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This book explores the factors that contributed to the transformation of the Campus Martius into a space filled with extraordinary Roman architectural structures.
List of contents
1. 'The size of the plain is remarkable': defining the limits of the Campus Martius in time and space; 2. Gathering troops in the war god's field; 3. 'Very costly temples': the Campus Martius and republican temple construction; 4. 'Chariot races', 'three theatres', 'an amphitheatre' and more: entertainment in the Campus Martius; 5. 'Colonnades about it in very great numbers': the porticoes of the Campus Martius; 6. Between the Aqua Virgo and the Tiber: water and the Field of Mars; 7. 'A zeal for buildings': reshaping of the space by the emperors; 8. Conclusion: 'the rest of the city a mere accessory'; Appendix A: chronology of development in the Campus Martius to the early fourth century CE; Appendix B: glossary of architectural terms.
About the author
Paul W. Jacobs, II is an independent scholar who focuses on ancient Rome and its topographical development. A graduate of Harvard University and the University of Virginia Law School, and a litigator by training, Jacobs has practiced and published in the area of voting rights, where knowledge of demographics, mapmaking and geography is essential. He has spent extensive time in Rome and has been fascinated with the ancient city and its development for decades.Diane Atnally Conlin is Associate Professor of Classics at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is author of the award-winning The Artists of the Ara Pacis (1997) and is co-director of the University of Colorado and Comune di Roma excavations at the Villa of Maxentius in Rome. She specializes in the production and style of Roman relief sculpture. In addition to her art historical and archaeological research, Conlin has won numerous teaching awards, including a lifetime appointment as a President's Teaching Scholar.
Summary
The Campus Martius began as a military training ground but later became filled with some of the most extraordinary republican and imperial structures conceived by Roman patrons and architects. This book explores the factors that contributed to the transformation of the site from an occasionally visited space to a crowded center of daily activity.
