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Dedicated to my dear friend and fellow photographer, Kyle Faas.
This was the last day I saw him alive. Rest In Peace.
This temple was begun in 141 A.D. by Emperor Antoninus Pius. It was initially dedicated ot his deceased and deified wife. After he died in 161 A.D., it was rededicated to both he and his wife (both of whom were deified) by Emperor Marcus Aurelius. (Gladiator fans: He's Commodus's dad who the movie implied that Commodus killed.). The door is high and inaccessible, as you can see. This was at street level around 1500 A.D. when Michelangelo was roaming around.
On Wikipedia's entry, the forum is described as, "the most celebrated meeting place in the world, and in all history." (They used a citation from Michael Grant's book 'The Roman Forum,' published in 1970 to support this.). Everything in this description that follows is a combination of information primarily from the Wikipedia entry and Rick Steves Rome (and possibly another website or two).
"Forum" is a Latin word that simply means "outside." The word essentially exists as such in the majority of Romance languages: Italian (fuori), Spanish (fuera), Portuguese and Catalan (fora), etc. But, outside of what? That'd be the Palatine Hill.
Fora, in Roman times, were mainly marketplaces, but the Roman Forum evolved into something much more. (At the end of this lengthy description, I'll differentiate between the Roman Forum and the other fora in Rome.)
The physical space: We're not talking about a huge space here. The forum lies on a east-west axis (slightly more southeast-northwest) between the foot of the Capitoline Hill in the west and stretching to the Arch of Titus in the east (across the street from the Colosseum more or less). The length of that is about 280 meters (920 feet, or just over three American football fields) with a width of 190 meters (620 feet). The southern end of the Forum runs along the base of the Palatine Hill. (That also gives an idea of how close Palatine and Capitoline Hills are.). The Via Sacra is the "Main Street" of the Forum and runs its length from the Arch of Titus to the Arch of Septimius Severus.
The forum and its structures evolved naturally, over a long period of time (naturally, as opposed to being meticulously planned all at once). The first known structures on the Forum were from the 7th century B.C. (Regia) until 608 A.D. (Column of Phocas). In those roughly 1,300 years, the open space of the forum shrunk from the above dimensions to a main square about 130 meters by 50 meters (at the west end of the Forum; this is where the Rostrum is).
Pre-Roman History:
Pottery deposits discovered here show that humans lived here in the last Bronze Age (1200-975 B.C.). In the 10th century B.C., an area near where the Temple of Antoninus Pius & Faustina are located was used as a cemetery. (They cremated folks back then.). The land, during those centuries, was swampy wetland. Marshy. Not great. (Makes you wonder why people lived there, let alone buried folks there.). So, when was the land converted into something more solid, and usable for building?
Around the 7th century B.C., the first real structure built here was the Cloaca Maxima, a large, covered sewage system that drained the water into the nearby Tiber.
Roman Kingdom (753 B.C. to roughly 500 B.C.):
This is when the buildings (as we can see them today) started to be built. The first two were the Regia (House of the Kings) at the Comitium on the western end of the Forum (where the Rostrum is) and the House of the Vestals. (There were also people's houses here, but they were eventually bought up and used to build more structures during the...)
Roman Republic (~500 B.C. - 44 B.C.)
During this time, we find the first buildings with known dates of construction. The Temple of Saturn (with 8 columns still standing) was built in 497 B.C. The Temple of Castor and Pollux was added in 484 B.C. These are on the western end of the Forum between the House of the Vestals and the Capitoline Hill. The Temple of Concord was also built during the republic, about a century after the Temple of Saturn. (Its ruins are at the base of the Capitoline Hill next to the Tabularium.)
Roman Empire (44.B.C. - about 500 A.D.
The empire officially began with the death of Caesar in 44 B.C. Emperor Augustus completed his dear uncle's construction projects and added a few of his own. (Temple of Caesar, Arch of Augustus, the Curia, Caesar's funeral pyre.)
Other structures, like the Arch of Septimius Severus (western end of the Forum) were added around the 2nd century A.D. Diocletian reorganized and rebuilt the Temple of Saturn, Temple of Vesta, Curia Julia. The last major addition to the Forum came in 312 A.D. with the Basilica of Maxentius (or Basilica of Constantine, since he finished it).
The last addition of any kind came in 608 A.D., about a century after the Roman Empire had fallen. The Column of Phocas was added to honor Emperor Phocas of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine).
Decline of the Forum:
Emperor Constans II (Eastern Roman, of course) visited in 663 A.D., saw the lead roofs and thought, "Say, these would be useful elsewhere!" So, he stripped them all, leaving the structures open to the elements. By the 8th century A.D., the Forum was already falling apart, buried in a lot of debris, and turned into a cattle field.
After the 8th century, the remaining structures were dismantled, rearranged, and used to build towers and castles in the area. This continued until the 13th century when the Forum was basically a dumping ground, buried in debris. This contributed to the rising street level. (If you look at the Temple of Antoninus Pius and Faustina, you'll notice the door is rather high -- this was street level when Michelangelo was wandering around in the 16th century.
Italian Renaissance:
Rome was in ruins by this time, and had a very small population
The Forum was really wrecked, ad this was more pronounced during the return of the popes. The Catholic Church had returned from Avignon in 1367. Pope Martin V issued a papal bull in 1425 that essentially said, "This city is a dump. We need to restore it." The Forum was a quarry. Between 1540 and 1550, Pope Paul III took liberally from the Forum to build Saint Peter's Basilica. (I can go on with examples, but you get the point.)
Restoration:
The Forum as we see it now is the process of over 200 years of excavations and restoration. In 1803, the debris around the Arch of Septimius Severus was cleared out and over the subsequent 220 years, the work continues. To this day, if you visit the Forum, you will see evidence of this.
Other fora in Rome:
Way back at the top, I mentioned this isn't the only Forum in Rome. The Imperial Fora are almost directly next door here on the Via dei Fori Imperiali. Those were all established in a traditional style as piazza (town squares, if you will.). As the original fora were for marketplaces, there were plenty of those as well. The Roman Forum is just the one that evolved into something a lot more...substantial. Of the other fora, you would have found: the Forum Boarium (dedicated to the commerce of cattle, located between Palatine Hill and the Tiber River), Forum Holitorium (herb & vegetable market, between Capitoline Hill and the Servian Walls), Forum Piscarium (fish market, between Capitoline Hill and the Tiber -- where the Jewish Ghetto is located), Forum Suarium (pork market, northern part of Campus Martius), and the Forum Vinarium (in modern Testaccio, between the Aventine Hill and the Tiber).
Rio Grande - RS
This photo is dedicated to Zana, for her birthday, on sunday, 3rd. Happy Birthday, Friend
New and Learning Mission- My dedication to Ken Rowley who collects pigs of all sorts:-)
This ones for you:-) and its yummy too;-)
Dedicated in AD 109. Fig. 90 in: SEAR, Frank (1982). Roman Architecture. Batsford Academic and Educational Limited, London. ISBN 0 7134 40988
Mad shouts for the support all these years, y'all have been an inspiration.
Jun, Todd, Randy, Ryan & Fibes and all who's involved. One love!
Dedicated to Hydra, Sofia's friend gorgeous cocker :D ♥♥♥ #instlike_com #gifts #20likes ♥♥♥ #milan #dog #cute #adorable #pet #pets #dogsofinstagram #ilovemydog #bannerpic #instagramdogs #dogstagram #cockersofinstagram #animal #animals #puppy #puppies #pup #petstagram #picpets #cutie #funpetlove #cockerspaniel #petsagram #dogoftheday #loveit #cocker #hair
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pottschnute: Your pix are amazing!
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