5.4 Houses 2 (the house of Octavianus).

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Do curso por Sapienza University of Rome

The Changing Landscape of Ancient Rome. Archaeology and History of the Palatine Hill

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Sapienza University of Rome

The Changing Landscape of Ancient Rome. Archaeology and History of the Palatine Hill

72 ratings

Studying ancient - as well as medieval or modern - cities basically means telling local urban stories based on the reconstruction of changing landscapes through the centuries. Given the fragmentary nature of archaeological evidence, it is necessary to create new images that would give back the physical aspect of the urban landscape and that would bring it to life again. We are not just content with analyzing the many elements still visible of the ancient city. The connections between objects and architectures, visible and non visible buildings, which have been broken through time have to be rejoined, to acknowledge the elements that compose the urban landscape. Landscape and its content are a very relevant and still vital part of any national cultural heritage. The course will introduce students to the way we have been reflecting on over the last twenty years and still are engaged with the study of the past of our cities, beginning from the most complex case in the ancient Mediterranean World: the core of Italy and of Roman Empire. On the other hand, knowledge means also preservation and defense of material remains and cultural memory. “The Changing Landscape of Ancient Rome. Archeology and History of the Palatine Hill” presents to a large public the topographical lay-out of the most relevant part of the city (according the Greek and Roman Historians Rome was founded on the Palatine). Research developed on the Palatine since the end of last century by the team of Sapienza Classical Archaeologists opened a new phase in the urban archaeological investigation and in the scientific debate about the relation between archaeological features and literary tradition as well as the “correct use“ of both kind of evidence, key issues of wide archaeological and historical significance.

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The Masters of an Empire (2nd - end of 1st century b.c.e.)

In the course of nearly three hundred years – from 509 till 202 b.c.e. - central, southern and northern Italy were conquered by the Romans and included into the Roman political organization as submitted or allied territories. Later on, year 146 b.c.e. was the real turning point. Greece became a Roman Province. Carthage – a city in north Africa, Rome’s enemy number one – was destroyed. The Mediterranean sea was roman: Mare nostrum, they called it: “Our Sea”. The republican political system was still working but this was, in fact, the beginning of a new Empire. The luxurious residences of the most eminent civil and political actors - nobles, knights, senators, magistrates and so forth - were on the Palatine, “the most beautiful part of the City”. By the end of this module you will able to: discuss major changes occurred during the Late Republican phase in Rome define and identify a certain number of Roman monuments and/or places identify Late Repubblican artifacts, decorations and building techniques

5.1 Palatine during late republican period.10:53

5.2 Temples8:17

5.3 Houses 111:50

5.4 Houses 2 (the house of Octavianus).9:35

Conheça os instrutores

Paolo Carafa
Prof.

Hello, everybody. And welcome back.

The last time we talked about

the residences of the noble families of Rome on the Palatine.

We also know that man was going to be

the first Emperor in Roman history was born on the Palatine.

And today we'll try to have a look at his first house on the Palatine. This is the man.

His original name was Gaius Octavius.

Then he was adopted and appointed

heir of Gaius Julius Caesar so he had to change his name,

in Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus.

During the year 20s of the first century B.C.

when he had already appointed the most powerful man in the Roman state,

he joined to his name as a Senate will, the name Augustus.

This is a very important lead in words meaning something in

between a grown man and a man blessed by the God.

The young Octavian was a very lucky guy.

His mother was the daughter of the sister of Julius Caesar.

His father on the other hand was not a noble man but a very rich one.

He was born in a small town south of Rome so the relation with the highest rank of

the political power and

an enormous wealth were absolutely within the reach of this young guy.

He was born on the Palatine in this corner here and in the end he

moved and established a real mansion on the opposite corner of the hill.

This is how the different residences of

Octavian and of Augustus at last were placed on the Palatine.

This is the place where he was born,

the house of his father.

The place was called Ad Capita Bubula,

the ox head in translation.

And we don't know this house from

an archaeological point of view but according to the topographical layout,

we can envision in this area, we can imagine.

We can imagine a house not

much different from the ones we have already

seen like the House of the Griffins or the house,

so-called house of Livia,

a regular or normal Roman house.

During the years of unrest due to the civil wars,

Octavian was sent away from Rome because it was too dangerous and he was still a boy.

But when Julius Caesar became the most powerful man in Rome,

he came back and lived in this place, Supra Scalas Anularius.

There was a monumental staircase where

the shops of people selling rings annually were placed.

After that, he moved at last, here,

right in front of the place where Romulus should have lived,

and where the Romans believed that Romulus had founded Rome.

So once again the place where he was born,

the place where he moved during the 40s and at last,

the proper house of Octavian.

We know quite a lot about this house,

thanks to the recent archaeological analysis,

compared with the information which we can read in the literary sources.

At first Octavian lived in a house which was placed here,

not a very large one,

with small rooms facing on to a peristyle and

this house he bought from a noble man, Hortensius Hortalus.

After that, he decided to enlarge his residence and created a second peristyle,

as you can see here.

The center of the house was this one where we have to imagine the atrium,

the most important room in the Roman house.

This is the part we can see still now,

while this part is the one less known due to

the fact that the Imperial Palace had been built upon that.

So we have one area here in the center,

one peristyle and rooms here,

a second peristyle, rooms here and here.

This is the cliff looking on to the valley.

And here was a ramp,

as you can see, leading from the downstairs up to the ground floor.

Also in this case what we see is

just the underground floor as we have already seen last time.

Let's have a quick tour of this residence.

The colonnade was split in

two orders in the peristyle and decorated with these wonderful slabs.

They're called Campana slabs.

Around and inside the colonnade we have wonderful rooms,

dining rooms like this one,

wonderfully painted and decorated with four columns inside.

You can see here another shot of this side of the wall.

Near that was the ramp leading to

the ground floor with the vault wonderfully decorated with plasters and paintings.

On the other side of the peristyle we have the bedroom, the cubicula.

Also in this case decorated with wonderful frescos like this one on pine festoons,

of course, and this one with maps.

Last, but not least,

one wonderful room here, very small,

very beautiful, which is the so-called studiorum.

And this is how this wonderful house should have looked like.

Here you can see the cliff of the Palatine,

the stairs leading up to the place where Romulus should have founded Rome,

the peristyle on this side,

the peristyle on the other side,

the so-called house of Livia and the other house we have already seen last time,

the area with the atrium,

and the underground floor with terraces here and here,

stretching on to the valley.

Let's have a closer look to this place here.

This is a round underground room.

Thanks to the [inaudible] ,

we have seen this wonderful painted round room.

It was possibly a monumental fountain, a Grotto Nymphaeum.

We know that there should have been a spring down there and it was

the spring when the Roma believed that

Romulus and Remus had been suckled by the she wolf.

So this was one more way of trying to connect

himself with the legend of the Roman founder.

So we come to years 36 B.C.

One night in that year a lightning struck the atrium of Augustus' house.

He was terribly afraid of lightning and thunderbolt.

But nonetheless, in a very clever way he

declared to the Roman people that the lightning was

the sign that the god Apollo was claiming his house.

So he decided to stop completing the building of

the second peristyle and created an entirely new project.

Not just the house of Octavian had been struck by the lightening,

because in a few years

the Republic of Rome should have come to an end. Thank you very much.

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