Wednesday, March 31, 2010
this is my tour that actually works
Saturday, March 27, 2010
My tour
Friday, March 26, 2010
Tour on Ancient Rome Speech
Sose assignment
Tour on ancient Rome
Welcome to my interesting and exciting tour on ancient Rome. Today I will be discussing and elaborating on the Julio Claudian Emperors in the period of time between 28BC and 64AD.
The Julio Claudian Emperors consisted of five men consisting of Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero. Augustus was the great nephew and adopted son of Julius Caesar. This led him to take over the role of being Emperor from 28BC – 14AD. After his death, he had Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero to rule after one another.
Today I will be introducing to you the Mausoleum of Augustus, Colussus of Nero, Arch of Claudius, Arch of Tiberius and the circus of Caligula and Nero.
The Mausoleum of Augustus is a large tomb built by Augustus and an army authorized by him in 28BC on Campus Martius which is east of the Fiume Tevere river in Rome. The Mausoleum is no longer open to tourists due to its ageing, vandalism and lack of maintenance towards it. The ruins, however, still remain as a huge landmark. Many were buried here in the Mausoleum including Augustus himself along with Claudius, Caligula and Tiberius. The first person buried in the Mausoleum was Marcellus, Augustus’s nephew in 23BC.
The Colossus of Nero is a big bronze statue of Nero himself that was built across from the Colloseum. The Colloseum is a popular attraction in Rome, it holds 50,000 spectators in a circular arena where many fights and battles were held. The statue is 37 metres high and was designed by a Greek architect named Zenadoras. This is where the statue was believed to be. After Nero’s reign, the emperor Vespasian renamed it as the sun of God Helios (Colossus Solis) because of his dislike of Nero. Emperor Hadrian removed the statue to make way for the Temple of Venus and Roma near the Colosseum. The statue was removed in 1936. Many believe that the name of the colosseum was from the colossus of Nero.
The Arch of Claudius was constructed to honour Claudius on his victorious invasion against the British. The Romans invaded the Britains because Britain helped the French fight against the Roman general Julius Caesar. The arch was dedicated in 51AD as a reminder of this victory. This Roman arch is one of the most intriguing monuments of the Julio-Claudian period because of the success against the Britains. It was believed to have been destroyed before the eighth century but remains were found in 1562, 1641 and again in 1869.
The arch of Tiberius was built in 16AD to congratulate Germanicus’ standard Varus captured by the Germans in the battle of Teutonberg in 9AD. The arch of Tiberius is believed to be above ground level and can be accessed by stairs of a few steps. It appears to have been constructed as a single arch, like the later arch of Titus which was of the same construction system cut stone masonry, flanked by two columns of the Corinthian order. The foundation has been found on roman forums but nothing is visible.
Built by the Emperor Caligula between 37 and 40AD was the Circus of Caligula and Nero. The circus was the stage for the persecution of the Christians by Nero. The circus was already out of use one hundred and fifty years after it was built, about the time Emperor Caracalla, he built a large circular mausoleum on top of the circus.
To conclude my tour on the Julio Claudian Emperors I will show you a short youtube video to display a method on how buildings and bodies were fossilised from that time period.
Thankyou for watching my tour on Ancient Rome. I hope you enjoyed it.
