The Septizodium in 3DA fragment of the Septizonium is shown in this engraving dating to 1582.Septizodium, plan de Rome de Paul Bigot, université de Caen MRSH
The Septizodium (also called Septizonium or Septicodium) was a building in ancient Rome. It was built in 203 AD by Emperor Septimius Severus. The origin of the name "Septizodium" is from Septisolium, from the Latin for temple of seven suns,[1] and was probably named for the seven planetary deities (Saturn, Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus[2]) or for the fact that it was originally divided into seven parts. The building had no known practical purpose and was probably meant to be a decorative façade, known as a nymphaeum. Ancient and medieval sources describe its purpose as being to impress Severus' fellow north Africans as they entered the city, as it was located at the place where the Via Appia passes the Palatine and leads east towards the Forum Romanum.[3] Other examples of septizodia are known, all from Africa.[4]
Ammianus Marcellinus refers to the building in an ambiguous passage: "The plebs...had come together at the Septemzodium, a popular place, where Marcus Aurelius built a Nymphaeum in a rather ostentatious style."[5]
By the 8th century, the edifice was already ruined and had been incorporated in one of the numerous baronial fortresses of the medieval city, held in the 12th-13th century by the Frangipani family.
In August 1241, after the death of Pope Gregory IX, the 11 cardinals who were able to get into Rome through the lines of Emperor Frederick II's army came together in the ramshackle palace of the Septizodium. The two-month-long election was arduous, not only because of the deep political crisis but the physical hardships. There was a frightful heat and the rain leaked through the roof of the chamber of the cardinals, mingled with the urine of Matteo Rosso Orsini's guards on the rooftiles.[6] One of the cardinals fell ill and died. The new pope, Celestine IV, was also very worn out, and died 16 days after his election.
In 1588, during the reign of Pope Sixtus V, the eastern facade of the building was demolished under the direction of Domenico Fontana. The stones obtained were used for the basement of the Flaminio Obelisk of Piazza del Popolo, the restoration of the Column of Marcus Aurelius, the pope's tomb in St. Mary Major and other structures.[7]
^Gregorovius, Ferdinand (1895). History of the city of Rome in the Middle Ages. Vol. 3. Cambridge University Press. p. 541. ISBN 978-1-108-01502-8.
^Dombart, Theodor (1922). Das palatinische Septizonium zu Rom. Munich: Beck.
^Keaveney, Raymond (1988). Views of Rome From the Thomas Ashby Collection in the Vatican Library. Scala Publications Ltd. pp. 107–8.
^Palmer, Robert E.A. (1978). "Severan Ruler-cult in The City of Rome". In Wolfgang Haase (ed.). Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt. Walter de Gruyter. p. 1117. ISBN 3-11-007612-8.
^"Ammianus Marcellinus, Book XV, 7, 3". LacusCurtius. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
^Abulafia, David (1988). Frederick II. A Medieval Emperor. p. 350.
^Lanciani, Rodolfo (1985). Rovine e scavi di Roma antica. Rome. p. 168.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
41°53′07″N 12°29′20″E / 41.8854°N 12.4889°E / 41.8854; 12.4889 The Septizodium (also called Septizonium or Septicodium) was a building in ancient Rome...
The Palatine Hill (/ˈpælətaɪn/; Classical Latin: Palatium; Neo-Latin: Collis/Mons Palatinus; Italian: Palatino [palaˈtiːno]), which relative to the seven...
Domenico Fontana in 1589, at the command of Pope Sixtus V. Sixtus had the Septizodium demolished to provide the travertine for the obelisk's pedestal, among...
triumphal arch in the Roman Forum carrying his full name, he also built the Septizodium in Rome. He enriched his native city of Leptis Magna, including commissioning...
in a theatre, with fountains and colonnades. This became known as the Septizodium. It is said that the emperor monumentalised this side of the building...
captive under the control of his guards in the ramshackle palace of the Septizodium, where rain leaked through the roof of their chamber, mingled with the...
diaconia. It formerly stood at the base of the Palatine Hill, near the Septizodium of Septimius Severus, from which it took its name. The date of its destruction...
Pompey Ludus Magnus Naumachia Vaticana Odeum of Domitian Saepta Julia Septizodium Stadium of Domitian Roman Forum Forum of Augustus Forum of Caesar Forum...
Minerva of the Capitol was converted into an emblem of Christian Rome; the Septizodium of Septimius Severus was demolished for its building materials. The subsequent...
Planning and Sculptural Display in Severan Rome: Reconstructing the Septizodium and Its Role in Dynastic Politics," American Journal of Archaeology 108...
but Lotario de' Conti was elected pope in the ruins of the ancient Septizodium, near the Circus Maximus in Rome after only two ballots on the very day...
election of that year, when the cardinal electors were confined in the Septizodium by his orders. He extended the territories of the Orsini family. He was...
on 18 March 1227 at Rome. The cardinals present at Rome assembled in Septizodium on the next day after the death of Honorius III and decided to elect...
superimposed orders", similar to ancient Greek and Roman buildings such as the Septizodium in Rome or the Library of Pergamum in what is now Turkey. The facade...
other construction works: the Via Nova leading to the baths and the Septizodium on nearby Palatine Hill.: 7 The site chosen for the baths formerly belonged...
of antiquity such as the Sepulchre of Lucius Septimius known as the Septizodium (1582) and contemporary Vedute of ancient and modern Rome, for example...
and was deposed by Honorius in 1126 before being imprisoned in the Septizodium, where he soon died. Honorius personally reinvested Peter the Venerable...
the Septasolium (corrupted in both medieval and modern narratives into Septizodium) by the Roman civic officials, eventually settling on one of their oldest...
classical pagan allusions in publicising the modern pope who demolished the Septizodium to make way for his avenues linking the major Christian monuments of...
was added by the emperor Septimius Severus, who also constructed the Septizodium (or the Temple of the Seven Suns) adjacent to it. The hill also possessed...
Planning and Sculptural Display in Severan Rome: Reconstructing the Septizodium and Its Role in Dynastic Politics," in American Journal of Archaeology...
Capocci was jailed by the Roman senator Matteo Rosso Orsini in the Septizodium. After the short reign of Celestine IV (17 days), Ranieri supported the...
Claudia (between the Caelian and Palatine hills), the Circus Maximus, the Septizodium and the Porta Metronia. Both of these regions were merged during the...
Sapta Solis monasterii Cliviscauri, which is taken by scholars to be the Septizodium, or possibly in the nearby church of Santa Lucia in Septisolio. Others...
Arch of Trajan. Regio I also included the Baths of Commodus and the Septizodium. Finally, it also contained the Mutatorium Caesaris. This was an area...
cardinals were sequestered in Rome, they used the same location, the Septizodium, as if the practice were becoming traditional. At the most recent, lengthy...
Palatine Hill, with a new monumental facade towards the Via Appia; and the Septizodium, the arch of Septimius Severus and the Baths of Caracalla were raised...
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