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Visit Rome following 8 XVIIIth century itineraries XVIIIth century Rome in the 10 Books of Giuseppe Vasi - Le Magnificenze di Roma Antica e Moderna The Grand View of Rome by G. Vasi The Environs of Rome: Frascati, Tivoli, Albano and other small towns near Rome A 1781 map of Rome by G. Vasi An 1852 map of Rome by P. Letarouilly Rome seen by a 1905 armchair traveller in the paintings by Alberto Pisa The 14 historical districts of Rome An abridged history of Rome How to spend a peaceful day in Rome Baroque sculptors and their works The coats of arms of the popes in the monuments of Rome Pages on a specific pope Pages complementing the itineraries and the views by Giuseppe Vasi Walks in the Roman countryside and in other towns of Latium following Ferdinand Gregorovius A Directory of links to the Churches of Rome A Directory of links to the Palaces and Villas of Rome A Directory of links to the Other Monuments of Rome A Directory of Baroque Architects with links to their works A Directory of links to Monuments of Ancient Rome A Directory of links to Monuments of Medieval Rome A Directory of links to Monuments of Renaissance A Directory of links to Monuments of the Late Renaissance A list of the most noteworthy Roman Families Directories of fountains, obelisks, museums, etc. Books and guides used for developing this web site An illustrated Glossary of Art Terms Venice and the Levant Roman recollections in Florence A list of Italian towns shown in this web site Venetian Fortresses in Greece Vienna seen by an Italian XVIIIth century traveller A list of foreign towns shown in this web site
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All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it. Text edited by Rosamie Moore.
Page revised in July 2009.

To the Italian visitors of my web site

Piazza del Colosseo (Book 2) (Map B3) (Day 1) (View C9) (Rione Campitelli) and (Rione Monti)

In this page:
Arco di Costantino
Tempio di Venere e Roma
Meta Sudante
Domus Aurea
Terme di Tito
Terme di Traiano (including Sette Sale)
In the previous page:
The plate by Giuseppe Vasi
Today's view
Colosseo

Arco di Costantino

Arco di Costantino
Northern view

The Arch of Constantine was most likely built for a previous emperor of the IIIrd century. It was renovated and dedicated to Emperor Constantine to celebrate his visit to Rome in 315 and his 312 victory at Ponte Milvio. The inscription makes reference to Constantine's instinctu divino (foreknowing the will of the gods); this was viewed by early Christian historians as a confirmation of Constantine's vision, the dream he had the night before the battle, during which he was told to fight under the protection of the Cross.

Reliefs
Relief from Basilica Ulpia in Trajan's Forum

The major part of the decoration comes from previous monuments to Emperors Trajan, Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius. There had been two major fires in Rome in 283 and 307 and it is possible that these monuments were badly affected by them. Eight statues of Dacian prisoners came from the Trajan' Forum and the same applies to four reliefs depicting scenes of the Dacian wars. The heads of the statues are an XVIIIth century work by Pietro Bracci.

Reliefs
Reliefs from a monument to Emperor Hadrian portraying (left) hunting of the lion and (right) a sacrifice to Hercules

Whereas the fame of Trajan is associated with his military successes, Hadrian provided the empire with a long period of peace; the round reliefs which were taken from a (lost) arch to that emperor, portray scenes of hunting and of sacrifices; the head of Hadrian was modified in order to portray Constantine or Licinius, his associate in power (Hadrian had a light beard, Constantine was clean-shaven).

Reliefs
Reliefs from a monument celebrating Emperor Marcus Aurelius: (left) the emperor distributes subsidies to the people; (right) surrender of an enemy

Eight rectangular reliefs came from a (lost) arch to Emperor Marcus Aurelius built by his son Commodus. The heads of the emperor are not the original ones, but an XVIIIth century addition which is not true to life (Marcus Aurelius had curly hair and an elaborate beard). In these reliefs he was always portrayed in a very "imperial" posture.

Reliefs
Relief portraying the Moon (above) and the army of Constantine leaving Milan (below)

Finally the decoration of the arch was completed with reliefs made for the occasion and portraying events of the 312 campaign. Their quality is much lower than that of the reliefs taken from the other monuments; it is interesting to observe that two round reliefs were dedicated to the Sun and the Moon; these were not very common themes for the decoration of a Roman monument, but Constantine was a devotee of Sol Invictus (Invincible Sun), a belief which was very popular among his soldiers too.

Tempio di Venere e Roma

Tempio di Venere e Roma
Eastern side of the temple seen from Colosseo

The plate shows also to the far right the ruins of the Temple to Venus and Rome. This was built by Emperor Hadrian who was personally involved in its design. It was made up of two identical temples facing the Roman Forum (Rome) and the Colosseum (Venus). They were placed on a large terrace (it measures 100x145 metres / 109x159 yds) and they were surrounded by more than a hundred columns of grey granite.

Tempio di Venere
Apse of the temple and bell tower of S. Francesca Romana

The statue of the deity (in this case Venus) was placed in a gigantic niche, the decoration of which inspired many artists (see Francesco Salvi's niche in Fontana di Trevi).

Meta Sudante

Meta Sudante
The site of Meta Sudante

The plate shows the foundations of Meta Sudans, a Roman fountain (and behind them the Arch of Constantine). In 1936 the remains of the fountain (as shown in the plate) were still there, but they were pulled down to allow the army parade to go through the Arch of Constantine (you may wish to see it in an old photo - external link). The fountain had a conical shape which resembled that of metae, structures mounted on the ends of the central spina in Roman circuses. It was built by Emperor Domitian. It was not a spouting fountain, but a "sweating" one (It. sudante): water slid on its surface.

Domus Aurea

The site of Domus Aurea
The site of Domus Aurea

After one of the most damaging fires (64 AD) ever occurred in Rome, Emperor Nero rebuilt on the Palatine the Imperial Palace. The Emperor was suspected of having set fire to Rome to enlarge his residence, which actually he expanded by including in it the first slopes of the Esquiline hill, the area to the north of the Colosseum, and the Temple to Claudius on the Caelian hill. This vast area became a large villa, with small woods, fountains, gardens and it had at its centre a pond. Nero built a large pavilion overlooking the pond; it was known as Domus Aurea (Golden House) and it was gravely damaged by a fire in 104.
In 111 Apollodorus of Damascus, the architect of the Forum of Trajan, filled Domus Aurea with the material resulting from the excavation of Velia, a hill between the Quirinal and the Capitol which he levelled to the ground to make room for the Forum. Apollodorus reinforced the walls of Domus Aurea and used them as foundations for the baths he built for Emperor Trajan.
Domus Aurea was discovered and "excavated" in Renaissance times and the group of Laocoon and his two sons was found here. The site was visited by many artists, mainly painters, who found inspiration in the decoration of the rooms (grotesque after Italian grotta, as the entrance to these rooms looked like the entrance to a cave=grotta). Excavations are still going on and new rooms and paintings were recently found.

Terme di Tito

Terme di Tito
Terme di Tito

Emperor Vespasian and his son Titus came to power one year after Nero was forced to commit suicide; in order to gain the favour of the Senate and of the ordinary citizens of Rome they built the Colosseum on the site of the pond; so what was meant to give pleasure to the sole emperor, became the venue devoted to the entertainment of the Romans; the baths of Nero's villa were slightly modified and were opened to the public by Titus. Their remains are located opposite the northern side of the Colosseum.

Terme di Traiano

Terme di Tito e di Traiano
Terme di Traiano

The baths designed by Apollodorus for Enperor Trajan set a pattern which was followed for the construction of Caracalla's and Diocletian's baths and for many other similar complexes throughout the empire; they included several other facilities in addition to the baths; they were all placed in a walled garden. A series of ten cisterns provided a constant and controlled supply of water; of these cisterns seven were never covered by vegetation or other buildings. The cisterns and the ruins of the baths attracted the attention of Giovanni Battista Piranesi: see his etchings in external links: Sette sale and Trajan's Baths (which Piranesi named after Titus).

Walls of Domus Aurea
Sette Sale

Excerpts from Giuseppe Vasi 1761 Itinerary related to this page:


Arco di Costantino e Meta sudante
Su questa piazza eravi anticamente un sasso che dicevasi scelerato; perchè presso di esso si bandivano, e si flaggellavano i Cristiani. Ora vi si vede un muro rovinoso, e rotondo, fatto di semplici mattoni, quale è miserabile avanzo della celebratissima Meta sudante, ed appresso si ammira il magnifico Arco eretto a Costantino Magno dal Senato, e Popolo Romano, in memoria dell'insigne vittoria riportata in virtù della ss. Croce contro Massenzio Tiranno, come diremo, appresso ponte Molle. E' questo costrutto tutto di marmi con colonne, e bassirilievi molto preziosi, fuor che quelli da basso, perciò dicono, che quelli fossero levati dall'Arco di Trajano, e queste fatte in tempo di Costantino, quando le belle arti erano in gran decadenza.

Next plate in Book 2: Piazza di S. Giovanni in Laterano
Next step in Day 1 itinerary: Chiesa di S. Clemente
Next step in your tour of Rione Monti: Villa Altieri
Next step in your tour of Rione Campitelli: Casino Fini