Flashcards
Ancient History
Cards in this deck (11)
- 1Cloaca Maxima What is it?What is it?
→ One of the worlds earliest sewer systems
→ Constructed in order to drain local marshes and remove the waste from Rome into the Tiber river
→ Originally an open-air canal (big enough to fit hay wagon – Strabo) before being covered up - 2What is the purpose of the Cloaca Maxima?Purpose
→ Drain marshy land
→ Religious significance – Cloacina
→ Shows Roman power as they managed to build it despite physical obstacles
→ Acted as a sewer system for Roman population – still used today. - 3What is the Roman Forum?What is it?
→ public meeting place
→ Became centre of Rome and of public life
→ Located in small valley between Palatine Hills
→ Its placement in the central part of the city dates back to the time of the Tarquin kings
→ Cloaca Maxima was built to provide proper drainage of the marshy land between the hills
→ When the land was properly drained and dry, this area naturally became a central gathering location for the Etruscan inhabitants.
→ When the Roman Republic came to be in 509 B.C., this area retained its public use - 4What is the purpose of the Roman Forum?Purpose
→ public meeting place
→ Functioned as important place for
o Politics
o Economics
o Administrates
o Religious Festivals/ functions
→ During Republic was where processions and elections took place, and eventually where the Roman Senate gathered - 5What is the Campus Martius?What is it?
→ 250 hectares of low lying plains enclosed by bend in Tiber river
→ Originally used primarily as a military exercise ground before being drained (1st century BCE) and became covered with large public buildings – baths, amphitheatre, theatres, gymnasium, crematorium and many temples.
→ Villa Publica, Circus Flaminius, and Pompeys theatre - 6What is the purpose of the Campus Martius?Purpose
→ public meeting place
→ Outside Pomerium
o Fighting allowed
o Foreign ambassadors
o Foreign cults + temples
→ Pasturing sheep and agriculture before being built up
→ Starting point for triumphs + religious festivals - 7What is the Via Sacra?What is it?
→ Main street of ancient Rome – ran through the Forum
→ leads form the top of the Capitoline Hill through religious sites of the Forum before reaching the Colosseum - 8What is the purpose of the Via Sacra?Purpose
→ Continually filled with religious festivals
→ Filled with:
o Triumphs of generals
o Business
o Justice
o Religion
o Social - 9What is the form of the Basilica Aemila?Form
→ 55-34 BCE
→ Civil Basilica
→ 100 metres long 30 metres wide – rows of African marbled columns - 10What is the function of the Basilica Aemilia?Function
→ Basilicas were large roofed halls erected for
o transacting business
o disposing of legal matters
→ advertised grandeur of Rome
→ contained an apse (arch) in which a magistrate sat
→ on its 200th anniversary Pliny claimed it was one of the most beautiful buildings in Rome - 11THE CITY OF ROME Geographical Setting and influences on development of city:→ Originally marshy land that was prone to flooding and air borne/ mosquito borne diseases like malaria
→ Cloaca Maxima essentially drained the land and the people were able to build on it
→ Very sophisticated city plan
→ Romans built upwards due to large population
→ Made artificial harbour that saved Rome from flooding
→ Built in between seven hills
→ Tiber river was good for navigation and trade but avoided being too close to coast to avoid attack
→ Fertile plains and rivers
→ Commanded both banks of Tiber
→ Romans looked back on greatness and attributed success to different factors – religion/ gods and men chose city