). The Renaissance tower
was completed under Gregorius XIII (1572-85).
In the XIIIth century Palazzo Senatorio became the site of the Comune di Roma, the
political system which at the same time was being adopted by many other Italian towns. The government
was entrusted with a small parliament elected on a borough or guild basis. The presence of the
pope limited the authority of the communal institutions, however in the XIVth century, when
the popes lived in Avignon, Rome was ruled as an independent Comune. In 1398, the fights between the different
parties led the Comune to request the protection of the pope. At the same time most of the other Italian Comuni
were falling under the power of a family (Medici in Florence, Visconti in Milano, etc..), so what
happened in Rome was part of a general process.
Several coats of arms document this process. In the picture above you can see:
a) coat of arms of Bonifatius IX who was asked in 1398 to protect the Comune. He built a high tower to strengthen the palace.
b) coat of arms
of Nicholas V (mid XVth century), who built another tower which is clearly visible in the picture of Palazzo Senatorio.
c) coat of arms
of Sixtus IV and Innocentius VIII (late XVth century), who regarded themselves as the lords of Rome. The inscription over the (today side) entrance of the palace says:
SIXTUS QUARTUS PONT(ifex) MAX(imus) URBIS RESTAURATOR, which
clearly shows the secular role the popes attributed to themselves and their humanistic culture.
Temples
of Saturn and of Vespasianus
The Temple of Saturn (left) is a late IVth century restoration of a very
old Republican temple. The different size of the columns shows that the restoration was a sort of
"cannibalization" which made use of materials coming from other ruined temples. The view shows also SS. Luca e Martina (to the left of the arch) and Curia Julia (to the right of the arch).
The Temple dedicated to the Emperor Vespasianus (right) was built by his son Domitianus in 86 A.D.
and the three remaining columns show great craftmanship.
Arch
of Septimius
Severus
The Arch was erected by the Senate to honour the tenth anniversary
of the Emperor's accession and his victories in the Middle East. The decoration
is damaged, but some reliefs have gained by remaining covered under the ground, like the
relief of the captives, shown above.
Ancient
Rome
The first attempts to reconstruct from the remaining buildings the whole appearance of Ancient Rome, date back to the XVth century.
In 1553 the painter and architect Pirro Ligorio published Libro delle Antichità di Roma (Book on the Roman Antiquities) dedicated to Cardinal Ippolito d'Este for
whom he had designed Villa d'Este, which was followed by a double map showing both modern and ancient Rome.
In Reverend Jeremiah Donovan's guide of Rome published in 1844, a description of the monuments of the Forum was accompanied by an etching by Gaetano Cottafavi based on a watercolour by the English
architect/archaeologist Charles Robert Cockerell (1788-1863) (click here to see it), who was for many years the Architect of the Bank of England.
The image shows in yellow the surviving monuments: (left to right) three columns of the Temple of Castor and Pollux, Portico of the Temple of Saturn, three
columns of the Temple of Vespasianus, the Tabularium, the Arch of Septimius Severus, Curia Julia and Temple of Annia Faustina (S. Lorenzo in Miranda).
Excerpts from Giuseppe Vasi 1761 Itinerary related to this page:
Campo Vaccino
Prese un tal nome questo spazioso e celebre luogo dal mercato di bovi, ed altri
animali da macello, che in esso ora si sa, a similitudine, dell'antico foro boario.
Fu però questo il più magnifico e splendido sito in tempo di Roma trionfante, e si ravvisa
ancora dalle copiose, e maravigliose rovine, che vi sono rimaste: onde per osservare tutto,
e con piacere, cominceremo dal mentovato palazzo Senatorio dalla parte però, che guarda il
campo.
Gli archi chiusi entro le mura del medesimo, si crede, che fossero dell'antico
Tabolario, in cui si tenevano le tavole della Legge; le tre colonne quali sepolte nel
clivo, con capitelli e cornici lavorate alla corintia furono del tempio di Giove Tonante
fatto da Ottaviano Augusto per difesa del Campidoglio, e le otto colonne di granito egizio
con capitelli e cornice dorica sono del tempio della Concordia.
L'arco, che si vede mezzo
sepolto, lavorato tutto di marmo salino con bassirilievi, e colonne striate fu eretto dal
Senato e Popolo Romano a Settimio Severo, e la gran colonna isolata, che si vede poco
discosto, con capitello corintio, niuno ha saputo trovare di quale edifizio fosse.
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