Porticus Argonautarum

Summary

The Porticus Argonautarum (Latin for the "Portico of the Argonauts"; Italian: Portico degli Argonauti), also known as the Portico of Agrippa[1] (Latin: Porticus Agrippae or Agrippiana) was a portico in ancient Rome.[2]

The building was located in the Saepta Julia,[3][4] a large square in the Campus Martius used for public comitia (assemblies). The square, a large free space surrounded by porticoes, was finished by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa,[5] admiral and friend of emperor Augustus, in 27 BC. The portico of the Argonauts was added in 25 BC, to commemorate Agrippa's naval victories in 31 BC: it took its name from its decorations, which depicted the mythological expedition of Jason.[6]

Studies of the Forma Urbis (an ancient detailed plan of Rome) have located the portico in what is now Via della Minerva, near the basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva.[7]

A brickwork wall preserved along the eastern side of the Pantheon has been assigned to the Porticus Argonautarum.

References edit

  1. ^ Draycott, Jane (2019). Roman Domestic Medical Practice in Central Italy: From the Middle Republic to the Early Empire. Routledge. ISBN 9781472433961. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  2. ^ L. Richardson, jr (1 October 1992). A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. JHU Press. pp. 315–. ISBN 978-0-8018-4300-6.
  3. ^ Laurence, Ray; Newsome, David J. (2011-11-24). Rome, Ostia, Pompeii: Movement and Space. Oxford University Press. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-19-958312-6.
  4. ^ Bloch, Herbert (1961). "A New Edition of the Marble Plan of Ancient Rome". The Journal of Roman Studies. 51 (1–2): 143–152. doi:10.2307/298847. ISSN 1753-528X. JSTOR 298847. S2CID 162365584.
  5. ^ Shipley, Frederick W. (2008-11-06). Agrippa's Building Activities in Rome. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-7252-2370-7.
  6. ^ Shopping in Ancient Rome: The Retail Trade in the Late Republic and the Principate. Oxford University Press. 26 April 2012. pp. 249–. ISBN 978-0-19-969821-9.
  7. ^ A visual reconstruction of the Saepta Julia

External links edit

  • Page at ciceronline (in Italian)