Rome, Stadio di Domiziano: MRA-ITA-Rom190
Type Sample Item
Sample ID
- MRA-ITA-Rom190
Sample Material Type
- Mural painting
Sample Sub-type
- fragment
Dimensions (cm)
- Length
- 4.7
- Width
- 3.7
- Height
- 1.2
Weight
- weight value (g)
- 15.8
Geographic Location
- Country
- Italy
- Place
- Rome
Site/monument
- Italy (ITA)
Rome
Stadio di Domiziano
Historical note about the site/monument
- The stadium was built at the orders of Emperor Titus Flavius Domitianus around the year 80 CE following Greek architectural examples. It was constructed using a mix of travertine blocks and bricks, with exterior arcades featuring marble columns. It took the U-shaped layout famously seen in the Circus Maximus, but as it was primarily used for non-equestrian sports, its dimensions were considerably smaller (about 275 by 106 meters). The stadium was part of a suite of public building projects undertaken during the reign Domitian in the Campus Martius neighborhood. In the later years of the Roman empire the stadium ceased to be used for sporting events, and during the Renaissance it was exploited as a source of ready building materials. 20th century archaeological findings from the site include pieces of sculptures, among them a portion of a Pentelic marble torso.
Further reading:
Demitry, L. (1988). The conservation of the stadium of Domitian in Rome. In VIth International Congress on deterioration and conservation of stone. Proceedings= VIe Congrès International sur l'altération et la conservation de la pierre. Actes. Torun, 12-14. 09.1988 (pp. 748-756).
Blondin, J. E. (2005). Power made visible: Pope Sixtus IV as urbis restaurator in quattrocento Rome. The Catholic historical review, 91(1), 1-25.
Nocera, D. (2018). Beyond the Emperor's Disgrace: Reconstructing the Architectural, Topographical, and Landscape Design of Domitian's Rome.
Chronological period (sample)
- 1st century