Rostra Diocletiani

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The Rostra Diocletiani are a speaker's platform ( rostra ) built towards the end of the 3rd century at the eastern end of the Roman Forum in Rome .

Finding

The so-called rostra Diocletiani were built from brickwork on the eastern edge of the actual and paved forum square. They were about 12 meters deep and 30 meters wide, so they took up almost the entire width of the forum in this area. Its height, preserved at the south corner, reaches 3.90 meters. The building was once clad with marble slabs, the corresponding work pieces of the base profile and the cornice have been preserved. Inside were the looted foundations for five pillars that rose on the platform. Using brick stamps , the building can be dated to the time of Diocletian at the end of the 3rd century or the beginning of the 4th century.

identification

Filippo Coarelli brought the monument into connection with Constantius I , one of the Caesars of the Diocletian tetrarchy , and suggested that his victory over Carausius in 293 be seen as the reason for its construction. The structure and its design, on the other hand, suggest a counterpart to the rostra Augusti on the west side of the forum, which was also redesigned in the tetrarchic period . In this case, the rostra Diocletiani replaced the rostra aedis Divi Iuli , a few meters further east , which were in front of the temple of Divus Iulius built by Augustus . It is possible that the rostra Diocletiani can even be associated with some imperial speeches that were given on the new platform.

As part of the redesign, the Rostra Augusti received deep foundations in Tetrarchic times that supported a monument consisting of five columns. On each column there was a statue of a genius of the four tetrarchs with a statue of Juppiter in the center. For the rostra Diocletiani a corresponding design is to be applied. Traces of entry on the west side of the building facing the forum could testify to the attachment of ram spurs , the actual rostra , but may only be connected to the marble cladding.

The Rostra Augusti with the tetrarchical five-column monument on the frieze of the Arch of Constantine

The reason for this fundamental and last far-reaching change in the forum area was probably the Decennalia , the ten-year celebrations of the first tetrarchy in 303, which were also the vicennal celebrations for Augusti Diocletian and Maximian . The columned monuments on the speaker's platforms on the narrow sides announced the event and celebrated the new form of rule. Also at this time, or soon after , a seven-column monument was erected on the south side of the forum, directly in front of the facade of the Basilica Julia , the base of which has still been preserved. Thus three sides of the Roman Forum were framed by tetrarchic column monuments, behind which the ancient buildings of the forum receded.

Excavation history

During the large-scale excavations of the Roman Forum from 1871 - Rome had just become part of the Italian state and its capital - the main aim was to regain the state of the imperial era. Committed to time and the Kingdom of Italy , Pietro Rosa , Giuseppe Fiorelli and Rodolfo Lanciani removed everything that was younger or judged to be younger. When the well-preserved structure of the Rostra Diocletiani was discovered in 1874 , it was taken to be the remains of a medieval tower and was removed without further documentation. Only the south side was interpreted as part of the seven-column monument in front of the Basilica Julia and it was left standing. Only new excavations in 1979 made clear the dimensions of the former building and its internal structure, clarified its dating and paved the way for the interpretation of its former function.

literature

  • Franz Alto Bauer : City without an emperor. Rome in the Age of Dyarchy and Tetrarchy (285–306 AD). In: Therese Fuhrer (ed.): Rome and Milan in late antiquity. Representations of urban spaces in literature, architecture and art. De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2011, pp. 3–85, here: pp. 57–65 ( online ).
  • Filippo Coarelli : L'edilizia pubblica a Roma in età tetrarchica. In: William V. Harris (Ed.): The Transformations of Urbs Roma in Late Antiquity (= Journal of Roman Archeology . Supplement 33). Portsmouth / RI 1999, pp. 23-33.
  • Paolo Liverani: Osservazioni sui rostri del Foro Romano in età tardo antica. In: Anna Leone, Domenico Palombi, Susan Walker (eds.): Res bene gestae. Ricerche di storia urbana su Roma antica in onore di Eva Margareta Steinby. Quasar, Rome 2007, pp. 169-193.
  • Patrizia Verduchi: Le tribune rostrate. In: Anna Maria Bietti Sestrieri (Ed.): Roma. Archeologica nel centro (= Lavori e studi di archeologia. Volume 6). De Luca, Rome 1985, pp. 29-33.
  • Cairoli Fulvio Giuliani, Patrizia Verduchi: L'Area Centrale del Foro Romano. Olschki, Florenz 1987, pp. 148-166.
  • Patrizia Verduchi: Rostra Diocletiani. In: Eva Margareta Steinby (Ed.): Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae . Volume 4. Quasar, Rome 1999, pp. 217-218.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ^ Cairoli Fulvio Giuliani, Patrizia Verduchi: L'Area Centrale del Foro Romano. Olschki, Florence 1987, p. 156; the brick stamps therefore belong to a type as represented by CIL 15, 01650 .
  2. ↑ Filippo Coarelli: L'edilizia pubblica a Roma in età tetrarchica. In: William V. Harris (Ed.): The Transformations of Urbs Roma in Late Antiquity (= Journal of Roman Archeology . Supplement 33). Portsmouth / RI 1999, p. 32 f.
  3. ^ Franz Alto Bauer: City without an emperor. Rome in the Age of Dyarchy and Tetrarchy (285–306 AD). In: Therese Fuhrer (ed.): Rome and Milan in late antiquity. Representations of urban spaces in literature, architecture and art. De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2011, p. 58 f.
  4. ^ Paolo Liverani: Osservazioni sui rostri del Foro Romano in età tardo antica. In: Anna Leone, Domenico Palombi, Susan Walker (eds.): Res bene gestae. Ricerche di storia urbana su Roma antica in onore di Eva Margareta Steinby. Quasar, Rome 2007, pp. 170-180.
  5. ↑ However, it cannot be decided with absolute certainty whether the representatives of the first or the second tetrarchy were honored here; see. Franz Alto Bauer: City without an emperor. Rome in the Age of Dyarchy and Tetrarchy (285–306 AD). In: Therese Fuhrer (ed.): Rome and Milan in late antiquity. Representations of urban spaces in literature, architecture and art. De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2011, p. 59, note 234.
  6. ^ Franz Alto Bauer: City without an emperor. Rome in the Age of Dyarchy and Tetrarchy (285–306 AD). In: Therese Fuhrer (ed.): Rome and Milan in late antiquity. Representations of urban spaces in literature, architecture and art. De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2011, p. 65.
  7. ^ Cairoli Fulvio Giuliani, Patrizia Verduchi: L'Area Centrale del Foro Romano. Olschki, Florenz 1987, pp. 148-166.

Coordinates: 41 ° 53 ′ 31.6 ″  N , 12 ° 29 ′ 8.1 ″  E