Roman Underworld

[Klingan]

Thank you Aurelia, and my next question is are there any underground networks in the place where the Campus Martius once was?

 

I am not sure one can call it a "network" but there sure is something in Via di Campo Marzio. Deep underground in the area were the Campus Martius once was (7 metres underground), lies the so called Solarium sive Horologium Augusti. It was a huge solar clock (meridiana) which also consisted of an egyptian obelisc (it was built to commemorate the defeat of the egyptians). We know from Pliny that soon afterwards the meridiana stopped functioning properly (it no longer gave the exact time).

At present you can get there passing through someone's basement...

 

I've heard that it is under water nowadays, do you know if this is true?

 

(Maybe this topic should be moved to another section at some point by the way?)

Edited April 19, 2009 by Klingan

[Silentium]

Thank you Aurelia, and my next question is are there any underground networks in the place where the Campus Martius once was?

 

I am not sure one can call it a "network" but there sure is something in Via di Campo Marzio. Deep underground in the area were the Campus Martius once was (7 metres underground), lies the so called Solarium sive Horologium Augusti. It was a huge solar clock (meridiana) which also consisted of an egyptian obelisc (it was built to commemorate the defeat of the egyptians). We know from Pliny that soon afterwards the meridiana stopped functioning properly (it no longer gave the exact time).

At present you can get there passing through someone's basement...

 

I've heard that it is under water nowadays, do you know if this is true?

 

(Maybe this topic should be moved to another section at some point by the way?)

 

Yes, about 10 centimetres under water.

[Klingan]

I guess that should have ruined most other remains from the Roman period. Too bad.

[Silentium]

I guess that should have ruined most other remains from the Roman period. Too bad.

 

Not really, the marble blocks and the bronze are still in good condition, they have guided tours of the meridiana (although, as I said before, you have to go through the basement of a house in Via di Campo Marzio).

[Klingan]

I guess that should have ruined most other remains from the Roman period. Too bad.

 

Not really, the marble blocks and the bronze are still in good condition, they have guided tours of the meridiana (although, as I said before, you have to go through the basement of a house in Via di Campo Marzio).

 

I was thinking about Roman era underground complexes (as the solarium very much used to be at the ground level) where most (or all) of the the probably few complexes are most likely to be heavily damaged or filled with mud and inaccessible. I'm having a very hard time imagining that anything like Casa dei Grifi would survive underground at the fields of Mars.

[Silentium]

I guess that should have ruined most other remains from the Roman period. Too bad.

 

Not really, the marble blocks and the bronze are still in good condition, they have guided tours of the meridiana (although, as I said before, you have to go through the basement of a house in Via di Campo Marzio).

 

I was thinking about Roman era underground complexes (as the solarium very much used to be at the ground level) where most (or all) of the the probably few complexes are most likely to be heavily damaged or filled with mud and inaccessible. I'm having a very hard time imagining that anything like Casa dei Grifi would survive underground at the fields of Mars.

Oh, sorry, I thought you were referring to the meridiana.

Of course, the rest is either gone/deep in mud...everything was originally at ground level, as you pointed out earlier, and the site was soon earthed due to regular floodings from the Tiber. Well, at least Augustus' mausoleum is still standing and the Ara Pacis is safe inside a museum.

[Gaius Julius Camillus]

Thanks guys, your input has been very helpful.