Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Thoughhewaspopularwiththemasses, noteveryonelikedCaesar'surbandesignorhis
politics. When he assumed dictatorial powers, he was ambushed and stabbed to death by a
conspiracy of senators, including his adopted son, Brutus
(“Et tu, Brute?”).
The funeral was held here, facing the main square. The citizens gathered, and speeches
weremade.MarkAntonystooduptosay(inShakespeare'swords),“Friends,Romans,coun-
trymen, lend me your ears. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.” When Caesar's body
was burned, the citizens who still loved him threw anything at hand on the fire, requiring
the fire department to come put it out. Later, Emperor Augustus dedicated this temple in his
name, making Caesar the first Roman to become a god.
• Behind and to the left of the Temple of Julius Caesar are 10 tall columns. These belong to
the...
TempleofAntoninusPiusandFaustina:
TheSenatebuiltthistempletohonorEm-
peror Antoninus Pius (
A.D.
138-161) and his deified wife, Faustina. The 50-foot-tall Cor-
inthian (leafy) columns must have been awe-inspiring to out-of-towners who grew up in
thatched huts. Although the temple has been inhabited by a church, you can still see the ba-
sic layout—a staircase led to a shaded porch (the columns), which admitted you to the main
building(nowachurch),wherethestatueofthegodsat.Originally,thesecolumnssupported
a triangular pediment decorated with sculptures.
Picture these columns, with gilded capitals, supporting brightly painted statues in the
pediment, and the whole building capped with a gleaming bronze roof. The stately gray
rubble of today's Forum is a faded black-and-white photograph of a 3-D Technicolor era.
Thebuildingisamicrocosm ofmanychangesthatoccurredafterRomefell.Inmedieval
times, thetemple waspillaged. Notethediagonal cutshighonthemarble columns—a failed
attempt by scavengers to cut through the pillars to pull them down for their precious stone.
(They used vinegar and rope to cut the marble... but because vinegar also eats through rope,
they abandoned the attempt.) In 1550, a church was housed inside the ancient temple. The
green door shows the street level at the time of Michelangelo. The long staircase was under-
ground until excavated in the 1800s.
• There's a ramp next to the Temple of A. and F. Walk halfway up it and look to the left to
view the...
Basilica Aemilia:
A basilica was a covered public forum, often serving as a Roman
hall of justice. In a society that was as legal-minded as America is today, you needed a lot of
lawyers—and a big place to put them. Citizens came here to work out matters such as inher-
itances and building permits, or to sue somebody.
Notice the layout. It was a long, rectangular building. The stubby columns all in a row
form one long, central hall flanked by two side aisles. Medieval Christians required a larger
meeting hall for their worship services than Roman temples provided, so they used the spa-
