The Meta Sudans (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: "sweating turning post") was a large monumental conical

fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or Spring (hydrology), spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. ...

in ancient

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 ...

. The Meta Sudans was built some time between 89 and 96 under the

Flavian Flavian may refer to: * A member of the Flavian dynasty of Roman emperors, during the late 1st century AD, or their works * Flavian Zeija, a Ugandan lawyer, academic and judge. Principal Judge of Uganda, since December 2019. * A person named Flavian ...

emperors, a few years after the completion of the nearby

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world to ...

. It was built between the Colosseum and the

Temple of Venus and Roma The Temple of Venus and Roma (Latin: ''Templum Veneris et Romae'') is thought to have been the largest temple in Ancient Rome. Located on the Velian Hill, between the eastern edge of the Forum Romanum and the Colosseum, in Rome, it was dedicated ...

, close to the later

Arch of Constantine The Arch of Constantine ( it, Arco di Costantino) is a triumphal arch in Rome dedicated to the emperor Constantine the Great. The arch was commissioned by the Roman Senate to commemorate Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvi ...

, at the juncture of four regions of ancient Rome: regions I, III, IV, X (and perhaps II). A ''

meta Meta (from the Greek μετά, '' meta'', meaning "after" or "beyond") is a prefix meaning "more comprehensive" or "transcending". In modern nomenclature, ''meta''- can also serve as a prefix meaning self-referential, as a field of study or ende ...

'' was a tall conical object in a Roman

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

that stood at either end of the central ''

spina Spina was an Etruscan port city, established by the end of the 6th century BCE, on the Adriatic at the ancient mouth of the Po. Discovery The site of Spina was lost until modern times, when drainage schemes in the delta of the Po River in 1922 ...

'', around which racing

chariot A chariot is a type of cart driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 2000&nbs ...

s would turn. The Meta Sudans had the same shape, and also functioned as a similar kind of turning point, in that it marked the spot where a Roman triumphal procession would turn left from the

via Triumphalis Via Trionfale is a Roman road that leads to and within Rome, Italy. Formerly called Via Triumphalis, it was an ancient consular road that connected Rome to Veii. The northern terminus of the road connects with the Via Cassia. History The name giv ...

along the east side of the

Palatine A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times.

onto the

via Sacra The Via Sacra (, "''Sacred Street''") was the main street of ancient Rome, leading from the top of the Capitoline Hill, through some of the most important religious sites of the Forum (where it is the widest street), to the Colosseum. The road ...

and into the

Forum Romanum The Roman Forum, also known by its Latin name Forum Romanum ( it, Foro Romano), is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient ...

itself. The Meta Sudans was built of a

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

and

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

core, faced with

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

. It seems to have "sweated" the water (''sudans'' means "sweating"), rather than jetting it out the top. This may mean that it oozed out the top, or perhaps that water came from holes in its side. The monument is estimated to have stood up to 17 m tall; until the 20th century, its concrete core was still over 9 m high. It had a base pool 16 m wide and 1.4 m deep. The fountain was obviously damaged in the Middle Ages because it already appears as a ruin in early views of the Colosseum. Photos from the end of the 19th century show a conical structure of solid bricks next to the Arch of Constantine, surrounded by its own original, reflecting stone pool. The ruins of Meta Sudans survived until the 20th century. In 1936

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

had its remains wantonly demolished and paved over to make room for the new traffic circle around the Colosseum. A commemorative plaque was set in the road. Although the above-ground structure is gone, its foundations were later re-excavated, revealing the extensive substructure. After another excavation in 1997-98 the traffic circle was closed and the area became a pedestrian district. Extensive excavations directed by

Clementina Panella Clementina Panella is an Italian archaeologist, a professor at the University of Rome La Sapienza, where she teaches Methodology of Archaeology. She has guided and co-written a number of articles on the commercial pottery of ancient Italy. Career ...

of the University of Rome "La Sapienza" have revealed extensive archaeological information about the Meta Sudans and the northeast slope of the Palatine Hill.ROMA – VALLE DEL COLOSSEO – PALATINO NORD-ORIENTALE http://archeopalatino.uniroma1.it/it

References

Sources

"Meta Sudans"
From

Samuel Ball Platner Samuel Ball Platner (December 4, 1863 – August 20, 1921) was an American classicist and archaeologist. Platner was born at Unionville, Connecticut, and educated at Yale College. He taught at Western Reserve University and is best known as th ...

, ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome'', rev.

Thomas Ashby Thomas Ashby, (14 October 1874 – 15 May 1931) was a British archaeologist. Family He was the only child of Thomas Ashby (1851–1906), and his wife, Rose Emma, daughter of Apsley Smith. His father belonged to the well-known Quaker family ...

. Oxford, 1929, p. 340-341. * Coarelli, Filippo, ''Guida Archeologica di Roma'', Milano: Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1989, . * Claridge, Amanda, ''Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide'', New York: Oxford University Press, 1998, .
ROMA – VALLE DEL COLOSSEO – PALATINO NORD-ORIENTALE
* Panella, Clementina. 1996. ''Meta sudans. I: Un'area sacra in Palatio e la valle del Colosseo prima e dopo Nerone''. Rome: Istituto poligrafico e zecca dello stato : Libreria dello Stato.

External links

{{commons, Meta sudans (Rome) in art
Conjectured reconstruction of the Meta SudansDescription in the site of the "Soprintendenza Speciale per il Colosseo, il MNR e l'Area Archeologica di Roma"
Buildings and structures completed in the 1st century Ancient Roman buildings and structures in Rome Rome R. I Monti