Campus Martius
From Freepedia
The Campus Martius, (meaning "Field of Mars" in latin), was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about 2 km² (600 acres) in extent. In the Middle ages it was the most populated area of Rome. Nowadays this is the name of the IV rione of Rome, smaller than the original area; its logo is a silver half-moon on a blue background, the origin of this symbol is unknown.
Contents |
The Ancient Roman age
Before the birth of Rome, The Campus Martius itself was a low-lying plain limited by a bend of the River Tiber and by the Quirinal and the Capitoline hills. When Rome started growing, the area was still outside the defending walls; it was used for pasturing horses and sheep, and mainly for military training activity of both the army and of private people who could use the training equipment the army had left. It was dedicated to Mars, the Roman god of war. As long as the Aurelian Walls were not built, since it was outside the walls, the Campus Martius was a natural place for audience given to foreign ambassadors who could not enter the city, and foreign cults were housed in temples erected there.
According to one legend, it was once a field of wheat owned by Tarquinius Superbus, last King of Rome, but was burnt during the revolution which established the Roman Republic. Dedicated to the god of warfare with an ancient altar, the Campus Martius was closely linked to soldiers and the army. Initially, the field was often used by soldiers for purposes of training. Later, it was frequently the focus of Triumphs, the celebrations of a successful military campaigns.
Starting in the time of Sulla, building lots were sold or granted to influential Romans, and insulae (apartment blocks) and villas encroached on the common land. It later became the place for comitia centuriata, civic meetings with weapons, and for the city's militia. Pompey built the first stone theater in Rome in the Campus Martius in 55 BC: this was the first real monument in the area. Caesar wanted the Saepta (buildings used for elections) to be placed there, but they were then completed by Augustus. In 33 BC Octavian dedicated there the Porticus Octavia, built from spoils of the Dalmatian War.
During the Augustan period, the area became officially part of the city: Rome was split up into 14 regions, and Campus Martius was divided in three parts: the VI Alta Semita, the VII via Lata and the IX Circus Flaminius.
The Campus Martius also held the Ara Pacis (Altar of Peace), built by the Senate to mark the establishment of peace by Augustus. It was intended to symbolize the successful completion of Augustus's efforts to stabilize the Empire.
Agrippa had the swampy ground made into a pool and baths in a setting of parkland and temples, and built the Porticus Argonautarum, the Laconicum Sudatorium, the baths having his name and the Pantheon.
In the non-populated northern area there was the huge Mausoleum of Augustus. Then other buildings were made: the Theater of Marcellus, the temple for Iside maybe from Caligola, the baths and the bridge by Nero.
After the great fire of the 80 AD, Domitianus rebuilt the burnt monuments plus a stadium (that later will become piazza Navona) and an Odeion (a small building for shows, music, etc.)
Gradually, as the city of Rome expanded at the end of the Republic and in the early Empire, more and more buildings were constructed on the Campus Martius. The Campus filled with temples and public buildings, circuses, theaters, porticoes, baths, monuments, columns and obelisks. It is easy to notice that, even if the area was entitled to Mars, there was no monument dedicated to him (but the Pantheon, that was dedicated to all the Gods, though).
The Middle Ages
After the barbarian invasions cut the aqueducts, the rapidly dwindling population abandoned the surrounding hills and concentrated in the Campus Martius, depending on the Tiber for water and victimized by its flooding. Since it was next to the river and next to the Vatican, it became the most populated part of Rome in the Middle ages. The people could work thanks to the florid economy around the River Tiber, they could drink the water of the river and the continuous stream of pilgrims for the Vatican brought wealth to the area.
The main street connecting Rome to all the rest of Europe was Cassia, arriving through the porta del Popolo ("door of the people") in the northern part of Campus Martius. The other main street of Rome, Aurelia was not safe anymore because it passed through Tuscany, that was full of unhealthy marshes, and was next to the coast, that was unsafe because of the continuous attacks from the sea.
Because of these reasons the population increased a lot, and Campus Martius became a crowded multi-cultural place thanks to all the foreigners that decided to settle there.
Because of the increasing importance of the area, several popes decided to improve the conditions of the area. In the period 1513-1521 pope Leo X built a street connecting porta del Popolo to the Vatican: from his name it was called via Leonina, but than it changed to the more famous via di Ripetta. To improve the hygiene of the area, several Roman aqueducts were restored.
The modern Rome
After the Renaissance, like all the rest of Rome, Campus Martius did not change much: there were no other great works and the population decreased. Everything changed after Rome became capital of the new-born Italy in 1870: the area got even more crowded and the protecting embankments were built to stop the flooding of the River. This made the area much safer, but destroyed the Ripetta port, all the narrow streets leading to the river and the typical buildings on its edge.
The Campus Martius contained the main part of Rome until the new developments increased the size of the capital of a reunited Italy after 1870.
