From Comitia to Curia to Church: The Progression of Politics in Space in the Forum Romanum

The site of the Curia Iulia, the best preserved of the ancient Roman structures in the Forum Romanum, has served several roles in several incarnations since the birth of Rome. Archaeological evidence shows the transitions of the building from the original Comitium, a temple-like building aligned with the cardinal points, to the Curia Hostilia, built by the third King of Rome as a Senate meeting place, to Julius Caesar's namesake, Curia Iulia, and to it's final incarnation as the church that kept it preserved, Sant'Adriano, although it was deconsecrated in the 1930s. These constructions follow the progressions of Roman politics from Monarch to Republic to Empire, following the changing roles of the Popular Assembly, or Comitia and the Senate in the different Roman eras.

These physical transitions occurred over a number of years. Starting around 600 BCE, the area of the Comitium, a place for public meetings and discussion, was paved for the first time (La Regina 10). A few decades later, the first Curia Hostilia in its temple-like shape was built on the complex as a meeting place for the Romans and, symbolically, their gods to make important political and military decisions for Rome (Comitium). Around 300-250 BCE, the Comitium and Curia change shape to model the circular ekklesiastéria found in Greek cities serving the similar purpose of a spot for citizens to listen to an oration. First century BCE proved the greatest century of change for the site: the consul Cornelius Sulla tore down the Curia Hostilia and replaced it with a larger Curia Cornelia for his expanding Senate. Later, around 50 BCE, Julius Caesar changed the compound and altered the placement of the Curia and Comitium, redesigning and re-appropriating the site to show the symbolic and mostly powerless place of the Senate in the new Imperial age. He died before these changes were complete but Augustus finished and dedicated the Curia Iulia in 29 CE. The building that stands today was erected by Diocletian in 283 CE after a fire destroyed much of the Forum Romanum, including the Curia Julia (Curia Julia).

Below, one can see the various locations and shapes of the incarnations of the Comitia/Curia complex over the years. http://sights.seindal.dk/sight/158_Comitium.html


Only the latest building built by Diocletian can be seen today. It is a rectangular building that is currently brick over concrete, but it was originally faced with marble on the bottom and stucco painted to look like marble on the top. The building originally had a flat roof, but the current one is modern. One can enter it by a single flight of stairs that lead up to large bronze doors, which are replications of the originals installed by Diocletian (Curia Julia website). Light is provided by three large windows. Archaeological evidence provided by a coin found in the original doors indicates a portico on the original structure. Inside, in a single room, there are two wide steps lining the walls. These step-platforms would have been used to seat approximately 300 senators in their chairs. The marble flooring is original, and bears the design put in by Diocletian.

At the far end of the room, there was an Altar of Victory. It originally held a statue of Victoria, personification of victory, placed there by Augustus to celebrate Rome's military might, or specifically, his victory at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC (Claridge 71). This statue was removed in the 4th Century by St. Ambrose to the dismay of the few remaining pagan families in Rome. Currently, the Plutei of Trajan, two large marble carvings showing scenes of the Emperor's generosity are housed in the Curia, although they are originally from another part of the Forum (La Regina 18).

Below, one can see an artist's depiction of what the inside of the Curia Iulia would have looked like. The steps on the sides would have been lined with chairs for the Senators. http://dlib.etc.ucla.edu/projects/Forum/reconstructions/CuriaIulia_1


There is archaeological evidence for the earlier forms of the complex, which demonstrate the influences of their time. Up until Caesar, all of the complexes were aligned with the compass. The original Comitium/Curia complex signified the religious function of the building with a rectangular, temple-like shape. The next Comitium, with a lowered middle, provided excellent opportunity for oratoria during the Republican era of Rome, when most politics were decided by oration. Sulla's Curia Cornelia was a larger, rectangular building. Then Julius Caesar reoriented and rebuilt the Curia on top of the Comitium, symbolically and physically reducing the power of the Senate and silencing the Popular Assembly, or Comitia (Lendering).

The most important distinctions in function of the Comitium/Curia complex parallel the changes of the Roman civilization. During the Monarchical Period, the complex served a religious purpose along with its political one. This is evidenced by the temple-like shape. The power of the people and the power of the gods were combined to make political and military decisions. The Comitia or Popular Assembly met as the principle legislative assembly, theoretically electing new kings, ratifying the laws and presenting the concerns of the people to the king (Lendering).

As Rome shifted into the Republican period, the physical power of the Curia grew with the political power of the Senate, but there were still acknowledgments of the religious significance of the building. The Comitium remained as the meeting place for the Popular Assembly, where citizens of Rome could come forward and bring their concerns, while the Curia served as the administrative hub of the empire as the meeting place of the Senate. This was best evidenced by the expansion of the Curia to accommodate the larger Senate (600 members from 300) during the Republican Dictator Sulla's time as consul.

Perhaps the most striking change in function came with Julius Caesar. During his dictatorial reign, the power of the Senate, and indeed the meetings and existence of the Senate became merely symbolic, while the power of the Popular Assembly was all but extinguished as the true power was in Caesar's hands. He, and later Augustus, moved the Curia to a place in the Forum that was unimportant, a mere “appendage,” symbolizing the less important advisory role that the Senate was to play in the new Imperial Rome (Aicher). He also basically removed the Comitium, the meeting place for the Popular Assembly, altogether (Lendering). This less central location and less imposing structure would be apparent to all those who walked by, showing them the shrinking power of the Senate, and the symbolic removal of the power of the Popular Assembly. Additionally, the new location of the Curia was now aligned with the new forum Caesar had built, Forum Iulium, starting the tradition of the Emperors building forums in honor of themselves. This was significant in two ways: it symbolically placed the Curia Iulia under the power of Caesar as a part of his forum, and it also contributed to the decrease in power of the Forum Romanum as a place of government.

It is important to recognize that even though the Senate was under the control of Julius Caesar and the later emperors, they, as rulers, still had to acknowledge the privilege and fiscal influence of the Senate's 600 rich members (Lendering). It is for this reason that the Curia as a building continued to exist even though the actual legislative power of the Senate was greatly reduced. For example, Caesar's Curia Iulia had seats for only 300 of the 600 members. However, because of the long tedious process of Senate meetings, over-attendance was not usually an issue. It's questionable whether another reason for the low attendance was that the Senate realized the futility of attending the meetings. If it was overcrowded, the proceedings were moved to a larger temple across town. Having a Senate meeting place where the Emperor could present his decisions was an important way for the Emperor to prove his connections with the legitimizing body of the Roman Empire, even if their power was mostly symbolic.

It is most interesting to see how a building can convey the different meanings of the politicians in power at any given time through its orientation and shape By examining architectural evidence, we are able to catalog the progression of the building over time with its various significances. Because the building is so well preserved, it provides a window into these ancient times that is unparalleled. The significance of the building has not been lost, though the marble facing has been taken. This one building gives us an idea of how the rulers of the time used architecture as propaganda in conveying the valuable elements of their reigns.

Bibliography:
“Comitium, Forum Romanum (Photo Archive).” 28 Jun 2008 .
“Curia Hostilia, Forum Romanum (Photo Archive).” 28 Jun 2008 .
“Curia Julia, Forum Romanum (Photo Archive).” 28 Jun 2008 .
“Digital Roman Forum: Curia Iulia - introduction.” 28 Jun 2008 .
“Forum Romanum, Rome (Photo Archive).” 28 Jun 2008 .
Jona Lendering. “Curia Julia.” and “Senate.” from Stad in marmer. Amsterdam, 2002. Trans. S.J. Leinbach.
Peter J Aicher. Rome Alive: A Source-Guide to the Ancient City. Wauconda, Illinois: Bolchazy-Carducci, 2004.
Claridge, Amanda. Rome. An Oxford Archaeological Guide. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Adriano La Regina, ed. “Roman Forum.” Archaeological Guide to Rome. Milan: Mondadori Electa S.p.a., 2004. 14-41.
Lawrence Richardson. A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992.
John E. Stambaugh. The Ancient Roman City. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1988.

Impressions and Reflections:
The most interesting element of this site to me was to learn about the history of the building. My first impression had been that this was a church that had been randomly shoved in the middle of the Forum, but learning about the complex history was just fascinating. One knows that there are many ways to present political ideologies, but I'd never really seen such a clear example of one put into practice. The brilliance of Caesar and the other men who changed the face of the Comitia/Curia complex was especially apparent after doing the research on this project. Additionally, it was a good site to examine the three main eras of Rome and how they changed over time.

We are here!

Nina and I are at our hostel, using the free internet. It was an adventure getting here - haha. First of all, we totally overpacked, with two bags each and a personal item. And for some reason, I thought it would be good for me to bring books, which are hella heavy.
Also, I inevitably sat behind Rude Chair Back All The Way The Whole Nine Hour Flight Man.
Anyway, we get to the train station at the airport after the easiest customs process ever - no forms - , and we can't tell which train to get on, so we buy Euro 5.50 tickets for the regional train like the guidebook suggested, and then proceeded to get on the train Leonardo Express that costs 11 Euro. Luckily, they didn't check our tickets, so we were okay. Then we bought Rome passes and tried to get on the Metro, but the train was out of control full, so we had to wait for the next one, and then the next one before we could finally push our way on. Then, on the train, I had the brilliant idea of carry Nina's bags with straps on our backs like backpacks, and life was way easier after that. We switch trains to the aboveground metro one that goes to the hostel, got off, waited for the shuttle, and arrived at the hostel. We checked in and our room wasn't ready, so now I'm here.

The hostel is really nice, and I'm excited to stay in it and have a shower (for real).

Anyway, we're going to go to Ostia Antica and the beach today and get some food and gelato. I'll also have an Italian phone number by the end of today.

Nina and Lauren's Lessons Learned:
1. Always find out if where you're staying has an airport shuttle. Ours did, and we could have saved ourselves a lot of time and suffering. (However, we were troopers, and made it, and saved money. So there.)
2. Pack light. For real. Looking cute is not worth carrying your suitcase.
3. Ask questions. We may have gotten told that we were on the right train twice by people, and still been on the wrong train, but at least we were vindicated in our wrong location.

Ciao, Seattle!

So, I'm sitting in the Newark airport, a little worse for wear, waiting on my flight to Rome, and Nina, who will be here around 4. (YAY) It's still a bit surreal that I'm going to be gone for 3 months. I finished everything up yesterday, with a lot of help from Beth, and then hightailed my tushie to my brother's and then to the airport. Flights so far have been okay, but there was some confusion with my bags, and rechecking them and checking in, but I'm in the middle of a 7 hour layover, so there was plenty of time for confusion. There haven't really been any interesting characters, except for the TSA worker who was really grouchy at the 144 batteries in my carry-on that was packed to the gills. And boy, howdy, do I love free internet. Yay for my gate being right by the president's club and no network keys. :)

I just got Skype, so I can make unlimited calls to people in the US, and if you're at home, you can call me on my computer by dialing 206.973.7405. It should be able to leave a message for me if I'm not online. My Skype username is ardyplardy, just like every other screenname I have. When I arrive in Rome, I'll post my Italian cell number, but the landline to my computer would probably just be a better idea. Also, my dad will have my cell phone this summer, so don't call it, especially drunk. :)

So, I've been thinking a lot about what I'm excited to see or do when in Rome, and I haven't really decided. I've been so busy and frantic that it's been hard for me to get up the energy to be excited. However, the closer I get (despite being more sleep deprived), the more excited I get, so it's probably best that I haven't written this post until now. And as I am craving ice cream right now, I think that I'm most excited about getting gelato. I'm also excited about seeing my friend, Heather, on Friday, and roaming (ROMING - heh) around the city with Nina this weekend, and doing my art history presentation, and going to Venice, and eating pizza, and drinking limoncello, and a couple of other things. Haha - I guess I was more excited than I thought I was.

Anyway, ta ta for now. It's my goal to update regularly, but we'll see how that goes. I will be taking lots of pictures, however. Watch out for those. I think my goal is to post my favorite picture from the day here, with a little story. I'm also going to be writing a daily postcard. If you want a postcard, let me know, but I probably won't mail it to you, because I'm cheap. However, I will get you one, write on it, and then bring it back home with me. I'm all about subsidized American Postal Service.

Hugs and love, and feel free to call or aim or whatever.

Lauren

observations of a girl in a black dress

Part One:

Overview: Subject is a female, young 20s, medium height. She is Caucasian, with brown hair and blue-grey eyes.

Physical Appearance: She has tanned skin, with a few freckles on her arms. Her hair is wet, except for her bangs which are styled and side-swept. She is wearing little make-up, but it appears there is a little mascara and eyeliner. There are numerous bruises on her shins, and several scars on her legs. She also has a 2 inch long scratch on her right arm that looks pretty recent. This could signify abuse, but due to the lack of bruises on her upper arms, probably is just a result of clumsiness.

Clothing: She is wearing a black dress, short sleeves, cotton knit fabric. It fits loosely from the empire waist downward, and stops just above the knees. It has a relatively deep scoop neck with button closure, and some ruching at the bust. It looks as if it were chosen for comfort mostly, and also to go along with the style of wearing dresses in the springtime.

Accessories: She wears no jewelry except for a small silver chain bracelet on her right wrist, but is wearing silver strappy sandals. They have no heel, though, so were also probably chosen for a mixture of style and comfort. Her toenails are unpainted, as are her fingernails. There are no idealogical symbols anywhere on her person, such as political buttons or religious jewelry.

Items: She is carrying a backpack, and has a wallet, keys, cellphone and computer charger in her hands. It is strange that she does not put any of those things in her backpack to carry them. Her wallet is large, black and rectangular, with red accents and interior. This may suggest a slightly racier side. Her cellphone is very large; it looks like a pda device of some kind. Her keychain has at least 15 keys on it, signifying that she has access to a lot of place. The computer charger she is carrying is for a Mac, so that means that she probably owns a Mac, which means she is doing fine financially. The backpack is blue and grey and is a Jansport bag. It has a lot of pockets and looks well used, although it isn't particularly full on this occasion.

Part Two:

So, I'm wearing the dress, because I made a pact with myself to not wear pants except for on days that I have to: namely, Tuesday and Thursday when I have organic lab. However, it's been about 3 weeks since I've done laundry, and I'm running out of dresses and skirts to wear. I can't really remember when was the last time I wore anything, so I'm hoping that it was long enough ago that it is socially acceptable to wear this dress again. It's really comfortable and is decently cute. I wore it to work the other day at the Gap, and some girl asked me if I got it there, cause she wanted one. (It's not from the Gap.) I could have gotten it in other colors, but I'm not sure that I'd want to wear a bright magenta version of this.

I'm in love with my shoes. I bought them in both silver and black and they're really comfortable for strappy sandals. Really, I bought them because we're not going to be allowed to wear flipflops in Rome, and I needed to find some cute shoes that I can walk all day in.

For some reason, I'm not a big jewelry fan. I have a silver bracelet that I'm always wearing, but I don't really like earrings. They give me migraines and make my ears itch. And I don't wear necklaces because I don't want a tan line from the necklace.

I don't have painted finger or toenails because my best friend hates chipped nail polish, and I'm so rough on my hands and feet that polish usually doesn't even last a day with me. I try to keep them nice looking, though.

On the subject of my tan... It was really nice this weekend, and I wanted to wear shorts, but I never wear shorts, but I bought a pair of shorts, but I wasn't going to wear them unless I got a tan, so I went and got a fake tan, and then proceeded to get as much sunshine as was possible.

I'm not sure why I was carrying all my crap in my hands when I had a perfectly good backpack on, but I think my thought process was something along the lines that I needed my keys to lock my apartment door and my cell phone to check the bus schedule, and my wallet for my upass, and I forgot my computer charger, and had to run back in for it, and I was too lazy to take off my backpack and put them in. I was going to catch the bus, but I missed it, so I ended up walking to school anyway, with all my crap in my hands. It was a nice walk, though.

Oh, and by the way, I'm bruised and scarred because I am the absolute klutz of klutzes. I bang into things so often that I don't even know where my bruises are from. The cut, though is from the wall at the Gap. It got me.

Anyway, comment if you want me to explain anything else.

research question and conceptual framework

Research Question: (still somewhat tentative - Emily and I need to discuss and narrow down our topic, which we'll be doing at tonight's meeting)
In the Netherlands, do Muslim women receive a different quality/quantity of care than non-Muslim women? How does culturally appropriate/sensitive care affect perceptions of the care received? What is being done to overcome this gap?

Conceptual Framework:
Cultural Traditions: Examining interactions between these conflicting (or not) traditions
Western v. Eastern
Gender Relations
Intersection of Liberal v. Conservative

Also, I've been thinking a lot about assumptions that Muslim women do have problems with access to health care that do give them adverse health outcomes. I've been doing some reading about fertility rates, and there's a "Bible Belt" in Amsterdam with orthodox Calvinists (a Christian sect) that has very high birth rates. I wonder if a bigger issue would be fundamentalism - not Islam itself. However, this raises a lot more questions.

Methods:
Case studies - talking with women about their healhtcare experiences with the intention of finding out how they've been treated.
Looking at how religion affects relationships - both patient-provider, patient-spouse, provider-healthcare system

Also see my previous blog, which addresses a lot of these issues.

Scholarship

scholarship : Knowledge resulting from study and research in a particular field.

It's always interesting to look at how information is gained, but the key really isn't in finding out information - it's in putting that information to work. The idea of information dissemination is especially key in health and health promotion. People can know about health risks (and that knowledge is important) but until they can (and do) something about it, there is no difference in their outcome.

This idea is especially important for our group. If we're looking at access to care by women in the Netherlands, that care needs to be accessible. Women can have knowledge about what they should be doing, but if there aren't culturally appropriate clinics available, then quality care isn't possible. Taking it back a step, if women don't have culturally appropriate information, then they can't know.

I feel like the most useful way for us to present our information would be on a pamphlet or info sheet, giving statistics and useful practices. This could be a quick way to illustrate what is being done.

Reflecting on our project- I feel like it's going to take two focuses. Emily, as an anthropologist, is really interested in the differences of knowledge about health, and how the cultural practices of our focus groups interact with and affect health and health knowledge. This would best be researched by surveys. My interests lie more in how health care can assimilate and respect the differing beliefs, while still maintaining the integrity of the care. This would be best researched with interviews with professionals. What is being done? Is it effective? What are they thinking about doing in the future? How can a healthy society be formed when there are so many factors that go into creating health in general.

I think that these two focuses will combine well together to create a good overall picture of health care and knowledge in Amsterdam. Obviously, there's way too much information to present and learn it all, but maybe we can use our interests to focus our question.

Group Presentations: Focus on Ethics

Communication/Media Group:
Question: How do media (social, industry, usage) and technology (news, interpersonal, development) relate to each other and to society?
Methods: Research: history, other studies. Expert interviews for an insider perspective. Surveys: primary interactions and habits. Interviews: digging deeper on perceptions. -- Case study
Ethical Issues: not taking names or identifiable information >>> exemption status

With keeping information gathered from people general, they should be able to keep this out of ethical issues. And really, as long as the questions aren't asking about porn usage, it's not really going to be ethically compromising. (Although, doing a comparative study of porn usage would be interesting, if almost impossible to research.)

Tourists v. Natives in Amsterdam Group
Question: How do tourists and natives differ within the tourism industry and within themselves and their own communities?
Methods: Observation: appearance, speaking, accents, behaviours, interaction with natives, tourists, space. Interviews: casual conversations (accents and conceptions about Amsterdam). Participation: participate in tourist/native activities and experience both sides.
Ethical issues: Minimal risk: Informed consent with the casual conversations, and pictures, relying on observation (which is non-invasive - sort-of.)

This should probably be less than Minimal Risk, because questions aren't going to be too invasive. There aren't really ethical issues.

Architecture Group:
Question: How do people interact with space? How does the design of a structure influence the individuals who visit that location? Is there a central them based on location that transcends the time it was made? How does the content and layout of a shopping center reflect the "personalities" of the neighborhood and it's shoppers? How does this form a culture center in the city?
Methods: Direct observation of a site as active public venue, background into the history of the location. Research on events hosted by the city at this center. Finding differences in content of one shop in 2 different shopping centers in 2 different malls.
Ethics: Exempt, risk in asking questions about SE background, no names, low risk

Branding Culture Group:
Question: How does branding happen in Amsterdam? How do stores in Amsterdam attract customers? How does does Dutch Fashion influence gender roles and identity? How are women portrayed in advertising in Amsterdam?
Methods: Visit stores, observe, and talk to people. Research fashion, analyze photographs, taking pictures of ads, analyzing ads, surveys about advertising
Ethics: Exemption - asking permission to look around, asking permission to take photographs, anonymous survey, language barriers, access