User:Babsonrw21/Campus Agrippae

Components

Also known as Campus Minor, the ‘major’ being Campus Martius, which was dedicated to Marcus Agrippa by Augustus Caesar, was once a public place favored by the Romans. Among other components that this Campus included such as sculptures, art work, and numerous marvelous objects, the important elements are the buildings constructed by Agrippa himself. As described by Ruth Witherstine in her book Where the Romans Lived in the First Century B.C, the location of Campus Martius was known to be a favorable location in Rome that commoners did not have access to since it held private homes. It wasn't until the erection of massive projects conducted by Augustus that gave the public a reason to enjoy such favorable locations as had the elite.

The location of these buildings as well as their arrangement within Campus Agrippa is vividly described in Samuel Platner’s A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Not only does Platner’s book contain all buildings and places of the known ancient city, but it also holds illustrations, descriptions, and discussions of hundreds of sculptures. The Pantheon, Roman place of worship, is situated in the center facing north. Moreover, right behind the Pantheon in honor of the god Neptune, and in celebration of his and Augustas’ naval battle success over Mark Anthony, the Basilica of Neptune stands. As you look to the right of the Basilica, the Saepta Julia, completed by Agrippa and dedicated to Augustus, can be seen shaped like a large oval that spans the length of the Pantheon, Basilica, and the Baths of Agrippa. In Samuel Platner’s topographical Dictionary, the location of the Baths of Agrippa is said to have been behind the Basilica of Neptune, which itself is behind the Pantheon. However, Kontokosta’s text Building the Thermae Agrippae, fails to back up this information stating both the size and the layout of the late first-century B.C Thermae Agrippae must remain speculative. She explains this should be the case because we cannot assume that later reconstructions have kept the initial Agrippan Plan, for all we know there could have been major changes.

Perhaps the crown jewel of Agrippa's work during Roman times: Thermae Agrippae, Baths of Agrippa, is widely considered the first of Rome’s increasingly impressive and luxurious imperial baths, planned specifically for large-scale public use. In her book Building the Thermae Agrippae Thermae Agrippae, Kontokosta emphasizes how Agrippa’s baths were so different in scale, facilities, and decoration compared to other urban baths. Platner backs up this information stating that during the first century B.C a bathhouse of this size was not only impressive at the time but it was unheard of. In size it was nearly half the size of the biggest public bath built in Ancient Rome: The Baths of Diocletian, which was built 300 years after. Comparing the 170 documented bathhouses in Ancient Rome at the time to Thermae Agrippa they were all dark and small.

Among buildings constructed, art was also a significant component of Campus Agrippa. Kontokosta mentioned that Thermae Agrippa was adorned with beautiful statues and works of art. Samuel Platner backs up this claim through detailed discritopins of sucltureputes located in Campus Agrippa. For instance, the most adored statue in Campus Agrippa, Apoxyomenos, stood in front of the Agrippa’s bathing complex. The statue resembled an  athlete scraping sweat and dust from his body with a strigil. The art caught the eye of so many Romans that a later emperor had it moved to his bedroom. In addition, another artwork that was unique to Campus Agrippa is the Map of Agrippa. Samuel Planter discusses this artwork in his book claiming that it was the first map to be set in a public place in Ancient Rome. On the other hand, a journal article titled “Map of Agrippa’ written by J.J Tierney says that this is often a misconception as the first map to be set in public view was displayed more than a hundred years prior. However, both authors emphasize the map of Agrippa was a critical art piece in Campus Agrippa because it was the first large scale, 30ft by 60ft, that didn’t glorify the Romans Empire. The map was that of the entire known world which the Roman Empire was merely a small part of.

Impact

The construction of Campus Agrippa, according to Harry Evan’s Journal Article “Agrippa’s Water plan,” no doubt had a significant impact on Rome’s water system. In 19 BCE, Agrippa had built Aqua Virgo to distribute water to Campus Agrppae, especially to the bathhouse he had built five years prior. In doing so, he also repaired earlier aqueducts, reworked Aqua Tepula to supply private users, and made a new Aqueduct line, Aqua Julia, to serve the needs of the Augustan building program in eastern and central areas of Rome. Repairing aqueducts lines and building new ones may not seem to be a big deal compared to the great lengths the Romans achieved in their time; however, it’s arguably the most important thing that the Romans did. As Stated in Anne Hrychuk Kontokosta’s Building the Thermae Agrippae: Private Life, Public Space, and the Politics of Bathing in Early Imperial Rome, the availability of an abundant amount of water in a city of one million is what enabled Rome to grow at the rate it had. Kontokosta emphasizes that this was only made possible by the aqueduct system. The construction of Campus Agrippae enabled the distribution of the three Arippan lines that laid the foundation for the imperial aura aquarium, managements of public water supply, and never was entirely changed.

Before the construction of Campus Agrippa, it was apparent that there was a stark difference between affluent Romans and commoners. Ruth Withersitne in “Where the Romans Lived in the First Century BC” does an excellent job of showing some of these differences. For instance, the affluent had large, elaborate estates with an abundance of art, open areas, and elaborate private baths. Considering Anne Hrychuk Kontokosta’s Building the Thermae Agrippae: Private Life, Public Space, and the Politics of Bathing in Early Imperial Rome, Campus Agrippa, which included Thermae Agrippa and other marvelous artworks and buildings, there is a similarity between the affluent lifestyle of first-century elites and Campus Agrippa that Marcus Agrippa opened to the public. According to Gabriel Richard’s “Agrippa Takes Charge,” Agrippa set an example for wealthy Romans when he commissioned the construction of the Pantheon, completed the foundation for the first Roman public bath in the city, and established important monuments on the Campus Martius. This action by Agrippa propelled civic buildings to be rebuilt and led other works and projects to spring up across the city.

References

Anne Hrychuk Kontokosta. “Building the Thermae Agrippae: Private Life, Public Space, and the Politics of Bathing in Early Imperial Rome.” American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 123, no. 1, Archaeological Institute of America, 2019, pp. 45–77, https://doi.org/10.3764/aja.123.1.0045.

Boatwright, Mary T. “Agrippa’s Building Inscriptions.” Zeitschrift Für Papyrologie Und Epigraphik, vol. 189, Dr. Rudolf Habelt GmbH, 2014, pp. 255–64, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23850391.

DeLaine, Janet, and Thorsten Opper. "Colosseum." Grove Art Online.  22. Oxford University Press. Date of access 17 Nov. 2021, <https://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7002287794>

Evans, Harry B. “Agrippa’s Water Plan.” American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 86, no. 3, Archaeological Institute of America, 1982, pp. 401–11, https://doi.org/10.2307/504429.

Galinsky, Karl. Augustus: Introduction to the Life of an Emperor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Print.

Platner, Samuel B, and Thomas Ashby. A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. London: Oxford University Press, H. Milford, 1929. Print.

Richard A Gabriel. “Agrippa Takes Charge”. The Quarterly Journal of Military History, 2016.

Tierney, J. J. “The Map of Agrippa.” Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature, vol. 63, Royal Irish Academy, 1962, pp. 151–66, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25505114.

Witherstine, Ruth. “Where the Romans Lived in the First Century B.C.” The Classical Journal, vol. 21, no. 8, The Classical Association of the Middle West and South, 1926, pp. 566–79, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3288755.

Zissos, Andrew. A companion to the Flavian Age of Imperial Rome. John Willey & Sons, Incorporated, 2016. Print.