A chronological history of Rome focusing on a building, a sculpture, a painting, or an artefact each episode.
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A temple which would be known by the Greek term Pantheion was first dedicated in the Field of Mars by Agrippa, perhaps to exalt all of the gods. It was rebuilt over a century later and completed during the reign of Hadrian almost exactly nineteen centuries ago. This reconstruction is perhaps the best preserved building of any ancient civilization, and arguably the most influential building ever constructed. It is, quite simply, exquisite beyond belief. I have taken more photographs of the dome than I can possibly count. Here are some recent ones.
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12 Jun 2024
A Podcast about Rome. Episode 19: Exoticism and Empire at Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli.
A year after Hadrian’s accession to the throne, after his return to Rome, he embarked on the building of a villa complex at Tibur (now called Tivoli) in the limestone mountains to the east of the city. The area was one long favoured for villas: the abundant natural springs, cooler breezes, and local limestone were all convenient for building summer retreats. Plus the River Aniene, then navigable, provided an alternative route to the unforgiving via Tiburtina for travel from Rome.
The villa complex would be informed by Hadrian’s travels and was interpreted by the late Imperial Historia Augusta (a biography of second and third century emperors of disputed authorship, which describes the villa with great admiration) as a version of the Empire in miniature:
His villa at Tibur was marvellously constructed, and he actually gave to parts of it the names of provinces and places of the greatest renown, calling them, for instance, Lyceum, Academia, Prytaneum, Canopus, Poecile and Tempe.
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24 Apr 2024
A Podcast about Rome. Episode 18: Trajan's Harbour at Portus.
The ancient port of Rome at Ostia had, in legend, been founded by Ancus Martius, the fourth of Rome’s seven semi-legendary kings. However winds magnified by its position and the exposed nature of the mouth of the river proved particularly treacherous, and in the mid first century Claudius established a new and complementary port at Portus, four kilometres (two and a half miles or so) to the north.
Some six decades after Claudius’ port had been begun, a vast hexagonal basin was created slightly inland. This extension was intended to deal both with increased volume in the traffic of goods, and with the significant deposits from the accumulation of sand and mud from the mouth of the Tiber. Trajan’s harbour at Portus is quite simply one of the most extraordinary engineering feats of the Roman world.
Useful sites of places mentioned:
Portus Project (https://www.portusproject.org)
Museum of the Ships at Fiumicino (https://www.ostiaantica.beniculturali.it/en/archaeological-sites-and-monuments/museum-of-roman-ships-fiumicino/)
Harbours of Claudius and Trajan: opening hours and visiting information (https://www.ostiaantica.beniculturali.it/en/opening-hours-tickets/)
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