Survey · FastiOnline

Item: AIAC_362
Permalink: https://www.fastionline.org/excavation/AIAC_362

Name: Piazza del Colosseo, Meta Sudans
Date Range: 800 BC – 2000
Monuments: Road; Sanctuary; Shrine; Palace; Fountain; Domus; Votive deposit
Website: http://antichita.let.uniroma1.it/ricerca/r_metasu.htm; http://antichita.let.uniroma1.it/ricerca/r_metasu.htm http://antichita.let.uniroma1.it/news/z_metasu.htm http://www.ecole-francaise.it/informatiz/Panella.htm http://antichita.let.uniroma1.it/ricerca/r_metasu.htm http://antichita.let.uniroma1.it/news/z_metasu.htm http://www.ecole-francaise.it/informatiz/Panella.htm http://antichita.let.uniroma1.it/ricerca/r_metasu.htm http://antichita.let.uniroma1.it/news/z_metasu.htm http://www.ecole-francaise.it/informatiz/Panella.htm http://antichita.let.uniroma1.it/ricerca/r_metasu.htm, http://antichita.let.uniroma1.it/news/z_metasu.htm, http://www.ecole-francaise.it/informatiz/Panella.htm

Seasons

AIAC_362 - Piazza del Colosseo, Meta Sudans - 2003
An archaeological investigation comprising excavation, core sampling, geoelectric and georadar surveys has been undertaken in the western sector of Piazza del Colosseo. The area is centred on the remains of the Meta Sudans and delimited to the south by the Arch of Constantine, to the west by the Palatine and the Temple of Venus and Rome, to the north by the base of Nero's Colossus and to the east by the Flavian Amphitheatre. The complex structural and statigraphic evidence documents the historic and monumental evolution of one of the city's cardinal points, an area where several ancient roads met, creating a hub for four or five of the Augustan regions (II, III, IV, X, I?). The most important evidence, both in terms of the monuments themselves and their role in Imperial symbolism and propaganda, comes from the monumental fountain of the Flavian period known as the Meta Sudans, from its Augustan predecessor and the adjacent sanctuary which had existed from at least the Orientalizing period and was destroyed in the fire of 64A.D. It is possible that this building was the Curiae Veteres and it has yielded a quantity of important architectural, epigraphic and votive material. In this area the urban layout, as far as basic infrastructure such as roads and sewers was concerned, was already established at least as early as the archaic period and grew in density until the Claudian period. At first its streets were cobbled (6th-3rd centuries B.C.) and later paved in basalt (2nd century B.C. onwards). They were lined with buildings with living quarters on the upper floors (in one case with a small bath) and courtyards (one with a portico), shops and services on the ground floor and basement levels. The fire of 64 A.D. and the enormous complex that formed the Domus Aurea radically changed the urban fabric of this area, removing valleys and housing blocks and providing the basis for its subsequent transformation into the piazza which still exists today. This piazza was begun in the Flavian period, completed during the Hadrianic and Constantinian periods and after abandonment during the medieval and modern periods was once more brought to light by the extensive earth removal carried out in the 19th century. (S. Zeggio)

FOLD&R

99 - Sabina Zeggio, Giacomo Pardini - 2007
Roma - Meta Sudans. I monumenti. Lo scavo. La storia

Media

Name: Piazza del Colosseo, Meta Sudans

Year: 2003
Summary: en An archaeological investigation comprising excavation, core sampling, geoelectric and georadar surveys has been undertaken in the western sector of Piazza del Colosseo. The area is centred on the remains of the Meta Sudans and delimited to the south by the Arch of Constantine, to the west by the Palatine and the Temple of Venus and Rome, to the north by the base of Nero's Colossus and to the east by the Flavian Amphitheatre. The complex structural and statigraphic evidence documents the historic and monumental evolution of one of the city's cardinal points, an area where several ancient roads met, creating a hub for four or five of the Augustan regions (II, III, IV, X, I?).
The most important evidence, both in terms of the monuments themselves and their role in Imperial symbolism and propaganda, comes from the monumental fountain of the Flavian period known as the Meta Sudans, from its Augustan predecessor and the adjacent sanctuary which had existed from at least the Orientalizing period and was destroyed in the fire of 64A.D. It is possible that this building was the Curiae Veteres and it has yielded a quantity of important architectural, epigraphic and votive material.
In this area the urban layout, as far as basic infrastructure such as roads and sewers was concerned, was already established at least as early as the archaic period and grew in density until the Claudian period. At first its streets were cobbled (6th-3rd centuries B.C.) and later paved in basalt (2nd century B.C. onwards). They were lined with buildings with living quarters on the upper floors (in one case with a small bath) and courtyards (one with a portico), shops and services on the ground floor and basement levels. The fire of 64 A.D. and the enormous complex that formed the Domus Aurea radically changed the urban fabric of this area, removing valleys and housing blocks and providing the basis for its subsequent transformation into the piazza which still exists today. This piazza was begun in the Flavian period, completed during the Hadrianic and Constantinian periods and after abandonment during the medieval and modern periods was once more brought to light by the extensive earth removal carried out in the 19th century. (S. Zeggio); it Le indagini nel settore occidentale della Piazza del Colosseo - in una zona incentrata sui resti della _Meta Sudans_ e delimitata da Arco di Costantino (sud), Palatino e Tempio di Venere e Roma (ovest), basamento del Colosso di Nerone (nord) e Anfiteatro Flavio (est) - hanno previsto attività di scavo, carotaggi, prospezioni geoelettriche e georadar.

Le complesse evidenze strutturali e stratigrafiche documentando l'evoluzione storico-monumentale di un'area cardine della città per i numerosi e antichissimi tracciati viari che vi convergevano, fulcro di quattro o cinque delle _regiones augustee_ (II, III, IV, X, I?).
In questo quadro le evidenze più rilevanti, sia dal punto di vista monumentale che per il ruolo simbolico e di propaganda imperiale, sono quelle riferibili alla monumentale fontana di età flavia chiamata _Meta Sudans_, alla sua anticipatrice di età augustea e al santuario ad essa antistante, esistente almeno dall'età orientalizzante e distrutto dall'incendio del 64 d.C., in cui è forse possibile riconoscere le _Curiae Veteres_ e che ha fornito preziosi reperti architettonici, epigrafici e votivi.

Il tessuto urbano in questo punto risulta stabilito nelle sue linee infrastrutturali di base (strade, fognature) già almeno in età arcaica e si infittisce sino all'età claudia, ospitando ai lati di strade prima acciottolate (VI-III sec. a.C.) e dal II sec. a.C. basolate, edifici con ambienti abitativi ai piani superiori, in un caso dotati di piccolo balneum, e con cortili (uno porticato), tabernae e locali di servizio nei vani terreni e seminterrati.

L'incendio del 64 ed il gigantesco impianto della _Domus Aurea_ cambiano radicalmente l'assetto urbanistico dell'area, annullando valle e isolati abitativi e gettando le basi per la successiva trasformazione nella piazza tuttora esistente, realizzata in età flavia, completata in età adrianea e costantiniana e recuperata, dopo l'abbandono medievale e moderno, dai grandi sterri del XIX secolo. (Sabina Zeggio)
Director: Clementina Panella
Funding Body: Fondazione Banca Nazionale delle Comunicazioni-BNC; Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma; Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza"; Rotary Club Roma Est