather for commercial, political, judicial and religious pursuits in ever greater numbers. Eventually much economic and judicial business would transfer away from the Forum Romanum to the larger and more extravagant structures to the north. The reign of Constantine the Great, during which the Empire was divided into its Eastern and Western halves, saw the construction of the last major expansion of the Forum complex—the Basilica of Maxentius . This returned the political center to the Forum until the fall of the Western Roman Empire almost two centuries later.

Archbasilica of St. John Lateran

The Papal Archbasilica of St. John in the Lateran, commonly known as St. John Lateran Archbasilica, St. John Lateran Basilica, St. John Lateran, or just The Lateran Basilica, is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Rome and the official ecclesiastical seat of the Bishop of Rome, who is the Pope. It is the oldest and ranks first among the five Papal Basilicas of the world and the four Major Basilicas of Rome, being the oldest church in the West and having the Cathedra of the Bishop of Rome. It has the title of ecumenical mother church among Roman Catholics. The current archpriest is Agostino Vallini, Cardinal Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome. The President of the French Republic, currently François Hollande, is ex officio the "first and only honorary canon" of the Archbasilica, a title held by the heads of state of France since King Henry IV. The large inscription on the façade reads in Latin: Clemens XII Pont Max Anno V Christo Salvatori In Hon SS Ioan Bapt et Evang; which a highly abbreviated inscription translated as "Pope Clement XII, in the fifth year of his reign, dedicated this building to Christ the Savior, in honor of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist". This is because the Archbasilica, as indicated by its full title was originally dedicated to Christ the Savior, with the co-dedications to the two St. Johns being made centuries later. As the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, it ranks above all other churches in the Catholic Church, including St. Peters Basilica. For that reason, unlike all other Catholic basilicas, it is titled Archbasilica. The Archbasilica is located within the City of Rome but is outside the boundaries of Vatican City proper, which is located approximately 4 km to the northwest, in another part of Rome. While the Archbasilica and its adjoining buildings enjoy extraterritorial status as one of the properties of the Holy See pursuant to the Lateran Treaty of 1929, the Archbasilica is within Italian territory and not that of the Vatican City State.

Santa Maria sopra Minerva

Santa Maria sopra Minerva is one of the major churches of the Roman Catholic Order of Preachers at Rome, Italy. The church's name derives from the fact that the first Christian church structure on the site was built directly over the ruins or foundations of a temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis, which had been erroneously ascribed to the Greco-Roman goddess Minerva. The church is located in Piazza della Minerva one block behind the Pantheon in the Pigna rione of Rome within the ancient district known as the Campus Martius. The present church and disposition of surrounding structures is visible in a detail from the Nolli Map of 1748. While many other medieval churches in Rome have been given Baroque makeovers that cover Gothic structures, the Minerva is the only extant example of original Gothic church building in Rome. Behind a restrained Renaissance style façade the Gothic interior features arched vaulting that was painted blue with gilded stars and trimmed with brilliant red ribbing in a 19th-century Neo-Gothic restoration. The church and adjoining convent served at various times throughout its history as the Dominican Order's headquarters. Today the headquarters have been re-established in their original location at the Roman convent of Santa Sabina. The current Cardinal Priest of the Titulus Sanctae Mariae supra Minervam has been Cormac Murphy-O'Connor since 2001, when he was Archbishop of Westminster, the senior position in the English Catholic church, from which he has since retired.

Lapis Niger

The Lapis Niger is an ancient shrine in the Roman Forum. Together with the associated Vulcanal it constitutes the only surviving remnants of the old Comitium, an early assembly area that preceded the Forum and is thought to derive from an archaic cult site of the 7th or 8th century BC. The black marble paving and modern concrete enclosure of the Lapis Niger overlie an ancient tomb or altar and a stone block with one of the earliest known Latin inscriptions . The superstructure monument and shrine may have been built by Julius Caesar during his reorganization of the Forum and Comitium space. Alternatively, this may have been done a generation earlier by Sulla during one his construction projects around the Curia Hostilia. The site was rediscovered and excavated from 1899 to 1905 by Italian archaeologist Giacomo Boni. Mentioned in many ancient descriptions of the Forum dating back to the Roman Republic and the early days of the Roman Empire, the significance of the Lapis Niger shrine was obscure and mysterious even to later Romans, but it was always discussed as a place of great sacredness and significance. It is constructed on top of a sacred spot consisting of much older artifacts found about 5 ft below the present ground level. The name "black stone" may have originally referred to the black stone block or it may refer to the later black marble paving at the surface. Located in the Comitium in front of the Curia Julia, this structure survived for centuries due to a combination of reverential treatment and overbuilding during the era of the early Roman Empire.

Ara Pacis

The Ara Pacis Augustae is an altar in Rome dedicated to Pax, the Roman goddess of Peace. The monument was commissioned by the Roman Senate on July 4, 13 BC to honor the return of Augustus to Rome after three years in Hispania and Gaul, and consecrated on January 30, 9 BC. The altar reflects the Augustan vision of Roman civil religion. It consists of a traditional open-air altar at its center surrounded by precinct walls which are pierced on the eastern and western ends by openings. The Ara Pacis is perhaps best known for the decoration on the exterior of the precinct walls composed of two tiers of friezes. On the north and south, the upper register depicts the procession of members of the Imperial household and the larger regime, while on the east and west, panels depict allegorical themes of peace and Roman civic ritual. The lower register of the frieze depicts vegetal work meant to communicate the abundance and prosperity of the Roman Peace . The monument as a whole serves a civic ritual function whilst simultaneous operating as propaganda for Augustus and his regime, easing notions of autocracy and dynastic succession that might otherwise be unpalatable to traditional Roman culture. The Altar was originally located on the northern outskirts of Rome, a Roman mile from the boundary of the pomerium on the west side of the Via Flaminia. It stood in the northeastern corner of the Campus Martius, the former flood plain of the Tiber River which was developed by Augustus into a complex of monuments. In succeeding centuries, the monument gradually became buried under four meters of silt deposits. Although parts of it were recovered and restored—with limited accuracy—as early as the Renaissance, the vast majority of the Ara Pacis was recovered in the twentieth century. It was reassembled in its current location in 1938.

Mausoleum of Augustus

The Mausoleum of Augustus is a large tomb built by the Roman Emperor Augustus in 28 BC on the Campus Martius in Rome, Italy. The mausoleum is located on the Piazza Augusto Imperatore, near the corner with Via di Ripetta as it runs along the Tiber. The grounds cover an area equivalent to a few city blocks, and nestle between the church of San Carlo al Corso and that Museum of the Ara Pacis. The interior of the mausoleum is no longer open to tourists, as looting, time, and neglect have stripped the ruins of marbled elegance. Even as ruins, it is a dominating landmark on the northern side of the Campus Martius. The mausoleum was one of the first projects initiated by Augustus in the city of Rome following his victory at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. The mausoleum was circular in plan, consisting of several concentric rings of earth and brick, planted with cypresses on top of the building and capped by a conical roof and a statue of Augustus. Vaults held up the roof and opened up the burial spaces below. Twin pink granite obelisks flanked the arched entryway; these now stand, one at the Piazza dellEsquilino and other at the Quirinal fountain. The completed mausoleum measured 90 m in diameter by 42 m in height. A corridor ran from the entryway into the heart of the mausoleum, where there was a chamber with three niches to hold the golden urns enshrining the ashes of the Imperial Family. Remains buried inside the mausoleum before Augustus include those of Marcus Claudius Marcellus, Marcus Agrippa in 12 BC, Nero Claudius Drusus in 9 BC, Octavia Minor in 9 or 11 BC, Gaius and Lucius, grandsons and heirs of Augustus. After the emperor himself, the mausoleum hosted the ashes of Livia, Germanicus, Agrippina the Elder, Agrippinas daughter Julia Livilla, Nero, Drusus Caesar, Caligula, Tiberius, Drusus Julius Caesar, Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor, Claudius, Britannicus, the embalmed body of Poppaea Sabina wife of Nero, Julia Domna, and Nerva, the last emperor for whom the mausoleum was opened. The traditional story is that in 410, during the sack of Rome by Alaric, the pillaging Visigoths rifled the vaults, stole the urns and scattered the ashes, without damaging the structure of the building . LacusCurtius claims however that "The story of its plundering by Alaric in 410 has no historical foundation, and we know nothing of its destruction". In the Middle Ages the artificial tumulus was fortified as a castle— as was the mausoleum of Hadrian, which was turned into the Castel SantAngelo— and occupied by the Colonna family. After the disastrous defeat of the Commune of Rome at the hands of the Count of Tusculum in 1167, the Colonna were disgraced and banished, and their fortification in the Campo was dismantled. Thus it became a ruin. It was not until the 1930s that the site was opened as a preserved archaeological landmark along with the newly moved and reconstructed Ara Pacis nearby. The restoration of the Mausoleum of Augustus to a place of prominence featured in Benito Mussolinis ambitious reordering of the city of Rome which strove to connect the aspirations of Italian Fascism with the former glories of the Roman Empire. Mussolini viewed himself especially connected to the achievements of Augustus, seeing himself as a reborn Augustus ready to usher in a new age of Italian dominance.

Porticus Octaviae

Not to be confused with the Porticus Octavia. The Porticus Octaviae is an ancient structure in Rome. The structure was built by Augustus in the name of his sister, Octavia Minor, sometime after 27 BC, in place of the Porticus Metelli. The colonnaded walks of the portico enclosed the temples of Jupiter Stator and Juno Regina, next to the Theater of Marcellus. It burned in 80 AD and was restored, probably by Domitian, and again after a second fire in 203 AD by Septimius Severus and Caracalla. It was adorned with foreign marble and contained many famous works of art, enumerated in Plinys Natural History. The structure was damaged by an earthquake in 442 AD, when two of the destroyed columns were replaced with an archway which still stands. The church of SantAngelo in Pescheria was built in the ruins circa 770 AD. Besides the pre-existing temples, the enclosure included a library erected by Octavia in memory of her son Marcus Claudius Marcellus, the curia Octaviae, and a schola. Whether these were different parts of one building, or entirely different structures, is uncertain. It was probably in the curia that the senate is recorded as meeting. The whole is referred to by Pliny the Elder as Octaviae opera. The portico was used as a fish market from the medieval period, and up to the end of 19th century. This role is remembered in the name of the annexed church of SantAngelo in Pescheria . The building, which lies in rione SantAngelo, represents the center of the Roman Ghetto.

Temple of Portunus

The Temple of Portunus is an ancient building in Rome, Italy, the main temple dedicated to the god Portunus in the city. It is in the Ionic order and is still more familiar by its erroneous designation, the Temple of Fortuna Virilis given it by antiquaries. Located in the ancient Forum Boarium by the Tiber, during Antiquity the site overlooked the Port Tiberinus at a sharp bend in the river; from here, Portunus watched over cattle-barges as they entered the city from Ostia. Dating from the first century BC, the rectangular building consists of a tetrastyle portico and cella, raised on a high podium reached by a flight of steps, which it retains. Like the Maison Carrée in Nîmes, it has a pronaos portico of four Ionic columns across and two columns deep. The columns of the portico are free-standing, while the remaining five columns on the long sides and the four columns at the rear are engaged along the walls of the cella. This form is sometimes called pseudoperipteral, as distinct from a true peripteral temple like the Parthenon entirely surrounded by free-standing columns. It is built of tuff and travertine with a stucco surface. The temple owes its state of preservation from its being converted to use as a church in 872 and rededicated to Santa Maria Egyziaca . Its Ionic order has been much admired, drawn and engraved and copied since the 16th century . The original coating of stucco over its tufa and travertine construction has been lost. The circular Temple of Hercules Victor is located south-east to the temple in the Forum Boarium. The 18th-century Temple of Harmony in Somerset, England is a folly based on the Temple of Portunus.

Theatre of Marcellus

The Theatre of Marcellus is an ancient open-air theatre in Rome, Italy, built in the closing years of the Roman Republic. At the theatre, locals and visitors alike were able to watch performances of drama and song. Today its ancient edifice in the rione of SantAngelo, Rome, once again provides one of the citys many popular spectacles or tourist sites. It was named after Marcus Marcellus, Emperor Augustuss nephew, who died five years before its completion. Space for the theatre was cleared by Julius Caesar, who was murdered before its construction could begin; the theatre was so far advanced by 17 BC that part of the celebration of the ludi saeculares took place within the theatre; it was completed in 13 BC and formally inaugurated in 12 BC by Augustus. The theatre was 111 m in diameter and was the largest and most important theatre in Ancient Rome; it could originally hold between 11,000 and 20,000 spectators. It was an impressive example of what was to become one of the most pervasive urban architectural forms of the Roman world. The theatre was built mainly of tuff, and concrete faced with stones in the pattern known as opus reticulatum, completely sheathed in white travertine. The network of arches, corridors, tunnels and ramps that gave access to the interiors of such Roman theaters were normally ornamented with a screen of engaged columns in Greek orders: Doric at the base, Ionic in the middle. It is believed that Corinthian columns were used for the upper level but this is uncertain as the theater was reconstructed in the Middle Ages, removing the top tier of seating and the columns. Like other Roman theaters in suitable locations, it had openings through which the natural setting could be seen, in this case the Tiber Island to the southwest. The permanent setting, the scaena, also rose to the top of the cavea as in other Roman theaters. The theatre fell out of use in the early 4th century and the structure served as quarry for e.g. the Pons Cestius in 370 AD. However, the statues located inside the building were restored by Petronius Maximus in 421 and the remaining structure still housed small residential buildings. In the Early Middle Ages the theatre was used as a fortress of the Fabii and then at the end of the 11th century, by Pier Leoni and later his heirs . This saved the complex from further destruction. The Savelli held it in the 13th century. Later, in the 16th century, the residence of the Orsini, designed by Baldassare Peruzzi, was built atop the ruins of the ancient theatre. Now the upper portion is divided into multiple apartments, and its surroundings are used as a venue for small summer concerts; the Portico dOttavia lies to the north west leading to the Roman Ghetto and the Tiber to the south west. In the 17th century, the renowned English architect Sir Christopher Wren explicitly acknowledged that his design for the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford was influenced by Serlios engraving of the Theatre of Marcellus.

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