In The Restoration of the Roman Forum in Late Antiquity, Gregor Kalas examines architectural conservation during late antiquity period at Rome's most important civic center: the Roman Forum. During ...the fourth and fifth centuries CE—when emperors shifted their residences to alternate capitals and Christian practices overtook traditional beliefs—elite citizens targeted restoration campaigns so as to infuse these initiatives with political meaning. Since construction of new buildings was a right reserved for the emperor, Rome's upper echelon funded the upkeep of buildings together with sculptural displays to gain public status. Restorers linked themselves to the past through the fragmentary reuse of building materials and, as Kalas explores, proclaimed their importance through prominently inscribed statues and monuments, whose placement within the existing cityscape allowed patrons and honorees to connect themselves to the celebrated history of Rome. Building on art historical studies of spolia and exploring the Forum over an extended period of time, Kalas demonstrates the mutability of civic environments. The Restoration of the Roman Forum in Late Antiquity maps the evolution of the Forum away from singular projects composed of new materials toward an accretive and holistic design sensibility. Overturning notions of late antiquity as one of decline, Kalas demonstrates how perpetual reuse and restoration drew on Rome's venerable past to proclaim a bright future.
A narrative of decline punctuated by periods of renewal has long structured perceptions of Rome’s late antique and medieval history. In their probing contributions to this volume, a ...multi-disciplinary group of scholars provides alternative approaches to understanding the period. Addressing developments in governance, ceremony, literature, art, music, clerical education and the construction of the city’s identity, the essays examine how a variety of actors, from poets to popes, productively addressed the intermittent crises and shifting dynamics of these centuries in ways that bolstered the city’s resilience. Without denying that the past (both pre-Christian and Christian) consistently remained a powerful touchstone, the studies in this volume offer rich new insights into the myriad ways that Romans, between the fifth and the eleventh centuries, creatively assimilated the past as they shaped their future.
The conversion of a fourth-century secular basilica into the church of Sant'Andrea Cataharbara in Rome during the 470s invites a discussion of how architectural adaptation contributed to the identity ...of its restorer, Valila. More than a century after the praetorian prefect of Italy, Junius Bassus, founded the basilica in 331, a Goth named Valila, belonging to the senatorial aristocracy, bequeathed the structure to Pope Simplicius (468-83). References to Valila's last will in the church's dedicatory inscription were inserted directly above Junius Bassus's original donation inscription, inviting reflections upon the transmission of elite status from one individual to another. The particularities of Valila's legacy as a testator, as indicated in the references to his will in the Sant'Andrea Catabarbara inscription and confirmed by a charter he wrote to support a church near Tivoli, suggest that he sought to control his lasting memory through patronage. Valila's concern for a posthumous status provides a context for interpreting the interior of the Roman church. Juxtaposed to the church's fifth-century apse mosaic were opus sectile panels depicting Junius Bassus, together with scenes of an Apollonian tripod and an illustration of the exposed body of Hylas raped by two nymphs originating from the earliest phase of the basilica. The article proposes that Valila nuanced his elite identity by preserving the fourth-century images and thereby hinted that preservation fostered both the accretion of physical layers and the accrual of multiple identities by a Gothic aristocrat in Rome. La conversione di una basilica secolare del IV secolo nella chiesa di Sant'Andrea Catabarbara a Roma negli anni intorno al 470 invita a una discussione su come gli adattamenti architettonici contribuirono all'identita del suo restauratore Valila. Più di un secolo dopo che il pretoriano prefetto d'ltalia, Junius Bassus, fondb la basilica nel 331, un goto di nome Valila, appartenente all'aristocrazia senatoria, lascio in eredita la struttura a Papa Simplicius (468-83). Riferimenti alle ultime volonta di Valila nell'iscrizione dedicatoria della chiesa furono inseriti direttamente sopra I'iscrizione originale della donazione di Junius Bassus, invitando ad una riflessione sulla trasmissione dello stato elitario da un individuo a un altro. La particolarita del lascito di Valila come testatore, come indicato nei riferimenti alla sua volonta nelll'iscrizione di Sant'Andrea Catabarbara e confermata da una carta che egli scrisse per supportare una chiesa vicino Tivoli, suggerisce che egli cercava di controllare che la sua memoria fosse duratura attraverso l'esercizio del patronato. La concezione di Valila per uno status postumo fornisce un contesto per l'interpretazione delVinterno della chiesa romana. Giustapposti al mosaico absidale della chiesa del l'secolo erano pannelli in opus sectile rappresentanti Junius Bassus, insieme con scene di un tripode apollineo e un'illustrazione del corpo esposto di Hylas rapito da due ninfe originate dalla fase piu antica della basilica. NelVarticolo si propone che Valila sfumb la sua identita elitaria, preservando le immagini di IV secolo in modo da insinuare che la conservazione favor iva sia la cresdta degli strati fisici sia Vaccumulo delle molteplici identita di un aristocratico goto a Roma.
The conversion of a fourth-century secular basilica into the church of Sant'Andrea Catabarbara in Rome during the 470s invites a discussion of how architectural adaptation contributed to the identity ...of its restorer, Valila. More than a century after the praetorian prefect of Italy, Junius Bassus, founded the basilica in 331, a Goth named Valila, belonging to the senatorial aristocracy, bequeathed the structure to Pope Simplicius (468–83). References to Valila's last will in the church's dedicatory inscription were inserted directly above Junius Bassus's original donation inscription, inviting reflections upon the transmission of élite status from one individual to another. The particularities of Valila's legacy as a testator, as indicated in the references to his will in the Sant'Andrea Catabarbara inscription and confirmed by a charter he wrote to support a church near Tivoli, suggest that he sought to control his lasting memory through patronage. Valila's concern for a posthumous status provides a context for interpreting the interior of the Roman church. Juxtaposed to the church's fifth-century apse mosaic were opus sectile panels depicting Junius Bassus, together with scenes of an Apollonian tripod and an illustration of the exposed body of Hylas raped by two nymphs originating from the earliest phase of the basilica. The article proposes that Valila nuanced his élite identity by preserving the fourth-century images and thereby hinted that preservation fostered both the accretion of physical layers and the accrual of multiple identities by a Gothic aristocrat in Rome. La conversione di una basilica secolare del IV secolo nella chiesa di Sant'Andrea Catabarbara a Roma negli anni intorno al 470 invita a una discussione su come gli adattamenti architettonici contribuirono all'identità del suo restauratore Valila. Più di un secolo dopo che il pretoriano prefetto d'Italia, Junius Bassus, fondò la basilica nel 331, un goto di nome Valila, appartenente all'aristocrazia senatoria, lasciò in eredità la struttura a Papa Simplicius (468–83). Riferimenti alle ultime volontà di Valila nell'iscrizione dedicatoria della chiesa furono inseriti direttamente sopra l'iscrizione originale della donazione di Junius Bassus, invitando ad una riflessione sulla trasmissione dello stato elitario da un individuo a un altro. La particolarità del lascito di Valila come testatore, come indicato nei riferimenti alla sua volontà nell'iscrizione di Sant'Andrea Catabarbara e confermata da una carta che egli scrisse per supportare una chiesa vicino Tivoli, suggerisce che egli cercava di controllare che la sua memoria fosse duratura attraverso l'esercizio del patronato. La concezione di Valila per uno status postumo fornisce un contesto per l'interpretazione dell'interno della chiesa romana. Giustapposti al mosaico absidale della chiesa del V secolo erano pannelli in opus sectile rappresentanti Junius Bassus, insieme con scene di un tripode apollineo e un'illustrazione del corpo esposto di Hylas rapito da due ninfe originate dalla fase più antica della basilica. Nell'articolo si propone che Valila sfumò la sua identità elitaria, preservando le immagini di IV secolo in modo da insinuare che la conservazione favoriva sia la crescita degli strati fisici sia l'accumulo delle molteplici identità di un aristocratico goto a Roma.
The conversion of a fourth-century secular basilica into the church of Sant'Andrea Catabarbara in Rome during the 470s invites a discussion of how architectural adaptation contributed to the identity ...of its restorer, Valila. More than a century after the praetorian prefect of Italy, Junius Bassus, founded the basilica in 331, a Goth named Valila, belonging to the senatorial aristocracy, bequeathed the structure to Pope Simplicius (468-83). References to Valila's last will in the church's dedicatory inscription were inserted directly above Junius Bassus's original donation inscription, inviting reflections upon the transmission of élite status from one individual to another. The particularities of Valila's legacy as a testator, as indicated in the references to his will in the Sant'Andrea Catabarbara inscription and confirmed by a charter he wrote to support a church near Tivoli, suggest that he sought to control his lasting memory through patronage. Valila's concern for a posthumous status provides a context for interpreting the interior of the Roman church. Juxtaposed to the church's fifth-century apse mosaic were opus sectile panels depicting Junius Bassus, together with scenes of an Apollonian tripod and an illustration of the exposed body of Hylas raped by two nymphs originating from the earliest phase of the basilica. The article proposes that Valila nuanced his élite identity by preserving the fourth-century images and thereby hinted that preservation fostered both the accretion of physical layers and the accrual of multiple identities by a Gothic aristocrat in Rome. Publication abstract
In late ancient Rome, local senators set up portrait statues of emperors in the Roman Forum while senatorial portraits were heavily concentrated in the Forum of trajan, since both spaces granted ...lasting political benefits to those depicted in the images.¹ by the late fourth century, the historian ammianus Marcellinus spoofed aristocrats seeking excessively formal statues that seemed to express yearning for prestige rather than for senatorial virtue. ammianus hints that Rome’s aristocrats unwittingly caused cultural stagnation, since statues potentially preserved elite social hierarchy for generations to come. “Some of these men eagerly strive for statues, thinking that by them they
INTRODUCTION Kalas, Gregor
The Restoration of the Roman Forum in Late Antiquity,
01/2015
Book Chapter
Generous benefactors of late antique Rome sponsored civic monuments and public structures to forge the semblance of a well-run state. Elite Romans of the late empire, seeking to appear to be ...guardians of Rome’s past, reinstated historic ideals of munificence in the Roman Forum by rebuilding structures more often than they initiated new construction (fig. I. 1). Thus, architectural conservation flourished in the late antique Forum, where civic-minded aristocrats experimented with architectural formats for sustaining historical memories and thereby worked to counteract time’s passage. These late antique transformations raise important questions. How did these changes revise the significance of the
During late antiquity, two basilicas with porticoes facing the Roman Forum accommodated decorative statues that documented the civic benefits provided by senators for the populace. The aristocrats ...thereby offered a stark alternative to the imperial messages that dominated the paved central area and the senatorial plaza. The late antique reconstructions of both the Basilica Aemilia and the Basilica Julia, which lined the Roman Forum’s north and south sides respectively, indicate that the revival of public architecture in Rome provided cultural amenities, which senators subtly claimed (see fig. 1.1 10and 11).
The basilicas in the Forum remained spaces for the administration
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