Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Via Sacra
All roads lead to Rome — or so the saying goes. What is now a way of saying, "There are many ways to get to the same outcome," was once much closer to literal truth.
The idea of empire is so deeply associated with ancient Rome it is sometimes difficult to remember a time before empire, a time when Rome was just one ambitious and expansionist city on a continent of ambitious and expansionist cities.
Nothing tells the story of the rise of Rome, from its mythological founding at the teats of a wolf mother to its glorious empirical heights than its roads — and one road in particular, the Via Sacra, or Sacred Way, may tell the legend best.
Let us begin with those first Romans — the twins Romulus and Remus. After being abandoned in a basket by the Tiber River by their mother, they were suckled by a benevolent she-wolf. There they were found by a kindly shepherd and his wife, who raised them until becoming aware of their origins. It turns out that Mom was a priestess and the daughter of a deposed king of a nearby city. Once the twins figured out their regal connection, they helped their grandfather reclaim his throne, then set out to create a kingdom of their own.
Legend has it that Romulus wanted to found their settlement on the Palatine Hill, whereas Remus preferred the Aventine. The argument boiled over; Romulus murdered his brother and became the first king of Rome. The Palatine it was, then. From that day forward, an address on the Palatine Hill defined fashion, elegance, and power. Today, it is the origin of words such as "palace" and "palatial."
It is unlikely that Romulus and Remus were historical figures, but violence and bloodshed lie at the root of the Roman legend, an appropriate foreshadowing of the Roman legacy. From the time of its founding — often given as 753 BCE — Rome existed in a near-constant state of warfare. Romulus and his descendants fought war after war, securing Rome's place as a regional power in central Italy.
As Rome's power spread, so too did the Forum, a complex of buildings and public spaces that came to be the center of life for Romans of all walks of life. Rich and poor, patrician and plebian, proud and humble, people from every slice of Roman society mingled there. Part outdoor market, part gathering place, the Forum is where court cases were decided, vendors hocked their wares, and business deals were struck. As Rome grew a greater foothold, the Forum grew with it.
Rome's second king, Numa Pompilius, was unusual for a Roman ruler in that he eschewed war for peace. He added the Temple of Janus to the Forum. The Roman god Janus was a deity of transitions. He looked after things such as birth, death, time, and doorways. Numa's temple doors would be opened in times of war and closed in times of peace. He promptly closed the doors, symbolizing that, through his rule, Rome was at peace.
Unfortunately, the doors of Numa's Temple of Janus were flung open by his successor, the war-loving Tullus Hostilius, who returned to expansionism and sent armies back into battle. The doors to the Temple of Janus would remain open for the next 400 years. That's a long time to be at war.
After four centuries of constant warfare, the Romans had dramatically expanded their sphere of influence. Finally, an exhausted populace celebrated as the doors were closed, heralding a new era of peace and prosperity. And there they would stay — closed — signaling peace after 400 years of fighting ... for all of eight years. It would be another two centuries of war — of the doors staying open. The Romans got in a lot of fights.
Although these legendary figures in early Roman history likely didn't exist, the Temple of Janus was real enough and the arc of history works. It is possible the historians invented the early kings of Rome to fit the known chronology. It's not clear how these myths arose, but it is clear that Rome was at war. A lot.
After 250 years of the capricious and unaccountable rule of kings, in 509 BCE the frustrated aristocrats of Rome overthrew the monarchy and instituted a Republic led by a Senate. This did nothing to abate their martial spirit. They fought on.
When visiting Rome, it's hard to remember its rise was not inevitable; the signs of empire and conquest are everywhere, but it took many centuries to forge the empire — year after year, decade after decade, century after century, and war after bloody war. The Roman armies marched off time and time again, extending the influence of the city further and further, bit by bit. Consider that it took nearly 650 years before the Romans comfortably controlled the Italian peninsula. Its rise wasn't spectacular. It was gradual and relentless.
As they conquered, they built roads. Roads made it faster, safer, and more efficient to move armies over the Italian peninsula and gave the Romans a huge military advantage. Rome's most famous road, the Appian Way, was built in 312 BCE to speed the army's route south to suppress their troublesome neighbors.
Each new wave of Roman expansion found another people and more cities reluctant to yield power and privileges to the bellicose city on the Tiber River. Yet, more often than not, the Romans won. Victory brought glory to Rome and to the victorious general. Usually, the Romans simply expected victory. On very rare occasions, they decided to celebrate. A Roman victory parade was called a Triumph. For a Roman general, a Triumph was the highest honor that they could receive.
This celebratory parade was the pinnacle of a career, and spilled over into a massive public festival across the city. For centuries, Roman generals fought abroad in the hopes of being awarded the right to celebrate a Triumph. On the big day, the winning general wore a gold-embroidered purple toga. His face was painted blood red in honor of the chief Roman god, Jupiter. For just a day, the general could look semi-divine and kingly. After the overthrow of the monarchy, the Romans detested even the hint of kingship; to have such aspirations could be a death sentence. The Romans were paradoxically in awe of individual power and repulsed by it, so in order to keep the conquering hero grounded, a slave would ride along in the general's chariot and whisper in his ear a warning: "Remember, thou art but a man." In other words, "Don't get any ideas...."
Part of the Triumphal regalia was a laurel wreath. Depictions of this iconic wreath have come to be one of the most ubiquitous symbols of strength, accomplishment, and victory. Most people have seen the image of the laurel wreath countless times. In this crown lies the origins of the expression, "Don't rest on your laurels," cautioning generals not to over rely on their military conquest or the adulation of the people.
On the day of the Triumph, the general would line up his parade outside of the sacred boundary, or city line, called the pomerium. This was the only time soldiers were permitted to march inside the city lines, and the parade would duly wind itself across the boundary and into the city.
Throngs of people would pour out into the streets, waving laurel sprigs and anxiously waiting to cheer the glorious accomplishments of the mighty Romans. As the parade grew closer to the center of the city, the crowds grew larger and louder, reaching a fever pitch as the procession neared the Forum.
The general's chariot would be the focal point in a parade that included displays of the acts of heroism of the commander, spoils of war, and, when possible, captured and vanquished enemies marching in chains. For the hero, the greater the victory, the greater the show.
The culmination of the Triumph was entering the Forum by the Via Sacra, the Sacred Way. The final act was for the general to make his way through the adoring crowds and to the Temple of Jupiter. As the awed crowd watched, the general would ascend the steps and offer sacrifices to the chief god of the Roman pantheon.
After the sacrifices, the public would join in feasting, paid for by the largesse of the victorious general, eating and drinking themselves silly. Games and theatre performances were also staged in the city. The party could last for days.
Triumphs were exceedingly rare. Rome's conquests came in fits and starts, stretched through centuries. A citizen might go a lifetime without seeing one. When they happened, it was a big deal.
Of course, the Via Sacra wasn't only used for Triumphs. In many ways, it was also ancient Rome'smain street. This path, which seems so humble today, was where Rome conducted its business, a route that Romans walked, every day, into and out of the Forum.
Untold millions of Romans, including the greatest among them, have walked the Via Sacra. With each footstep on the Via Sacra, you are walking with the titans of Roman history — Cicero, Pompey, Caesar, Augustus. You are watching as chariots clatter through the streets amid the adoring cheers of millions, celebrating another addition to the ever-lasting glory of Rome.
It's easy enough to overlook. Many of the paving stones have been lost through the millennia. Many that remain are irregularly shaped and dusty. It's not a wide or grand boulevard. In fact, in some places, it's just a few feet wide. Lost among the great buildings of Rome, this road doesn't get the attention it deserves.
When you are in the Forum on the Via Sacra, don't just look at the soaring monuments; look down at the deceptively humble road beneath your feet; remember that nothing was witness to the rise of Rome like it. With each step on the Via Sacra, you are walking in the footsteps of Rome's greatest historical figures, and untold millions of others. The story of Rome was written along the Via Sacra. Rome didn't just arrive at the top of the world order. It walked there.
* How to get to the Via Sacra
The Via Sacra is within the Imperial Forums (admission fee required). There are two ways to get into the Forum: one, a block south of the Colosseum, the other, a block west from the Colosseum along the Via Dei Fori Imperiali (the main thoroughfare running alongside the Imperial Forums). Whether you are walking from the Colosseum or coming from the Colosseo Metro station (Line B), it's a short walk of about ten minutes to either entrance.
Once inside the Forum, it's easy to find the Via Sacra. It is the main street that connects many of the landmarks, such as the Arch of Septimius Severus, the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, and the Basilica of Maxentius.
* Local eats
Grab an inexpensive pizza or pasta dish in a down-to-earth spot:
Trattoria Pizzeria Luzzi ($) Via di San Giovanni in Laterano 88, 00184 +39 06 709 6332 www.trattorialuzzi.it/
Trust the daily special to surprise and delight:
La Taverna dei Fori Imperiali ($$) Via della Madonna Dei Monti 9, 00184 +39 06 679 8643 www.latavernadeiforiimperiali.com/
Debate what's better: the five-diamond service or the fantastic views of ancient sites:
Ristorante Aroma at Palazzo Manfredi ($$$) Via Labicana 125, 00184 +39 06 7759 1380 www.aromarestaurant.it/en/
* Want more of the story before the next chapter? Stop by the Forum Boarium.
The Roman Forum gets all the love. It and its friends, the forums of Trajan, Augustus, and the like, get a lot of attention. They should. Their buildings and monuments tell great stories: Roman armies vanquishing foes and expanding the borders, heroes cementing their legacy in stone, gods shining their protection down from heaven. But they don't tell the whole story. In fact, there's another forum, just down the road, that has something important to say: the Forum Boarium.
Whereas its more famous cousins are named for the great people of Roman history, or for the city itself, the Forum Boarium is named for ... cattle.
Rome's eventual mastery of the known world was by no means assured. At the time of its founding, it was just another settlement on just another hill. But Rome was well-situated and had geographic advantages that gave it a leg up. The hills were defensible. It overlooked a fordable bend in the river. Most importantly, it had access to the ocean via the Tiber, yet was still inland enough to be shielded from pirates and coastal raiders. As the city grew and projected its power outward, Rome needed a hub of commercial activity to support its growth. This is the Forum Boarium.
The most notable buildings are the two ancient temples, the Temple of Hercules (the round one) and the Temple of Portunus (the rectangular one). Hercules was, of course, the legendary hero of superhuman strength. His temple is the oldest surviving marble building in Rome. Portunus was the god of doors, gateways, locks, and livestock. This was an appropriate area for a temple to the god; the Romans needed him here. The Forum Boarium was the true commercial heart of Rome. It was where the docks were located. Grain and livestock poured into the city to feed the growing populace. Granaries were there to store food for emergencies. Goods from all over the world made their way to Rome through the docks. In many ways, it was the gateway to Rome.
This was the forum for the working man, the longshoremen of ancient Rome. This was the area where Rome was fed and clothed, where goods from luxuries to basic necessities worked their way into the economy. It seems appropriate the first gladiator games in Rome were fought there three centuries before the Colosseum opened.
While Roman armies marched over land, Roman merchants plied the waters of the Mediterranean. Opportunistic businessmen crossed Rome's frontiers, chasing the next deal, the next fortune. Often, it was merchants, not armies, who made first contact with foreigners. Roman soldiers stayed close to their barracks, while Roman traders brazenly went forward into the unknown. Rome's primary business was business, not war.
As you walk around, consider what it took to build the Roman Empire. More than armies, the workers and merchants of the Forum Boarium deserve their share of the credit too. Perhaps give a tip of the hat to Portunus. He might not be the most glamorous god in the Roman pantheon, but he did his job well.
Address: Piazza della Bocca della Verità.
Nearest Metro: Circo Massimo, Line B (twelve-minute walk), a twenty-minute walk from the Colosseum.
Tip: Be sure to look for the Mouth of Truth (Bocca della Verità), just inside the portico of Santa Maria in the Cosmedin. Legend has it that if you lie while your hand is in the mouth, then it will be cut off.
CHAPTER 2
Mamertine Prison
There are more than 900 churches in Rome. It can be hard to tell them apart. It's near impossible to see them all. Rome is, after all, the headquarters of one of the world's major religions, and centuries of emperors, foreign conquerors, popes, and kings have set out to display their benevolence and cement their legitimacy by building churches. When drawing up a list of things to do in Rome, the most famous churches — St. Peter's, San Giovanni in Laterano, Santa Maria Maggiore — are the usual. But one church, though humble compared to the majesty of its famous cousins, has an important story to tell, not about the Catholic Church, but about pagan Rome's quest for empire.
It's easy to overlook; the façade of San Giuseppe dei Falegnami is not particularly ornate. It doesn't matter anyway; the church is closed to the public. The reason to visit this humble church is not for what's inside, but for what lies beneath. The church is built atop a much older building, one with a dark history.
Find the church. Then find the side entrance into the museum. By stepping off the street, you are traveling back thousands of years. Descend into the Mamertine Prison. With each step down, you go further back in time, to the life and death struggle at the heart of the Roman world.
Ancient Rome was defined by strife and conflict. Romans fought among themselves for political power. Classes fought with one another to assert their rights. More than anything, Rome fought with any city or foreign nation that stood in the way of its relentless expansion. Romans were aggressive, with neighbor and foreigner alike.
As the little village on the Palatine grew, class conflict became more frequent. The families that traced their lineage back to the good old days with Romulus considered themselves to be of a higher order than everyone else. These families — the patricians — dominated political life in Rome for centuries. When the last king was tossed aside and the Republic was established, the patricians became even more insufferable. They controlled the government, the military, and the economy. They held the reins of power and liked it. Everyone else was not nearly as enamored of the situation.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "The History of Rome in 12 Buildings"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Phillip Barlag.
Excerpted by permission of Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
