DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.44944#0568
496 STAGNUM AGRIPPAE—STATIO ANNONAE
by Alexander Severus (id. Alex. 24), and hence was sometimes called in
the Middle Ages circus Alexandri (Ordo Bened. 143).1 In the fourth
century it was one of the buildings that are said to have aroused the
special admiration of Constantius (Amm. Marcell. xvi. 10. 14). It
had 30088 loca (Cur.), that is, seats for about 15,000 spectators (HJ 593).
According to the legend, S. Agnes met a martyr’s death in the brothels
in the arcades of this stadium, and in her honour a church was built
in the ninth century in the middle of the cavea on the west side, which
was afterwards known as S. Agnese in Agone or de Cryptis Agonis (Arm.
383-384 ; HCh 68), the word agon being used both for a gymnastic contest
and for the place of its celebration (Lydus, de mens. iv. 30; 2 Pr. Reg.
171). There was also a church of S. Nicolas de Agone (HCh 389—that of
S. Caterina de cryptis agonis (cf. Arm. 388) never existed). The Piazza
Navona, the largest in the city, now called officially Circo Agonale,
preserves almost exactly the shape and size of the stadium. The piazza
itself corresponds closely with the arena, the length of which seems to
have been about 250 metres, and the surrounding buildings stand on
the ruins of the cavea. Under the church of S. Agnese remains of brick
and concrete walls, travertine pilasters and the seats of the cavea are
still to be seen, and other traces have been found beneath the existing
buildings at other points. For excavations in the sixteenth century,
see LS ii. 228-231; iii. 224-225; iv. 190 ; LR 498-500 ; HJ 592-594.
For the obelisk of Domitian which was erected there in 1651, see Obelisci
Isei Campensis (4). Cf. also Mem. L. 5. xvii. 521.
Stagnum Agrippae : an artificial pool of considerable size, constructed
by Agrippa by the side of his Thermae (q.v.), with which and the Horti
(q.v.) it formed one whole (Ovid, ex Ponto i. 8. 37-38 ; Strabo xiii. 1.
19 (59°) )· This stagnum was fed by the aqua Virgo, which Agrippa
finished in 19 b.c., and was probably connected with the Tiber by the
Euripus (q.v.). It was almost certainly on the west side of the thermae,
north of the present Corso Vittorio Emanuele, and between the Via di
Monterone and the Via dei Sediari, an area afterwards partly occupied
by the Porticus Boni Eventus (q.v.) of the fourth century (HJ 580 ;
Hiilsen, Thermen des Agrippa, 32-33 ; Gilb. iii. 293-294).
Stagnum Neronis : the artificial pond constructed by Nero within the
Domus Aurea (q.v.), in the low ground between the Velia, the Esquiline,
and the Caelian, where the Colosseum was afterwards built (Suet. Nero 31 :
stagnum maris instar, circumsaeptum aedificiis ad urbium speciem ;
Mart, de spect. ii. 5-6 : hie ubi conspicui venerabilis amphitheatri / erigitur
moles, stagna Neronis erant).
Statio Annonae : the headquarters of the praefectus annonae, who was
charged with the administration of the food supply of the city of Rome.
1 Mabillon ap. Jord. ii. 665=Lib. Cens. Fabre-Duchesne, ii. 154.
2 Cf. also Isid. Orig. xviii. 25.
by Alexander Severus (id. Alex. 24), and hence was sometimes called in
the Middle Ages circus Alexandri (Ordo Bened. 143).1 In the fourth
century it was one of the buildings that are said to have aroused the
special admiration of Constantius (Amm. Marcell. xvi. 10. 14). It
had 30088 loca (Cur.), that is, seats for about 15,000 spectators (HJ 593).
According to the legend, S. Agnes met a martyr’s death in the brothels
in the arcades of this stadium, and in her honour a church was built
in the ninth century in the middle of the cavea on the west side, which
was afterwards known as S. Agnese in Agone or de Cryptis Agonis (Arm.
383-384 ; HCh 68), the word agon being used both for a gymnastic contest
and for the place of its celebration (Lydus, de mens. iv. 30; 2 Pr. Reg.
171). There was also a church of S. Nicolas de Agone (HCh 389—that of
S. Caterina de cryptis agonis (cf. Arm. 388) never existed). The Piazza
Navona, the largest in the city, now called officially Circo Agonale,
preserves almost exactly the shape and size of the stadium. The piazza
itself corresponds closely with the arena, the length of which seems to
have been about 250 metres, and the surrounding buildings stand on
the ruins of the cavea. Under the church of S. Agnese remains of brick
and concrete walls, travertine pilasters and the seats of the cavea are
still to be seen, and other traces have been found beneath the existing
buildings at other points. For excavations in the sixteenth century,
see LS ii. 228-231; iii. 224-225; iv. 190 ; LR 498-500 ; HJ 592-594.
For the obelisk of Domitian which was erected there in 1651, see Obelisci
Isei Campensis (4). Cf. also Mem. L. 5. xvii. 521.
Stagnum Agrippae : an artificial pool of considerable size, constructed
by Agrippa by the side of his Thermae (q.v.), with which and the Horti
(q.v.) it formed one whole (Ovid, ex Ponto i. 8. 37-38 ; Strabo xiii. 1.
19 (59°) )· This stagnum was fed by the aqua Virgo, which Agrippa
finished in 19 b.c., and was probably connected with the Tiber by the
Euripus (q.v.). It was almost certainly on the west side of the thermae,
north of the present Corso Vittorio Emanuele, and between the Via di
Monterone and the Via dei Sediari, an area afterwards partly occupied
by the Porticus Boni Eventus (q.v.) of the fourth century (HJ 580 ;
Hiilsen, Thermen des Agrippa, 32-33 ; Gilb. iii. 293-294).
Stagnum Neronis : the artificial pond constructed by Nero within the
Domus Aurea (q.v.), in the low ground between the Velia, the Esquiline,
and the Caelian, where the Colosseum was afterwards built (Suet. Nero 31 :
stagnum maris instar, circumsaeptum aedificiis ad urbium speciem ;
Mart, de spect. ii. 5-6 : hie ubi conspicui venerabilis amphitheatri / erigitur
moles, stagna Neronis erant).
Statio Annonae : the headquarters of the praefectus annonae, who was
charged with the administration of the food supply of the city of Rome.
1 Mabillon ap. Jord. ii. 665=Lib. Cens. Fabre-Duchesne, ii. 154.
2 Cf. also Isid. Orig. xviii. 25.