Gruppo Archeologico Romano

Roman Neighborhoods       Spring 2000

Background material keyed to topics to be covered in the Roman Neighborhoods course of the English Programme of the GAR

Gretchen Meyers/Dustin Gish -- Fridays 10 am, Feb 4 - May 26

Ms. Gretchen Meyers (center) withRoman Neighborhoods Participants, outside the Domus Aurea

Internet sites of general use to participants:
Ancient Rome -- Topographical Dictionary
Archeology Links
Architecture Links
Art History:
ART HISTORY RESOURCES ON THE WEB: Contents
ART HISTORY RESOURCES: Ancient Rome
Art History Webmasters ASSOCIATION
Gateway to Art History
Index of artists and architects
OCAIW: Orazio Centaro's Art Images Web
Thais.it -- sculpture, architecture, etc.
Vassari: Lives
World Wide Arts Resources
The Catholic Encyclopedia
Church/Religions Links
History Source books
IMAGES OF ROME
Indice Monumenti Antichi e Aree Archeologiche -- Roma
Jubilee Links
Literature and eTexts
Maecenas: Images of Ancient Greece and Rome
Medieval History Links
Mythology Links
Palaces of Rome - by Italian Tourist Web Guide
POPES -- Catholic Encyclopedia
Roman Churches:
Rome Churches -- RomeTours
Rome Churches -- RomeGuide
Basilicas and Churches - Italian Culture Net Links
Vitruvius on Architecture -- LacusCurtius
Western Civilization Links

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February 4:  Rome Triumphant -- Pagan Processions/Christian Transformation

The Triumphal Arch (Smith's Dictionary, 1875)--LacusCurtius
Arch of Constantine
Arch of Constantine -- Great Buildings Online
Arch of Severus -- Great Buildings Online
Arch of Titus (Platner & Ashby, 1929)--LacusCurtius
Arch of Titus -- Great Buildings Online
Gateway Arch
Santa Maria Antiqua -- image

M.P.:  Arch of Constantine (Gretchen and Dustin)

February 11:  Re-"Ordering" Rome -- Jesuit Influence in the City Center

Il Gesù and S. Ignazio -- Hager
image1
image2
John Huss and Martin Luther... barred from Heaven?
Madonna della Strada
Baroque Architecture
FRESCO -- "Triumph of the Name of Jesus"
Jesuit History in Art -- Ignatius' Tomb in the Church of the Gesu
Sant'Ignazio di Loyola
Sant' Ignazio (in Danish, but three good pictures)
Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Ignatius Loyola
Le varie sedi del COLLEGIO ROMANO dalla sua fondazione

M.P.:  The Gesu´ (Gretchen)

February 18:  Aventine Communities -- Mithraeism and Catholicism

Mithraism
Ancienthistory -- studies in Mithraism
Ancienthistory -- mithras
Bryn Mawr Classical Review 95.09.10
MITHRAISM -- Catholic Encyclopedia
Cosmic Mysteries of Mithras
Legend of Mithras -- Mithra/Christ parallels
Mithra -- Oxford
Mithraism -- Delphi Theological Network
Mithraism -- EAWC Essay
Mithraism -- LacusCurtius
Mithraism -- URichmond
MITHRAS
Solstice Celebrations
Studies in Mithraism
Santa Sabina (via di Santa Sabina)
Santa Sabina was built on the summit of the Aventine Hill in the fifth century, on the site a house belonging to a woman named Sabina.  Works of restauration and decoration were carried out in 824 and in 1216.  Finally Domenico Fontana reconstructed the interior in 1587. The splendid external doors decorated with scenes of the Old and New Testament date back to the fifth century.  The interior, with three naves, is illuminated by magnificent ninth-century windows. Dating from the same period are the wooden pulpits, the episcopal throne and the choir section (scuola cantorum). The mosaics that decorated the apse have disappeared, but the fresco of Taddeo Zuccaro, from 1560, reproduces the theme.

A Tour of Santa Sabina in Rome
Rome - Santa Sabina
Legend of the Orange Tree
Catholic Encyclopedia: ST. SABINA
Catholic Encyclopedia: ST. DOMINIC

M.P.:   Piazzale Ugo la Malea, Mazzini's Statue (Dustin)

February 25:  Those Mysterious Etruscans

Etrurian Web Page
etrusca e romana
Etruscan
Etruscans (BYU)
The Etruscans
Etruscan Alphabet
Etruscan Art
The Etruscan Liber Linteus
Etruscan Network
Etruscan_Phrases
ETRUSCAN ROMAN REMAINS
Rome: The Etruscans
Tabula Cortonensis
Tuscan Archaeological Service Florence - Etruscan Archaeology
TUSCIA - The Etruscans
Etruscan Tomb Archaeology Kit Excavate your own Etruscan pot

M.P.:  Villa Giulia (Gretchen)

March 3:  Tracking Constantine's Conversion

Eusebius: Conversion of Constantine -- Medieval Sourcebook
CONSTANTINE THE GREAT -- Catholic Encyclopedia
DONATION OF CONSTANTINE -- Catholic Encyclopedia
Constantine and the Conversion of Europe. Christianity Unadorned
Constantine -- ORB Online Encyclopedia
Diocletian and Constantine -- Late Roman Economic Policy
Arch of Constantine
Arch of Constantine - Rome, Italy - Great Buildings Online
The Basilica of the Santi Quattro Coronati
Quattro Coronati -- Sylvester fresco cycle  Paul Gwynne
Christian Architecture links  (Scroll down)
SAINT JOHN LATERAN -- Catholic Encyclopedia
Lateran Baptistry

M.P.:  Arch of Constantine

March 10:  On the Wrong Side of the Tracks -- Surroundings of Termini

Pomerium (Platner & Ashby, 1929) -- LacusCurtius
Pomoerium (Smith's Dictionary, 1875) -- LacusCurtius
AURELIAN'S WALLS - Eastern
DIY Rome - The City Walls
Porta Maggiore(1)
Porta Maggiore(2)
Porta Maggiore(3)
BASILICA SOTTERRANEA DI PORTA MAGGIORE
The Temple of Minerva Medica (so called) -- LacusCurtius
Santa Bibiana     Via Givanni Giolitti, 154.
Built in the 5th century and restored in 1220. The church was rebuilt by Bernini, his first architectural project, when he was 26, in 1624-26 for Urban VIII. The statue of the saint is also his. There are eight antique columns and frescoes by Pietro da Cortona on the left walls. Santa Bibiana's body is within the church, but her head is in a reliquary in the Chapel of the Crucifixion in Santa Maria Maggiore.

St. Bibiana -- Catholic Encyclopedia
Bernini Gian Lorenzo - Santa Bibiana - Thais
GIOVANNI LORENZO BERNINI -- Catholic Encyclopedia
BERNINI, Gian Lorenzo

M.P.:  Porta Maggiore (Gretchen)

March 17:  Jewish History and the Ghetto

Arch of Titus -- Jews Destruction
Arch of Titus (Platner & Ashby, 1929)--LacusCurtius
The Works of Flavius Josephus
Roman Sources on the Jews and Judaism, 1 BCE-110CE -- Halsall
Rome and the Jews, Part I
Rome and the Jews, Part II
Jews in Rome and Expulsion (Scroll down)
Jews and Later Roman Law 315-531 CE -- Jewish History Sourcebook
Legislation Affecting Jews 300 to 800 CE -- Medieval Sourcebook
Julian and the Jews 361-363 CE -- Jewish History Sourcebook
LAZARE: Antisemitism, Its History and Causes Ch.6
Pope Paul IV -- Popes Through the Ages
Antipope Anacletus II Pierleoni
Anacletus II -- Catholic Encyclopedia
Rome's Ghetto -- VirtualRoma
John Paul II -- Allocution in the Great Roman Synagogue
Portico of Octavia (Portico díOttavia), Rome, Italy
The Great Debate
M.P.:  Arco di Tito (Dustin)

March 24:  American Women Digging Rome

Esther Boise Van Deman -- American Academy
Esther Boise Van Deman
American Academy in Rome -- Great Buildings Online
American Academy in Rome - Buildings
American Academy in Rome - The Library
M.P.:  American Academy in Rome (Via A. Masina, 5)  (Gretchen)

March 31:  Foro Italico -- Fascism and the Cult of Sports

Documenti: 1932, Innalzamento dell'obelisco di Mussolini al Foro Italico
Foro Italico
M.P.:  Piazzale di Foro Italico (near Ponte Duca d'Aosta)  (Dustin)

April 7:  Before History -- Rome's Earliest Monuments

Sant'Omobono
AREA SACRA di S. Omobono
Image -- Archeological Site of S. Omobono
Forum Boarium
Foro Boario -- Cicero, Monumenti
Forum Boarium (German)
Vegetable and Cattle Markets
Forum Holitorium (Platner & Ashby, 1929)
Portunus
Temple of Portunus in the Forum Boarium
Temple of Portunus
Temple of Portunus -- Piranesi
Aeneas
Aeneas and the Foundation of Rome
The Legend of Aeneas and the Foundation of Rome
The Aeneid by Virgil
Hercules Victor
Hercules Victor
Temples of Hercules Victor and Portunus
Temple of Hercules Victor -- Franz, late 19th c.
Temple of Hercules Victor -- Vasi, mid 18th c.
Tiber Island
The Tiber Island -- VirtualRoma
The Tiber,  Bridges, and Tiber Island in Rome
Aerial View of the Tiber Island
View of the Tiber Island
M.P.:  In Front of the church, Sant'Omobono (Gretchen)

April 14:  Poet's Corner -- Piazza di Spagna

Note that this session begins at 11 AM rather than the usual 10 AM
Piazza di Spagna
This, along with the Colosseum and the Vatican, was and still is a "must visit" item on the itineraries of Grand Tourists.   The fountain at the center is the "Barcaccio", designed by Pietro Bernini in the early seventeenth century (or perhaps, as some modern analysts think, by his more famous son, Gian Lorenzo Bernini). It depicts a sinking barge, cleverly using a minimal amount of water in keepimg with the low water pressure in the area.  Wagner, Liszt, Balzac, Stendhal, Rubens, Tennyson, Shelley, Byron and Keats and many other literary and artistic figures once lived in the area surrounding the piazza, and perhaps tomorrow's luminaries are living there today.

Two of the most important streets in Rome, via Condotti and via Frattina, both now limited to pedestrian traffic, lead away from Piazza di Spagna.  If you plan to shop in the area, bring lots of money -- there are many attractive and very expensive items available.

On the east side of the piazza is the famous stairway of Trinità dei Monti (called the "Spanish steps" because of the nearby Spanish Embassy), a monumental eighteenth-century work by de Sanctis.  At the top of the stairway is the baroque church of Trinità dei Monti, which is the traditional French "national church".  Just north of Trinita dei Monti is the Villa Medici, where the Inquisition imprisoned Galileo from 1630 to 1633.  It now houses the French Academy of art and architecture. Adjoining Piazza di Spagna to its south is Piazza Mignanelli, the site of the annual festa of the Immaculate Conception on December 8 and also the site ot the Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith, one of the fifteen Roman Catholic Curia congregations.

Poetry:

Poets' Corner - Home Page
Keats:
John Keats: An Overview
Keats, John -- Poetical Works
Keats and Shelley House, Rome
Keats-Shelley Journal Links
Shelley:
The Shelley HomePage
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Shelley, Percy Bysshe -- Complete Poetical Works
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Byron:
The Lord Byron HomePage
Byron links
Piazza di Spagna/Spanish Steps:
PIAZZA DI SPAGNA -- Vasi, inter alii has a very good picture of the Barcaccio fountain, but the page takes forever to come on-screen
Piazza di Spagna, or the Spanish Steps a spooky 3d virtual reality view
Jigsaw Puzzle - Spanish Steps Make your friends who are not Rome dwellers really jealous by ordering this for them ($20)
M.P.:  Caffé Greco, Voa Condotti, 86 (Dustin)
May 5:  Justifiable Homicide -- The Case Against Beatrice Cenci
Screaming in the Castle: The Case of Beatrice Cenci the whole story
Shelley on the Cenci Portrait
P. B. Shelley -- The Cenci
Stendhal -- Les Cenci (French)
M.P.:  Entrance, Galleria dell'Arte, Palazzo Barberini (Gretchen)
May 12:  Farnese Dreams
PALAZZO FARNESE
COURTYARD
Palazzo Farnese -- Koskimie
includes a 16th century drawing of the Palozzo before Michelangelo took over
Edmond Beheles, Veduta di Piazza Farnese
19th century phoro with arms visible above the balcony
Images, Palazzo Farnese -- Sullivan
Images of the Villa Farnesina -- Sullivan
Palazzo Farnese -- Capodimonte museum
Villa Farnesina
STORIA VILLA FARNESINA - LINCEI
Images of the Villa Farnesina
Villa Aurelia -- American Academy in Rome (Scroll down)
American Academy in Rome - Gardens
M.P.:  Campo dei Fiori, G. Bruno Statue (Dustin)
May 19:  Conversion of a Queen -- Christina of Sweden in Rome
It's big news when a protestant monarch abdicates to become a Catholic and then goes to live in Rome, especially if it happens during the Counter-Reformation and more especially if she is the daughter of Gustavus Adolphus II whose participation in the Thirty Years War had so greatly damaged Catholicism.

Queen Christina arrived in Rome with much fanfair in 1655.  She was met by the College of Cardinals at the Porto del Popolo, newly redecorated in her honor by Bernini, and there, also, she could read Pope Alexander VII's personal greeting which is still inscribed over the gate:  "Felice faustoque ingressui - 1655" -- "May the entrance be happy and propitious".

Christina, once in Rome, turned out to be imperious and capricious -- she once took a practice shot with a Castel Sant'Angelo cannon, without bothering to aim it,  and hit the door of the Villa Medici.  (The dented door is still there, and the supposed cannon ball is now atop the fountain in front of the entrance.)  She became the darling and the scandal of Roman society and was a patron both of the the arts (especially Archangello Corelli, whose style revolutionised the playing of string instruments, and Alessandro Scarlatti, whose first Opera she subsidized and produced) and of alchemy.

But not everyone was enamoured of the Queen.  The Vatican had made her a Catholic icon and ignored her excentricities (including, at times cross-dressing), but a famous Pasquinade had it that she was "queen without a realm, christian without a faith, and woman without shame".  Some modern literary analysts see her as the inspiration for the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland.

After her death, and against her own expressed wishes, she was interred beneath the high altar at St. Peter's in the Vatican.

Queen Christina of Sweden by Torrey Philemon
Catholic Encyclopedia: CHRISTINA ALEXANDRA
Christina as Alchemista
Kristina Wasa, Queen of Sweden (1626-1689)
Queen Christina Movie
Porta dl Popolo -- AURELIAN'S WALLS
STORIA PALAZZO CORSINI - LINCEI
See above for Palazzo Farnese
M.P.:  Piazza del Popolo (Gretchen)
May 26:  Castelgandolfo, on the Edge of Lago di Albano
 Castel Gandolfo
 Castelli Romani - Comuni - Castelgandolfo
 THAIS - Photographic review - Castelgandolfo
 Marino -- a local D. O. C. Wine
 Colli Albani -- another local D. O. C. Wine
M.P.:  Piazza Fountain in front of Palazzo di Papa (Dustin)
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