Strabo: Geography in Greek + English (SPQR Study Guides Book 46)

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The purpose of this was both to keep buildings away from the inside of the walls although nowadays they are commonly even attached to the walls and to preserve some space outside the wall cleared of cultivation. Claudius also extended the pomerium of Rome [in AD 49], by an ancient custom whereby those who extended the empire might also expand the boundaries of the city. However, Rome's leaders, even those who greatly expanded the empire, had not availed themselves of this privilege, with the exception of Sulla and the deified Augustus.

The pomerium's expansion under the kings whether in accordance with their vainglory or their true achievements is variously reported, but I think that the beginning of Rome's foundation and the pomerium that Romulus established can be reliably traced as follows. From the point in the Forum Boarium where the bronze statue of the bull stands today appropriately, since this is the species yoked to the ritual plow , a furrow was plowed to designate the city limits.

It ran first to the Great Altar of Hercules [ Sources report that the Forum itself and the Capitoline hill were not part of Romulus's original city but added by Titus Tatius. The pomerium was soon enlarged to keep pace with Rome's fortunes. The boundaries of the pomerium as extended by Claudius are easy to recognize and also documented in the public records.

Tacitus , Annals The Emperor Claudius, after expanding the boundaries of the Roman empire, extended and demarcated the pomerium [in AD 49]. Lucius Sentius, son of Gaius, while praetor [in 83 BC] and in accordance with a decree of the Senate, oversaw the establishment of boundaries. May this act be propitious. It is forbidden to perform cremations inside the boundaries towards the city, or to dispose of dung or corpses here. It is forbidden that the Centuriate Assembly convene inside the pomerium, since an army can be commanded only outside the city; inside, there is no such right.

Therefore the Centuriate Assembly is held in the Campus Martius. Gellius , Attic Nights The pomerium forms the extent of the urban auspices. But this pomerium was extended several times as the Republic expanded, and it eventually surrounded many of the major hills. Moreover, those who had increased the Roman people with the capture of land from the enemy had the right to extend the pomerium. The question therefore arose—and still arises [in the C2 AD]—why, out of seven hills of the city, six lie within the boundaries of the pomerium and only the Aventine, which is neither far from the city nor sparsely populated, is excluded; also, why neither the king Servius Tullius, nor Sulla, who petitioned for permission to enlarge the pomerium, nor afterwards the deified Julius Caesar when he extended it, saw fit to enclose the Aventine within the augural boundaries of the city.

The introductory passages by Pliny and Frontinus below suggest not only the engineering accomplishment of Rome's aqueducts—eventually 11 aqueducts totaling kilometers, not including the elaborate and overlapping distribution network—but the passionate pride that the utilities of water supply and drainage could arouse in the Roman heart. Even the more sober and analytical Strabo ranks the aqueducts and sewers on par with the roads as Rome's greatest achievements. The references to lead pipes by Ovid [ 7. In passing, however, it also illustrates an important feature of Roman aqueducts.

After the water arrived in an open gravitational system where it flowed in channels essentially as a stream with a cover it entered an elevated water tank. From here the water ran under pressure in a closed system; pipes tapping the tank could take the water under streets and deliver it elsewhere to its original elevation.

Although this pressure would have made it possible in lower neighborhoods to deliver water to upper stories of buildings, the Romans generally did not make use of this potential. Instead, water was made available at numerous public fountains, which, because of the pressurized plumbing, could be located at any elevation on any hill of the city, while many of the water mains could be buried beneath the streets.

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Vitruvius's note of caution about the use of lead pipes for drinking water is interesting in light of modern concerns. In fact, the modern practice of using valves and stop-cocks, which lets the water sit in the pipes when not in use, only aggravates the problem. Although the ancient Romans occasionally used stop-valves, aqueduct water was generally left to run continuously through public and private fountains.

As a result, their drinking water, even when it ran through lead pipes as it often did , rarely paused to absorb the lead. In addition, Rome's water is heavy with minerals that quickly coated the pipes with deposits that acted like a sealant against the lead. If anyone should carefully calculate the abundance of waters in Rome's public fountains, baths, pools, open canals, homes, gardens, and suburban estates, or the miles of delivery channels, the tall arcades, the tunnels under mountains and bridges across valleys, he would admit that there is nothing on earth more worthy of our wonder.

Pliny the Elder , Encyclopedia Frontinus , Aqueducts This way, a disruption to one of the aqueducts does not suspend service to the basin, which can be supplied by the back-up line. The benefits are spread among private individuals as well, due to an increase in the emperor's grants of water; those who once stole the water in fear can now enjoy it legally as a result of such grants. Not even waste water goes unused, channeled to flush away the sources of the city's once oppressive atmosphere. The streets have a cleaner look, the air is purer, and the odor for which Rome was infamous in days gone by has vanished.

Frontinus , Aqueducts 87, Whereas the Greeks have the reputation for choosing good sites for their cities, giving priority to natural beauty, natural defenses, harbors, and fertile soil, the Romans provided for matters little regarded by the Greeks: Because their long-distance roads make use of rock-cuts through hills and of artificial embankments across hollows, the wagons that use them can carry as much freight as a ferry-boat, and their sewers, vaulted with cut stone, are in some places large enough to give passage to a hay wagon.

As for water, the aqueducts deliver such quantities that rivers of it flow through the city and its sewers, and almost every habitation has cisterns, piping, and running fountains. Pyramus grabbed the sword at his waist and ran himself through,. And stretched out on his back: Ovid , Metamorphoses 4. Ceramic water pipes have the following advantages over lead pipes. First, if some defect is found in the work, it can be fixed by anyone.

In addition, the water in ceramic pipes is much more wholesome than water that has run through lead pipes. A probable indication of lead's unhealthy effect on water is the toxic effect that cerussa a white pigment made from lead is said to have on human bodies. We can find further evidence for lead's harmful effects in the pale complexions of the people who make the lead pipes. The vapors that rise from lead when it is poured… rob the blood's strength from the limbs of the workers. It would seem, therefore, that water should not be conducted in lead pipes if purity is a concern.

Vitruvius , Architecture 8. Aqueducts were a distinguishing feature of most Roman cities, one that was vital to basic needs, to social customs such as public bathing, and to displays of patronage. Rome, however, was exceptional for he complexity and size of its system. Extensive aqueduct archaeology in the last hundred years has revealed or elucidated a good part of the course of most of Rome's aqueducts rendered obscure because aqueducts ran underground for most of their length , but we are also fortunate to have a remarkable account of the city's aqueducts written by Frontinus, a Roman senator who was appointed water commissioner in AD Frontinus provides valuable information on numerous facets of the aqueducts, including the history, course, volume, elevation, and distribution network of the nine individual aqueducts that existed in his day the Traiana and Alexandrina aqueducts had not yet been built , as well as information about the administration, laws, and maintenance of the aqueducts.

Inscriptions also testify to the need for the continual maintenance of the aqueducts, some of which, under the patronage of the Popes, continued running long after the western empire collapsed wrongly, numerous modern accounts have all the high-level aqueducts falling into disuse after the Goths besieged the city in the C6 AD [ 8. One aqueduct, the largely underground Aqua Virgo, never fully ceased running and provides water to fountains in the Campus Martius today, as testified by reliefs decorating the facade above Trevi Fountain, the terminus of the channel today.

Three of the inscriptions in the sources below [ 8. A right-angle jog in the aqueduct where it turned to cross the ancient Via Labicana and Praenestina roads provided the opportunity to create a sort of triumphal arch to the conquest of nature and its conqueror, the emperor Claudius. The two channels of these aqueducts the Aqua Claudia and Aqua Anio Novus can be seen in cross-section running through the travertine attic over the roadways.

The upper two inscriptions refer to repairs that for some reason needed to be carried out shortly after they were finished [ 8. Nero, however, added an urban branch line to the Claudia, and notable ruins of this arcade can be tracked across the Caelian towards the Palatine, starting with the massive brick arcade abutting Porta Maggiore.

This section has been heavily reinforced by later construction, including one in AD In addition, a remnant of the Aurelian wall flanking the Porta Maggiore preserves a cross-section of the Aqua Marcia with Tepula and Julia channels placed atop it. The lower, brick aqueduct boring through Porta Maggiore below the Claudia is the Acqua Felice, a papal aqueduct of the late 16th century. In all, eight of Rome's eleven aqueducts two of them below ground-level approached Rome at or near Porta Maggiore.

The four longest carried water from the Anio today's Aniene valley between Tivoli and Subiaco. In his summations below of each aqueduct's statistics, Frontinus gives the distance for each aqueduct under three categories: From these figures, it is readily apparent that the Romans preferred underground channels to the more spectacular arcades that spring to mind when one imagines a Roman aqueduct. For years after the Founding of the City [until BC] the Romans were content to use what water they could draw from the Tiber, from wells, or from springs.

The reverence for old springs exists to this day, since they are believed to restore health to ailing bodies, such as the springs of the Camenae [ Today [in AD 97], however, the following aqueducts bring water to Rome: Frontinus , Aqueducts 4. The Appia takes its water from the Lucullan fields along the Via Praenestina …. The channel, from its source to its destination at the Salinae near the Porta Trigemina , is 11, paces, 11, of which are underground; the remaining 60 paces are above ground on substructure and arches near the Porta Capena.

Frontinus , Aqueducts 5. The Anio Vetus begins above Tivoli at the twentieth milestone beyond the […? The Anio Vetus is 43, paces long winding a great deal to follow a gradient ; 42, paces are below ground, and above ground on substructure. Frontinus , Aqueducts 6. In addition, since the intervening growth of Rome was now judged to require a greater supply of water, the Senate charged him with the task of building another aqueduct. Marcius fixed the previous two, and built a third with greater volume, which was named the Aqua Marcia after him. AD 20] tells us that Marcius was allotted ,, sesterces for the job ….

At that time the Board of Ten, checking the Sibylline Books on another matter, are said to have found a prohibition against taking the waters of the Marcia or the Anio, in a more common account on to the Capitoline hill … but each time the case was argued, Marcius Rex won, and water was channeled to the Capitoline. The Marcia has its source at the 36th milestone of the Via Valeria, 3, paces down a side road to the right as you come from Rome. Of the 7, paces above ground, are on arches in the many places where the channel crosses valleys far from the city; closer to town, beginning at the 7th milestone, substructures carry the channel for paces, and arches carry the channel for the remaining 6, paces.

Frontinus , Aqueducts 7. I restored the aqueduct channels that were collapsing from age in many places, and doubled the volume of the water called the Marcia by adding a new spring to its channel. Augustus , Achievements Lorenzo, along the north side of the Termini train station. Here the channel of the Marcia crossed the road to Tivoli on a monumentalized archway that like the Porta Maggiore, though much smaller was later incorporated into the Aurelian Wall.

In addition, he linked a new spring to the Marcia, the Fons Antoninianus. The Tepula has its source at the tenth milestone of the Via Latina, 2, paces down a side road to the right. Agrippa, when aedile [in 33 BC], tapped new sources of water out by the twelfth milestone of the Via Latina, down a side road 2, paces to the right. This new channel, named the Julia by its builder, intercepted and took on the waters of the Tepula, but since the separate distribution system of the Tepula remained intact, so did its name.

Frontinus , Aqueducts 8, 9. When the men dug deeper here, they discovered a huge supply of water. In the little shrine next to these sources, a painting illustrates this event. The sources of the Virgo are at the 8th mile of the Via Collatina, in a marshy area where a cement enclosure has been built to collect the gushing springs.

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These sources are augmented by many other feeder lines along the way. The Aqua Virgo is 14, paces long; of these, 12, paces of the channel are below ground. The remaining 1, paces above ground are divided into paces on substructure at several places and paces on arches. Frontinus , Aqueducts 10, When he was aedile, Agrippa, besides adding the Aqua Virgo as well as repairing and augmenting existing aqueducts, built basins, fountains, and distribution tanks many of which were beautifully decorated , and adorned these installations with bronze or marble statues and marble columns.

Whatever reasoning led Augustus, who was otherwise an emperor of careful planning, to build the Alsietina aqueduct escapes my understanding. This water also called the Augusta has nothing to recommend it, and is in fact of such poor quality that it is not distributed for public consumption. Perhaps Augustus, when building his Naumachia [an artificial pond for mock sea-battles], did not want to divert any wholesome water to fill it and therefore built a separate aqueduct to supply it, granting the surplus water to adjacent gardens and for private use in irrigation.

Nevertheless, whenever the bridges across the Tiber are being repaired and the aqueduct channels relying on these bridges cease delivery across the river, out of necessity water from the Alsietina is used to supply the drinking fountains in the Transtiber region. The source of the Aqua Alsietina is Lake Alsietinus, at the fourteenth milestone of the Via Claudia, six and one-half miles down a side-road to the right.

The channel is 22, paces long, with paces on arches. His successor Claudius completed these aqueducts magnificently and dedicated them in the consulship of Sulla and Titianus [in AD 52]. One of the aqueducts is called the Claudia, which delivers water from the Caerulean and Curtian springs, and which rivals the Marcia in purity.

The sources of the Aqua Claudia are at the 38th milestone of the Via Sublacensis, within paces down a side-road to the left. It also taps a spring called the Albudinus, which is of such purity that whenever the Aqua Marcia system needs to be supplemented, the addition of the Albudinus does not diminish the Marcia's quality.

The channel of the Claudia is 46, paces long, of which 36, are underground. Of the 10, paces above ground, 3, are on arches at various points in the upper portion of the route; near town, starting at the seventh milestone, paces are on substructures and 6, on arches. The Anio Novus is taken from the river at the forty-second milestone of the Via Sublacensis in Simbruine territory. Since the Anio flows through cultivated fields with rich soil, its banks erode quite easily, and as a result the stream flows muddy and turbid even without the added disturbance of rains.

A settling tank was therefore constructed before the intake of the channel, where the water could form a still pool and clarify itself. Even so, whenever rainstorms pass over, unclear water is delivered to the city. The channel of the Anio Novus has a length of 58, paces, of which 49, are underground. Of the 9, paces above ground, 2, are on substructures and arches at various points in the upper portion of the route; near town, starting at the seventh milestone, paces are on substructures and 6, on arches. These are the highest arches, rising to a height of feet in some places.

The public works carried out by the Emperor Claudius are notable more for their size and usefulness than for their quantity. Among the most notable are the completion of the aqueducts begun by Caligula, the drainage tunnel for the Fucine Lake, and the harbor at Ostia. Suetonius , Claudius All the aqueducts reach the city at different elevations, such that some can deliver water to the higher quarters and others cannot the hills too have gradually grown higher from the rubble of so many fires. Five of the channels are high enough to reach all parts of the city, but some with greater pressure behind them than others.

The sources of the Marcia are in fact the same elevation as the Claudia, but the earlier builders of aqueducts laid them at a lower level, either because they had not yet fully mastered the art of surveying, or because they purposely laid the channels below the ground so that they would be less readily cut by enemies, since the Romans then still waged frequent wars against the Italians. Today, however, there are places where, whenever the old channel is ruined by age, the new channel abandons its circuitous subterranean route and crosses over a valley on substructures and arches to shorten its route.

Seventh in height is the Anio Vetus, which likewise could have supplied the higher elevations of the city if it had been supported by substructures or arches in the places required by valleys and lower elevations. Next in height are the Virgo and the Appia; because these two originate in the fields not far from Rome, their elevation is limited from the start. The lowest line of all is the Alsietina, which supplies the Transtiber region and other low-lying locales. Six of these aqueducts empty into covered settling basins this side of the seventh milestone on the Via Latina, where they take a fresh breath after their run, so to speak, and deposit their load of impurities.

Here too the amount of their water is measured with gauges inside the basins. Three of the aqueducts—the Julia, Marcia, and Tepula—continue the journey after the basin on the same arches, one channel on top of the other. The highest of the three is the Julia, with the Tepula and then the Marcia below it. After the settling basin the Anio Novus and the Claudia are carried together on the same arches these higher than the triple-decker just mentioned , with the Anio Novus on top of the Claudia.

This arcade ends behind the Gardens of Pallas, and from here their waters are distributed by pipes for use in the city. Just before this terminus, however, near the Temple of Ancient Hope, the Claudia diverts a portion of its water down another channel called the Neronian Arches. These arches extend along the Caelian hill to end near the Temple of the Deified Claudius, and deliver water to the Caelian hill itself as well as to the Palatine and Aventine hills and the Transtiber quarter.

A few words should be said about the team of slaves assigned to the maintenance of the aqueducts. There are two of them, one the public's and the other Caesar's. The public body is older, bequeathed as we said earlier by Agrippa to Augustus, who handed it over to the state; it numbers about slaves.

The number of slaves on the Emperor's team, which Claudius established when he built his aqueducts into the city, stands at Many landowners who own fields along the route of the aqueducts illegally tap the channels, so that waters destined for public use end their journey in private hands, irrigating a garden. For long distances in several places, secret pipes run across the whole city under the pavement. Just how much water has been saved in addressing this problem I judge from the considerable amount of lead pulled up in the eradication of the branch-lines of this sort.

Damage to the aqueducts is frequently caused by the lawlessness of landowners, who injure the channels in a number of ways. First, they construct buildings or grow trees on the strip of land around or above the aqueduct that by senatorial decree should be kept vacant. Trees do the greater damage, since their roots break apart both the vaulted tops and the sides of the channels. People also build their village and country roads right down the track of an aqueduct. And recently, landowners have been denying maintenance workers right-of-way to the aqueducts.

All of these problems have been anticipated in the following Senatorial Decree:. After the Goths had ringed Rome with their camps [in AD ], they cut all the aqueducts so that as little water as possible might enter the city. The aqueducts of Rome are fourteen [sic] in number, constructed long ago out of baked brick. Their channels are wide and tall enough to ride through them mounted on a horse.

For his part, Belisarius [the commander of the imperial forces being besieged by the Goths] arranged for the defense of the city. Procopius , Wars 5.

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When the Goths wanted to damage the fortifications of Rome, they first tried to gain entrance to the city by sending some men with lamps and torches into one of the aqueducts at night, which had been empty of water since the Goths cut them at the beginning of the war. By chance, a guard stationed at the Pincian gate saw a glimmer of light through a small crack in the channel where it ran along just above ground level.

He told some of the other guards, who said he must have seen a wolf pass by and mistook the gleam of its eyes for a flame. Meanwhile, the barbarians who were exploring the channel reached the middle of the city and came upon an old passageway to the surface, leading right up to a part of the Palatine hill itself.

A stone wall, however, constructed as a precaution by Belisarius at the beginning of the siege as I recounted earlier , blocked both their forward progress and the passage leading to the surface. So they decided to turn around, taking with them a small stone from the obstructing wall, which they showed to their leader Vittigis when they returned and gave their report. On the following day, while the Gothic king Vittigis was busy forming a plan with his chiefs, Roman soldiers guarding the Pincian gate talked among themselves about the suspected sighting of the wolf.

When the story reached Belisarius, however, the general did not take the matter casually, but immediately sent some of his best men, led by his bodyguard Diogenes, down into the channel with orders to investigate everything at once.

They found the lamps of the enemy and the droppings of their torches all along the channel, as well as the gap in the wall where the Goths had removed a stone. When Belisarius heard their report, he personally assigned guards to keep the aqueduct channel under close watch. Learning of his precaution, the Goths gave up this line of attack. Procopius , Wars 6. Although the smallest of Rome's seven hills in area, the Capitoline was in several important ways both the utilitarian and talismanic core of ancient Rome.

Here were the early city's last-stand defensive walls as well as its chief place of contact with its tutelary imperial deity, Jupiter Optimus Maximus. Together with the hill's Asylum, the geography of the Capitoline gave topographical expression to the greatness of the state: As such, the hill often stands in ancient literature for Rome itself [ 9. Each of the three parts into which the hill, in accordance with its contours, is traditionally divided contributes to this picture.

The hill has two summits, separated by a saddle occupied now by the Piazza designed by Michelangelo. On the southwest summit above the Tiber, the great temple of Jupiter [ Appropriately, this temple was the destination point of a Roman military triumph, with the victorious general robed and painted like the cult statue of Jupiter himself. The other summit, topped now by St. Maria d' Aracoeli, was sometimes distinguished from the rest of the hill as the Citadel Arx proper of the hill, although the fortifications of the hill circled the entire Capitoline Hill and not just the northeast end of it.

Perhaps this end, the slightly taller of the two, retained a more fortress-like character, in contrast to the eventually crowded platform of the other summit; calling it the Arx also served to highlight this vital function of the entire hill as the most difficult part of the city to capture, on account of the Capitoline's natural escarpments in some sections and fortifications in others. Livy's account of the Gallic sack of Rome [ 9. The northeast summit also contained the Auguraculum, another important site that like the Temple of Jupiter linked weighty matters of state to the divine order.

The third major area, the saddle between the two crests, contained the sacred area called the Asylum [ Tradition had it that Romulus, in need of a larger population to fill his city, designated this area as the point of arrival for newcomers to Rome who wished to start over—a strategy, Livy comments, that was crucial to Rome's advancement and eventual greatness. The Asylum-legend is a parable for Rome's subsequent policy of enfranchisement, and this part of the Capitoline, which apparently remained a distinct and designated open space even in Imperial times, represented Rome's ability to grow—not, as was guaranteed by the great Temple of Jupiter, by expanding geographically under Jupiter's all-seeing eyes through the agency of Rome's generals, but by incorporating peoples of diverse origins in the protective grove of the Roman state.

As the scene of executions, the Capitoline also provided stark visual reminders of the community's ultimate power over citizens and conquered leaders, whether the condemned were pushed off the Tarpeian cliffs [ Even in imperial times, crowded buildings around the Capitoline's base would have diminished the hill's earlier acropolis-like profile, and several millennia of subsequent erosion along with a compost of building-rubble many yards deep around its base have done the same.

Institutional changes in imperial Rome also diminished the symbolic profile of the hill. Even so, the Capitoline retained into modern times its special role in expressing civic power. It was here that the noble families in the Middle Ages established a city government and built a town hall as a response to Pope's power, and here Cola di Rienzo whose statue stands on the grass between the Cordonata and Ara Coeli stairways self-consciously invoked ancient Rome in his charismatic foundation of a short-lived republic in the s.

Here too beginning in the s Mussolini would give speeches at elaborate ceremonies that celebrated with renewed fervor the birthday of ancient Rome on April And here, in circumstances richly ironic in the context of ancient praises of the hill, was the setting of Gibbon's epiphany: Horace , Odes 3. Ovid , Metamorphoses The Capitoline hill gets its name from the human head [ caput ] that they say was found when the foundations for the Temple of Jupiter were being excavated. Before then the hill was called Mt. Tarpeius, after the Vestal Virgin named Tarpeia, who was killed by Sabine shields and buried on the hill.

A reminder of her name endures, since the cliff here is called the Tarpeian Rock. This is no time to engage in trials and legal wrangling. And so without delay I will leave the Rostra and climb the Capitolium to pay my respects to Jupiter Optimus Maximus, Juno, Minerva, and all the other gods who watch over the Capitolium and the Citadel, and I will give them thanks that on this date and on many others the gods have granted me the will and ability to carry out our nation's business with distinction. On the Capitolium we can find a reminder and demonstration of early building styles in the House of Romulus, and on the Citadel, in the thatched roofs of shrines there.

Vitruvius , Architecture 2. Climb down the family tree of anyone you wish: Why go into individual instances when I can prove my point by calling as a witness the entire city of Rome: In fact, amidst all of today's towering structures, nothing is more respected than the humble hut of Romulus, even though the Temple of Jupiter shines out above it, gleaming with pure gold. Can you find fault in the Romans for displaying their humble origins, which today could easily be hidden, and for believing that nothing is great unless it appears to have started small?

Seneca the Elder , Debates 1. While Camillus was being appointed general by Romans in nearby Veii, the Citadel of Rome and the Capitolium fell into grave danger: On a moonless night the Gauls sent up a few unarmed men to scout out a path, and then began their climb. Handing weapons up to others at the steep spots and bracing themselves on men below or bracing others in turn, they pushed and pulled their way up the mountain as the terrain demanded. They gained the summit so quietly that they not only escaped the detection of the watchmen but of the dogs as well, a creature attuned to nocturnal noise.

They did not, however, escape the notice of the geese on the hill. Because the geese were sacred to Juno, the besieged Romans, even when running out of food, had refrained from killing them. This religious observance proved to be Rome's salvation, for the sacred geese created such a uproar by honking and flapping their wings that they woke up Marcus Manlius, an outstanding soldier who had been consul three years earlier.

Manlius grabbed his weapons and dashed outside, shouting for help. While other men hesitated in fear, Manlius dislodged a Gaul, just then reaching the summit, with one blow of his shield and sent him tumbling onto the men below. Terrified, the other attackers dropped their weapons and clung to the rock with both hands while Manlius went in for the kill.

Soon other defenders joined him and routed the enemy with javelins and loose rocks, and the attack collapsed in total disaster for the Gauls as they were driven headlong from the cliffs. Unfortunately, no monument exhibits a greater disparity between the splendor of its ancient appearance, as attested by the written record, and the paucity of the remains today. Parts of the massive tufa podium of the temple, however, are visible inside the Palazzo dei Conservatori which at least help situate the building, as does the corner of the podium on display outside in a little pit along the Via del Tempio di Giove.

In addition to the imagination's work on the following sources, perhaps the best visual impression of the temple's profusion of sculpture, painting, marble decoration, and cult-objects in ancient times can be gathered from some of the lavishly appointed churches in Rome today, one of which S. Maria della Pace, near Piazza Navona does indeed display statues carved from the giant Pentelic marble columns of Jupiter's vanished temple. Tarquinius Priscus [ruling BC] undertook the construction of a temple to Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, which he had vowed to the gods during his last battle against the Sabines.

The hill on which he planned to place the temple needed a great deal of preparation, being neither accessible nor level, but rather precipitous and sharply peaked. Tarquinius surrounded the hill with high retaining walls and filled in the space between these walls and the summit to create a level platform able to support temples.

He died, however, before he was able to lay the foundation for the Temple of Jupiter, outliving the end of the war by only four years. Many years later, Tarquinius Superbus, the second king after him the one who was deposed laid the foundations and built much of the structure, though he too did not complete it.

Built on a high podium, the perimeter of the temple is feet. Each of its sides is about feet; in fact, the length of the temple does not exceed the width by a full fifteen feet. Although rebuilt a generation ago after it burnt down [in 83 BC], it rests on the same foundations and differs from the old temple only in the costliness of its materials. The front of the temple, towards the south, has three rows of columns; there is a single row of columns down each side.

Inside there are three chambers, although they are under one pediment and one roof. Each of the side chambers—one for Juno, and one for Minerva—shares a wall with the center one, which is dedicated to Jupiter. Dionysius , Early Rome 3. After taking control of Gabii, Tarquinius Superbus [ruling BC] made peace with the tribe of the Aequi and renewed the truce with the Etruscans.

Then he turned his attention to urban concerns, the first of which was to leave behind him, as a monument to his own reign and name, the Temple to Jupiter on the Tarpeian mount. Both of Rome's Etruscan kings, he proclaimed, were responsible for the temple: In order that the whole area might be free from competing cultsites, reserved for Jupiter and his temple alone, Tarquinius decided to deconsecrate the existing temples and shrines there which Tatius vowed earlier at a critical moment in his battle against Romulus, and which Tatius later consecrated and inaugurated.

At the very start of this project it is reported that the gods signified their will assuring the solidity of the great empire to be. For although the birds gave signs approving of the deconsecration of all the other religious sites, they refused it in the case of the shrine of Terminus, the god of the Border. This divine omen was taken to mean that the immovability of Terminus, alone of all the gods in not vacating the site consecrated to him, portended that the realm would be strong and stable.

After this auspice of Rome's longevity, a second portent of the empire's greatness occurred: This was a clear sign that this spot would be the citadel of the empire and the head of the world, and was interpreted thus by sooth sayers, both those residing in the city and those brought in from Etruria to consider the matter. In his eagerness to finish the temple, Tarquinius Superbus summoned workmen from all parts of Etruria, and not only used public funds but levied extra work from the plebs on top of their military duty.

Sulla built the second temple, but Catulus got the credit for its dedication. This temple was likewise totally destroyed, this time in the rebellion of Vitellius [in AD 69], after which Vespasian began and finished the construction of a third temple. The fourth and present temple was both built and dedicated by Domitian [in AD 89]. Its columns were cut from Pentelic marble and were originally of beautiful proportions, as I saw for myself in Athens.

When they were shaped and polished in Rome, however, they didn't gain as much in smoothness as they lost in symmetry and beauty, and now appear too thin and meager. Plutarch , Publicola , In all of Roman history since the founding of the city, the burning of the Capitoline in the fighting between Vitellians and Flavians [in AD 69] was the most distressing and disgraceful event that ever befell the republic of the Roman people.

Not by any external enemy, but with the gods kindly disposed if that were possible, given our behavior! The temple was first vowed by King Tarquinius Priscus during the war against the Sabines; he too laid the foundations of it, on a scale that accorded more with the hope of future greatness than with the modest means available to the Roman people at that time. Soon Servius Tullius, with the aid of allies, and then Tarquinius Superbus, with spoils gained from the capture of Suessa Pometia, constructed the building. The honor of the work, however, was reserved for liberty, since only after the kings were expelled did Horatius Pulvillus dedicate the temple in his second consulship; since that time the immense wealth of the Roman people has ornamented the temple's magnificence more than it has increased it.

After it burnt down years later in the consulship of L. Norbanus, the temple was rebuilt on the same footprint. The victorious Sulla undertook the task of reconstruction, but did not dedicate the new temple in this alone Fortune failed him , and the name of Lutatius Catulus endured among all the great monuments of Caesars down to the time of Vitellius.

Vespasian assigned the work of restoring the Capitolium to Lucius Vestinus, a man of the equestrian class but among the leading men for his authority and prestige. The haruspices employed by him warned that the remains of the earlier temple should be carried away to the swamps and that the new temple should have the same dimensions as before: Tacitus , Histories 3.

He was the first person to begin the task of clearing away the rubble, carrying off a load of it on his own shoulders. In addition, he undertook the reproduction of three thousand bronze tablets that had also been destroyed in the fire, after a thorough search for other copies. These tablets were very old and precious documents of Roman rule, containing decrees of the Senate and votes of the people concerning alliances, treaties, and privileges granted at anytime to anyone, dating back almost to the beginning of the city.

Suetonius , Vespasian 8. With the exception of the Temple of Jupiter, whereby mighty Rome lifts itself into eternity, there is nothing more magnificent in all the world than the Serapeum in Alexandria. Ammianus , History There are five kinds of temples: Moreover, the look of such temples is squat, top-heavy, low, and wide, and the pediment is ornamented in the Etruscan fashion with terra-cotta or gilt bronze statues.

Vitruvius , Architecture 3. As heard and reported by Varro, Catulus, who was in charge of rebuilding the Temple of Jupiter [after it burned in 83 BC], said that when he wanted to lower the ground level of the large foundational platform of the Capitoline so that more steps could lead up to the temple on a taller podium that corresponded better with the size of the pediment, the existence of subterranean rooms beneath the precinct prohibited this alteration. These were underground chambers and cisterns in which the Romans were accustomed to store old statues that had fallen off the temple and other religious items that were part of consecrated offerings.

Gellius , Attic Nights 2. Tarquinius Priscus summoned the sculptor Vulca from Veii to make the cult statue of the Capitoline Jupiter. The statue was made of terra cotta, though commonly painted red with cinnabar. The four-horse chariot on the roof of the temple was also of terra cotta. Ovid , Fasti 1. The practice of coating ceilings with gold first began in Rome with the Capitolium, after the overthrow of Carthage [in BC].

Times were more peaceful when we were poor; we fought our civil wars only after the Temple of Jupiter was gilded [in BC]. Seneca the Elder , Debates 2. The eagles supporting the pediment, which were made out of old wood, spread the fire [in AD 69]. Marcius found Hasdrubal's shield when he captured his camp [in BC]; this shield hung above the doors of the Capitoline Temple right up to the time of the first fire [in 83 BC].

In his term as censor [in BC] M. Aemilius Lepidus contracted to have the Capitoline Temple of Jupiter and the columns around it smoothed and whitened. He also removed statues that were inappropriately placed among these same columns, and took off the shields and all manner of military insignia that had been affixed to the columns.

Cicero , On Divination 1. The books of the Sibylline oracles were kept in a stone chest beneath the Temple of Capitoline Jupiter, under the guard of ten men. When the temple burned down [in 83 BC] whether by accident or, as some believe, by arson , the fire destroyed these books along with the other offerings consecrated to Jupiter. Nicomachus painted the Rape of Persephone, which hung in the temple of Minerva on the Capitolium, above the shrine of Youth.

Gaiseric, leader of the Vandals, plundered the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus [in AD ] and carried off half of the roof's tiles. These were not only made of the finest bronze but covered by a thick gold leaf that shone with a spectacular radiance. Procopius , Wars 3. Although winding through much of the city and down the Sacra Via in the Forum, the famous Roman triumphal procession is best understood in connection with the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline: Painted with the same red pigment as the face of Jupiter's cult statue [ In this light, it is no wonder that the Romans posted a slave in the general's chariot to remind him that he was mortal [ Of the several detailed accounts we have that describe specific triumphs, I have chosen one by Josephus [ This was the war of the first Jewish Revolt, which not only resulted in the devastation of Jerusalem captured by Titus in AD 70 and the destruction of the Temple there, but put an end to the priestly and sacrificial Judaism centered on the Temple and consequently led to the rabbinical and text-centered tradition of the Jewish diaspora.

This conquest also had a significant effect on Roman topography, being commemorated by the Arch of Titus [ Josephus, although a Jewish priest and one-time resister, came to terms with the Romans, and blamed the revolutionary Jewish groups rather than the Romans for the destruction of Jerusalem. Josephus's detailed account of the triumph shows how comfortable the Romans were with the open celebration of the destruction that they visited on their enemies witness the graphic floats and the material gain that they derived from it. He also notes the common practice of parading the enemy's commander in the triumph.

Often the triumphal procession was in effect the death march of this human trophy, since he was slain at a signal given by the Roman victor after he had climbed the Capitoline. When the war is successfully completed, the victor returns to the Capitoline in his triumph, bringing well-deserved gifts to these same gods. The sacrificial animals that go before him in triumph are an important part of the triumph and make it clear that the general gives thanks to the gods for the success of his actions done in the interests of Rome's well-being.

The substance cinnabar is found in silver mines. Even today it is a highly treasured pigment, but formerly had an even greater and sacred significance for the Romans: Those who celebrate a triumph temporarily stay the executions of the enemy's leaders so that the people of Rome can witness the beautiful spectacle and the reward of victory when these men are paraded in the triumph. But when the wagons in the procession begin their turn from the Forum to the Capitoline, they order the captive leaders to be led into the Prison [Carcer] to their death.

Thus does one same day put an end to both the command of the victorious general and the life of the defeated foe. Cicero , Against Verres 5.

That Caesar did not refrain from adulterous affairs even in the provinces is evident from this couplet, which his soldiers shouted during his Gallic triumph:. In Gaul he screwed away the gold that he borrowed here in Rome. Suetonius , Julius Caesar As Caesar proceeded through the Velabrum in his Gallic triumph [in 45 BC], he was almost thrown from his chariot when its axle broke. He ascended the Capitoline by the light of lamps that were mounted on forty elephants to his left and right. When celebrating a triumph, a general rode in a chariot different from ones used in races or combat. The general's chariot in a triumph was rather fashioned to look like a round tower.

Almost everything wonderful and costly that a wealthy people manages to gather singly over a long time from various nations is here gathered together in abundance on one day to display the greatness of the Roman empire. In this triumph, the mass of silver, gold, and ivory, worked into every shape possible, was carried past in such profusion that it seemed to flow by like a river, along with woven cloth dyed the most precious purple or embroidered with the finest portraiture of Babylonian art. The sheer quantity of transparent gems on gold crowns and other objects brought reports of their rarity into doubt.

The procession also included images of Roman gods, astounding for their size, carefully made and all of costly material. Nothing, however, was more amazing than the contraptions of mobile stage-sets, many of which were so high—three or four stories—that there was some fear of their toppling over as they moved along.

Other floats showed the helpless raising their hands in supplication, temples set on fire, and houses pulled down on top of people still inside. Such were the sufferings that awaited the Jews when they committed themselves to the war. The skill and magnificent scope of these stages rendered distant events present for those who had never been there. On each of the floats the general of a captured city was stationed in the manner he was taken. Many floats representing ships also followed.

The spoils of the war were paraded past in great heaps. The most conspicuous spoils were those taken from the temple in Jerusalem. These included a gold table of great weight, and a lamp-stand likewise made of gold, but in a different design from the lamp-stands used in everyday life. For this lamp [the Menorah], a central shaft was attached to the base; slender branches extended from this, arranged in the manner of a trident, and at the end of each branch a bronze lamp was attached—seven in all, in accordance with the importance the Jews ascribe to this number.

The last of the spoils paraded by was a copy of the Jewish law. The procession ended at the Temple of Capitoline Jupiter. Here they halted, in accordance with the ancient custom of waiting until someone brought word that the general of the enemy had been executed. This was Simon ben Giora, who had just been paraded among the captives. With a rope around his neck, he was tormented by his captors as they dragged him to the place alongside the Forum where by Roman law those sentenced to death are executed. At the announcement of his death, all cheered, and they began the sacrifices.

Josephus , The Jewish War 7. The radical alterations of the topography since classical times have so obliterated these once dramatic cliffs that even their general location on the Capitoline hill is still disputed. Traditionally topographers have located them above today's Piazza di Conciliazione, on the southwest side of the hill above the Vicus Jugarius, but others argue for a site more central to the Forum and its Prison.

In response to Romulan Rome's abduction of women from surrounding tribes, Rome's neighbors mounted a series of attacks. On one of her trips outside the walls to collect holy water at the Camenae springs, Tatius, the Sabine king, succeeded in bribing her with gold to open up the Citadel to the Sabine soldiers. As soon as they gained entrance, however, the Sabines crushed her to death beneath their shields, whether to make it look as if they took the Citadel by force, or to make an example of her treachery by showing that a traitor could safely trust no one.

There is, however, another version of the story. In this, Tarpeia had stipulated as her reward whatever the Sabines wore on their left arms, with an eye on the massive gold armbands and the beautiful gem-studded rings they commonly wore; instead, she got their shields. There is also a third account, in which Tarpeia is a heroine: When the Sabines perceived the trick, they destroyed her by giving her what she demanded.

Thus did one and the same place become a monument to both the unparalleled glory [ 9. Further marks of disgrace were attached to Manlius after death, one of which had lasting public consequences: There is a high sheer cliff there from which the Romans customarily throw people condemned to die.

Dionysius , Early Rome 7. Dionysius , Early Rome 8. The supporters of Vitellius quickly marched past the Forum and the temples that preside over the Forum, and advanced their front line up the facing hill, right up to the outer gates of the Capitoline citadel. Here, on the right side of the Clivus as one ascends, there were porticoes since ancient times. The defenders climbed out on these and hurled rocks and tiles down on the supporters of Vitellius. Each assault was unforeseen, though the one through the Asylum was closer and more intense. Sextus Marius, the richest man in Spain, was falsely accused of having incest with his daughter and was thrown off the Tarpeian cliff.

Tacitus , Annals 6. Quintilian , Oratorical Training 7. The hillside plunges precipitously into a pit, interrupted with jutting crags that either crush the body on first impact or toss it down for worse; the whole cliff-face bristles with jagged rock. There is an oak plank attached to the [base of the] Tarpeian rock and the Capitoline cliff; it has iron hooks, and is used to catch the bodies of people thrown off the cliff.

Notes to Lucan B 2. Do you really think, Favorinus, that if the penalty prescribed in the Twelve Tables for lying had not become obsolete and that today, as then, those who were convicted of perjury were tossed off the Tarpeian Cliff, we would now [c. AD ] be witnessing so many people telling falsehoods under oath? In the ongoing debate over the location of the cliffs, Richardson p. A good rule of thumb is that series have a conventional name and are intentional creations , on the part of the author or publisher. For now, avoid forcing the issue with mere "lists" of works possessing an arbitrary shared characteristic, such as relating to a particular place.

Avoid series that cross authors, unless the authors were or became aware of the series identification eg. Also avoid publisher series, unless the publisher has a true monopoly over the "works" in question. So, the Dummies guides are a series of works. But the Loeb Classical Library is a series of editions, not of works. Home Groups Talk Zeitgeist. The 12 Days of LT scavenger hunt is going on. Can you solve the clues? I Agree This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and if not signed in for advertising. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

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