FORUM NERVAE
* the fourth of the imperial fora (
Mart. x. 28. 6, 5. 12),
built by Domitian, but dedicated by Nerva at the beginning of 97 A.D.
(Suet. Dom. 5; Stat.
Silv. iv. 3. 9-10; Cassiod. Chron. 140; Hier. a. Abr.
2105;
Eutrop. vii. 23; Vict. Caes. 12. 2;
CIL vi. 953=31213). It
occupied the space between the forum Augustum on the north-west and
the forum Pacis on the south-east, and was in effeet a transformation of
the intervening Argiletum with its crowded and unsightly buildings into
a magnificent avenue which had the form of a very narrow forum. Its
length was about 120 metres, its width about 40, and the walls of the
fora already existing were extended so as to form a continuous enclosure.
A part of the wall at the north-east end is still standing and corresponds
in height and character with that of the forum Augustum which it
adjoins, except that the size of the rectangular blocks of stone used in
the construction has been considerably increased (from 59 cm. (2 Roman
feet) to 78 cm.).
This forum was officially the forum Nervae (Suet. loc. cit.; Lydus,
de mens. iv. I), but as it was the main thoroughfare between the Subura
and forum Romanum and the other imperial fora, it soon became known
as the forum Transitorium (Hist. Aug. Alex. Sev. 28. 6; 36. 2; Pol. Silv.
545; Cassiod. Chron. cit.;
1 Eutrop. vii. 23; Hier. a. Abr. 2o5 ; Serv.
Aen. vii. 607), or, less frequently apparently, forum Pervium (Vict. Caes.
12. 2). In Reg. it is listed in
Region IV as forum Transitorium, in
Region
VIII and the Appendix as forum Nervae, which indicates the common
use of both names, and that the boundary between the two regions
passed through the forum (Pr. Reg. 144). Once it is called forum
Palladium (
Mart. i. 2. 8), because of the temple of Minerva, but whether
this was in general use, or merely a conceit of the poet, is uncertain (cf.
also
MINERVA TEMPLUM). It appears to be spoken of as Caesareum
forum in
CIL vi. 0097 =33960 (cf.
Mart. i. 117. 10).
After the pattern set in the other imperial fora, Domitian built in
his forum a temple of Minerva, to whose cult he was especially devoted
(Suet. Dom. 15; Cass. Dio lxvii. I). It was dedicated by Nerva at the
same time as the forum, and was a magnificent and imposing building
(Vict. Caes. loc. cit.;
CIL vi. 953 =31213). It is represented on the
Marble Plan (116), and stood in the centre of the north-east end of the
forum. From either side short walls extended across the fora of Augustus
and Vespasian. It was of the Corinthian order, hexastyle prostyle, and
its apse projected beyond the limits of the forum.
Besides this temple Domitian also erected one to
IANUS QUADRIFRONS
(q.v.) ; and Alexander Severus set up colossal statues of all the emperors
who had been deified, with bronze columns on which their res gestae
were inscribed (Hist. Aug. Alex. Sev. 28. 6).
2
A considerable part of the temple of Minerva (which was known as
templum Palladis in the twelfth century, see
JRS 1919, 30, 52) was
standing in the sixteenth century, and of this we have views (Du Perac,
Vestigi pl. vi.; Palladio, Quattro Libri di Architettura
(1570), iv. ch. 8;
cf. Mem. L. 3. xi. 25; DuP II-105 ;
Toeb. i. 52-53; DAP 2. xv. 367),
but this was destroyed in 1606 by Paul V and the material used in building
his fountain on the Janiculum. Modern houses stand on the podium
(FUR p. 27; LR 310).
The short ends of the forum were slightly curved, and that toward
the forum Romanum was pierced by two monumental archways, while
at the other end there was one, east of the temple. Of these arches the
last-named was known as arcus Aurae (v. AURA), or arcus Aureus, in the
Middle Ages (cf. the churches of S. Andreas and S. Maria de Arcu Aureo,
of which the former is also called S. Andrea in Portogallo (Arm. 142, 170;
Mel. 1905, 149; HCh 177, 312), while the arch at the other end, called
arcus Nerviae, is still to be seen in the bird's-eye view of Rome published
in 1577 by Du Perac, and the Colonnacce were called Arca Noe (Noah's
ark); cf. S. Maria de Archa Noe (HCh 311), probably the same as
S. Maria degli Angeli in Macello martyrum (cf. 342;
Jord. ii. 474, 503).
See also
PORTICUS ABSIDATA.
Within the enclosure wall was a colonnade of marble columns, entirely
surrounding the forum. Two of these columns, with about II metres
of the wall itself, are still standing at the east corner of the forum, in the
Via della Croce Bianca. This ruin, one of the most beautiful in Rome,
is called Le Colonnacce. The wall is peperino, lined with marble, the
columns are 8.80 metres high without the capital, and I.08 in diameter
at the base (
NS 1912, 226), and the intercolumniations 5.30 metres in
width. Above the columns are a cornice and lofty attic which, instead
of following the line of the columns, run along the wall itself in the
intercolumnar spaces, and project and return round the columns, thus
breaking the entablature into sections. The attic, which is 4.40 metres
high, has a plinth and cornice, and in the space between the columns is
a relief of Minerva, 2.65 metres high. The close parallelism between the
architectural details of the forum Transitorium and those of Domitian's
palace has already been noticed (DuP o10, n. I), and is further developed
by Fiechter ap.
Toeb. i. 54-61. It is probable that similar reliefs, either of
Minerva or of some other goddess, stood in each intercolumnar space.
The frieze is decorated with reliefs representing (a) Minerva among the
nine Muses; (b) the punishment of Arachne, together with scenes of
household life, such as spinning, weaving and dyeing-the arts which were
especially under the protection of Minerva. According to Strong (ScR
132) the scenes 'are perhaps to be interpreted as scenes of initiation
into the mysteries of the goddess of wisdom ' (Ann. d.
Inst. 1877, 5-36;
Mon. d. Inst. x. pls. 40, 41, 41a;
Mitt. 1889, 88, 249; for the forum and
temple in general, see
Jord. i. 2. 449-453;
Gilb. iii. 232-234; Mem. L.
3. xi. 22-26; 5. xvii. 521;
Mel. 1889, 346-355;
Mitt. 1891, 101-103; Thed.
194-197, 369-371; ASA 54).