Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #LostRome
Most recents (6)
1) The Temple of the Divine Claudius was a vast temple complex on Rome's Caelian Hill, overlooking the valley that would later be occupied by the Colosseum. Though almost nothing now remains of the structure, its scale and grandeur once rivalled anything in the city.. #LostRome 
2) The 'Claudium' was intended as a sacred complex to revere Claudius and the imperial cult. Construction began soon after the death and deification of the emperor in 54 AD, initiated by his widow Agrippina who was likely responsible for his supposed death by poisoning. #LostRome
3) The sprawling temple complex sat on a gigantic podium that spread across the Caelian Hill, measuring 180 x 200 metres; with towering retaining walls of travertine that raised the structure 20 metres above the valley below. #LostRome
New Coin Thread: Roman denarius struck in the name of the deified Antoninus Pius, minted soon after his death in 161 AD by his joint-heirs Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. The coin shows the lost Column of Antoninus Pius dedicated by the co-emperors in the same year. #LostRome
Following his predecessor Hadrian's wishes, Pius held the Roman empire in trust for the young Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. Even after a lengthy 23-year reign, he honoured the agreement, passing the throne peacefully to the joint-heirs who became Rome's first "co-emperors".
The new co-emperors raised a commemorative column on the Campus Martius soon after their adopted father's death in 161AD. It was made from a huge monolithic shaft of polished pink granite imported from Egypt, with no decorative reliefs like earlier the column of Trajan. #LostRome
The Basilica Ulpia towered over Trajan's Forum complex, the architectural culmination of all the imperial fora. Completed in 112 AD with construction overseen by the architect Apollodorus of Damascus, it was the largest basilica in Rome measuring 117 by 58 metres. #LostRome
The Basilica looked out over a Forum complex consisting of libraries, Trajan's Column (which still stands), an equestrian statue, triumphal arch and a vast plaza paved with 3000 6ft slabs of Carrara marble - all funded by the spoils of Trajan's victorious Dacian War. #LostRome
Indeed, the entire complex was in many ways a single triumphal monument to Trajan's conquest of Dacia. Dignified statues of Dacian prisoners stood in the attic surrounding the entire square and basilica, like Atlases seemingly holding up the massive structure. #LostRome
The Meta Sudans was a monumental public fountain that stood near the Colosseum at the entrance to the Sacred Way. Built by the Flavians around the same time as their grand amphitheatre in the late 1st century AD, the conical fountain stood up to 20 metres in height. #LostRome
The fountain took its Latin name from the "metae" turning posts of the circus racetrack, while "sudans" means to perspire; water is thought to have flowed gently down the cone of this "sweating post" rather than jetted out. #LostRome
As charioteers would wheel around the metae of the hippodrome, this meta marked a turning point for triumphal parades, where the Emperor's procession would turn from the Via Triumphalis left onto the Via Sacra, and onward to the Roman Forum. #LostRome
The vast Tiber Emporium was the commercial river port of Ancient Rome, situated on the Lungotevere Testaccio bend of the river just south of the city. Established in 193 BC to supply the growing metropolis, it consisted of wharves, warehouses, markets and granaries. #LostRome
Shipping docked at long stretches of wharves to offload their cargoes at the Emporium. These quays were revealed in excellent condition during 1868 excavations, with ramps and mooring for vessels intact, but not now mostly lost to modern development of the Lungotevere. #LostRome
Once offloaded, goods and foodstuffs would be brought to the Porticus Aemilia for storage and distribution. This massive, multitiered warehouse was likely one of the largest commercial structures in the ancient world, 500m in length and 60m deep with 50 aisles. #LostRome
The Temple of Peace or 'Templum Pacis' was built by Vespasian to commemorate the capture of Jerusalem and the conclusion of the hard-fought Jewish War in 71 AD. The vast complex was constructed just north of the Roman Forum on land cleared by the Great Fire in 64 AD. #LostRome
Dedicated to Pax, the Roman goddess of peace, the structure was intended as a sacred temple complex rather than a forum. It featured libraries, gardens, pools and also acted as a public art gallery for the many artistic masterpieces taken in the conquest of Jerusalem. #LostRome
Ancient writers were particularly awed with the Temple of Peace. Josephus said it "surpassed all human imagination". Herodian thought it the "most beautiful of all the buildings in Rome". Pliny asked if the "noble building is the most beautiful the world has ever seen?" #LostRome
