The Old Roman World : the Grandeur and Failure of Its Civilization.Lord, John
History
The Old Roman World : the Grandeur and Failure of Its Civilization.
Lord, John
Rome -- Civilization
The glory of the Augustan age was more seen in the magnificent buildings
which arose upon the hills, although he gave attention to the completion
of many works of utility or beauty in other parts of the city. He
restored the Capitoline temple and the theatre of Pompey; repaired
aqueducts; finished the Forum and Basilica Julia; and entirely built the
Curia Julia. He founded, on the Palatine, the Imperial Palace,
afterwards enlarged by his successors until it entirely covered the
original city of Romulus. Among the most beautiful of his works was the
Temple of Apollo, the columns of which were of African marble, between
which were the statues of the fifty Danaids. In the temple was a
magnificent statue of Apollo, and around the altar were the images of
four oxen--the work of Miron, so beautifully sculptured that they seemed
alive. The temple was of the finest marble; its gates were of ivory,
finely sculptured. Attached to this temple was a library, where the
poets, orators, and philosophers assembled, and recited their
productions. The Forum Augusti was another of the noblest monuments of
this emperor, in order to provide accommodation for the crowds which
overflowed the Forum Romanum. He also built the theatre of Marcellus,
capable of holding twenty thousand spectators.
[Sidenote: Pantheon.]
[Sidenote: Thermae Agrippae.]
[Sidenote: Campus Martius.]
[Sidenote: Works of the Nobles.]
Nor was Augustus alone the patron of the arts. His son-in-law, and prime
minister, Agrippa, adorned the city with many noble structures, of which
the Pantheon remains to attest his munificence. This temple, the best
preserved of all the monuments of ancient splendor, stood in the centre
of the Campus Martius, and contained only the images of the deities
immediately connected with the Julian race and the early history of
Rome. Agrippa was the first to establish those famous baths, which
became the most splendid monuments of imperial munificence. The Thermae
Agrippae stood at the back of the Pantheon. It was fed by the Aqua Virgo,
an aqueduct which Agrippa purposely constructed to furnish water for his
baths. Many other architectural monuments marked the public spirit of
this enlightened and liberal minister, especially in the quarter of the
Circus Flaminius and the Campus Martius. This quarter was like a
separate town, more magnificent than any part of the ancient city. It
was adorned with temples, porticoes, and theatres, and other buildings
devoted to amusement and recreation. It had not many private houses, but
these were of remarkable splendor. Other courtiers of Augustus followed
his example for the embellishment of the city. Statilius Taurus built
the first permanent amphitheatre of stone in the Campus Martius. L.
Cornelius Balbur built at his own expense a stone theatre. L. Marcius
Philippus rebuilt the temple of Hercules Musarum, and surrounded it with
a portico. L. Cornificius built a temple of Diana. Asininius Pollio an
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