The Restoration of the Roman Forum in Late Antiquity: Transforming Public Space

247 Pages·2015·57.67 MB·English

by  Gregor Kalas

THE RESTORATION
OF THE ROMAN FORUM
IN LATE ANTIQUITY
ASHLEY AND PETER LARKIN SERIES
IN GREEK AND ROMAN CULTURE
THE RESTORATION
OF THE ROMAN FORUM
IN LATE ANTIQUITY
TRANSFORMING PUBLIC SPACE
gregor kalas
University of Texas Press
austin
Copyright © 2015 by the University of Texas Press Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America Kalas, Gregor, author.
First edition, 2015 The restoration of the Roman Forum in late antiquity :
transforming public space / Gregor Kalas. — First edition.
Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work pages cm — (Ashley and Peter Larkin series in Greek
should be sent to: and Roman culture)
Permissions Includes bibliographical references and index.
University of Texas Press isbn 978-0-292-76078-3 (cloth : alk. paper)
P.O. Box 7819 1. Roman Forum (Rome, Italy). 2. Forums, Roman—
Austin, TX 78713-7819 Conservation and restoration—Italy—Rome—History—
http://utpress.utexas.edu/index.php/rp-form To 1500. 3. Rome—Politics and government—284–476.
4. Rome (Italy)—Antiquities, Roman—Conservation and
∞ The paper used in this book meets the minimum require- restoration. I. Title. II. Series: Ashley and Peter Larkin series
ments of ansi/niso z39.48-1992 (r1997) (Permanence of in Greek and Roman culture.
Paper). dg66.5.k35 2015
937'.63—dc23 2014031606
doi:10.7560/760783
TO ANDREA, JUSTINE, AND RAYNA
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CONTENTS
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xiii
List of Abbreviations xv
Introduction: The Late Antique Roman Forum under Restoration 1
1. Collective Identity and Renewed Time in the Tetrarchic Roman Forum 23
2. Constantine the Restorer 47
3. Statues in the Late Antique Roman Forum 75
4. Restored Basilicas and Statues on the Move 105
5. The Contested Eternity of Temples 125
6. Rome’s Senatorial Complex and the Late Antique Transformation of the Elite 141
Conclusion: Public Space in Late Antiquity 167
Notes 173
Bibliography 207
Index 221
VII
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ILLUSTRATIONS
I.1. Roman Forum 3 1.4. Plan of the old Forum in Cuicul (Djemila, Alge-
ria), after Gerhard Zimmer 28
I.2. Claude Lorrain, The Roman Forum (Le Campo Vac-
cino, 1638) 3 1.5. View of the western Rostra in the Roman
Forum 32
I.3. Inscription of L. Naevius Surdinus in the Roman
Forum 3 1.6. The Tetrarchic extension to the western Rostra
in the Roman Forum (the “Rostra Vandalica”) 32
I.4. Drawing of the L. Naevius Surdinus inscription
in the pavement of the Roman Forum 4 1.7. Marble foundations supporting the plinth of the
equestrian statue of Constantine overlapping the
I.5. Arch of Septimius Severus 4
western Rostra 33
I.6. Plan of the central area of the Roman Forum
1.8. Elevation showing a reconstruction of the
showing the equestrian statue of Domitian
Tet rarchic five-column monument at the western
(“Equus Domitiani”) 6
Rostra 33
I.7. Aerial view of the pavement in the Roman Forum
1.9. Constantine addressing the populace from
showing the location of the equestrian statue of
the Rostra in the Roman Forum, Arch of
Septimius Severus 6
Constantine 35
I.8. Plan of the Roman Forum and the imperial fora
1.10. Brick construction surviving from the Tetrar-
in c. 400 CE 7
chic eastern Rostra in the Roman Forum 35
I.9. Inscribed statue base of Avianus Symmachus (CIL
1.11. Inscribed face of the Tetrarchic Decennalia
6.1698) 14
base 37
1.1. Plan of the Roman Forum in c. 400 CE 24
1.12. Imperial sacrificial scene on the Tetrarchic
1.2. Digital reconstruction of the western Rostra in
Decennalia base 37
the Roman Forum, c. 303 CE 24
1.13. Suovetaurilia scene on the Tetrarchic Decenna-
1.3. Constantine standing on the Rostra and the Hadri-
lia base 37
anic roundels on the Arch of Constantine 25
IX