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A sweeping new history of the city of Rome, told through its emperors and the monuments they built to make their mark on one of the great capitals of the classical world. Rome wasn''t built in a day, but over several centuries and under many different emperors. This story of constant creation and renewal lies at the heart of Ancient Rome in Fifty Monuments . Rome''s history has been explored by countless classicists, historians, poets and authors, but rarely has its history been recounted through the building programmes of its emperors, which transformed what was once a small village in Italy into the apogee of an empire. Paul Roberts takes the reader on a historical tour of ancient Rome, from the luxurious bathhouses of Caracalla and Diocletian, the rowdy Circus Maximus and the Colosseum to monuments such as the Column of Trajan that celebrated Rome''s imperial project. Roberts expertly weaves together the latest archaeological research with social and cultural history, vividly evoking the story of a city always in some way rising, falling and being rebuilt. He tells this story emperor by emperor, seeking out the personalities behind the great building projects and the very human motivations that gave rise to their construction - and destruction. When and why were they built? What did they add to the lives of the people who used them? What impact did they have on the shape of the city? Often the importance of a monument lies not intrinsically in the structure itself, but instead in the political, social or cultural developments at its foundations. Through these monuments and the emperors who built them Rome''s mythical and real past are intertwined, reflecting the empire''s triumphant yet often turbulent history.
Table des matières
INTRODUCTION: The Monuments That Made Rome
PART I. Beginnings and Regime Change
THE KINGDOM OF ROME
Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus
Cloaca Maxima
THE REPUBLIC
Largo Argentina
Temple of Hercules Victor
Tiber Island
Pons Cestius and Pons Fabricius
Republican City Walls
JULIUS CAESAR
Forum of Caesar and its Temple of Venus Genetrix
Curia
Rostra
PART II. From Brick To Marble
AUGUSTUS
Basilica Julia
Temple of Concordia Augusta
Temple of Divus Iulius
Forum of Augustus and its Temple of Mars Ultor
Porticus of Octavia
Theatre of Marcellus
Temple of Apollo Medicus Sosianus
Mausoleum of Augustus
Ara Pacis Augustae
Pyramid of Gaius Cestius
CLAUDIUS
Porta Maggiore
NERO
Domus Aurea (Golden House) and the Colossus of Nero
PART III. New Builders
VESPASIAN
Forum of Vespasian
Colosseum
TITUS
Arch of Titus
DOMITIAN
House of the Vestals
Stadium of Domitian
Forum of Nerva
Palace of Domitian
PART IV. Rome in Glory
TRAJAN
Forum of Trajan
Circus Maximus
HADRIAN
Tenement Building
Temple of Venus and Roma
Pantheon
Mausoleum of Hadrian and Pons Aelius
ANTONINUS PIUS
Temple of the Deified Hadrian
MARCUS AURELIUS
Equestrian Statue of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius
COMMODUS
Column of Marcus Aurelius (the Antonine Column)
SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS
Temple of Vesta
Arch of the Bankers (Arco degli Argentarii)
PART V. An Uncertain City
CARACALLA
Baths of Caracalla
AURELIAN
Walls
DIOCLETIAN
Baths of Diocletian
MAXENTIUS
Basilica of Maxentius
PART VI. From Old to New
CONSTANTINE
Arch of Constantine
San Giovanni in Laterano and San Giovanni Obelisk
LATE PAGAN
Temple of Saturn
Portico of the Harmonious Gods
CHRISTIAN
Santa Maria Maggiore
PHOCAS
Column of Phocas
EPILOGUE: Aftermath
A propos de l'auteur
Dr Paul Roberts was Sackler Keeper of the Department of Antiquities at the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology in Oxford. He has curated numerous popular exhibitions, including 'Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum' at the British Museum in 2013 and 'Last Supper in Pompeii' at the Ashmolean in 2019-20. He wrote the accompanying exhibition catalogues to both. A trained archaeologist, Paul has been involved in various fieldwork projects across Italy and Greece.
