Colossus of Nero
The Colossus of Nero ( Latin Colossus Neronis ) was a large bronze statue of this Roman emperor that he had erected in the entrance hall of his huge palace, the Domus Aurea , in Rome . It is said to have been 119 or 120 feet high (about 35 m), built by the sculptor and bronze caster Zenodoros . The model was about the same size, in the Hellenistic period around 290 BC. Chr completed. And the seven wonders of the world counting giant of Rhodes with a height 32 to 36 meters.
Remodeling
After Nero's death in 68, since Nero's imperial successors tried to distance themselves from him, the statue was converted into the sun god Sol and placed under Hadrian , for which his architect Decrianus allegedly needed 24 elephants. From then on, it stood on the square in front of the large amphitheater that the Flavian emperors had built in place of part of the Domus Aurea. The later name Colosseum for the Flavian Amphitheater is probably derived from this colossus .
Commodus had the colossus transformed into a statue of Hercules , depicted with Commodus' facial features. After his death she was designed as a sun god again.
Decay
The time of their destruction is unknown. The statue's enormous base, a square eight meters long, was still visible in the mid-1930s. Benito Mussolini had it removed in 1936 because it was in the way of the Via dei Fori Imperiali through the Arch of Constantine . The place where the base stood is marked in the pavement next to the Colosseum by a square lawn.
literature
- Marianne Bergmann : The Colossus Nero, the Domus Aurea and the change in mentality in Rome during the early Imperial period (= Trier Winckelmann programs. 13). Zabern, Mainz 1994, ISBN 3-8053-1781-6 .
- Filippo Coarelli : Rome. An archaeological guide. Verlag von Zabern, Mainz 2000, ISBN 3-8053-2685-8 , pp. 193-194.
- Reinhard Förtsch : Colossus Neronis. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 3, Metzler, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-476-01473-8 , column 85.
- Samuel Ball Platner , Thomas Ashby : Colossus Neronis. In: A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Oxford University Press, London 1929, pp. 130-131 ( online ).
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ Pliny the Elder , Naturalis historia 34, 45-46 . Suetonius , Nero 31 .
- ^ Suetonius, Vespasian 18 ; Cassius Dio 65, 15, 1 (according to a different book numbering 66, 15, 1; English translation ).
- ↑ Historia Augusta , Hadrian 19 .
- ↑ Cassius Dio 72, 22, 3 (according to a different book numbering 73, 22, 3; English translation ); Historia Augusta , Commodus 17 ; Herodian 1:15 ( English translation ).
- ^ Filippo Coarelli: Rome. An Archaeological Guide , p. 193.
Coordinates: 41 ° 53 ′ 27.2 ″ N , 12 ° 29 ′ 27.5 ″ E