DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.44944#0178
COMITIUM
of steps led up to the platform of the rostra Vetera (the straight flight
of steps in HC ph v., where it is shown in black and lettered rostra
Vetera ?) and a similar flight of steps descended to the same level in
front of the curia Iulia (also shown in black on the plan cited). The
rostra Vetera separated the comitium from the forum on the south, and
themselves faced due south, while the career, which faced almost due
east, formed its western boundary ; but its northern and eastern limits
have not yet been ascertained at this period (later on, the former is marked
by the tabernae of the forum Iulium ; while on the east it cannot have
extended, one would think, beyond the cloaca Maxima).
(3) Half a metre higher, at 11.35 to 11.50 metres above sea-level,
are portions of structures which point to a rise in level ; no traces of a
pavement have so far been found, though a thin layer of earth and tufa
may have represented it.
(4) A foot higher again, at 11.80 metres above sea-level, is another
floor, from which the curved steps of the rostra Vetera ascend. No actual
pavement is preserved, but the level is clear from a line of tufa slabs on
which the rostra rests.
(5) Higher again, at 12.63 metres above sea-level, is a pavement of
finely cut and laid travertine slabs immediately in front of the curia,
generally attributed to the restoration of Faustus Sulla (see Curia) ; their
orientation does not agree with that of the curia nor of the rostra.
Above it, and directly in front of the later steps of the curia is a
pavement of blocks of Luna marble, 13.50 metres above sea-level, which
represents the level of the Comitium as established by Caesar. It was
now quite a small area, divided off from the forum by a screen supported
by pilasters, the holes for which are visible (or this line may have divided
the comitium into two parts ; but if so, it is difficult to assign any
other boundary to it). Beyond this the pavement was of slabs of
travertine, which still exists round the black marble pavement, or
niger lapis (?), and towards the Arch of Severus. The reason for the
reduction in size of the Comitium was the construction of the Saepta,
in consequence of whieh it ceased to have any raison d’etre.
The latest pavement of the comitium begins at abo it 11 metres
from the front of the curia and extends in a fragmentary condition as
far as the black marble pavement. It consists of roughly laid slabs of
travertine, and is about 20 centimetres higher than the marble pavement
just described. Resting partly on each of the two pavements is the
circular marble basin of a fountain, with an octagonal space for the foot
of a large bowl—perhaps that which now stands on the Quirinal (BC
1900, 13-25). Good though the workmanship is, it is generally assigned
to the fourth or fifth century a.d.
In the fourth century a.d. several pedestals with dedicatory inscrip-
tions were set up in the comitium—a dedication by Maxentius to Mars
Invictus and the founders of the city (see Sepulcrum Romuli), a
of steps led up to the platform of the rostra Vetera (the straight flight
of steps in HC ph v., where it is shown in black and lettered rostra
Vetera ?) and a similar flight of steps descended to the same level in
front of the curia Iulia (also shown in black on the plan cited). The
rostra Vetera separated the comitium from the forum on the south, and
themselves faced due south, while the career, which faced almost due
east, formed its western boundary ; but its northern and eastern limits
have not yet been ascertained at this period (later on, the former is marked
by the tabernae of the forum Iulium ; while on the east it cannot have
extended, one would think, beyond the cloaca Maxima).
(3) Half a metre higher, at 11.35 to 11.50 metres above sea-level,
are portions of structures which point to a rise in level ; no traces of a
pavement have so far been found, though a thin layer of earth and tufa
may have represented it.
(4) A foot higher again, at 11.80 metres above sea-level, is another
floor, from which the curved steps of the rostra Vetera ascend. No actual
pavement is preserved, but the level is clear from a line of tufa slabs on
which the rostra rests.
(5) Higher again, at 12.63 metres above sea-level, is a pavement of
finely cut and laid travertine slabs immediately in front of the curia,
generally attributed to the restoration of Faustus Sulla (see Curia) ; their
orientation does not agree with that of the curia nor of the rostra.
Above it, and directly in front of the later steps of the curia is a
pavement of blocks of Luna marble, 13.50 metres above sea-level, which
represents the level of the Comitium as established by Caesar. It was
now quite a small area, divided off from the forum by a screen supported
by pilasters, the holes for which are visible (or this line may have divided
the comitium into two parts ; but if so, it is difficult to assign any
other boundary to it). Beyond this the pavement was of slabs of
travertine, which still exists round the black marble pavement, or
niger lapis (?), and towards the Arch of Severus. The reason for the
reduction in size of the Comitium was the construction of the Saepta,
in consequence of whieh it ceased to have any raison d’etre.
The latest pavement of the comitium begins at abo it 11 metres
from the front of the curia and extends in a fragmentary condition as
far as the black marble pavement. It consists of roughly laid slabs of
travertine, and is about 20 centimetres higher than the marble pavement
just described. Resting partly on each of the two pavements is the
circular marble basin of a fountain, with an octagonal space for the foot
of a large bowl—perhaps that which now stands on the Quirinal (BC
1900, 13-25). Good though the workmanship is, it is generally assigned
to the fourth or fifth century a.d.
In the fourth century a.d. several pedestals with dedicatory inscrip-
tions were set up in the comitium—a dedication by Maxentius to Mars
Invictus and the founders of the city (see Sepulcrum Romuli), a