To see the best preserved circus of Rome one needs to reach the Appian way. Between the second and third mile an amazing ‘hippodrome’ has defeated time. The Circus of Maxentius is part of an impressive complex including a palace and a dynastic funerary monument.
When shooting Ben-Hur in 1959 some scenes were filmed here.
Its spina, which originally was marble coated, is 1000 Roman feet (296 meters) long. It was a private circus for the emperor and his entourage (10.000 seats approximately).
The second largest in size after the Circus Maximus (250.000 seats), a considerable portion of which still lies 9 meters under the present ground level, difficult and extremely costly to unearth for the presence of water in the soil.
The circus of Maxentius is oriented east-west between the hill of Cecilia Metella’s tomb and the artificial terrace of the imperial palace of Maxentius.
The 2 imposing towers, still visible, housed the devices for raising the 12 starting gates (carceres).
The track (503 metres long) was excavated in 1825 by Antonio Nibby who discovered an inscription dedicated to to the divine Romolus. Till then indeed it was known erroneously as the Circus of Caracalla.
The inscription leads to think the circus hosted the funeral games for the death of Romolus, the son of the emperor. Even if according to Coarelli the circus was never completed nor used since the sand that should have covered the racetrack was never found.
The spina was decorated with statues that probably largely came from the property of Herodes Atticus which previously occupied the area.
We can still admire its Aswan granite obelisk in Piazza Navona on Bernini’s fountain of the Four Rivers. It is not truly Egyptian: it was dedicated to the emperor Domitian in 81 A.D. in the Temple of Isis in Campus Martius. Maxentius moved it to the Circus where it remained broken among ruins till XVII century when Bernini reused it.
The cavea had 12 tiers which means 6 rows of spectators with every other row for their feet. In the remains of the cavea we can still see the terracotta amphorae used to render the weight of the foundations lighter. The circus is made, like most of the buildings in the period, in opus vittatum (concrete faced with parallel horizontal courses of tuff blocks alternated with bricks).
Maxentius resided in Rome and probably in this palace on the Appian way during the reign of his father. The scant remains are covered by the vegetation. The site is so peaceful, the atmosphere so idyllic, that one feels like stepping into one of those Grand tour paintings depicting bucolic landscapes with ruins.
The archetype ‘palace- circus’ is the Domus Augustana on the Palatine with the adjoining Circus Maximus. A model replicated in Constantinople and in several other cities in the period of the tetrarchy.
The dynastic mausoleum was dedicated to Romolus, the son of the emperor Maxentius, who died prematurely in 309, drowned in the Tiber. A curious similarity with the fate of Maxentius in the battle of the Milvian bridge.
The mausoleum looked like the Pantheon and was studied by great architects of the Renaissance, from Sebastiano Serlio to Raphael and Palladio.
It reopened in 2014 after 20 years and a major restoration project costing 873.000 euros.
Maxentius (306-312 A.D.) resided in Rome, a peculiarity in the period of the tetrarchy and although his father was Maximinian, co-emperor of Diocletian in the first tetrarchy, he was not the designated successor. He ascends to power supported by the praetorians, defeating Severus and suffers the consequential damnatio memoriae due to the victory of Constantine, despite the efforts made to restore the dignity of Rome.
To him we owe a series of monuments often unjustly ascribed to Constantine such as the Basilica Nova in the Roman Forum. He was also responsible for a small rotunda (the so called Temple of Romulus) whose function still remains subject to debate. Furthermore he restored, almost rebuilt, the Temple of Venus and Rome after a fire in 307 A.D. He enlarged the imperial palace on the Palatine and probably started the Baths on the Quirinal finished by Constantine. He additionally reinforced the walls of Rome. Those walls that for a twist of fate he inexplicably preferred to abandon to face Constantine and find death on the battlefield.
Opening hours: Tuesday- Sunday from 10 am o 4 pm
Free admission.
How to get there: 118 bus from either the Colosseum or Circus Maximus.
