The topography of ancient Rome is the description of the built environment of the city of ancient Rome . It is a multidisciplinary field of study that draws on archaeology , epigraphy , cartography and philology . The word 'topography' here has its older sense of a description of a place, now often considered to be local history , rather than its usual modern meaning, the study of landforms .
29-607: The Vallis Murcia was the Latin name of a valley in the city of Rome between the Palatine and the Aventine Hill , where the Circus Maximus was sited. It was historically significant as a communication route and a neutral place of assembly for events, ceremonies, and performances involving harvest, trade, and military exercises. The valley was particularly associated with activities of
58-401: A sense of rupture from the classical past brought about by the " Dark Ages " and a desire to rediscover antiquity. The renewed interest in classical texts, facilitated by the new technology of the printing press , was paralleled by inquiry into the physical monuments of ancient Rome , coinciding with a contemporary building boom in the city. Among the early topographers of ancient Rome were
87-410: Is best known to the post-Classical world as an author of technical treatises, especially De aquaeductu , dealing with the aqueducts of Rome . Due to a lack of either a titulus honorarius or sepulcralis , there is no outline of Frontinus' life, the names of his parents, or of his wife. Some details can be inferred from chance mentions: He is thought to be of Narbonese origins, and originally of
116-517: The Stratagems (Latin: Strategemata ), is a collection of examples of military stratagems from Greek and Roman history, for the use of generals. He draws on his own experience as a general in Germania under Domitian , but similarities between the anecdotes he records and versions of other Roman authors like Valerius Maximus and Livy suggest that he drew mainly on literary sources. The authenticity of
145-508: The plebs and also those bridging the patrician and plebeian divide. The Vallis Murcia was a marshy area extending about 700 meters from northwest to southeast and about 100 meters at its widest point, and was known for flooding periodically until the late 19th century. It was formed from a stream that issued from the east and headed toward the Tiber River . Diane Favro has described the topography: Carved out by this stream descending from
174-577: The Decades which influenced Gibbon . He organized his material by topic, and not only described and identified gates, obelisks , baths, circuses , and other monuments, but explained their function and purpose. Among his literary and documentary sources were Livy 's history of Rome, the letters of Pliny , Varro 's De lingua latina , Festus , the regionary catalogues , and the newly discovered manuscripts of Tacitus and Frontinus . Although Renaissance researchers did not engage in archaeological digs,
203-472: The equestrian class . From the nomenclature of the name of Publius Calvisius Ruso Julius Frontinus (consul c. 84), it is likely Frontinus had a sister, who was the other's mother. Frontinus had at least one daughter, the wife of Quintus Sosius Senecio (cos. 99, II 107) and mother of Sosia Polla. In AD 70, Frontinus participated in the suppression of the Rhineland revolt, and later recorded that he received
232-559: The 15th-century humanists Poggio Bracciolini and Flavio Biondo . Poggio's De varietate fortunae ("On the Vagaries of Fortune") was a nostalgic and moralizing evocation of a lost Rome of triumphs , spectacles, and grand monuments, but it also contained detailed descriptions of temples , baths , arches , amphitheaters and other landmarks as artifacts subject to intellectual inquiry, in contrast to medieval mirabilia literature. Poggio researched ancient texts such as Frontinus 's work On
261-730: The Water Supply of the City of Rome and examined inscriptions, compiling a volume of epigraphy from ancient monuments: "Through such diligence, Poggio pioneered the way to reconstruct in historically accurate terms the topographical reality of the ancient city." Biondo, like Poggio an Apostolic Secretary , produced a series of volumes surveying the topography of the ancient city as well as Roman Italy : Roma instaurata (1440–46), Italia illustrata (1448–53), and Roma triumphans (1456–60). In these works, Biondo took an antiquarian or archaeological approach, as distinguished from his historical writing in
290-580: The ancient city of Rome . Lists: Frontinus Sextus Julius Frontinus (c. 40 – 103 AD) was a prominent Roman civil engineer, author, soldier and senator of the late 1st century AD. He was a successful general under Domitian , commanding forces in Roman Britain , and on the Rhine and Danube frontiers. A novus homo , he was consul three times. Frontinus ably discharged several important administrative duties for Nerva and Trajan . However, he
319-494: The archaeological and topographical perspective was fundamental to humanism , and they were alert to finds of antiquities . Biondo, for instance, was able to locate the atrium of the Theater of Pompey after a Roman lawyer who was having his wine cellar enlarged found a massive block of dressed stone inscribed with cubit -high letters reading Genius theatri Pompeiani . Biondo's methodology and use of textual sources influenced
SECTION 10
#1732852813012348-457: The archaeological, antiquarian, and topographical study of ancient Rome among his fellow humanists for the next 80 years. Among these were Pomponius Leto , who edited the Notitia regionum Urbis based in part on his experience as a tour guide; Bernardo Rucellai , with his compilation De Urbe Roma ; and Andrea Fulvio , who published his massive Antiquitates Urbis in the spring of 1527, just before
377-622: The eastern plateaus, the valley is defined by the sharp slopes of the Palatine Hill on the north and those of the Aventine Hill on the south. To the southeast, the valley opens to a relatively flat plain traverse by the Via Appia ; to the northwest it broadens into the riverside plain occupied by the Forum Boarium . The name Vallis Murcia is found only in late antiquity , and earlier the place
406-553: The emperor on the state of the aqueducts of Rome . It presents a history and description of the water-supply of Rome, including the laws relating to its use and maintenance. He provides the history, sizes and discharge rates of all of the nine aqueducts of Rome at the time at which he was writing at the turn of the 1st century AD: the Aqua Marcia , Aqua Appia , Aqua Alsietina , Aqua Tepula , Anio Vetus , Anio Novus , Aqua Virgo , Aqua Claudia and Aqua Augusta . Frontinus describes
435-673: The famous historian Tacitus , in 77. Birley believes it "is fair to speculate" that Frontinus was with Domitian during the German campaign of 83. An inscription at Hieropolis in Phrygia , as well as a number of coins of Smyrna , attests that he was proconsul of Asia in AD 86. In 97, he was appointed curator aquarum (supervisor of the aqueducts ) by the emperor Nerva , an office only conferred upon persons of very high standing. In this capacity, he followed another distinguished Roman statesman, Agrippa ,
464-499: The fourth book has been challenged. One example he gives of control of river water during a siege reads: Lucius Metellus, when fighting in Hither Spain , diverted the course of a river and directed it from a higher level against the camp of the enemy, which was located on low ground. Then, when the enemy were in a panic from the sudden flood, he had them slain by men whom he had stationed in ambush for this very purpose. He appears as
493-500: The friend, ally and son-in-law of Augustus, who organised in 34 BC a campaign of public repairs and improvements, including renovation of the aqueduct Aqua Marcia and an extension of its pipes to cover more of the city. The following year Frontinus held a second consulship as suffect in February, with Trajan as his colleague, and two years later he was made consul ordinarius with Trajan. Birley notes, "This exceptional honour underlines
522-517: The high regard in which he [Frontinus] was held, and suggests, further, that Trajan had a debt to repay." He was also a member of the College of Augurs . He died in 103 or 104, a date based on Pliny the Younger writing to his friends that he was elected to the college of augurs to fill the vacancy Frontinus' death had created. Frontinus's chief work is De aquaeductu , in two books, an official report to
551-428: The many baths and fountains. However, Frontinus criticized the practice of mixing supplies from different sources, and one of his first decisions was to separate the waters from each system. He was very concerned by leaks in the system, especially those in the underground conduits, which were difficult to locate and mend, a problem still faced by water engineers today. The aqueducts above ground needed care to ensure that
580-435: The masonry was kept in good condition, especially those running on arched superstructures. It was, he said, essential to keep trees at a distance so that their roots would not damage the structures. He reviewed the existing law governing the state aqueducts, as well as the need for enforcement of those statutes . Frontinus also wrote a theoretical treatise on military science, which is lost. His extant work on military matters,
609-415: The previous century; Frontinus refers to the possible influence of Vitruvius on the plumbers. Distribution of the water depended in a complex way on its height entering the city, the quality of the water, and its rate of discharge. Thus, poor-quality water would be sent for irrigation, gardens, or flushing, while only the best would be reserved for drinking water. Intermediate-quality water would be used for
SECTION 20
#1732852813012638-419: The quality of water delivered by each, mainly depending on their source, be it river, lake, or spring. One of the first jobs he undertook when he was appointed water commissioner was to prepare maps of the system so that he could assess their condition before undertaking their maintenance. He says that many had been neglected and were not working at their full capacity. He was especially concerned by diversion of
667-483: The sack . The successor to Biondo's work was the seven-volume Antiquae Romae topographia of Bartolomeo Marliani , first published in May 1534, but riddled with typographical errors. Bartolomeo credited the collaboration of various scholars, singling out Annibale Caro . The work was republished in a corrected, augmented second edition in 1544, as Urbis Romae topographia and rededicated, this time to Francis I of France . It
696-507: The supply by unscrupulous farmers and tradesmen, among many others. They would insert pipes into the channel of the aqueducts to tap the supply. He, therefore, made a meticulous survey of the intake and the supply of each line, and then investigated the discrepancies. Lead pipe stamps bearing the name of the owner were also used to prevent such water theft . He was well aware of the seminal work De architectura by Vitruvius , which mentions aqueduct construction and maintenance published in
725-505: The surrender of 70,000 Lingones . Between that date and being appointed governor of Britain to succeed Quintus Petillius Cerialis a few years later, Frontinus was appointed suffect consul . While governor of Britain, he subjugated the Silures of South Wales and is thought to have likewise campaigned against the Brigantes . He was succeeded by Gnaeus Julius Agricola , the father-in-law of
754-492: The work still offers insights and complementary information. In 1992, Lawrence Richardson published A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome , which builds on Platner and Ashby. The six-volume, multilingual Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae (1993‑2000) is the major modern work in the field. Ancient Roman topography as a systematic field of study began with the Italian Renaissance . The humanists express both
783-528: Was simply designated ad Murciae , "at [the altar] of Murcia". The relation of the Vallis Murcia to the cult of the goddess Murcia is somewhat unclear; because the name of the valley appears as such only in later sources, it may be that it derived from the shrine of Murcia. Murcia was identified with Venus Myrtea, Venus of the Myrtle Grove , which Varro suggested had once grown where her altar was. The valley
812-539: Was the site of festivals and rites for several agricultural deities , including a festival of Ceres on April 19 in which torches were tied to the tails of foxes. Topography of ancient Rome The classic English-language work of scholarship is A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (1929), written by Samuel Ball Platner , completed and published after his death by Thomas Ashby . New finds and interpretations have rendered many of Platner and Ashby's conclusions unreliable, but when used with other sources
841-679: Was this second edition that was often reprinted, complete and in epitomes, and translated into the modern languages of Europe. But the first edition was the basis for an edition published the same year at Lyon , that was thoroughly revised and augmented by François Rabelais and dedicated to Jean du Bellay , with whom Rabelais had been staying in Rome in March through April 1534, just before Marliani's Topographia appeared; it would appear that Rabelais had contact with Marliani. A category of articles that deal with this subject may be found at Category:Topography of
#11988