Forum of Nerva ( it, Foro di Nerva; la, Forum Nervae) is an ancient structure in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, chronologically the next to the last of the
Imperial fora
The Imperial Fora (''Fori Imperiali '' in Italian) are a series of monumental '' fora'' (public squares), constructed in Rome over a period of one and a half centuries, between 46 BC and 113 AD. The fora were the center of the Roman Republic and ...
built.
Forum of Nerva (Forum Transitorium)
The
Imperial fora
The Imperial Fora (''Fori Imperiali '' in Italian) are a series of monumental '' fora'' (public squares), constructed in Rome over a period of one and a half centuries, between 46 BC and 113 AD. The fora were the center of the Roman Republic and ...
within the city of Rome have, in recent decades, become again a focus of attention for archaeologists within the city. The east section of the Forum Transitorium was uncovered during large-scale excavations undertaken by the Fascist regime during the construction of the road which was originally called the ''Via dell’Impero'', now called the
Via dei Fori Imperiali
The Via dei Fori Imperiali (formerly ''Via dei Monti'', then ''Via dell'Impero'') is a road in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, that runs in a straight line from the Piazza Venezia to the Colosseum. Its course takes it over parts of the Fo ...
.
[Packer, James E. “Report From Rome: The Imperial Fora, a Retrospective.” In ''American Journal of Archaeology''. Vol. 101. No. 2. (1997): 307-330] Rodolfo Lanciani
Rodolfo Amedeo Lanciani (1 January 1845 – 22 May 1929) was an Italian archaeologist, a pioneering student of ancient Roman topography. Among his many excavations was that of the House of the Vestals in the Roman Forum.
Lanciani earned LL.D. d ...
was the first to gather historical sources regarding the Forum Transitorium in 1883. Initial excavations in 1913, 1926–28 and 1932-1941 helped to measure extant columns as well as uncovered the foundations of the
Temple of Minerva and the perimeter wall.
[D’Ambra, Eve. ''Private Lives, Imperial Virtues: The Frieze of the Forum Transitorium in Rome''. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993] This temple also gave the forum another name which is used by
Martial
Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 and ...
, the Forum Palladium. This derives from an epithet of the Greek Minerva, Pallas Athena. Although there was relatively little known regarding the forum outside of literary texts before the 20th century, new excavations and insights are leading historians and archaeologists to new and exciting theories about what this forum was used for and its importance as a thoroughfare through an increasingly important part of the Roman urban landscape.
History
![Colonnacce del Foro di Nerva](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Colonnacce_del_Foro_di_Nerva.jpg)
The Forum of Nerva was the fourth and smallest of the imperial fora. Its construction was started by Emperor
Domitian
Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavi ...
before the year 85 AD, but officially completed and opened by his successor,
Nerva
Nerva (; originally Marcus Cocceius Nerva; 8 November 30 – 27 January 98) was Roman emperor from 96 to 98. Nerva became emperor when aged almost 66, after a lifetime of imperial service under Nero and the succeeding rulers of the Flavian dy ...
, in 97 AD, hence its official name. The street, which the forum replaced, the
Argiletum
The Argiletum (Latin ''Argīlētum''; it, Argileto) was a street in ancient Rome, which crossed the popular district of Suburra up to the Roman Forum, along the route of the current Via Leonina and Via della Madonna dei Monti.
On its eastern si ...
, had long served as a market area, especially for booksellers and cobblers; the new forum continued to serve as both a thoroughfare and as a monumental entrance to the larger Roman Fora.
The plan of the Forum of Nerva is long and narrow, with protruding columns decorating the walls instead of arcades. A
temple dedicated to Minerva dominated the western end, behind which was a monumental entrance.
Following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the area reverted to
marshland
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...
. In the 9th century, a number of houses were built on the site, with materials salvaged from the ruins. The temple of Minerva remained relatively intact until its demolition by
Pope Paul V
Pope Paul V ( la, Paulus V; it, Paolo V) (17 September 1550 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death in January 1621. In 1611, he honored ...
in 1606 to provide materials for the
Acqua Paola
The Aqua Traiana (later rebuilt and named the Acqua Paola) was a 1st-century Roman aqueduct built by Emperor Trajan and inaugurated on 24 June 109 AD. It channelled water from sources around Lake Bracciano, 40 km (25 mi) north-west of Rome, ...
fountain in the
Janiculum
The Janiculum (; it, Gianicolo ), occasionally the Janiculan Hill, is a hill in western Rome, Italy. Although it is the second-tallest hill (the tallest being Monte Mario) in the contemporary city of Rome, the Janiculum does not figure among th ...
, and the
Borghese
The House of Borghese is a princely family of Italian noble and papal background, originating as the Borghese or Borghesi in Siena, where they came to prominence in the 13th century and held offices under the ''commune''. During the 16th century, ...
chapel in
Santa Maria Maggiore
The Basilica of Saint Mary Major ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, ; la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae Maioris), or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is a Major papal basilica as well as one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and the larges ...
.
The eastern end of the complex was excavated from 1926 to 1940, with portions of the excavations subsequently destroyed by the creation of the
Via dei Fori Imperiali
The Via dei Fori Imperiali (formerly ''Via dei Monti'', then ''Via dell'Impero'') is a road in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, that runs in a straight line from the Piazza Venezia to the Colosseum. Its course takes it over parts of the Fo ...
. Further archaeological work was undertaken in the late 1990s.
Domitianic Period
![Foros imperiales-colores](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Foros_imperiales-colores.png)
The Forum Transitorium was originally a Domitianic reorganization and monumentalization of the ''Argiletum'', an ancient road connecting the ''Forum Romanum'' to the ''Subura'' district.
[Wightman, Greg. "The Imperial Fora of Rome: Some Design Considerations." In ''Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians''. Vol. 56. No. 1. (1997): 64-88][Anderson, James C., Jr. ''The Historical Topography of the Imperial Fora''. Brussels: Latomus, 1984] The name ''Forum Transitorium'' took hold mostly due to the enclosure including a part of this ancient route.
[ This road ran a good distance throughout Rome, connecting the Tiber to the Esquiline. There is a good chance that the plan of its construction was created by Rabirius, the same architect who designed the ]Domus Augustana
The Domus Augustana is the modern name given to the central residential part of the vast Roman Palace of Domitian (92 AD) on the Palatine Hill. In antiquity the name may have applied to the whole of the palace.
Its name is not directly related t ...
of Domitian
Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavi ...
. This is evidenced by the use of certain decorative details within the forum which include "spectacles" which were inserted between dentils in the "Colonnacce".[ The forum is long and thin (around 160 by 46m) and conforms to the basic layout of the fora before it, with a temple dominating one end and high walls surrounding an open courtyard with a colonnade which supplied shelter and passageways.][ It had not yet been dedicated in AD 96 when ]Domitian
Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavi ...
was assassinated, however it was likely close to being completed.[ It was dedicated by ]Nerva
Nerva (; originally Marcus Cocceius Nerva; 8 November 30 – 27 January 98) was Roman emperor from 96 to 98. Nerva became emperor when aged almost 66, after a lifetime of imperial service under Nero and the succeeding rulers of the Flavian dy ...
the year after the death of his predecessor in AD 97 and renamed ''Forum Nervae''.[ In fact, the forum Transitorium was the only large-scale construction initiated by Domitian which was finished during the short fifteen-month reign of Nerva.][Grainger, John D. ''Nerva and the Roman Succession Crisis of AD 96-99''. New York: Routledge, 2003]
Structure
The layout of the Forum of Nerva was dictated by the existing space between pre-existing structures. The available space was long and narrow (131 x 45 meters), and had outer walls made from blocks of lava stone peperino
Peperino is an Italian word describing a brown or grey volcanic tuff, containing fragments of basalt and limestone, with disseminated crystals of augite, mica, magnetite, leucite, and other similar minerals. The name originally referred to the d ...
, covered with marble slabs, and decorated with projecting paired columns. The frieze in the entablature depicted the myth of Arachne
Arachne (; from , cognate with Latin ) is the protagonist of a tale in Greek mythology known primarily from the version told by the Roman poet Ovid (43 BCE–17 CE), which is the earliest extant source for the story. In Book Six of his ...
and other reliefs depicting representations of the personifications of Roman provinces.
Access to the forum was from the sides, with three openings on the Roman Forum side and a monumental entrance on the opposing side with an exedra
An exedra (plural: exedras or exedrae) is a semicircular architectural recess or platform, sometimes crowned by a semi-dome, and either set into a building's façade or free-standing. The original Greek sense (''ἐξέδρα'', a seat out of d ...
porticata in the shape of a horseshoe. This entrance was called ''Porticus Absidata''.
The northern and southern ends of the forum were shaped as crescents, with a temple to Minerva (the patron deity of Domitian) at the western end, embedded into the northern crescent adjacent to the Porticus Absidata. The temple was built on a high podium, and had six Corinthian column
The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...
s in front and three on the side. The back of the temple was hidden from the Forum by a wall.
Near the opposite end, there may have been a temple dedicated to Janus
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; la, Ianvs ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janu ...
. The underground Cloaca Maxima
The Cloaca Maxima ( lat, Cloāca Maxima, lit. ''Greatest Sewer'') was one of the world's earliest sewage systems. Its name derives from Cloacina, a Roman goddess. Built during either the Roman Kingdom or early Roman Republic, it was constructed ...
ran the length of the forum.
Archaeology
Although the archaeological evidence of the Forum Transitorium is not extensive by any means, the evidence we do have when included with the Forma Urbis Romae (the Marble Plan) and the series of renaissance drawings which used the forum as its subject allow for a fairly accurate reproduction.[ The archaeological evidence includes the core of the podium of the Temple of Minerva as well as some of the temple's pavement and orthostats, foundations of the ''Porticus Absidata'', as well as the “ Colonnacce”.][ Most of the evidence lies at the north end of the enclosure, with the remaining southern reaches lying underneath the paved surface of the Via dei Fori Imperiali.][
On the south side of the enclosure wall of the forum is the only surviving evidence of the ''columns en ressaut'', known as the Colonnacce, which surrounded the interior of the space.][ These columns were a substitution for the normal colonnades which adorned the previous Imperial Fora. The reason for this substitution was purely practical due to the very limited amount of space between the ]Forum of Augustus
The Forum of Augustus ( la, Forum Augustum; it, Foro di Augusto) is one of the Imperial fora of Rome, Italy, built by Augustus (). It includes the Temple of Mars Ultor. The incomplete forum and its temple were inaugurated in 2 BC, 40 years after ...
and the Templum Pacis (Temple of Peace).[ In fact, the constraint of space and the adjacent fora walls not being parallel meant that the forum's width changes depending on where it is measured (from around 135 to 160 feet).][ Placing the columns at around 1.75 metres from the enclosure walls served to increase the space within the forum. With fluted pavonazzetto shafts, these columns support a richly decorated entablature with a figured frieze. Of the several preserved scenes, the best known depicts the myth of Arachne. The attic also had figures, but only a central panel with a representation of Minerva has survived in situ.][ The columns allowed the frieze to be broken away from the entablature and out over top of the columns and back again, an arrangement that likely ran down both long sides of the forum.][ This may have been responding to an original monumental colonnade placed along the Argiletum by Vespasian.][
Ancient evidence also suggests that Domitian may have wanted to perpetuate the memory of the Argiletum by placing the shrine of ''Janus Quadrifons'' into the Forum Transitorium.][ There is no archaeological evidence for the shrine's existence. However, Martial and Statius indicate that Janus was incorporated into the plan of the new forum, the god having heralded the "Golden Age" of Domitian.][
]
Temple of Minerva
Minerva
Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the Roma ...
was the patron deity of Domitian, who initiated the construction of the Forum Transitorium. The rise of Minerva during this period has been attributed to the origin of her cult being in the Sabine region, which was considered the ancestral home of the Flavians.[ According to the research completed by H. Bauer, the travertine and peperino foundations represent two different stages of construction.][ The earlier temple was narrower, although it went further into the open space of the forum than did the later shrine.][ The earlier temple displayed equality within its intercolumnations, while the later temple varied the distances between columns depending on where they were.][ While the porch of the Minerva temple projected into the open space of the forum, the cella was narrowed on the northwest end in order to accommodate one of the hemicycles which protruded outwards from the Forum of Augustus.][
The temple was a frontal Italic temple with marble facing which was set on a high podium which stood over the large forecourt which made up the open space of the Forum Transitorium.][ As with some other temples of the time, the cella ended in an apse which contained the cult statue. This apse is detailed in the Forma Urbis Romae.][ The façade was hexastyle (six columns on the front) with the pronaos (front room) containing two or three columns and ''antae'' on each end (architecturally representing wooden supports, holding up the roof of ancient wood-built temples). These columns were Corinthian in order and made from Phrygian marble.][ However, due to its extremely poor state of preservation, the front of the temple cannot be accurately measured.][
]
Le Colonnacce
Le Colonnacce is the only surviving portion of the columns ''en ressaut'' which ran down the lengths of the Forum Transitorium and stands along the flank of the Temple of Minerva.[ The wall is built with blocks of peperino which would have originally been faced with marble. The Corinthian columns stand only 1.75 m from the wall.][ The columns support an entablature that was richly decorated with a figured frieze, 21 m of which are ''in situ'' out of an original 160 m on each long flank, depicting scenes from myth, the best known being that of Arachne.][
Above the cornice originally ran a continuous attic which displayed figures carved in high relief, of which one survives depicting Minerva.][ According to Anderson (1984), this type of architectural decoration appears to be a Domitianic innovation which had been adapted from triumphal arches, seen when compared to the Arch of Augustus at Susa along with the Arch of Trajan at Benevento.][ However, the use of columns in this way was Hellenistic in origin and seemingly arrived in Italy in a courtyard Façade at Praeneste and at the Porta Marzia at Perugia.][
]
Arachne
The Arachne myth describes a young woman who had great skill on the loom, so great in fact that she thought she could challenge Minerva. The goddess, disguising herself as an old woman, warns Arachne not to enter the contest but she is ignored. When the contest is complete, Minerva is enraged at Arachne's cloth's excellent quality and design of sexual acts of the gods, so she destroys it. After stopping Arachne from committing suicide, she doles out a suitable punishment, turning the young girl into a spider, doomed to spin webs in dark places.[ This is the only depiction of this myth in the state sponsored art of ancient Rome.][ The rest of the frieze depicts women weaving and spinning under the tutelage of Minerva, the opposite to the defiant Arachne.][ Blanckenhagen offers one of the more detailed analyses of the frieze, viewing it as "depicting the local craftsmen's celebration of Minerva's festival, the Quinquatrus".][
]
Later history
What is known of the later history of the Forum Transitorium is only fragmentary. The first changes made to the forum appear to have been made by Alexander Severus (reigned 222-235 AD) who set up a gallery of statues of deified emperors.[ Contracts for the removal of stone for construction throughout the city of Rome appear in 1425, 1504, 1522, and 1527, with an attempt to preserve a small section of the forum rejected within the Roman courts in 1520.][ A church, perhaps that of S. Maria in Macello, appearing within a contract of 1517, tells us of its location within the forum and statuary which was removed from the space between 1550 and 1555 on the orders of Pope Julius III.][ The temple of Minerva was dismantled beginning in 1592. The architrave block was then re-cut and reused as the new main altar within St. Peter's.][
]
See also
*
*Roman architecture
Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often considered on ...
*Arachne
Arachne (; from , cognate with Latin ) is the protagonist of a tale in Greek mythology known primarily from the version told by the Roman poet Ovid (43 BCE–17 CE), which is the earliest extant source for the story. In Book Six of his ...
Notes
Further reading
*
External links
Official site
Museum of the Imperial Fora
*High-resolution 360° Panoramas and Images o
Forum of Nerva , Art Atlas
*
{{Authority control
Buildings and structures completed in the 1st century
Imperial forums of Rome
1st-century establishments in Italy
Rome R. I Monti