note= all images below
are clickable (click to enlarge)
..................................................................................................
1 THE WALL
The area delimited by the defensive walls was smaller than the actual Roman
city, because many houses, streets, important monuments and civic services
(ex., the amphitheatre and 1 roman mile long colonnade) were outside. All
around the wall, there was a moat, supplied by an appropriate water-channel
network. Built during the reign of Emperor Maximian (296-305 A.D.), the wall
was approx. 4,5 km long, 11 meters high, and equipped with a number of 24-sided
towers and almost 8 monumental gates (see below).
..................................................................................................
The circus (470 x 85 meters, III c. A.D.) was on the west side, and partly
incorporated into the defensive wall.
The dimensions of this building were 155 x 125 m (major and minor axes). Also,
38.40 m high, the arena was 71 x 40.5m.
The
bell tower of San Maurizio (now 16.6 m high), formerly one of the two monumental
circus towers (white square on plan at left)
................................................................................................
Close by the circus, was the Imperial Palace complex, with many different
buildings used for the Emperor's private or public life, or for his court
officials and the imperial bureaucracy. Like in other cities, there was a
direct access from the Imperial palace to the circus.
..............................................................................................
Another typical Roman city feature, built to support the arts, probably Augustan in date and with similarities to Rome’s Theatre of Marcellus.
.............................................................................................
A typical feature of all Roman cities was the forum, primarily a marketplace but also the location for major temples and civic buildings, and located at the intersection of a planned Roman city’s two major streets, the Cardo and the Decumanus.
...............................................................................................
6
THE BASILICAS
The
Christian neighborhood (also called The Bishop's Area) arose to the northeast,
but still inside the city walls, approximately in the same area of the modern
Duomo. In the time of Saint Ambrose (374-397 A.D.), a number of basilicas
were built, notably four basilicas corresponding to the four cardinal points,
in a sort of magic square to preserve the city either from the devil or from
physical attack.
................................................................................................
This bathtub, carved from costly Egyptian red porphyry, was prepared for Maximian’s use. Now it serves as the baptismal font of the Duomo di Milano.
Beneath the Duomo di Milano are the remains of a far earlier baptistery from
the 4th century A.D. This may be the site where St. Ambrose baptized the future
Saint Augustine.
..............................................................................................
Roman baths were a very important part of life, not only in cities but also in villas and even in military camps. They might include exercise facilities, shops, libraries, and small parks, in addition to the actual baths. In cities, the baths were places “to see and be seen.” This is a recent archaeological discovery.
..............................................................................................
8 COLONNADED STREET
Outside the wall, on the road leading to Rome, there was a monumental street,
built with a colonnade on either side supporting covered sidewalks and, behind
them, shops and housing. At the end of this street (1 roman mile long) there
was a large, 4-sided, gate or triumphal arch called a tetrapylon.
...............................................................................................
These
pictures show the Romans columns taken away from some other monument more
antique, and repositioned here to build a courtyard in front of Basilica di
San Lorenzo (end of IV or beg. of V century A.D.).
This basilica is very large (the main room is 45 m) and had an enormous cupola.
This cupola later collapsed during an earthquake and was rebuilt in baroque
style.
Close to Basilica di San Lorenzo (IV or V c. A.D.) there was likely a port, some water channels and a link to the river Padum (the modern Po River).
...............................................................................................
Outside the wall, on the southwest side, between two major Roman roads (one
leading to Habiate –mod.Abbiategrasso- and the other to Ticinium –mod.Pavia-
) was a large amphitheatre, built in the first century A.D. Although at this
time Milan was not yet the major city it would later be, when built this amphitheatre
was the third largest known, after the Colosseum in Rome and the one in Capua
(the Milanese one was 155 x 125 meters, with an arena of 71 x 41.5 meters).
..............................................................................................
This single Roman column outside the basilica was used to proclaim the Germanic
Holy Roman Emperor "King of Romans" following an curious rite: the
emperor embraced this column.
Galvano
Fiamma (c. 1300 A.D.) wrote:
When the King of the Romans [i.e., the Holy Roman Emperor] wants to receive
the crown of the Italian Kingdom in the Ambrosian basilica, the Emperor must
go before the marble column that rises near that same Ambrosian basilica ...(cut)...
The Emperor will swear that he will be obedient to the Pope and to the Roman
Church in the temporal and spiritual things… (cut)… Therefore
the Archbishop or the Abbot of S.Ambrogio must crown him with the iron crown
as King d' Italy. Then the Emperor must embrace that straight marble column
in show that his justice will be straight alike this column.
................................................................................................
12
THE MAUSOLEUM
For centuries Roman law forbade cemeteries within cities, so a virtual “city
of the dead” sprouted up along the roads outside city limits. On the
west side, beyond the area shown on the map, was the large mausoleum of Emperor
Maximian.
Maximian
built a mausoleum for his own burial. The design of the structure is exactly
the same as the mausoleum built for Diocletian at his palace in Spalatum (mod.
Split). Around an octagonal enclosure, and in the core, lay his sarcophagus.
................................................................................................
