Pantagathus Posted January 20, 2006 Report Share Posted January 20, 2006 All this talk about Roman food and decadence got me thinking about the one place the common man would find most all of it in Rome: The Subura! I'm amazed that a search on the word in this forum produced only posts with passing reference... The Subura deserves its own thread so here it is: Subura - The valley between the southern end of the Viminal and the western end of the Esquiline, or Oppius, which was connected with the forum by the Argiletum, and continued eastward between the Oppius and the Cispius by the Clivus Suburanus, ending at the Porta Esquilina. This district is now traversed by the Via Cavour and the Via dello Statuto. Another depression extended from the Subura northward between the Viminal and the Quirinal, and a third north-east between the Cispius and the Viminal that was marked by the vicus Patricius. The beginning of the Subura was called primae fauces and was perhaps situated near the Praefectura Urbana - Platner & Ashby, A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome The Subura was the Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pertinax Posted January 20, 2006 Report Share Posted January 20, 2006 (edited) you would perhaps seek the Suburnae puellae? The haunt of Nero's pleasure seeking.Clamosa Subura (apologies to AD). a little like Wan Chi in Hong Kong. Edited January 20, 2006 by Pertinax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neos Dionysos Posted January 20, 2006 Report Share Posted January 20, 2006 The Subura was the Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pantagathus Posted January 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2006 (edited) you would perhaps seek the Suburnae puellae? Not too young of a puellae but I'm sure a salacious liaison might occur while shopping for exotic goods... Edited January 20, 2006 by Pantagathus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pertinax Posted January 20, 2006 Report Share Posted January 20, 2006 (edited) hmm Pantagathus improbus est :pimp: Empire of Pleasures-read the review at the front of the site! its all in there. Edited January 20, 2006 by Pertinax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pantagathus Posted January 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2006 (edited) So this is like the 'inner city' of most metropolis' today huh? Interesting... know where I can find out more about this area of the city? Like where did you get this info? Yes, that is exactly the kind of place. Info on the Subura can be found sprinkled here and there. As I credited, the Platner & Ashby Dictionary deals lightly with it. Martial speaks of it often as do the other ancient sources. I have yet to come accross a modern book that deals exclusively with it but as Pertinax has noted, books like Dalby's are indeed compelled to examine this area... & Pantagathus incontaminatus est! :angel: Edited January 20, 2006 by Pantagathus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Dalby Posted January 20, 2006 Report Share Posted January 20, 2006 (edited) hmm Pantagathus improbus est :pimp: Empire of Pleasures-read the review at the front of the site! its all in there. I'm glad you noticed, Pertinax. I really enjoyed writing the Suburra section of Empire of Pleasures. Incidentally, where English speakers are inclined to call it a 'red light district', French writers (at least one) liken it to a 'quartier de la gare', i.e. railway station district. Both, obviously, anachronistic! The poem in which Propertius reminisces about wandering through the Suburra with his girl after helping her climb out of her window was the first Latin text that I made a serious attempt to translate -- forty years ago. Can that be forty years ago? Edited January 20, 2006 by Andrew Dalby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.Clodius Posted January 20, 2006 Report Share Posted January 20, 2006 I'd heard of the Subura before, from I think Cicero. I wonder what other parts of the town were called, surely not just named after the hills. The Pomerium expanded mutiple times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pantagathus Posted January 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2006 hmm Pantagathus improbus est :pimp: Empire of Pleasures-read the review at the front of the site! its all in there. I'm glad you noticed, Pertinax. What that you wrote extensively about the Subura in Empire of Pleasures or that I'm a wicked person? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Dalby Posted January 20, 2006 Report Share Posted January 20, 2006 I'd heard of the Subura before, from I think Cicero. I wonder what other parts of the town were called, surely not just named after the hills. The Pomerium expanded mutiple times. Buy perfume in the Vicus Tuscus. Smell cheese being smoked in the Velabrum. But the classiest shopping centre is the Saeptum as rebuilt by Agrippa. That's where you go to buy jewellery, antique Greek vases and really expensive slaves, according to Martial (but in his case it's just window-shopping, it seems). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sextus Roscius Posted January 21, 2006 Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 Personaly, I think the Subura was really well described by Steven Saylor in his "Roma Sub Rosa" series involving Gordianus the finder (see Flavius's review of The Venus Throw) which uses some pretty good examples of the life there. Anything one can possibly imagine, rich landlords, huge 3 level apartment tenants, Brotherels, slaves, and objects and possessions galor, not to mention any combinations of them! Of course, thats life for ya. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.