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Graecostasis
The Graecostasis was a platform in the Comitium near the Roman Forum, located to the west of the Rostra. The name refers to the Greek ambassadors for whom the platform was originally built after the Roman Republic conquered Greece. Placed at the southwest end of the Comitium, the platform was the designated spot for all representatives of foreign nations and dignitaries from the Republic and Empire's domain. Visiting outsiders were not permitted within the Senate House or Curia and instead may have stood on this platform while waiting to meet with senators or to hear orations from the Rostra to its east side. Although one scholar has disputed this interpretation and argues that it may have served as a viewing platform for entertainment. Overview The Graecostasis was, as Niebuhr remarks, like privileged seats in the hall of a parliamentary assembly. The Stationes Municipiorum, of which Pliny speaks, appear to have been places allotted to municipals for the same purpose. When the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Graecostasis
The Graecostasis was a platform in the Comitium near the Roman Forum, located to the west of the Rostra. The name refers to the Greek ambassadors for whom the platform was originally built after the Roman Republic conquered Greece. Placed at the southwest end of the Comitium, the platform was the designated spot for all representatives of foreign nations and dignitaries from the Republic and Empire's domain. Visiting outsiders were not permitted within the Senate House or Curia and instead may have stood on this platform while waiting to meet with senators or to hear orations from the Rostra to its east side. Although one scholar has disputed this interpretation and argues that it may have served as a viewing platform for entertainment. Overview The Graecostasis was, as Niebuhr remarks, like privileged seats in the hall of a parliamentary assembly. The Stationes Municipiorum, of which Pliny speaks, appear to have been places allotted to municipals for the same purpose. When the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comitium
The Comitium ( it, Comizio) was the original open-air public meeting space of Ancient Rome, and had major religious and prophetic significance. The name comes from the Latin word for "assembly". The Comitium location at the northwest corner of the Roman Forum was later lost in the city's growth and development, but was rediscovered and excavated by archaeologists at the turn of the twentieth century. Some of Rome's earliest monuments; including the speaking platform known as the Rostra, the Columna Maenia, the Graecostasis and the Tabula Valeria were part of or associated with the Comitium. The Comitium was the location for much of the political and judicial activity of Rome. It was the meeting place of the Curiate Assembly, the earliest Popular assembly of organised voting divisions of the Republic. Later, during the Roman Republic, the Tribal Assembly and Plebeian Assembly met there. The Comitium was in front of the meeting house of the Roman Senate – the still-existing Curia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rostra
The rostra ( it, Rostri, links=no) was a large platform built in the city of Rome that stood during the republican and imperial periods. Speakers would stand on the rostra and face the north side of the comitium towards the senate house and deliver orations to those assembled in between. It is often referred to as a ''suggestus'' or ''tribunal'', the first form of which dates back to the Roman Kingdom, the Vulcanal. It derives its name from the six ''rostra'' (plural of ''rostrum'', a warship's ram) which were captured following the victory which ended the Latin War in the Battle of Antium in 338 BC and mounted to its side. Originally, the term meant a single structure located within the Comitium space near the Forum and usually associated with the Senate Curia. It began to be referred to as the ''Rostra Vetera'' ("Elder ''Rostra''") in the imperial age to distinguish it from other later platforms designed for similar purposes which took the name "Rostra" along with its builder ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curia Julia
The Curia Julia ( la, Curia Iulia, links=no, it, Curia Iulia, links=no) is the third named ''curia'', or senate house, in the ancient city of Rome. It was built in 44 BC, when Julius Caesar replaced Faustus Cornelius Sulla's reconstructed Curia Cornelia, which itself had replaced the Curia Hostilia. Caesar did so to redesign both spaces within the Comitium and the Roman Forum. The alterations within the Comitium reduced the prominence of the Senate and cleared the original space. The work, however, was interrupted by Caesar's assassination at the Curia of Pompey of the Theatre of Pompey, where the Senate had been meeting temporarily while the work was completed. The project was eventually finished by Caesar's successor, Augustus Caesar, in 29 BC. The Curia Julia is one of a handful of Roman structures that survive mostly intact. This is due to its conversion into the basilica of Sant'Adriano al Foro in the 7th century and several later restorations. However, the roof, the upper ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lapis Niger
The Lapis Niger (Latin, "Black Stone") is an ancient shrine in the Roman Forum. Together with the associated Vulcanal (a sanctuary to Vulcan) it constitutes the only surviving remnants of the old Comitium, an early assembly area that preceded the Forum and is thought to derive from an archaic cult site of the 7th or 8th century BC. The black marble paving (1st century BC) and modern concrete enclosure (early 20th century) of the Lapis Niger overlie an ancient altar and a stone block with one of the earliest known Old Latin inscriptions (c. 570–550 BC). The superstructure monument and shrine may have been built by Julius Caesar during his reorganization of the Forum and Comitium space. Alternatively, this may have been done a generation earlier by Sulla during one of his construction projects around the Curia Hostilia. The site was rediscovered and excavated from 1899 to 1905 by Italian archaeologist Giacomo Boni. Mentioned in many ancient descriptions of the Forum dating b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and subsequently became dictator from 49 BC until his assassination in 44 BC. He played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. In 60 BC, Caesar, Crassus and Pompey formed the First Triumvirate, an informal political alliance that dominated Roman politics for several years. Their attempts to amass power as were opposed by the within the Roman Senate, among them Cato the Younger with the frequent support of Cicero. Caesar rose to become one of the most powerful politicians in the Roman Republic through a string of military victories in the Gallic Wars, completed by 51 BC, which greatly extended Roman territory. During this time he both invaded Britain and built a b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tabularium
The Tabularium was the official records office of ancient Rome and housed the offices of many city officials. Situated within the Roman Forum, it was on the front slope of the Capitoline Hill, below the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, to the southeast of the Arx. Within the building were the remains of the temple of Veiovis. In front of it were the Temples of Vespasian and Concord, as well as the Rostra and the rest of the forum. Presently the Tabularium is only accessible from within the Capitoline Museum, although it still provides a panoramic view over the Forum. The construction of the Tabularium was ordered around 78 BC by the dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla. The building was completed by Quintus Lutatius Catulus, consul in 78 BC. This was part of a public works programme for the redevelopment of the Capitoline Hill, which had been damaged by a fire in 83 BC. The construction by Catulus is not mentioned in the ancient literature. It is known through an inscription (CIL ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Capitoline Hill
The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; it, Campidoglio ; la, Mons Capitolinus ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. The word ''Capitolium'' first meant the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus later built here, and afterwards it was used for the whole hill (and even other temples of Jupiter on other hills), thus ''Mons Capitolinus'' (the adjective noun of ''Capitolium''). In an etymological myth, ancient sources connect the name to ''caput'' ("head", "summit") and the tale was that, when laying the foundations for the temple, the head of a man was found, some sources even saying it was the head of some ''Tolus'' or ''Olus''. The ''Capitolium'' was regarded by the Romans as indestructible, and was adopted as a symbol of eternity. By the 16th century, ''Capitolinus'' had become ''Capitolino'' in Italian, and ''Capitolium'' ''Campidoglio''. The Capitoline Hill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lotus Tree
The lotus tree ( grc-gre, λωτός, ''lōtós'') is a plant that is referred to in stories from Greek and Roman mythology. The lotus tree is mentioned in Homer's ''Odyssey'' as bearing a fruit that caused a pleasant drowsiness, and which was said to be the only food of an island people called the Lotophagi or lotus-eaters. When they ate of the lotus tree they would forget their friends and homes and would lose their desire to return to their native land in favor of living in idleness. Botanical candidates for the lotus tree include the persimmon (''Diospyros lotus''), which is a sub-evergreen tree native to Southwest Asia and Southeast Europe that grows to about bearing yellowish green flowers, as well as ''Ziziphus lotus'', a plant with an edible fruit closely related to the jujube, native to the Mediterranean region of Europe, Asia and North Africa. In Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'', the nymph Lotis was the beautiful daughter of Neptune, the god of water and the sea. In order to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cypress
Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the latinisation of the Greek κυπάρισσος (''kyparissos''). Cypress trees are a large classification of conifers, encompassing the trees and shrubs from the cypress family (Cupressaceae) and many others with the word “cypress” in their common name. Many cypress trees have needle-like, evergreen foliage and acorn-like seed cones. Species Species that are commonly known as cypresses include: Most prominently: *Cypress (multiple species within the genus '' Cupressus'') Otherwise: *African cypress (''Widdringtonia'' species), native to Southern Africa *Bald, Pond, and Montezuma cypresses (''Taxodium'' species), native to North America *Chinese swamp cypress (''Glyptostrobus pensilis''), Vietnam, critically endangered *Cordilleran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vulcanal
The Shrine of Vulcan ( it, Volcanale), or Vulcanal, or Volcanal, was an 8th-century BC sacred precinct on the future site of the Roman Forum in Rome, modern Italy. Dedicated to Vulcan (mythology), Vulcan, the Roman god of fire, it was traditionally considered to commemorate the spot where the legendary figures Romulus and Tatius concluded the peace treaty between the tribes known as the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins — on the Palatine Hill — and the Sabines — on the Quirinal Hill, Quirinal and Esquiline Hill, Esquiline. This famous merger of the hill-villages was said to be the foundation of the Roman state. Description The original Vulcanal was an open-air altar on the slopes of the Capitoline Hill in Rome in the area that would later become the Comitium and Roman Forum. It was located in the open here, between the hill-villages, in the days before Rome existed, because the fire god was considered to be too destructive to be located anywhere near an occupied house. ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gymnasium (ancient Greece)
The gymnasium ( grc-gre, γυμνάσιον, gymnásion) in Ancient Greece functioned as a training facility for competitors in public games. It was also a place for socializing and engaging in intellectual pursuits. The name comes from the Ancient Greek term '' gymnós'', meaning "naked" or "nude". Only adult male citizens were allowed to use the gymnasia. Athletes competed nude, a practice which was said to encourage aesthetic appreciation of the male body, and to be a tribute to the gods. Gymnasia and palaestrae (wrestling schools) were under the protection and patronage of Heracles, Hermes and, in Athens, Theseus. Etymology The word ''gymnasium'' is the latinisation of the Greek noun γυμνάσιον (''gymnasion''), "public place for physical exercises; exercise area", in pl. "bodily exercises" and generally "school", which in turn is derived from the common Greek adjective (''gymnos'') meaning "naked" or "nude", by way of the related verb γυμνάζω (''gymnazo''), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
