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This item can be found on the following maps: Sparta | Theatre | Christianity | Doric Migration | Dark Ages | Hellenistic states | Achaeans, Achaea | Colonization | Apollo | Macedonia, Macedones | Natural catastrophes | Persian Wars | Punic Wars | Athletes | Athenian League (Second) | Education / Culture (Σπάρτη/ Spártē, Doric Σπάρτα/ Spárta). I. Political history [German version] A. Archaic period City in Laconica on the middle reaches of the Eurotas; originally four villages (Cynosura [3], Limnae, Pitana/Pitane, Mesoa), which developed from settlements of D…

[German version] As regio II of the Augustan division of Rome (CIL XV 7190; for the preceding period, see Varro, Ling. lat. 5, 46), C. corresponds largely with the  Caelius Mons. Its expansion probably coincided with the slopes of the hill: in the west, it bordered  the Palatine, in the east it is questionable whether the Lateran was included. To the south, its approximate boundary is marked by the modern via delle Terme di Caracalla, and to the north, it was succeeded by regio III with the later Colosseum, at about the line of the modern via dei SS. Quattro Coronati. Förtsch, Reinhard (Cologne) B…

[German version] A building in Rome restored by Hadrian (SHA Hadr. 19,10), possibly the reconstruction of the Poseidonion that had burned down in 80 BC under Titus. The building, now partially covered by the modern Via della Palombella, is located directly south of the Pantheon and west of the Porticus Argonautorum. The main room was a hall of about 45 × 20 m with a round alcove which probably housed a colossal statue. The short sides of the hall are narrower and hold rectangular alcoves, the long…

[German version] [1] Antonini Pii see  Columns, monumental Förtsch, Reinhard (Cologne) [German version] [2] Maenia Monumental columns ( Columns, monumental( erected in 318 BC, during the censorship of the plebeian, C. Maenius, consul in 338 BC, in the context of a major renovation of the  Forum Romanum in Rome (Plin. HN 34,20; Fest. 120L; Isid. Orig. 15,3,11); near the curia Hostilia (Cic. Sest. 8,18 et Schol Bob. ad loc.; 58,124 et Schol. Bob. ad loc.) in the area of the later arch of Septimius Severus. Defaulting debtors were denounced here by their c…

[German version] Built in Rome in 179 BC on instruction from the censors M. Aemilius Lepidus and M. Fulvius Nobilior (Liv. 40, 51, 2f.). It is possible that a previous building from 210 BC was incorporated (Plaut. Capt. 815; Plaut. Curc. 472). In 78 BC, the consul in office, M. Aemilius Lepidus, intervened in the construction (Plin. HN 35, 13);  Basilica Aemilia. H. Bauer developed an outline of the basic shape based on sparse structural remnants. Judging from the north-east corner of its foundation, the portico was located in front of the tabernae and ran 3 m behind the portico from …

[German version] I. Capitol Hill in Rome, consisting of a summit called C. in the south (46 m) and the Arx in the north (49 m), linked by the depression of the asylum. Until Trajan's forum was built, the C. was the south-western spur of the Quirinal and linked with it by a bridge. From archaic times, buildings on the C. had to have very deep foundations because of unfavourable geological conditions; in addition, since ancient times, there have been landslides, terracing (in the 15th and 16th cents.), as well as other substa…

[German version] As the successor building of the   domus transitoria , which was destroyed in the fire of AD 64, the domus aurea (DA) was still uncompleted at the time of Otho (Suet., Otho 7). Its main aspects were the extensive expropriation and inclusion of public space and the mobilization of all technical and artistic means in shaping an artificial world. After Nero's death the main areas, apart from the Palatine, were systematically returned to public use by the Flavians and Hadrian. The DA included the Palatine, the Oppius, the Caelius and the Velia. The city wall of th…

[German version] The Basilica Hilariana (BH), located within the modern Villa Celimontana on the Piazza della Navicella in Rome, was first discovered through its mosaic with the caption revealing its name. Close by, the base of a statue of Manius Publicus Hilarus was found, who had erected the building for the members of a cultic society. The statue had been a donation from the priests of the Cybele. Since 1987, an area of 30 × 35 m has been uncovered. Stamped bricks reveal that the BH dates to th…

A. Military camp [German version] [I 1] General The Roman soldiers always made sure that they were protected by fortifications. This also applied when they only stopped for a night on campaigns. In the evening of their arrival the field camp had to be set up and destroyed again on the morning of departure. The plural castra was the name given to any kind of military camp, the singular castrum certainly existed but was not used in mil. vocabulary. Castellum is the diminutive form of castra (Veg. Mil. 3,8) and also had a civilian meaning. The origin of the Roman camps is uncertain; because …

[German version] Erected in 184 BC near the Curia Hostilia by Cato Censorius, financed from public funds (Plut. Cato mai. 19, 3; Plut. Cato min. 5, 1), Rome's oldest basilica. When Clodius was killed in 52 BC and his followers turned the Curia into his funeral pyre, the Basilica Porcia burned down as well. Two substructural rooms in opus incertum possibly stem from the Sullan building phase; they are located directly on the Clivus Lautumiarum (Clivus Argentarius) across from the carcer. Förtsch, Reinhard (Cologne) Bibliography E. M. Steinby, in: LTUR 1, 187 Richardson, 56.

[German version] Only known by its popular name, this arch was destroyed in 1662 by Pope Alexander VII in the course of extending the Via del Corso to the south of the Via delle Vite in Rome. Drawings by Dosio (before 1569) and Schenck (before 1705) show a single-arch building decorated on each side with column pairs of verde antico which carry an arabesque acanthus frieze on composite capitals. On its northern side, two extensively restored, possibly Hadrianic reliefs with the apotheosis of a woman (formerly ‘Apotheosis of Sabina’) as well as an adlocutio (both Rome, MC) were attached,…

[German version] Room in a Roman  villa; however, it is not possible within the framework of Roman villa architecture to define a diaeta typologically or historically either on the basis of the villa letters of Pliny the Younger (Plin. Ep. 2,17; 5,6) or on other traditions. In both Laurentinum and Tusci, Pliny provides descriptions of seven diaeta each (Plin. Ep. 2,17,2; 2,17,13; 2,17,20; 5,6,20; 5,6,27). Their symmetry in numbers as well as in their aesthetic evaluation is a deliberate literary design, linking both letters compositionally, without i…

[German version] [1] Arcadii, Honorii et Theodosii This last dedication of a triumphal arch by the Roman city senate between AD 402 and 408 was meant for Arcadius (died in AD 408), Honorius and Theodosius II (born in AD 402) for their victories over the Germans. According to the inscription (CIL 6, 1196), the arch bore statues of the three emperors as well as reliefs of weapons (?). The decoration and tone of the inscription point to a triumphal arch of pagan tradition. Förtsch, Reinhard (Cologne) Bibliography Richardson, 23 C. Lega, in: LTUR 1, 79-80. [German version] [2] Augusti, 1 (29 BC)…

[German version] In the written sources an aedes Lateranorum by Plautius Lateranus, the designated consul of the year 65, is attested in Rome during the Neronian period (Juv. 10,15,18; more regarding location near the Lateran basilica later: Jer. Ep. 77,4). An aedes Laterani (Ps.-Aur. Vict. Epit. 20,6) was created when Septimius Severus donated the aedes Parthorum to his senior commander T. Sextius Lateranus (PIR1 S 469). Three water pipelines (CIL XV 7536) bearing the names of Sextius Lateranus and his brother Sextius Torquatus (PIR1 S 478) were found in 1595 near the Lateran…

[German version] A main access located in the north-east of the  Forum Romanum, which provided the connection with the Subura. The aedes Iani Gemini is said to have been located ad infimum Argiletum (Liv. 1,19,2). The street fragments between the Forum Iulium, the Curia and the Basilica Aemilia belong to the Augustan layout. Förtsch, Reinhard (Cologne) Bibliography Richardson, 39 E. Tortorici, in: LTUR 1, 125 f.

[German version] The Basilica lulia (BI) in Rome takes up the area between the Temple of Saturn and the Temple of the Dioscuri, bordered to the west by the vicus Iugarius and to the east by the vicus Tuscus. It was built on top of the  Basilica Sempronia as well as the house underneath, which was owned supposedly by Scipio Africanus. Remnants of both houses were found. The new BI also displaced the tabernae veteres and it is likely that the bordering streets had to be moved as well. Construction began in the year 54 BC ( Basilica Aemilia) and was completed by Augustus…

[German version] Considered ‘one of the most beautiful buildings in the world’ (Plin. HN 36,102), it took the place of the  Basilica Fulvia on the north-east corner of the  Forum Romanum in Rome (Stat. Silv. 1,1,30) but showed certain differences to the latter in its ground plan. It was restored by members of the gens Aemilia (78, 54, 34 and 14 BC, as well as under Tiberius in AD 22.; cf.  Basilica Aemilia), also after the fires of AD 283 and again in the early 5th cent. Initial excavations were performed in 1898-1914. In 1922-1940, the series of tabernae in front and the wall separating the…

[German version] [1] Hill in Rome Hill in Rome, c. 2 km long, 400-500 m high. Although Caelius Mons (CM) is counted amongst the oldest of the city's hills (Dion. Hal. 2,50,1; Tac. Ann. 4,56; 11,24), its largest part was outside the   pomerium . Even though graves were still sited there in the Republican age, the area later developed into a fashionable residential district (Cic. Off. 3,16,66; Plin. HN 36,48; Tac. Ann. 4,64); in the Imperial Age, when the slopes of the Esquilin and the Colosseum were built up with insulae, the fashionable district moved to the upper part of the hill. …

[German version] Possibly an area set aside in the prata Flaminia, Rome (Liv. 3, 63, 7), for the worship of Apollo, in which 431 BC a temple of Apollo had been erected in circo. Förtsch, Reinhard (Cologne) Bibliography Richardson, 12 F. Coarelli, in: LTUR 1, 48.

[German version] Basilica on the north side of the  Forum Romanum in Rome, erected by  Sempronius Gracchus (censor in 169 BC). The house of P. Scipio Africanus and the tabernae veteres previously stood on the basilica's building lots, which were purchased with public funds. Remains from this sequence of buildings may have been uncovered under the  Basilica Iulia. Förtsch, Reinhard (Cologne) Bibliography I. Iacopi, in: LTUR 1, 187-188 Richardson, 56.