Old Rome: A Handbook to the Ruins of the City and the CampagnaBurn, Robert
History
Old Rome: A Handbook to the Ruins of the City and the Campagna
Burn, Robert
Rome (Italy) -- Antiquities; Rome (Italy) -- Description and travel
Among the sculptures which belong to the earlier and better period are the
large reliefs under the central arch and those which are placed on either
end of the attica. These four were originally parts of a larger relief
which has been sawn into four equal pieces for the purpose of adorning
Constantine’s arch. The order in which they stood in the original design
has been pointed out by Bellori. The first part is that now placed on the
inside of the middle archway towards the Coliseum, the second stands on
the side of the attica over the arch towards the Cælian, the third on the
inside of the middle archway towards the Palatine, and the fourth upon the
attica on the same side. When united they represented Trajan crowned by
Victory, with the goddess Roma standing near, a battle between Dacians and
Romans, ending in the defeat and submission of the barbarian army. The
dress of the Roman soldiers and of the Dacians is similar to that
represented on Trajan’s column, and quite different from the Roman
military habit in the age of Constantine. Beside these four rectangular
reliefs the eight circular sculptures which stand over the smaller
archways belong to the time of Trajan. They represent hunting scenes and
sacrificial ceremonies. One of them, the second from the left, upon the
side towards the Coliseum, has a remarkable figure of the Emperor with a
nimbus or cloud encircling his head, exactly similar to those represented
round the heads of modern saints. The eight large reliefs upon the attica
over the side archways are also of the workmanship of Trajan’s time, and
commemorate some of the exploits of that emperor, among which may be
mentioned the construction of a road through the Pontine marshes
represented upon the second relief from the left on the side of the attica
towards the Coliseum. The reclining figure with a wheel represents the
road, and the other figures the surveyors, one of which is perhaps
Apollodorus, the famous Greek architect of Damascus. The other reliefs
upon the sides of the attica represent interviews of Trajan with barbarian
princes, and the common sacrifice of the Suovetaurilia, so frequently
depicted on the reliefs of the columns of that emperor, and also on the
large marble screens now standing in the Forum Romanum. The remainder of
the sculptures belong to the Constantinian era, and contain, viewed as
works of art, nothing worth attention. One of them on the side next to the
Coliseum is, however, of great interest to the antiquarian, as it
represents the rostra of the later Empire and the northern end of the
Forum, with the arches of Severus and Tiberius, and the end of the
Basilica Julia, and another, on the side towards the Via di S. Gregorio
representing the victory of Constantino over Maxentius at the Milvian
bridge, is historically valuable.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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