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143-589: According to Rome's foundation myth , prior to the founding of the city, Rhea Silvia had her twin sons, Romulus and Remus , taken by the King of Alba Longa. The boys were later discarded in the swelling Tiber River, which would later run along the Campus' western boundary. Washing ashore further downriver, the brothers would return decades later to found a new city. Romulus, who became Rome's sole king (after killing his brother Remus), ruled for many years until sometime in

286-588: A census, but had no permanent structures; no additions would be made for another two centuries. With the advent of the Punic Wars in the mid-third century B.C., Roman military expansion moved out of the Italian peninsula, resulting in the reduction of seasonal musters on the field. The number of foreign wars, however, greatly increased the amount of wealth flowing into Rome. Generals who had sworn to various deities to build temples in their honor if victorious used

429-600: A connection between peoples and their languages, a reconstruction emerges with Indo-European peoples arriving in various waves of migrations during the first and second millennia BC: first a western Italic group (including Latin), followed by a central Italic group of Osco-Umbrian dialects, with a late arrival of Greek and Celtic on the Italian peninsula, from across the Adriatic and Alps, respectively. These migrations are generally believed to have displaced speakers of Etruscan and other pre-Indo-European languages; although it

572-662: A cult to Hercules had been established at the Ara Maxima in Rome during the archaic period. By the early fifth century BC, these stories had become entrenched in Roman historical beliefs. These cults, along with the early – in literary terms – account of Cato the Elder , show how Italians and Romans took these Greek histories seriously and as reliable evidence by later annalists, even though they were speculations of little value. Much of

715-568: A developed necropolis by at least 1000   BC. The combination of the hilltop settlements into a single polity by the later 8th century   BC was probably influenced by the trend for city-state formation emerging from ancient Greece . Roman myth held that their city was founded by Romulus , son of the war god Mars and the Vestal virgin Rhea Silvia , fallen princess of Alba Longa and descendant of Aeneas of Troy . Exposed on

858-707: A few scorched and mangled ruins and only four completely escaped damage. The Temple of Jupiter Stator , the House of the Vestals , and Nero's palace, the Domus Transitoria were damaged or destroyed. Also destroyed in the fire was the portion of the Forum where the Roman senators lived and worked. However, the open space in the middle of the Forum remained a shopping/meeting centre. The accusations of Nero having started

1001-599: A fire break. Before the fire, Rome's water was brought in by nine aqueducts , which were not set up with equipment to fight fires. Carrying out repairs to the aqueducts was an ongoing task for the Curator Aquarum or Water Commissioner of Rome. The Curator Aquarum was also in charge of investigations into those who were illegally piping water away without paying a license fee to the state. Firefighters relied on blankets, buckets of water, vinegar, and demolition of buildings to put fires out. According to Tacitus ,

1144-533: A general melee. Wiseman and some others attribute the aspects of fratricide to the 4th-century BC Conflict of the Orders , when Rome's lower-class plebeians began to resist excesses by the upper-class patricians . Romulus, after ritualistically ploughing the generally square course of the city's future boundary , erects its first walls and declares the settlement an asylum for exiles, criminals, and runaway slaves. The city becomes larger but also acquires

1287-635: A healthy year. After the barbarian invasions cut the aqueducts , the rapidly dwindling population abandoned the surrounding hills and concentrated in the Campus Martius, depending on the Tiber for water, but subject to its flooding. Since it was next to the river and next to the Vatican , the area became the most populous part of Rome in the Middle Ages . The river supported a thriving economy and

1430-464: A horse race called the second Equirria , which started on March 14. The winning horse was killed and sacrificed to Mars. The second event used to support his claim was the Anna Perenna . This event was when the plebs would go out to Campus Martius to eat and drink. The reason why Anna Perenna was important was because she was an ugly hag and she represented the end of a year, and Mars represented

1573-633: A local magnate called Latinus and marries his daughter Lavinia , joining the two into a new group called the Latini; they then found a new city, called Lavinium . After a series of wars against the Rutuli and Caere , the Latins conquer the Alban Hills and its environs. His son Ascanius then founds the legendary city of Alba Longa , which became the dominant city in the region. The later descendants of

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1716-457: A mixing ground between Etruscan , Apennine , and Greek civilizations . It also served as a measure of societal control , with the patricians partially justifying their long dominance of Roman institutions by their supposed descent from Alba Longan nobility and other legendary figures. The Romans took the foundation of their own new cities seriously, undertaking many rituals and attributing many of them to remote antiquity. They long maintained

1859-651: A mostly male population. When Romulus' attempts to secure the women of neighbouring settlements by diplomacy fail, he uses the religious celebration of Consualia to abduct the women of the Sabines . According to Livy, when the Sabines rally an army to take their women back, the women force the two groups to make peace and install the Sabine king Titus Tatius as comonarch with Romulus. The story has been theorised by some modern scholars to reflect anti-Roman propaganda from

2002-585: A new city at the location where they had been rescued. The twins then come into conflict during the foundation of the city, leading to the murder of Remus. The dispute is variously said to have been over the naming of the new city, over the interpretation of auguries , whether to place it on the Palatine or Aventine Hill, or concerned with Remus's disrespect of the new town's ritual furrow or wall. Some accounts say Romulus slays his brother with his own hand, others that Remus and sometimes Faustulus are killed in

2145-473: A single polity. By 1000 BC, a necropolis existed in the Forum for cremation graves. By the early Iron Age c.  900 BC , graves started to be placed into the ground. Other cemeteries appear on the Esquiline , Quirinal , and Viminal Hills by the 9th century, containing pottery, imported Greek wares, fibulae, and bronze objects. Remains from huts on the Palatine have been found that date to

2288-458: A son of Aeneas, founding not only Rome but also Capua. Authors also wrote their home regions into the story. Polybius , who hailed from Arcadia, for example, gave Rome not a Trojan colonial origin but rather an Arcadian one. Great Fire of Rome The Great Fire of Rome ( Latin : incendium magnum Romae ) began on the 18th of July 64 AD. The fire started in the merchant shops around Rome's chariot stadium, Circus Maximus . After six days,

2431-472: A status that he achieved in 12 BCE; his return from the provinces as victor was celebrated with a massive feast during which, as depicted by Ovid, a white bull was slaughtered. But such a feast could not have taken place in the “complete” Ara Pacis; the elevated area was much too small for such a large gathering. Andersen makes a point that the feast actually took place on the foundation of the Ara Pacis, which

2574-606: A story of Aeneas's son founding the city of Alba Longa and establishing a dynasty there, which eventually produced Romulus. In Livy's first book he recounts how Aeneas, a demigod of the Trojan royal Anchises and the goddess Venus , leaves Troy after its destruction during the Trojan War and sailed to the western Mediterranean. He brings his son – Ascanius – and a group of companions. Landing in Italy, he forms an alliance with

2717-607: A stylistic transformation. Similar to the Hellenistic Period, the Late Republic and Early Empire was also a period of several construction projects within the Campus Martius. This period, chronologically, began at the end of the third and final Punic War and lasted until the end of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty in 65 AD. During this period there were six temples built in Campus Martius. They were

2860-532: A supply of water, and the continuous stream of pilgrims to the city brought wealth to the area. The main road connecting Rome to the rest of Europe was the Via Cassia , entering Rome through the Porta del Popolo in the northern part of the Campus Martius. Via Cassia became the most important road in medieval times, because it connected Rome with Viterbo , Siena , and Florence . The other main road to Rome,

3003-539: A unified Rome – reflected in the production of a central forum area, public monumental architecture, and civic structures – can be spoken of. By the late Republic , the usual Roman origin myth held that their city was founded by a Latin named Romulus on the day of the Parilia Festival (21 April) in some year around 750   BC. Important aspects of the myth concerned Romulus's murder of his twin Remus ,

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3146-420: A way to not only appease the gods after several lightning bolts struck the city of Rome, but to emphasize the birth of a Golden Age. These games were a sort of a rite of passage that were held over several days and nights to mark the end of a new saeculum and the beginning of the next one. A saeculum was supposedly the longest possible length of a human life, either to 100 or 110 years old. The procession started at

3289-423: A “fundamental change in stylistic direction” during the latter half of the first century on. This was a period when the sculptures and linear forms of the classical past was first firmly challenged by the canopied volume of the future. This was a historical period for Roman architecture in that, the catalyst for architects to embrace concrete as a design material or as Nero describes it break free from “the shackles of

3432-464: Is a temple built between 190 BC and 179 BC. It is uncertain if this temple was as Cicero writes, the “Temple of Nymphs”, or as other sources believe the “Temple of the Lares Permarini. This period of Hellenism was the first major step in which the Roman temples, as well as the temples found in Campus Martius were generally made of stone architecture. This new style was in a way, a step up from

3575-404: Is archaeological evidence of human occupation of the area of modern Rome from at least 5,000 years ago , but the dense layer of much younger debris obscures any Palaeolithic and Neolithic sites . Traces of occupation have been found in the general region – including Lavinium and the coast near Ardea  – going back to the 15th century BC. The area was home to

3718-762: Is being spread out across Rome and is not focused on the former religious places of the Capitoline Hill or the Forum Romanum . Art historian Stamper argues that the Largo Argentina has marked the beginning of multiple triumphal processions of successful generals. During the 1st century BC, there was a change from the Ionic style to the Corinthian Order. Acanthus leaves were sculpted on the top of these columns. Two other important temples are

3861-683: Is certainly the risk of the destruction of these temples. After the death of Alexander the Great in 324 BC or the beginning of the "wave of Hellenism" there was a drastic increase in terms building construction within the city of Rome. In the case of Campus Martius, specifically during the "wave of Hellenism", there were seven temples built. These new temples constructed were as follows; Temple of Bellona [296 BC], Temple of Fortuna [293 BC], Temple of Juturna [241 BC], Temple of Hercules [221 BC], Temple of Vulcan [214 BC) and Temple of Fortuna Equestris [173 BC]. The one temple excluded on that prior list

4004-476: Is now believed to have been constructed between 750 and 700 BC. Religious activity started also in this period on the Capitoline hill, suggesting a connection to the ancient cult of Jupiter Feretrius . Other offerings discovered indicate Rome's connections outside Latium, with imported Greek pottery from Euboea and Corinth . The first evidence of a wall appears in the middle or late eighth century on

4147-503: Is possible that Etruscan arrived also by migration, almost certainly before 2000 BC. The start of the Iron age saw a gradual increase in social complexity and population that led to the emergence of proto-urban settlements in central and northern Italy writ large. These proto-urban agglomerations were normally clusters of smaller settlements that were insufficiently distant to be separated communities; over time, they would unify. There

4290-529: Is the temple of Mars Ultor (the avenger) dedicated to Mars, the god of War . It is in the Forum Augustum and is Augustus's most ambitious architectural building. The construction started in 30BC and took three decades. The exterior of the temple was constructed using the Italian white Luna marble from Carrara and the columns reflect the Corinthians style. The architecture is strongly influenced by

4433-502: Is virtually impossible to pinpoint exactly when and why these stages occurred, but some historians have sectionalized different periods where Roman architecture faced relatively significant transformation. Between the mid-6th century BC and the end of the early Republic (324 BC) four temples were built. These were Temple of Diana [6th century], Temple of Castor and Pollux [495 BC], Temple of Apollo Sosianus [431 BC] and Temple of Juno Regina [392 BC]. Of these four structures, many view

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4576-583: The Annals and the Histories , covered the history of the empire between AD 14 and AD 96. However, much of the work has been lost, including the books covering events after AD 70. Tacitus was only eight years old at the time of the fire, but he was able to use public records and reports to write an accurate account. In 22 BC, Augustus funded a fire brigade. In AD 6, he introduced the Vigiles ("cohorts of

4719-645: The Apennine and Proto-Villanovan cultures before the advent of the more regional Latial culture . Archaeological evidence suggests that Rome developed over a long period, but it was definitely occupied by the middle of the Bronze Age . Core samples have shown that the terrain of Bronze-Age Rome differed greatly from what is present now. The area of the Forum Boarium north of the Aventine Hill

4862-597: The Aqua Virgo , to supply water to these new baths and fountains. In the non-populated northern area was the huge Mausoleum of Augustus . Other buildings that were made were the Theatre of Marcellus , the Temple for Isis (from around the time of Caligula), the baths and bridge by Nero, and Pompey's theatre, where Julius Caesar was murdered by Marcus Brutus and his allies. After the great fire of 64 A.D. Domitian rebuilt

5005-590: The Hut of Romulus , a primitive dwelling on the Palatine attributed to their founder, although they had no firm basis for associating it with him specifically. While the Romans believed that their city had been founded by an eponymous founder at a specific time, when that occurred was disputed by the ancient historians. The earliest dates placed it c.  1100   BC out of a belief that Romulus had been Aeneas's grandson. This moved Rome's foundation much closer to

5148-522: The Iliad 's prophecy that Aeneas's descendants would one day return and rule Troy once more. Greeks by 550 BC had begun to speculate, given the lack of any clear descendants of Aeneas, that the figure had established a dynasty outside the proper Greek world. The first attempts to tie this story to Rome were in the works of two Greek historians at the end of the fifth century BC, Hellanicus of Lesbos and Damastes of Sigeum , likely only mentioning off hand

5291-462: The Palatine Hill . Most modern historians doubt the existence of a single founder or founding event for the city, and no material evidence has been found connecting early Rome to Alba or Troy. Most modern historians also dismiss the putative Aeneid dynasty at Alba Longa as fiction. The legendary account was still much discussed and celebrated in Roman times. The Parilia Festival on 21 April

5434-594: The Parilian Festival celebrated annually on April 21. This festival was originally concerned with the purification of shepherds and herds of sheep in the countryside around Rome, but eventually became so associated with Rome's foundation myth that it was restructured as the urban Romaea in AD   121. The association with Romulus may have arisen from the twins' supposed foster parents Faustulus and Acca Larentia , who initially raised them as shepherds. In

5577-848: The Porticus Octaviae , built from spoils of the Roman-Dalmatian War . During the Augustan period of the early Roman Empire, the area became officially part of the city: Rome was split into 14 regions, and the Campus Martius was divided into the VII Via Lata on the east and the IX Circus Flaminius nearer to the river. The Campus Martius also held the Ara Pacis (Altar of Peace), built by the Senate to mark

5720-475: The Temple of Apollo Sosianus and the temple of Bellona . One is associated with the cult of Apollo, and the other one is dedicated to the goddess of war, respectively. Both temples are located in the Circus Flaminius and were built during the 2nd century BC. Bellona's Temple was rebuilt in marble and travertine with six Corinthian columns along the front and nine along the sides The Campus Martius

5863-575: The Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus in terms of its dimensions (36 meters wide and its length is 50 meters. It was also a political entity aimed at magnifying Augustus role in avenging Caesar ’s assassination. Some of the most significant temples of the campus are the rectangular temples of Largo di Torre Argentina , located in the southern part of the Campus Martius. It is a religious complex composed of four temples: Temple Juturna , Temple Fortuna Huiusce Diei , Temple Feronia , and Temple Lares Permarini . Those temples demonstrate that religious activity

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6006-429: The Temple of Jupiter Stator [146 BC], the Temple of Feronia [Pre-100 BC], the Temple of Neptunus [97 BC], the Temple of Isis and Serapis [43 BC] and the Temple of Mars Ultor [2 BC]. The one temple excluded from this list is the Temple of Minerva Chalcidica . The reason for this exclusion is because it is unknown whether this temple was built by Pompey in 60 BC or built by Augustus in 29 BC. Certain sources support

6149-508: The Tiber river, Romulus and his twin Remus were suckled by a she-wolf at the Lupercal before being raised by the shepherd Faustulus , taking revenge on their usurping great-uncle Amulius , and restoring Alba Longa to their grandfather Numitor . The brothers then decided to establish a new town but quarrelled over some details, ending with Remus's murder and the establishment of Rome on

6292-575: The Via Aurelia , became unsafe in medieval times with the spread of malaria , because it passed through the unhealthy marshes near several coastal lakes in the Maremma lowlands (as Orbetello lagoon, Capalbio lake, and other Tombolos ), and because its route by the sea made it more susceptible to attack from raiders. The coastal towns around Via Aurelia were areas subjected to kidnapping of women and plunder by Muslim Saracen pirates. Because of

6435-412: The fall of Troy , dated by Eratosthenes to 1184–83 BC; these dates are attested as early as the 4th century   BC. Romulus was later chronologically connected to Aeneas and the time of the Trojan War by introducing a line of Alban kings , which scholars consider to be entirely spurious. Ancient attempts to date the foundation of the city were based on the length of the republic, counted by

6578-529: The 9th or 8th centuries BC, with accelerating development by the early to middle 8th century BC. By this time, four major settlements emerged in Rome. The nuclei appeared on the Palatine, the Capitoline, the Quirinal and Viminal, and the Caelian, Oppian, and Velia. There is, however, no evidence linking any settlement on the Quirinal hill with the Sabines, as is alleged by some ancient accounts. The area of

6721-545: The Augustan family. The message conveyed was that the Augustan family was to stand the test of time and stay. The north panel depicted the senate in a procession. The message was that the senate was with Augustus instead of against him. The east panel depicts Tellus , the Roman Goddess of the earth and Pax. The message was that Roman people were no longer starving, which was consistent with Augustus’ promise of “peace and fertility”, where he gave land to farmers to plant in

6864-399: The Campus is remarkable, since it affords space at the same time and without interference, not only for the chariot-races and every other equestrian exercise, but also for all that multitude of people who exercise themselves by ball-playing, hoop-trundling, and wrestling; and the works of art situated around the Campus Martius, and the ground, which is covered with grass throughout the year, and

7007-537: The Capitoline during the period 1700–1350 BC and in the neighboring valley that later became the Roman Forum from 1350–1120 BC. Some 13th century   BC structures indicate that the Capitoline was already being terraced to manage its slope. Evidence in the Final Bronze Age around 1200–975 BC is clearer, showing occupation of the Capitoline, Forum, and adjacent Palatine. Excavations near

7150-581: The Christians . Other contemporary historians blamed Nero's incompetence but it is commonly agreed by historians now that Rome was so tightly packed a fire was inevitable. Fires in Rome were common, especially in houses, and fires that had occurred previously in Rome and destroyed parts of major buildings include: Nero was proclaimed Roman emperor in AD 54 at the age of 17. His rule has commonly been associated with impulsiveness and tyranny but was, for

7293-416: The Forum also was converted at this time into a public space. Burials there discontinued and portions of it were paved over. Votive offerings appear in the comitium in the eighth century, indicating a more central religious cult, and other public buildings appear to have been erected around that time. One of those buildings was the domus publica (the official residence of the pontifex maximus ), which

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7436-508: The Greek east or Mesopotamia, inasmuch as the story of virgin birth, intercession by animals and humble stepparents, with triumphant return expelling an evil leader are common mythological elements across Eurasia and even into the Americas. The indigenous tradition of Romulus was also combined with a legend telling of Aeneas coming from Troy and travelling to Italy. This tradition emerges from

7579-485: The Mausoleum, a great mound near the river on a lofty foundation of white marble, thickly covered with ever-green trees to the very summit. Now on top is a bronze image of Augustus Caesar; beneath the mound are the tombs of himself and his kinsmen and intimates; behind the mound is a large sacred precinct with wonderful promenades; and in the centre of the Campus is the wall (this too of white marble) round his crematorium;

7722-471: The Palatine even earlier than Romulus and Remus, at some time during the 12th century BC. Modern scholars disregard most of the traditional accounts as myths. There is no persuasive archaeological evidence for either the Romulan foundation or for the idea of an early Greek settlement. Even the name Romulus is now generally believed to have been retrojected from the city's name – glossed as "Mr Rome" by

7865-430: The Palatine, dated between 730 and 720 BC. It is possible that the circuit of the wall marked out what later Romans believed to be the original pomerium (sacred boundary) of the city. The discovery of gates and streets connected to the wall, with the remains of various huts, suggest that Rome had by this time: acquired a defined boundary ... [and] a more sophisticated level of social and political organisation ...

8008-571: The Pantheon with Augustus, Julius Caesar and Agrippa. So when the crowds gathered to listen to speeches concerning important political events, they did so in buildings dedicated to Augustus, automatically drawing the connection between Augustus and important Roman politics. All of the sites built specifically to host political activities, meetings of the Senate and both legislative and electoral assemblies, were sponsored by or closely associated with Augustus. The ancient Roman historian Strabo describes

8151-649: The Pantheon. In 663 A.D. its bronze roof tiles were removed and replaced with lead, an act that Gregorius said was the result of "excessive avarice and the 'excessive greed for gold.'" In the fifth century, Rome was burned and sacked twice: by the Visigoths in 410 A.D. and by the Vandals in 455 A.D. Three earthquakes racked the city between 408 and 508 A.D, and two floods washed over low-lying spaces in 398 and 411 A.D. Many marble facings and columns were tossed into kilns to be burned into lime powder for reuse. Writing in

8294-556: The Roman Republic (32–30 BC) had left Rome in a state of near lawlessness, but the Republic was not prepared to accept the control of Augustus just yet. At the same time Augustus could not give up his authority without risking further civil wars among other Roman generals, and even if he desired no political position, it was his duty to look after the well-being of Rome and Roman provinces . Augustus’ aims from this point forward

8437-469: The Roman Senate and popular assemblies to their former role and building several monumental politically focused buildings throughout Campus Martius, Augustus permanently connected himself with Rome's political atmosphere. In the Campus Martius, many public monuments had a religious significance, as they were temples to various gods that were absorbed into the Roman culture. One of the biggest monuments

8580-466: The Saepta Julia and dedicated it in honor of Augustus. The Pantheon , which was also built by Agrippa and associated with Augustus, was completed within a year of the Saepta Julia and was used for pre-election functions. Agrippa tried to name the Pantheon after Augustus but was denied, instead he erected a statue of Augustus, Julius Caesar and himself in the porch of the Pantheon, forever associating

8723-442: The Secular Games celebrated at Rome's 900th and 1000th anniversaries under Antoninus Pius and Philip   I , meanwhile, used dates computed from a foundation a year later in 752   BC. Despite known errors in Varro's work, it is the former date that has become the most repeated in modernity and is still used for computing the AUC calendar era . By the late Republic , the founding had also become closely associated with

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8866-402: The Temple of Apollo, near the Circus Flaminius , proceeded into the Forum, passed along to the Vicus Tuscus, Velabrum, through the Forum Boarium, and finally ended at the Temple of Juno Regina. Augustus, when he revived the games, changed the destination of the procession from the Temple of Juno Regina to the Temple of Ceres, which is on the Aventine. The Temple of Apollo that was most likely used

9009-454: The Temple of Diana (Rome) as semi-legendary since it lacks enough sustainable evidence to prove its existence. The reason these two periods are combined as one is because there is minimal certainty on the structure and style of these temples. The reason for this, out of probability, is because the material used at the time was neither concrete, stone or marble, materials that are sustainable longer term and not only that but over two centuries there

9152-435: The Tiber, and of course subject to frequent inundations. Ancient writers say that there were several recognizable natural points, such as an oak grove north of the Tiber Island and the Palus Caprae , in the center of the space. In Latin, Campus Martius means "Field of Mars", a god highly considered in the Roman pantheon. Paul W. Jacobs III attributes the significance of Mars to his patronage of both military and agriculture. In

9295-415: The Trojan foundation myth instead. Nilsson further speculates that the name of Romos was changed by some Romans to the native name Romulus, but the same name Romos (later changed to the native Remus) was never forgotten by many of the people, so both these names were used to represent the founders of the city. Another story, attributed to Hellanicus of Lesbos by Dionysius of Halicarnassus , says that Rome

9438-412: The absence of further evidence, with the arguments made by Carandini and others appearing to rest on highly tendentious interpretations of what is currently known with certainty from scientific excavations. The Romans' origin myths , however, provide evidence of how the Romans conceived of themselves as a mixture of different ethnic groups and foreign influences, reflecting the reality of Latium being

9581-533: The adjacent year of 752 BC (used by the Fasti and the Secular Games of Antoninus Pius and Philip I ). Despite known errors in Varro 's calculations, it is the 753   BC date that continues to form the basis for most modern calculations of the AUC calendar era . The conventional division of pre-Roman cultures in Italy deals with cultures which spoke Indo-European and non-Indo-European languages. The Italic languages , which include Latin , are Indo-European and were spoken, according to inscriptions, in

9724-414: The ancient buildings, as they fall to ruin, the builders set out casually the foundations of new houses, as if these fragments were great masses of rock, firm and trustworthy. It is evident that many of the old streets lie more than thirty feet below the level of those now in existence." The Campus Martius was located not in the city proper, but north of the Capitoline Hill . Until the imperial era, most of

9867-445: The base. The Ara Pacis’ eclectic art leads us to believe that components might have come from other altars in other provinces most likely salvaged on the troops’ way back to Rome. Before Andersen's studies, it was assumed that the monument's structure was more or less unchanged between its erection and dedication. Andersen relied on evidence from Ovid's Fasti and the “Calendar of the Feasts” which depicts Augustus as Pontifex Maximus,

10010-542: The belief that Dion Cassius attributes this temple to Augustus: "Temple of Minerva, which was called Chalcidicum” Unlike the structural and stylistic transformation from Regal Period to the Hellenistic Period the temples in the Campus Martius were rather consistent. The main reason that these two periods are separated is because the motivation or reasoning for building these temples changed. In the past these temples were more commonly than not, an attribute to certain individuals for their past success by fellow patrons, but following

10153-423: The best known form of the legend, Romulus and Remus are the grandsons of Numitor , the king of Alba Longa. After Numitor is deposed by his brother Amulius and his daughter Rhea Silvia is forced to become a Vestal virgin , she becomes pregnant – allegedly raped by the war god Mars  – and delivers the two illegitimate brothers. Amulius orders that the children be left to die on

10296-482: The brothers' descent from the god Mars and the royal family of Alba Longa , and that dynasty's supposed descent from Aeneas , himself supposedly descended from the goddess Aphrodite and the royal family of Troy . The accounts in the first book of Livy 's History of Rome and in Vergil 's Aeneid were particularly influential. Some accounts further asserted that there had been a Mycenaean Greek settlement on

10439-528: The burnt monuments plus a stadium (eventually to become today's Piazza Navona ) and an Odeion (a small performance hall). In 119 A.D, reinforcing the themes of imperial divinity and apotheosis established by Augustus, Hadrian and the succeeding Antonines added a temple to Hadrian's mother-in-law, the Divine Matidia, and a temple to the Divine Hadrian himself built by Antoninus Pius . As was

10582-531: The calendar year, March was the month named after Mars: this month first marked the beginning of when the consuls started to work until 153 BC. The Campus Martius may have been named after the Ara Martis ("Mars' altar"), which was talked about starting in the eighth century BC. It is not known exactly when the Ara Martis was built or when it was destroyed. The social climate and events surrounding Campus Martius were significant to Roman culture. Livy describes

10725-515: The case with the first two Flavian and Antonine emperors, the Severans did not commit many resources to construction projects in an already crowded Campus Martius. Their interests lay elsewhere in repairs and commissioning new structures in other regions of the capital. The Campus did not see another major architectural change until the reign of Aurelian . The citizens of Rome took great pride in knowing that Rome required no fortifications because of

10868-461: The city to an eponymous founder, usually "Rhomos" or "Rhome" rather than Romulus. One story told how Romos , a son of Odysseus and Circe , was the one who founded Rome. Martin P. Nilsson speculates that this older story was becoming a bit embarrassing as Rome became more powerful and tensions with the Greeks grew. Being descendants of the Greeks was no longer preferable, so the Romans settled on

11011-725: The city's militia. In 55 BC, Pompey constructed a permanent theater, the Theatrum Pompeium , the first stone theater in Rome. When the Curia Hostilia burned down in 52 BC, the theater was sometimes used as a meeting place for the Senate . The area was also used as the assembling ground for elections. Julius Caesar planned for the Saepta (enclosures used for elections) to be placed there; they were later completed by his heir Augustus (Octavian). In 33 BC, Octavian dedicated

11154-408: The classical past”. For possibly the first time Campus Martius and all of Rome faced a period where they moved away from the classical ways of architecture. Before the 1980s, the reconstruction of the obelisk and its usage were erroneous. Prior to that era, Buchner's paper and reconstruction of the obelisk was blindly believed and deemed as accurate. His reconstruction was arguing that the obelisk with

11297-419: The classicist Mary Beard – rather than reflecting a historical or actual figure. Some scholars, particularly Andrea Carandini , have argued that it remains possible that these foundation myths reflect actual historical events in some form and that the city and Roman Kingdom were in fact founded by a single actor in some way. This remains a minority viewpoint in present scholarship and highly controversial in

11440-399: The completion of the walls, the Campus Martius was finally incorporated into the rest of the city. By the mid-fourth century, when emperor Constantius II visited Rome, now the former capital, many of the pagan temples were closed. Buildings dedicated to Christianity began to occupy their spaces. Some were reduced to supporting material, some were razed, and some were given new roles, such as

11583-448: The conflagration. It then spread along the Palatine and Caelian slopes. The population fled first to areas unaffected by the fire and then to the open fields and rural roads outside the city. Looters and arsonists were reported to have spread the flames by throwing torches or, acting in groups, hindering measures being made to halt or slow the progress of the flames. Some groups responsible for throwing torches and stopping those from fighting

11726-401: The crowns of those hills that are above the river and extend as far as its bed, which present to the eye the appearance of a stage-painting — all this, I say, affords a spectacle that one can hardly draw away from. For this reason, in the belief that this place was holiest of all, the Romans have erected in it the tombs of their most illustrious men and women. The most noteworthy is what is called

11869-470: The end of the Hellenistic period these temples became more of political instruments than ever before. Instead of being merely genuine and slightly political “donations” that exemplified the successful of individuals, these temples in Campus Martius now were expected to trigger propaganda values whenever large architectural projects took place. Alongside Rome, temples built within the Campus Martius faced

12012-503: The entire complex was a cosmic representation of the Principate and the destiny of Augustus, along with his peaceful reign and death. In the mid-1980s Schutz and Bandini challenged the erroneous reconstruction. Bandini found several mistakes made by Buchner on interpreting the ancient texts written by Pliny . Pliny referred to a solar meridian, not a sundial. A solar meridian indicates the length of days and nights, therefore reflecting

12155-708: The establishment of peace by Augustus. It was intended to symbolize the successful completion of Augustus' efforts to stabilize the Empire. Marcus Agrippa had the original swampy ground made into a pool and baths in a setting of parkland and temples, the Laconicum Sudatorium or Baths of Agrippa . Also, he built the Porticus Argonautarum and the Pantheon , which was later rebuilt by Hadrian as it still stands today. In 19 BC, he also completed

12298-426: The fall and harvest in the spring. The west panel depicts the sacrifice of either Aeneas , the founder of Rome or Numa Pompilius the second king of Rome, it is also where the entrance is located. The steps leading up to the table on top of the altar represent the ascendence from a public space to a sacred one. Also, the fact that the Ara Pacis did not have a roof or doors and that Gods were depicted looking down from

12441-623: The fire began in shops where flammable goods were stored, in the region of the Circus neighboring the Caelian and Palatine Hills of Rome . The night brought strong winds and the flames rapidly spread along the full length of the Circus. The fire expanded through an area of narrow, twisting streets and closely located apartment blocks. In this lower area of ancient Rome , there were no large buildings such as temples, or open areas of ground, to impede

12584-580: The fire to clear space for a new palace, the Domus Aurea . At the time of the fire Nero may not have been in the city but 35 miles away at his villa in Antium , and possibly returned to the city before the fire was out. Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and historian of the Roman Empire . His exact birth date is unknown, but most sources place it in either AD 56 or 57. His two main works,

12727-464: The fire was brought under control, but before the damage could be assessed, the fire reignited and burned for another three days. In the aftermath of the fire, 71% of Rome had been destroyed (10 out of 14 districts). According to Tacitus and later Christian tradition, Emperor Nero blamed the devastation on the Christian community in the city, initiating the empire's first persecution against

12870-412: The fire were further exacerbated by his quickness to rebuild burned neighbourhoods in the Greek style and to launch construction of his new palace. For the city's reconstruction, Nero dictated new and far-sighted building rules, intended to curb the excesses of speculation and trace a new urban plan, which still can be discerned from the city layout today. He rebuilt much of the destroyed area, and had

13013-486: The fire were reported to have claimed they were under orders to do so. The fire stopped after six days of continuous burning. However, it soon reignited and burned for another three days. Tests into how fires spread have shown that large fires are able to create their own wind and this, combined with embers being blown to new buildings, could have caused the fire to spread further and could account for witnesses claiming that random fires started in houses that were away from

13156-554: The flames. As well as wind playing a factor in fire spread, those who had claimed to be under orders to stop people from fighting the fires never named the one who ordered them and they were also reported to have looted buildings. According to Tacitus , Nero was away from Rome , in Antium , when the fire broke out. Nero returned to the city and took measures to bring in food supplies and to open gardens and public buildings to accommodate refugees. Of Rome's fourteen districts, three were completely devastated, seven more were reduced to

13299-573: The foundation of a settlement on the Palatine hill by Evander (originally hailing also from Arcadia) and Hercules , whose labour with the cattle of Geryon was placed in the Forum Boarium by the Romans. The introduction of Aeneas follows a trend across Italy towards Hellenising their own early mythologies by rationalising myths and legends of the Greek Heroic Age into a pseudo-historical tradition of prehistoric times; this

13442-462: The friezes indicated that the person undertaking vows was looked down upon. When the Senate decreed the building of the Ara Pacis for Augustus, they did not specify any restrictions to the architects. The architects in Ancient Rome used to draw plans with dimensions in proportions and ratios; for instance, the enclosure's size and the number of steps were all specific ratios related to the size of

13585-464: The gnomon on top of it was used as a sundial, using the sun's shadow's reflection to keep track of the hours of the day. Furthermore, Buchner argued that the sundial was integrated into the design of the Ara Pacis in a way that the shadow cast directly onto the altar on Augustus ’s birthday. The sundial was also integrated in the design of the Mausoleum of Augustus in such a way which illustrated that

13728-533: The gradual union of several hilltop villages during the Final Bronze Age or early Iron Age . Prehistoric habitation of the Italian Peninsula occurred by 48,000 years ago , with the area of Rome being settled by around 1600 BC. Some evidence on the Capitoline Hill possibly dates as early as c.  1700 BC and the nearby valley that later housed the Roman Forum had

13871-481: The hostile tribes that surrounded Rome, and citizens gathered for important religious festivals. With the exception of a small altar to Mars near the center of the field, no visible changes were made to the field until the fifth century B.C. In 435 B.C., the Villa Publica was established in a prepared 300-meter clearing. The area was a gathering space for citizens to congregate every five years to be counted in

14014-548: The increasing importance of the area, several popes decided to improve its conditions. In the period 1513–1521, Pope Leo X built a route connecting Porta del Popolo to the Vatican. This road was first called the Via Leonina after the pope, later the more famous Via di Ripetta after the name of the river port. To improve the hygiene of the area, several ancient Roman aqueducts were restored to operating condition. As

14157-408: The instrument built under Augustus lost its accuracy and was renovated by Domitian . Schutz then highlighted some technical failure further refuting the previous reconstruction such as: The erroneous marking of the site where the obelisk lay, the mislabeling of the angles for the relationship between the three monuments and the fact that the gnomon's shadow would cast several football fields away from

14300-424: The lack of moldings for the steps. A large portion of events occurring on Campus Martius were associated with either Roman military or Roman electoral or political activities. On it, troops trained for war, and successful generals displayed their riches taken from conquered lands, erecting temples and public buildings to impress the Roman populace in order to curry favor in the elections. In the 30s and 20s B.C.E Rome

14443-545: The late fourth century BC, but more likely reflects an indigenous Roman tradition, given the Capitoline Wolf which likely dates to the sixth century BC. Regardless, by the third century, it was widely accepted by Romans and put onto some of Rome's first silver coins in 269 BC. In his 1995 Beginnings of Rome , Tim Cornell argues that the myths of Romulus and Remus are "popular expressions of some universal human need or experience" rather than borrowings from

14586-429: The lower Tiber Valley . It was once thought that Faliscan – spoken north of Veii on the right bank of the Tiber – was a separate language, but inscriptions discovered in the 1980s indicate that Latin was spoken more generally in the area. Etruscan speakers were concentrated in modern Tuscany with a similar language called Raetic spoken on the upper Adige (the foothills of the eastern Italian Alps ). When drawing

14729-511: The modern Capitoline Museums suggest the construction of fortifications and some scholars have speculated that settlements also existed on the other hills, especially the Janiculum , Quirinal , and Aventine . The Capitoline currently seems to have been the earliest settled but it is debated whether the settlements on the other hills were independent, colonies of the Capitoline settlement, or formerly separate villages already consolidated into

14872-545: The more easterly bank of the Tiber and provided a ready citadel for defense and for control of the salt production along the river and at its mouth. The other hills and the marshes between them provided similarly defensible points for settlement. Accordingly, thick deposits of manure and ancient pottery shards have been discovered in the Forum Boarium from the middle of the Bronze Age. Current evidence suggests that there were three separate bronze-using settlements on

15015-540: The most part, liked by the general populace and only really disliked by the aristocracy. Early in his reign, he was heavily advised, but he slowly became more independent. In AD 59, encouraged by his mistress Poppaea , Nero murdered his mother Agrippina . His leading adviser, Seneca , was discharged and forced to commit suicide . After the Great Fire of Rome occurred in July AD 64, it was rumored that Nero had ordered

15158-411: The narrow streets leading down to the river, and the vernacular buildings along the river edge. 41°53′52″N 12°28′38″E  /  41.8978°N 12.4772°E  / 41.8978; 12.4772 Founding of Rome The founding of Rome was a prehistoric event or process later greatly embellished by Roman historians and poets. Archaeological evidence indicates that Rome developed from

15301-595: The nearby malaria-infested marshes. Christians, blamed by Nero for the fire, were identified, arrested, and killed. Some, for the entertainment of spectators, were torn to pieces by hunting dogs, others were crucified in ways calculated to make them look ridiculous. According to St Jerome, the total number of Christians martyred by Nero was 979. The varying historical accounts of the event come from three secondary sources— Cassius Dio , Suetonius , and Tacitus. The primary accounts, which possibly included histories written by Fabius Rusticus , Marcus Cluvius Rufus , and Pliny

15444-503: The nice beginning of the year. The last event Jacobs II talks about is the Tubilustrium festival, which purified military instruments to summon the cruciate assemblies. This celebration used to validate the emperors' imperium, but later on the festival validated the consuls imperium. The style and structure of Campus Martius architecture went through several stages of development between the 6th century BC through Late Antiquity. It

15587-491: The number of consuls, followed by subtracting of an estimated regal period. Modern scholars, however, largely reject the estimates of the length of the regal period as synthetic calculations. From Claudius 's Secular Games in AD   47 to Hadrian 's Romaea in AD   121, the official date seems to have used the chronology established by Varro in the late 1st century   BC, placing Rome's founding in 753   BC. Augustus 's Fasti running to AD   13 and

15730-410: The obelisk due to the sun's angle. It is worth noting, however, that even after those findings, the relevance and the cosmic meaning of the obelisk and the two other monuments constructed under Augustus's reign remain right. The importance of Augustus's reign is supported by the evidence that Domitian decided to renovate the instrument and keep it dedicated to Augustus. The Ara Pacis is an altar that

15873-509: The ostentatious building complex known as Domus Aurea (Golden House) built, his personal residence (replacing the Domus Transitoria and including an extension of about 2.5 km ), which came to include the Palatine, the slopes of the Esquiline (Opium) and part of the Celio. This may not have been a possible motive for the fire, as he could have requisitioned the necessary land anyway, and most

16016-465: The population decreased. This was reversed after Rome became capital of the newly established Kingdom of Italy in 1870. Later, the area became even more crowded, and protecting embankments were built to stop the flooding of the Tiber. This made the area much safer from threat of water, but the tall embankments effectively destroyed the traditional embarkation point called the Ripetta ("little bank"),

16159-560: The population of Rome greatly increased in the Middle Ages, the Campus Martius became a crowded multi-cultural place where many foreigners settled. In 1555, Pope Paul IV designated part of the southern part of the Campus Martius as the ghetto to contain the city's Jewish population. After the Renaissance , as was the case for the rest of Rome, the Campus Martius did not change much; there were no other great building projects and

16302-492: The possibility of a Roman connection; a more assured connection only emerged at the end of the fourth century BC when Rome started having formal dealings with the Greek world. The ancient Roman annalists, historians, and antiquarians faced an issue tying Aeneas to Romulus, as they believed that Romulus lived centuries after the Trojan War, which was dated at the time c.  1100 BC . For this, they fabricated

16445-466: The presence Augustus left throughout Campus Martius: In fact, Pompey, the Deified Caesar, Augustus, his sons and friends, and wife and sister, have outdone all others in their zeal for buildings and in the expense incurred. The Campus Martius contains most of these, and thus, in addition to its natural beauty, it has received still further adornment as the result of foresight. Indeed, the size of

16588-449: The region lay outside of the pomerium . The field covered an area of about 250 hectares, or 600 acres (243 ha), extending a little more than two kilometres north and south from the Capitoline to the porta Flaminia , and a little less than two kilometers east and west in its widest part, between the Quirinal and the river. It was low, from 10 to 15 metres above the level of the sea in antiquity, now 13 to 20, and from 3 to 8 above that of

16731-421: The royal lineage of Alba Longa eventually produce Romulus and Remus, setting up the events of their mythological story. Dionysius of Halicarnassus similarly attempted to show a Greek connection, giving a similar story for Aeneas, but also a previous series of migrations. He describes migrations of Arcadians into southern Italy some time in the 18th century BC, migrations into Umbria by Greeks from Thessaly, and

16874-471: The sacrifice of a horse followed by the decoration of the severed head with leaves. Another important religious event was the Secular Games ( Latin : ludi saeculares). Established during the Roman Republic, the games were resurrected by emperor Claudius when a man named Valesius prayed for a cure for his children's illness and was instructed to sacrifice to the underworld deities. Claudius did this as

17017-449: The seventh century B.C. As he came to the end of his life, a storm cloud descended upon the center of the open field outside the city's pomerium in order to lift the elderly king to the afterlife. This land, "between the city and the Tiber", became the property of Rome's last Etruscan king, Tarquinius Superbus . After his defeat and exile, the plain was dedicated to the god Mars. Roman men assembled every spring before heading off to fight

17160-400: The simpler early forms, which often appear coarse and bulky in comparison to the aesthetic perfection and refinement of the later structures. This period a transformation occurred from simple experimentation to the strict mathematical complexity of ground plans and superstructures. The Hellenistic Period was not only an expansion in terms of temples numerically within the Campus Martius, but also

17303-647: The slopes of the Palatine or in the Tiber River , but they are suckled by a she-wolf at the Lupercal and then discovered by the shepherd Faustulus and taken in by him and his wife Acca Larentia . (Livy combines Larentia and the she-wolf, considering them most likely to have referred to a prostitute , also known in Latin slang as a lupa or she-wolf.) Faustulus eventually reveals the brothers' true origins, and they depose or murder Amulius and restore Numitor to his throne. They then leave or are sent to establish

17446-802: The stability brought by the Pax Romana under the protection of the Roman Army. In 270 A.D., however, barbarian tribes flooded across the Germanic frontier and reached northern Italy as the Roman army struggled to stop them. To alleviate the city's vulnerability, the emperor ordered the construction of a 19-kilometer-long, 6 to 8-meter-high brick wall, fortified with defensive turrets, named the Aurelian Walls . Aurelian did not live to see his work completed under his successor Probus , in 276 A.D. With

17589-474: The syncretism, however, may simply reflect Roman desires to give themselves a prestigious backstory: claim of Trojan descent proved politically advantageous with the Greeks by justifying both claims of common heritage and ancestral enmity. By the time of the Pyrrhic War (280–275 BC), there were some sixty different myths for Rome's foundation that circulated in the Greek world. Most of them attributed

17732-621: The time, but by focusing on the construction of buildings to hold political functions, Augustus was able to occupy a central place in Rome's political atmosphere. The first building on Campus Martius to be associated with Augustus was the Saepta Julia , which was designed to manage the crowds at elections and prevent fraud. Voters would gather in the pen space north of the Saepta and enter the structure on its northern end, where they would then cast their ballots. Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa completed

17875-434: The timing of the solstices. It was used as an instrument to check the congruence of the civil calendar with the solar year. Further archeological findings where a travertine pavement embedded with a line running north to south with Greek lettering in bronze with zodiac signs confirmed Pliny's writing. Also, the fact that the site was measured to be about a meter too high to be considered of Augustan date, therefore indicated that

18018-467: The twelfth or thirteenth century, Magister Gregorius , marveled at those edifices in the Field of Mars whose antiquity was clear but whose names were not as certain. Looking down from the heights of one of Rome's hills, he recorded that the great structures had been replaced by a "forest of [medieval] towers". In 1581, French essayist Michel de Montaigne traveled to Rome and noted that "upon the very wrecks of

18161-408: The use of the Forum as a public space point[s] to the development of [a] shared civil and ritual space[] for the inhabitants of all communities, demonstrating an increasing level of centralisation. Like other Villanovan proto-urban centres, this archaic Rome was likely organised around clans that guarded their own areas, but by the later eighth century had confederated. The development of city-states

18304-431: The vast amounts of wealth to fund these construction projects. Besides temples and wooden markets, entertainment venues were built as well, though they were to be temporary. Starting in the time of Sulla , building lots were sold or granted to influential Romans, and insulae (apartment blocks) and villas encroached on the common land. It later became the place for comitia centuriata , civic meetings with weapons, and for

18447-471: The wall is surrounded by a circular iron fence and the space within the wall is planted with black poplars. Such is Rome. As this series of architectural changes occurred following Augustus’ defeat of Mark Antony , Augustus’ association with the new political buildings furthered his rise to political power and status in Rome. Years of civil war from The Great Roman Civil War (49–45 BC) to the Final War of

18590-461: The watchmen"). The cohortes vigilum , run by freedmen , were tasked with guarding Rome at night while the cohortes urbanae were tasked with guarding Rome during the day. By the time of the Great Fire of Rome, there were thousands of Vigiles in the city, and they went to work trying to stop the flames by pouring buckets of water into buildings, trying to move flammable material from the fire's path, and even demolishing buildings to attempt to make

18733-440: Was a direct or collateral descendant of Aeneas. Myths of the early third century also differed greatly in the claimed genealogy of Romulus or the founder, if an intermediate actor was posited. One tale posited that a Romus, son of Zeus, founded the city. Callias posited that Romulus was descended from Latinus and a woman called Roma who was the daughter of Aeneas and a homonymous mother. Other authors depicted Romulus and Romus, as

18876-443: Was a seasonally dry plain that simultaneously provided a safe inland port for the era's seafaring ships, a wide area for watering horses and cattle, and a safe ford of the Tiber with shallow and slow-flowing water even if Tiber Island had not yet formed, one of the river's major fords between Etruria and Campania . This advantageous but exposed location was closely flanked by the Capitoline, which at that time rose sharply from

19019-403: Was already in his possession. To find the necessary funds for the reconstruction, Nero's government increased taxation. In particular heavy tributes were imposed on the provinces of the empire. To meet at least a proportion of the costs, Nero devalued the Roman currency , increasing inflationary pressure for the first time in the Empire's history. Debris from the fire was used as fill for

19162-556: Was an area of religious practice. During the Ides of October fall, more specifically the 15th, it was seat of a festival dedicated to Mars takes, the October Horse . This tradition is said to have started during the 6th century B.C. The festival's rituals were supposed to protect the coming year's crop and the soldiers that had returned to Rome after a campaign. This festival was composed of many stages, including horse chariot races and

19305-541: Was built during the reign of Augustus; begun in 13 BCE, the monument was dedicated in 9 BCE, on Livia's birthday. Altars were used for sacrifices to Pagan Gods in Ancient Rome . The Ara Pacis represented Augustus' goal to represent the era of peace that came with the end of the Republic and the beginning of the Empire. The south panel depicts a religious process with Augustus, Agrippa, Livia , Tiberius and others of

19448-640: Was considered to commemorate the anniversary of the city's founding during the late Republic and that aspect of the holiday grew in importance under the Empire until it was fully transformed into the Romaea in AD   121. The year of the supposed founding was variously computed by ancient historians, but the two dates seeming to be officially sanctioned were the Varronian chronology 's 753 BC (used by Claudius 's Secular Games and Hadrian 's Romaea ) and

19591-463: Was experiencing unparalleled growth in public building projects sponsored by many different leading men in the Roman State. In Rome, the sponsorship of these public buildings provided special prestige to each of the individual builders and their families. Augustus , however, expanded past receiving simple prestige, in favor of a much more powerful role. Augustus was amongst numerous builders during

19734-470: Was founded by a woman named Rhome, one of the followers of Aeneas, after landing in Italy and burning their ships. That by the middle of the fifth century Aeneas was also allegedly the founder of two or three other cities across Italy was no object. These myths also differed as to whether their eponymous matriarch Roma was born in Troy or Italy – i.e. before or after Aeneas's journey – or otherwise if their Romus

19877-460: Was in part due to Greek historians' eagerness to construct narratives purporting that the Italians were actually descended from Greeks and their heroes. These narratives were accepted by non-Greek peoples due Greek historiography's prestige and claims to systematic validity. Archaeological evidence shows that worship of Aeneas had been established at Lavinium by the sixth century BC. Similarly,

20020-469: Was likely a Greek innovation that spread through the Mediterranean from 850 to 750 BC. The earliest votive deposits are found in the early seventh century on the Capitoline and Quirinal hills, suggesting that by that time a city had formed with monumental architecture and public religious sanctuaries. Certainly, by 600 BC, a process of synoikismos was complete and there had been formed

20163-480: Was that of Apollo Sosianus, establishing a religious connection between the Aventine and the southwestern Campus. One of the last events was the Anna Perenna , also celebrated in the Campus Martius during the Ides of March. The people would go out to the Field of Mars for a day of feasting and drinking. According to historian Johannes Lylud, during the festival they also make public and private sacrifice for securing

20306-446: Was then called Ara Fortunae Reducis; at that time, this was simply a plinth on a step base. After Lepidus’ death and Augustus' election as Pontifex Maximus, the building of the complete Ara Pacis began; steps were carved into the plinth, a table was put on top, and friezes were carved onto panels affixed to the walls. Evidence of this historical discrepancy was made evident by Gatti's reconstruction plans, which contrasted with Moretti's in

20449-420: Was to return Rome to a state a stability and civility by lifting the political pressure imposed on the courts of law and ensuring free elections in name at least. Not only did Augustus return the Senate and popular assemblies to their former role, his new buildings on Campus Martius provided the Senate and assemblies with new political homes, all of which were closely associated with Augustus. By willingly restoring

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