The Stadium of Domitian (Italian: Stadio di Domiziano), also known as the Circus Agonalis, was located under the present Piazza Navona which follows its outline and incorporates its remains, to the north of the ancient Campus Martius in Rome, Italy. The Stadium was commissioned around AD 80 by Emperor Titus Flavius Domitianus as a gift to the people of Rome and was used almost entirely for athletic contests. In Christian tradition, Agnes of Rome was martyred there.
The Stadium of Domitian was dedicated in AD 86, as part of an Imperial building programme on the Campus Martius and elsewhere, following the damage or destruction of most of its buildings by fire in AD 79.[citation needed] It was Rome's first permanent venue for competitive athletics, erected for Domitian's celebration of the Capitoline Games. It was patterned after Greek stadia and seated approximately 30,000.[1] The substructures and support frames were made of brick and concrete – a robust, fire-retardant and relatively cheap material – clad in marble. Stylistically, the Stadium facades would have resembled those of the Colosseum; the floor plan was typical of Greek stadia, having a similarly semi-circular end. Colini (1943) estimates the total stadium length as approximately 275 metres, and the total width as 106 metres,[2] while later sources give the height of its outer perimeter benches as 30m (100ft) above ground level and its inner perimeter benches as 4.5m (15ft) above the arena floor.[3] This arrangement offered a clear view of the track from most seats. The typically Greek layout gave the Stadium its Latinised Greek name, in agones (the place or site of the competitions). The flattened end was sealed by two vertically staggered entrance galleries and the perimeter was arcaded beneath the seating levels, with travertine pilasters between its cavea (enclosures). The formation of a continuous arena trackway by a raised "spina" or strip has been conjectured.[4]
The Stadium of Domitian was the northernmost of a series of public buildings on Campus Martius at that time. To its south stood the smaller and more intimate Odeon of Domitian, used for recitals, songs and orations. The southernmost end of the Campus was dominated by the Theatre of Pompey, restored by Domitian during the same rebuilding program.[5]
Uses
The Stadium was used almost entirely for athletic contests. For "a few years", following fire damage to the Colosseum in AD 217, it was used for gladiator shows.[6] According to the Historia Augusta's garish account of Emperor Elagabalus, the arcades were used as brothels[7] and the emperor Severus Alexander funded his restoration of the Stadium partly with tax-revenue from the latter.[8] In Christian martyr-legend, St Agnes was put to death there during the reign of the emperor Diocletian, in or near one of its arcades. With the economic and political crises of the later Imperial and post-Imperial eras, the Stadium seems to have fallen out of its former use; the arcades provided living quarters for the poor and the arena a meeting place. It may have been densely populated: "With the decline of the city after the barbarian invasions, the rapidly dwindling population gradually abandoned the surrounding hills and was concentrated in the campus Martius, which contained the main part of Rome until the new developments in the nineteenth century."[9] Substantial portions of the structure survived into the Renaissance era, when they were mined and robbed for building materials.
Legacy
The Piazza Navona sits over the interior arena of the Stadium. The sweep of buildings that embrace the Piazza incorporates the Stadium's original lower arcades. They include the most recent rebuilding of the Church of Sant'Agnese in Agone, first founded in the ninth century at the traditional place of St. Agnes' martyrdom.[10]
↑ Lee, Hugh M., "Greek Sports in Rome", pp. 533-542, in A Companion to Sport and Spectacle in Greek and Roman Antiquity, Editor(s):Paul Christesen, Donald G. Kyle, :8 November 2013, Wiley Online Books, Print ISBN9781444339529 Online ISBN9781118609965doi:10.1002/9781118609965
↑ Bernard, Jean-François et Rossetto, Paola Ciancio, "Le stade de Domitien: situation topographique, étude architecturale et réflexions concernant la localisation de l’église Sainte-Agnès", Le culte de sainte Agnès à place Navone entre Antiquité et Moyen Âge, Open Edition Journals, 126-1, 2014, section 20, citing Colini, A. M., Stadium Domitiani, 1943, Roma, pp. 71-72.
↑ A slightly higher estimate for seating numbers, and a lower estimate for arena length (200-250 meters) are in Richardson, L., A new topographical dictionary of ancient Rome, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992. pp. 366 - 7, showing reconstructed ground plan: convenience link
↑ Arena seating and length estimates from Samuel Ball Platner (as completed and revised by Thomas Ashby): A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, London: Oxford University Press, 1929, p.496: Bill Thayer's website link
↑ Platner, Ibid, Campus Martius: Bill Thayer's website link
↑ Cassius Dio, Roman History, (epitome), 78, 25.2: link This ruinous Colosseum fire was caused by lightning – one of many divine signs to anticipate the death of the emperor Macrinus.
↑ Historia Augusta, "The Life of Elagabalus", 26.3
↑ Richardson, L., A new topographical dictionary of ancient Rome, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992. pp. 366 - 7 has "numerous brothels... and probably shops and workshops as well," like the Circus Maximus.
↑ Platner 1929, A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, "Campus Martius p.94. via: Lacus Curtius
↑ Mariano Armellini, Le Chiese di Roma dal secolo IV al XIX, pubblicato Dalla Tipografia Vaticana, 1891: (Italian only; Bill Thayer's website link)
The Colosseum is an elliptical 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, despite its age. Construction began under the Emperor Vespasian in 72 and was completed in AD 80 under his successor and heir, Titus. Further modifications were made during the reign of Domitian. The three emperors who were patrons of the work are known as the Flavian dynasty, and the amphitheatre was named the Flavian Amphitheatre by later classicists and archaeologists for its association with their family name (Flavius).
An amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ἀμφιθέατρον, from ἀμφί, meaning "on both sides" or "around" and θέατρον, meaning "place for viewing".
The Campus Martius was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about 2 square kilometres in extent. In the Middle Ages, it was the most populous area of Rome. The IV rione of Rome, Campo Marzio, which covers a smaller section of the original area, bears the same name.
Piazza Navona is a public open space in Rome, Italy. It is built on the site of the 1st century AD Stadium of Domitian and follows the form of the open space of the stadium in an elongated oval. The ancient Romans went there to watch the agones ("games"), and hence it was known as "Circus Agonalis". It is believed that over time the name changed to in avone to navone and eventually to navona.
The naumachia in the Ancient Roman world referred to both the staging of naval battles as mass entertainment, and the basin or building in which this took place.
The Circus Flaminius was a large, circular area in ancient Rome, located in the southern end of the Campus Martius near the Tiber River. It contained a small race-track used for obscure games, and various other buildings and monuments. It was "built", or sectioned off, by Gaius Flaminius in 221 BC. After Augustus divided the city into 14 administrative regions, the Circus Flaminius gave its name to Regio IX, which encompassed the Circus and all of the Campus Martius west of the Via Lata.
Sant'Agnese in Agone is a 17th-century Baroque church in Rome, Italy. It faces onto the Piazza Navona, one of the main urban spaces in the historic centre of the city and the site where the Early Christian Saint Agnes was martyred in the ancient Stadium of Domitian. Construction began in 1652 under the architects Girolamo Rainaldi and his son Carlo Rainaldi. After numerous quarrels, the other main architect involved was Francesco Borromini.
The Saepta Julia was a building in the Campus Martius of Rome, where citizens gathered to cast votes. The building was conceived by Julius Caesar and dedicated by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa in 26 BC. The building replaced an older structure, called the Ovile, built as a place for the comitia tributa to gather to cast votes. The Saepta Julia can be seen on the Forma Urbis Romae, a map of the city of Rome as it existed in the early 3rd century AD. Part of the original wall of the Saepta Julia can still be seen right next to the Pantheon.
In Ancient Rome, the Capitoline Games were annual games (ludi). They started out as religious holiday celebrations that "called upon divine support to ensure continued prosperity for the state." They were instituted by Camillus, 387 BC, in honor of Jupiter Capitolinus, and in commemoration of the Capitol's not being taken by the Gauls that same year. The games lasted sixteen days, starting on October 15.
The Ludus Magnus, also known as the Great Gladiatorial Training School, was the largest of the gladiatorial schools in Rome. It was built by the emperor Domitian in the late first century C.E., alongside other building projects undertaken by him such as three other gladiatorial schools across the Roman Empire.
The Solarium Augusti or Horologium Augusti was a monument in the Campus Martius of ancient Rome constructed in 10 BCE under the Roman emperor Augustus. It included an Egyptian obelisk that had first been erected under the pharaoh Psamtik II used in some fashion as a gnomon. Once believed to have been a massive sundial, it is now more commonly understood to have been used with a meridian line used to track the solar year. It served as a monument of Augustus having brought Egypt under Roman rule and was also connected with the Altar of Augustan Peace commemorating the Pax Romana established by his ending the numerous civil wars that ended the Roman Republic. The Solarium was destroyed at some point during the Middle Ages. Its recovered obelisk is now known as the Obelisk of Montecitorio.
The Amphitheatre of Statilius Taurus was a Roman amphitheatre in ancient Rome. The amphitheatre was inaugurated in 29 BC. Earlier arenas were temporary structures that were disassembled after the event. The amphitheatre was built by Titus Statilius Taurus, who paid for it from his own resources. Statilius Taurus was a successful general and politician in the time of emperor Augustus and had gathered much wealth during his career. For the inauguration he also paid for the gladiatorial games.
Jupiter Tonans, was the aspect (numen) of Jupiter venerated in the Temple of Jupiter Tonans, which Augustus vowed in 26 BCE and dedicated in 22 BCE on the Capitoline Hill; the Emperor had narrowly escaped being struck by lightning during the campaign in Cantabria. An old temple in the Campus Martius had long been dedicated to Iuppiter Fulgens. The original cult image installed in the sanctuary by its founder was by Leochares, a Greek sculptor of the 4th century BCE.
The Odeon of Domitian was an ancient Roman building on the Campus Martius in Rome, used for plays and musical competitions and with room for an audience of 11,000. The first Odeum, at Rome, was built by Domitian in imitation of Greek odeons. It was completed or restored in 106 by Apollodorus of Damascus. The outline of its cavea is still preserved by the façade of the Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne, but the only actual remains is a cipoline monolithic column just in front of the Palazzo's rear façade.
During the Middle Ages, Rome was divided into a number of administrative regions, usually numbering between twelve and fourteen, which changed over time.
The trigarium was an equestrian training ground in the northwest corner of the Campus Martius in ancient Rome. Its name was taken from the triga, a three-horse chariot.
The Baths of Nero or Baths of Alexander were a complex of ancient Roman baths on the Campus Martius in Rome, built by Nero in either 62 or 64 and rebuilt by Alexander Severus in 227 or 229. It stood between the Pantheon and the Stadium of Domitian and were listed among the most notable buildings in the city by Roman authors and became a much-frequented venue. These thermae were the second large public baths built in Rome, after the Baths of Agrippa, and it was probably the first "imperial-type" complex of baths, with a monumental scale and symmetrical, axially-planned design. While in the sixteenth century the foundations of the caldarium were still visible, nothing else of the structure remains above ground except some fragments of walls incorporated into the structure of Palazzo Madama.
The Temple of Isis and Serapis was a double temple in Rome dedicated to the Egyptian deities Isis and Serapis on the Campus Martius, directly to the east of the Saepta Julia. The temple to Isis, the Iseum Campense, stood across a plaza from the Serapeum dedicated to Serapis. The remains of the Temple of Serapis now lie under the church of Santo Stefano del Cacco, and the Temple of Isis lay north of it, just east of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. Both temples were made up of a combination of Egyptian and Hellenistic architectural styles. Much of the artwork decorating the temples used motifs evoking Egypt, and they contained several genuinely Egyptian objects, such as couples of obelisks in red or pink granite from Syene.
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