Rome in the Footsteps of an XVIIIth Century Traveller

Links to this page can be found in Book 6, Day 1 and Day 3, Map B3, View C8 and Rione Monti.

The page covers:
The plate by Giuseppe Vasi
Today's view
Tempio della Pace (Basilica di Massenzio)

The Plate (No. 102)

In his choice of subjects for his 1756 book on the parish churches of Rome, Giuseppe Vasi included S. Maria in Campo Carleo on the grounds that it had been one of the first parish churches of the city. The unassuming building however was not an ancient one and it is not known to have contained ancient columns or capitals. In retrospect we must thank Vasi for his choice because his etching depicts a neighbourhood which does not exist any longer. The origin of Campo Carleo is uncertain: it is thought that either a Byzantine officer named Kaloleon or a Carolo Leonis had their residence in the area.
The view is taken from the green dot in the small 1748 map here below. In the description below the plate Vasi made reference to: 1) Strada dei Conti; 2) Tower of Palazzo del Marchese del Grillo; 3) Strada Alessandrina; 4) Walls of Monasterio della SS. Nunziata; 5) Ruins of Tempio della Pace (at the end of the street); 6) Chiesa di S. Urbano. 2) and 4) are shown in detail in other pages. The small map shows also 7) S. Maria in Campo Carleo.

Today

The view in June 2009. On the left Mercati di Traiano, in the centre the loggia of Casa dei Cavalieri di Rodi and in the foreground two reconstructed columns of Basilica Ulpia. The inset shows the name of the short street (yellow dot) between Mercati di Traiano and Casa dei Cavalieri di Rodi. It is the only remaining reference to the neighbourhood shown in the plate

The Parish of S. Maria in Campo Carleo was abolished by Pope Leo XII in 1825 and the church was pulled down in 1884. Strada Alessandrina is still there, but all the buildings, including S. Urbano, which flanked it were demolished in 1932. The street was named after Cardinal Michele Bonelli, known as Cardinal Alessandrino because he came from Alessandria, a town in northern Italy. He lived in a nearby palace; between 1567 and 1570 he promoted the draining of a swamp at Arco dei Pantani and the opening of a new street between Piazza della Colonna Trajana and Tempio della Pace.

Aerial view before 1932; the red dot is the point from which Vasi took his view; 1) Colonna Traiana; 2) SS. Luca e Martina; 3) Arco dei Pantani; 4) Tempio di Pallade. The green line shows Strada Alessandrina and the yellow lines indicate the approximate route of the first section of Via dell'Impero (today Via dei Fori Imperiali)

A number of buildings in this part of Rome were demolished in order to allow archaeological excavations, but the decision to pull down the whole neighbourhood was taken for political purposes. A new large avenue was opened to link Palazzo Venezia, from which Prime Minister and Fascist Duce (Leader) Benito Mussolini delivered his most important speeches, with Colosseo, the symbol of Ancient Rome. Via dell'Impero was inaugurated on the tenth anniversary of the Fascist seizure of power (October 28, 1922).

(left) A photo of the western side of Strada Alessandrina before 1932; (right) underground walls of S. Urbano

According to Antonio Munoz, the Superintendent in charge at the time of the excavations, the churches and houses which were pulled down had no significant historic or artistic value, the only exception being the Late Renaissance house of Flaminio Ponzio (the building with a balcony on the left side of Strada Alessandrina in the etching by Vasi). Its façade was reassembled in Piazza di S. Maria in Campitelli.

(above) Junction between Via dei Fori Imperiali (left) and Strada Alessandrina (right) where the City of Rome has made use of Vasi's etching to show the neighbourhood which was pulled down; (below) Via dei Fori Imperiali with Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II on the left

Tempio della Pace (Basilica di Massenzio)

Rear view of Basilica di Massenzio and behind it the bell tower of S. Francesca Romana (in the foreground Tempio di Pallade)

Hard by (S. Francesca Romana) stands the Temple of Peace, that is, some remnants of that Temple. It was once the most noble of all the Temples (as the pillar before St. Mary Majors great Door, which belonged to this Temple, sheweth) it was 200 Foot large, and 300 long: but now little signs of its Beauty remain: Wars and time defacing the monuments of Peace.
Richard Lassels' The Voyage of Italy, or a Compleat Journey through Italy in ca 1668

Villa della Farnesina - Agostino Chigi's bedroom: detail of a XVIth century fresco showing Basilica di Massenzio with two remaining columns

In the same Place are the Ruins of the Temple of Peace, built by the Emperor Vespasian. (..) That was the most magnificent and the largest of all the Temples in old Rome; supported by eight Pilasters; at each Pilaster was a vast fluted Column of white Marble; the only one whereof then remaining Pope Paul V , remoy'd and set up in the Street of St. Mary Major, with the Brass Statue of the Blessed Virgin on it. (..) Hither was brought all the Treasure and Precious Vessels of the Temple of Jerusalem, and it was lin'd throughout on the inside with gilt Brass Plates. (..) In the Days of the Emperor Commodus many suffered by its being burnt . The Portico of this Temple , which consisted of six Columns, of the Ionick Order, is to be seen in Vespasian's Coins.
The Travels of the Learned Father Montfaucon from Paris thro' Italy - 1712

1765 Grand View of Campo Vaccino by G. Vasi: detail showing Basilica di Massenzio and other monuments

The three vaults would certainly seem part of the Temple of Peace. (..) Even Nardini has no doubts here. But the modern antiquaries are determined to dispute about what part of the temple these huge vaults may be said to represent; a treasury, a Pinacotheca, perhaps a bath, or any other building of the Forum of Peace. The great excavations in 1812 discovered immense masses of marble, but nothing to assist conjecture. This part of Rome must have been abandoned for many centuries, in order to form the accretion of soil at the back of these vaults, which slopes into an embankment of hanging gardens.
John Cam Hobhouse - Dissertations on the Ruins of Rome - 1818

Monastero dei SS. Cosma e Damiano (left) and Basilica di Massenzio (right) seen from Orti Farnesiani

The large building which until the early XIXth century was called Tempio della Pace is now thought to be a basilica built by Emperor/Usurper Maxentius in 306-312 and completed by Emperor Constantine. The actual Templum Pacis has been identified in the foundations of Monastero dei SS. Cosma e Damiano and some of its columns have been re-erected.
The basilica was divided into three naves by eight gigantic pillars. Each of them was decorated with a column. In 1613 the only standing column was removed by Pope Paul V who placed it opposite S. Maria Maggiore. The remaining part of the basilica corresponds to the northern nave, which included a side apse.

(left) Maps highlighting the expansion of the Roman Empire on the back of Basilica di Massenzio; (right) detail of the vaults, with a pattern which can be noticed also in halls of the Baths of Diocletian; the coffered ceiling was a construction technique aimed at reducing the weight of the vault (see that of Pantheon)

The colossal vaults and their decoration were a source of inspiration for many artists (you may wish to see the ceiling of S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane by Francesco Borromini). The maps showing the expansion of the Roman Empire were added in the 1930s (there used to be also another map showing the short-lived Italian Empire which was declared after the conquest of Ethiopia in 1936).

(left) Fragments of porphyry columns at the southern entrance to the basilica; (centre/right) Musei Capitolini: marble parts of a colossal statue of Emperor Constantine which stood in the basilica (a hand was found at Circus Maximus and you can see it in the image used as background for this page, the holes in the head indicate the presence of a bronze crown)

It is generally believed that the statue of Constantine was an acrolith (from the Greek words meaning height/extremity and stone) i.e. the head, the arms and the legs were made of marble, whereas the clothed parts of the body were made of wood or bronze. It was not a new development in sculpture because this technique had been used by Phidias at Olympia in the Vth century BC; you may wish to see another colossal (bronze) head inside Musei Capitolini and other colossal heads at Djemila in Algeria.

Next plate in Book 6: S. Agnese fuori delle mura.
Next step in Day 1 itinerary: Orti Farnesiani.
Next step in Day 3 itinerary: Tempio Antico di Pallade.
Next step in your tour of Rione Monti: Tempio Antico di Pallade.

Excerpts from Giuseppe Vasi 1761 Itinerary related to this page:

Chiesa di s. Maria in Campo Carleo, e quella di s. Urbano Due strade si aprono ai fianchi di questa piccola, e antica chiesa parrocchiale; una a destra dicesi; de' Conti, e l'altra a sinistra, si chiama Alessandrina. Tempio della Pace Tre soli arconi spogliati di ogni ornamento rimangono in piedi del celebre e magnifico tempio della pace, che fu una delle maggiori fabbriche di Roma. Principiollo Claudio Imperatore e poi terminollo Vespasiano, dopo aver soggiogata la Giudea, e per dargli quella vastità di sito, che conveniva, atterrò la casa di Giulio Cesare, ed altre fabbriche, che impedivano la superba idea di quel tempio. In esso conservò tutti i vasi e ornamenti preziosi, che portò nel suo trionfo dal tempio di Gerusalemme, e oltre le ricchezze delle provincie lontane, vi si portavano a conservare anco quelle di Roma, e vi erano delle statue e pitture fatte da' più eccellenti artefici di quei tempi. Per una saetta arse poi tutto quel tesoro in tempo di Commodo con grave danno de' Romani: onde mai più fu riattato. Una sola colonna delle otto, che sostenevano la nave di mezzo, rimasta in piedi, da Paolo V. fu drizzata sulla piazza di s. Maria Maggiore, collocandovi sopra la statua della ss. Vergine di metallo dorato, e di un tronco di quelle, ne fu formata la maravigliosa statua di Alessandro Farnese, che si vede in questo salone.