The development of Rome - how the capital of the Roman Empire was built
In this article, I want to tell you the small details of how the capital of the Roman Empire was built - " Rome ". From what it all began and how it ended ... Its history is one of the richest in the world, as it has more than 2800 years and each new ruler and architect added something new, unusual and unusual to the construction of the city, which eventually created a rich the history of the Roman capital !
Palatine town
So, the Palatine is the geological and strategic center of the Pribibra group. The main legend places here the "city of Romulus" , and although Rome is a coalition of several cities in this region, the Palatine is the leader among them .
Servian Wall
Its upper square is an irregular quadrangle (trapezoid), a surface of about 9.5 hectares, sufficient for a small urban settlement, fortified on one side by steep slopes of the hill, and on the other by special structures such as a wall, a wall, a fence, etc.
In the Roman legend this "quadrangular settlement of Romulus" bears the name "Roma quadrata" ( "Quadrilateral Rome" ) and is considered the "cradle" of later Rome .
The mouth of the main cloaca near the Tiber
Very soon the settlement was surrounded by a solid wall of local stone (tufa), the remains of which (after, probably, repeated repairs in later times) are seen in places and still. Beyond the wall, at the foot of the hill, there was a free strip of land - a chimera , which had the significance of the religious and administrative border of the city: it was the site of the Lupercalia rite (holiday of purification and fertility), it also served as a boundary for urban auspices and for the military authority of Roman dignitaries acting only outside of pomery . Its direction was designated by special pillars and it was known for a very long time.
Tradition names three gates in the wall of the "quadrangular Rome" : 1) Porta Romana (in the north-west), 2) Porta Mugonia (in the north-east) and 3) the name is unknown ; they led to the so-called "Descent of Kaka" , to the south-west valley. The main gate, Porta Mugonia , overlooked the main country road, the " Sacra Via", and the " Nova Via " connected with it , rounded the Palatine from the north and northwest and subsequently, in the form of main streets Rome , retained their ancient names (other streets were called more often vici , and led to the hills -clivi ).
Inside the "quadrangular Rome" long kept some of the shrines associated with the main legend: the house (hut) of Romulus , Lupercal (a cave with the legendary she-wolf fed by Romulus and Remus ), overshadowing this cave Ruminal fig tree , the sanctuary of the local deity (fire) of Kakusa and others These relics characterized the "quadrangular Rome" precisely as a "city type" settlement .
The Rome Plan of the Imperial Period
The expansion of the "Palatine City" was carried out concentrically. Gradually formed a complex settlement that captured the spur of the Palatine , the nearest small hill, the three spurs of Esquiline , part of Celia , - all seven hills, - as a result of which the new settlement was called " Seven-hills " (Septimontium).
"Seven" (Septimontium) and its region were already 4-5 times larger than the "quadrangular Rome" . From the buildings and fortifications of this period, nothing remained: the outer fence was probably an earthen rampart, which later disappeared.
The next in the Roman tradition concentr has the name of "city of four parts" .
Aurelian's Wall
The "city of the four parts" includes mainly Sabine settlements on Quirinale and Viminale , and in addition - the Capitol , as a necessary strategic point, consecrated and cult. The area of this settlement is about nine times larger than the "Palatine City" . It was divided into four urban "parts" : Palatina (Palatin), Suburana (Celius), Esquilina and Collina (Quirinal and Vinal). From the buildings of this settlement there was nothing left.
Another picture is Rome in the next period, when the kings of the Etruscan dynasty ruled: its appearance looks like an Etruscan fortress, it is surrounded by a strong, sometimes double, stone wall, part of the left bank of the Tiber with Aventine is introduced into the fortification line , the wall captures further parts of Esquiline and Quirinal and, thus, all the seven hills are within the city, which is now again called semiholmnym . It was also customary to call the city of Servius Tullius , whom tradition attributed to the construction of the main fortification - the walls of the city. Its area is now almost twelve times larger than the "Palatine City"and is in general the territory of Rome of the times of the Republic , with the Forum and the Commission , that is, the bazaar and center of civil life of the united community, with the Capitol , which finally became the acropolis (kremlin) of the city and the main cult place, with the state prison (punishment cell) and the place of "justice" - Tarpean rock (both on the Capitol).
In the same period, the drainage of the terrain was completed (the "Home Cottage" was completed ), the construction of the "Main Circus" was started , the "gates of war" , opened during the campaign of the united community and closed after the onset of peace, were symbolic of the community of interests of the whole coalition "Rome" . In some places, the remnants of the so-called "Servian wall" from coarse, thick tetrahedral beams (kvadrov), local stone (tufa) - in the restoration around the 5th century are quite well preserved . BC. e. This beautiful building for that time was about 11 km long, in some places - up to 21.3 m in thickness (with an inner earthen embankment) and up to 15 m in height, with sixteen gates, from which only names remained:The Kapenskie Gates , which overlooked the famous Appian Way, the gates Quirinal , Viminal , Esquiline (by the names of the hills), etc. Later, with the expansion of the city, this wall was almost completely disassembled.
Type of Rome of the Imperial period
The oldest example of the Roman vaulted structure (semicircular arch) is the "Main Cloak" mentioned : in older times it was simply a river or a channel for the descent into the Tiber of drainage waters. After that, it was covered with a firm vault that withstands the enormous pressure of the city buildings above it.
In the restored form, part of it has survived to this day: its length is about 1 km, the width (average) is about 3.2 m, the height is about 4.3 m, the width at the mouth of the Tiber is about 6.5 m.
Republican Rome inherited from the tsarist period the ability to build. The city is gradually becoming the capital of all of Italy . However, this is not yet the majestic "marble city" of Augustus and his successors. The population, however, especially since the end of the II Punic War , has increased dramatically, but the city's appearance was not particularly beautiful: public buildings made of tufa and piperine, roughly plastered houses with almost no windows, often built of dried bricks in the sun, shingles, narrow streets (4,3-6,5 m wide), paved with coarse pieces of lava, groves and pastures within the city. Art ( sculpture and painting ) is just beginning to develop, although successful trips to GreeceDeliver to Rome many works of Greek artists, and from the II. BC. e. - under Hellenic influence - Rome is not only built up, but is also decorated.
The brilliant period of Augustus is preceded by a small but rich construction period of Sulla and Caesar . Rome ceases to be a fortress, the Serviev wall was almost completely dismantled, the buildings take over the Field of Mars , the buildings are decorated with mosaic and Greek marble, the State Archives (Tabularium) are under construction . By the order of Caesar, the Curia , the Forum , the Basilica and the Rosters under his name are erected , where the marble was already applied on a large scale. With him on the Champ de Mars a fenced place is being built at the Forum for public gatherings, a circus, a theater and other buildings are built, where the Greek style prevails over the national-Roman (Tuscan) style.
August , together with his active collaborator Agrippa , partially continued the work of Caesar , in part he created a number of majestic structures with wide application of marble. Rome becomes finally an open city; it is divided into fourteen "parts" (regiones) for the convenience of the inner city service, the underground sewage is cleared, the bed of the Tiber is cleaned and regulated . At the Forum , the construction of the Julian Curia and the Basilica is over , and up to eighty temples are being rebuilt and repaired, the forum of Augustus appears next to Cezarev . Agrippa onThe Mars field builds magnificent baths and the Pantheon , and through the Tiber - a good stone bridge of its name (the terms of Agrippa, the Pantheon of Agrippa, the bridge of Agrippa). In addition, Rome is supplied with running water supplying good drinking water from the outskirts of the city. On the Palatine , the "cradle of Rome" , there is the "Palacius" - the palace of the emperor, which laid the foundation for a number of similar buildings in place of the "Palatine City" .
The succeeding emperors continued the work of Caesar and Augustus in decorating and decorating the city. So, for example, Nero after the famous fire of 64 AD. e. did much to streamline the network of streets, restore the damaged buildings, built his "Golden House" . Vespasian and Titus built a grand amphitheater - the Colosseum . Traian is a beautiful forum of his name with the still-surviving "Trajan's Column" . Adrian rebuilt the Palatine and the Pantheon , built a magnificent double temple of Venus and Rome, a mausoleum and a bridge named after him. Caracalla and Diocletian built huge and luxurious baths, etc.; In the same period a curious "hill" appeared - from a garbage dump and shards beyond the Tiber (about 36 m high). Perfectly burnt brick, travertine and marble finally replaced the previous building materials.
Under Aurelian and the Probe (at the end of the third century AD), Rome, for the last time, due to external danger, received the form of a fortress. He was surrounded by a long and strong brick wall with battlements and towers, beautiful, massive gates (some of them preserved), and the line of fortifications included the waterways, monuments, etc. found along the way. Its length is about 18 km, height 15m thick, about 4.3 m thick. The wall was equipped with 383 towers and 17 gates, including the Appian Gate , overlooking the Appian Way , the Ostien Gates , the Prenestin Gate, and others. For the first time, Gianiculus was included in the wall line- in the form of a strong bastion, covering the crossing of the Tiber . This area was covered by the area already 36 times larger than the Palatine city , and it was the last great construction of the Roman era .
In these changes, of course, the profile of the city has changed dramatically: the steep cliffs of the hills have disappeared, the level of valleys has risen, and only now the difference is clearly visible, for example, between the level of Piazza del Popolo and the park at Monte Pincio , where one has to climb the stone staircase , about 43 m tall.
The capital of the Roman Empire , a city with its more than a million inhabitants, the beauty of its buildings, the mass of works of art and the education of society, now rises to the level of the most cultured centers of the late Greek (Hellenistic) period. Under the emperor Constantine the Great in Rome, there were 423 streets, 46,602 houses, 1,790 palaces, 423 churches, 856 baths, 19 large water pipes, 1,352 water bodies, 8 bridges, 36 arches, as well as 28 libraries and a huge number of all kinds of works of art: statues, paintings, mosaics, etc.