More backposting - November's Third Week

Week three of November:

Tuesday was the 20^th and we went to the Forum of Nerva (AKA the Forum Transitorium because it is long and skinny), which was actually begun by Domitian, but he suffered the damnatio memoriae, so he couldn’t have his name on anything. It was headed by a temple to his patron goddess Minerva, which is a fun play on words with the emperor who followed him (Nerva!).

This would be the fourth of the imperial fora built at this time. (Caesar, Augustus, Forum of Peace by Vespasian). Not much is left, but there are two columns that can be seen pretty well from the side of the road. We went down into the forum, then traipsed across the Forum of Augustus to get to the Forum of Trajan, our next destination.

The particular guardian we had that day told us we could climb up to the temple to Mars Ultor, so of course we did so. This is me standing where the cult statue goes, trying to look vengeful.

Of all the fora, Trajan’s is the biggest. He built everything bigger. Trajan’s forum is part of a huge complex that includes two libraries on either side of his narrative column, in front of which was the Basilica Ulpia, in front of which was the forum proper, which had apse ends that interlocked with the markets of Trajan. This isn’t madness: this is Rome.

Anyway, the column of Trajan has a spiral staircase on the inside which leads to a platform at the top. There used to be a statue of Trajan on top of it all, but now it belongs to the Papacy, so I think it’s Paul who is up there.

Well ,we climbed it.

This is the view from the top! Or not really.

The top of that column is a pretty sweet vantage point. The markets are simultaneously well-preserved markets (or, maybe administrative offices, but we don’t know), a museum of stuff from the surrounding imperial fora, and a place to display modern art. It’s a pretty interesting combination.

One of the shops at ground level.. there are like four and a half levels

After Trajan died, Hadrian put his temple behind the column, so the entire package was complete. It’s also sort of set up like a military camp, which fits because Trajan was a military man.

Wednesday, we went back to Ostia, but stopped first at the nearby Portus (next to the port of Claudius), which was the additional port Trajan built, and Isola Sacra which had a lot of good examples of tombs. Portus is very utilitarian and well-designed, and as a town it eventually became more important than Ostia (in 350AD, Ostia was just a residential area, while Portus was the working port).

Claudius really liked rusticated columns!

The technology of the granaries there blows my mind, because we do something totally different today that I am not sure I understand.

Isola Sacra was like a tomb village in use from the second century BC until the fourth century AD., mostly places with niches for ash urns, but a few places for inhumation as well. Romans never buried people inside the city except in very special cases (a few emperors, for example). The tombs are non-monumental, so not as big and grandiose as the ones along the Appian Way, and they look mostly like little houses.

The Village.

Then we went back to Ostia, but we only had time to look at the Synagogue and Christian Basilica really quickly, and then go home.

Thursday, which was Thanksgiving, we went back to the Ara Pacis which had been closed before. It was less rainy and awful, and since Emily and I got there early, we also paid a visit to the Mausoleum of Augustus, which is in a lot worse shape than I would like for The Man himself, Augustus.. but you can’t have everything.

This is the entrance, taken from sticking my arm inside the gate. There’s a rose there, but I’m not sure if it’s for Augustus..

The Ara Pacis is absolutely dripping with propaganda, and it’s amazing and beautiful. I didn’t bring a notebook or take any notes on this day, but here’s me in front of the Tellus/Pax relief on the outer precinct wall.

OMG.

In the center with the thing over his head is my ancient boyfriend, Agrippa.

Then we went to the EUR, which was the museum of fake things, so nothing there was original, but it was so awesome to see mini models of so many things we’d actually walked through, and casts and models all next to each other so you could understand and compare. I feel like the EUR is the greatest museum for getting an all-in-one dose of Roman civilization and history.

A cast of part of the relief from Trajan’s column. I liked the scales.

Plastic model of Rome from the time of Constantine, which was huge

We didn’t have lunch that day since we were going to have the feast later on…!

!!!!

OMG feast!

I also went on the art history field trip that Friday and we saw some awesome stuff! (S. Luigi dei Francesi, S. Agostino, S. Maria Sopra Minerva—by my obelisk!)