Forma Urbis Romae (mosaic). 281, Stanford# - Severus, Lucius Septimius, Emperor of Rome, 146-211; Levoy, Marc (Marc Levoy Papers (SC1258), 2001)
The Forma Urbis Romae or Severan Marble Plan is a massive marble map of ancient Rome, created under the emperor Septimius Severus between 203 and 211. It originally measured 18 m (60 feet) wide by 13 m (45 feet) high and was carved into 150 marble slabs mounted on an interior wall of the Temple of Peace. Created at a scale of approximately 1 to 240, the map was detailed enough to show the floor plans of nearly every temple, bath, and insula in the central Roman city. The boundaries of the plan were decided based on the available space on the marble, instead of by geographical or political borders as modern maps usually are. The map was oriented with south at the top. On the map are names and plans of public buildings, streets, and private homes. The creators used signs and details like columns and staircases. The Plan was gradually destroyed during the Middle Ages, with the marble stones being used as building materials or for making lime. In 1562, the young antiquarian sculptor Giovanni Antonio Dosio excavated fragments of the Forma Urbis from a site near the Church of SS. Cosma e Damiano, under the direction of the humanist condottiere Torquato Conti, who had purchased excavation rights from the canons of the church. Conti made a gift of the recovered fragments to Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, who entrusted them to his librarian Onofrio Panvinio and his antiquarian Fulvio Orsini In all about 10% of the original surface area of the plan has since been recovered, in the form of over one thousand marble fragments, which are kept in the Palazzo dei Conservatori of the Capitoline Museums.
Rights: Aside from the ephemeral downloading and copying associated with browsing the web and personal research, the images of individual fragments may not be copied, downloaded and stored, forwarded, reproduced or published in any form, including electronic forms such as e-mail or the web, without express written permission from the Dott.ssa in Rome (francesca.decaprariis@comune.roma.it). Aside from the ephemeral downloading and copying associated with browsing the web and personal research, the models of individual fragments may not be copied, downloaded and stored, forwarded, reproduced or published in any form, including electronic forms such as e-mail or the web, without express written permission from the Dott.ssa in Rome (francesca.decaprariis@comune.roma.it). The La pianta marmorea di Roma antica: Forma urbis Romae plates may not be copied, downloaded and stored, forwarded, reproduced or published in any form, including electronic forms such as e-mail or the web, without express written permission from the Dott.ssa in Rome (francesca.decaprariis@comune.roma.it). Text and images on the web pages of the Stanford Digital Forma Urbis Romae Project other than those described in the two preceding paragraphs may be copied, but only for research and personal use. They may also be used for teaching and in public lectures as long as credit is given to the Stanford Digital Forma Urbis Romae Project. However, publishing these copies in any printed or electronic form, placing them on web pages outside of our project, or creating a mirror site for them requires the express written permission of the Stanford University Libraries (universityarchives@stanford.edu).
Rights: The photographic images of individual fragments of the Severan Marble Plan of Rome (Forma Urbis Romae, Pianta Marmorea) that appear on the web pages of the Stanford Digital Forma Urbis Romae Project are the property of Stanford University and the Sovraintendenza ai Beni Culturali del Comune di Roma. The computer renderings of individual fragments of the Severan Marble Plan of Rome (Forma Urbis Romae, Pianta Marmorea) that appear on the web pages of the Stanford Digital Forma Urbis Romae Project are the property of Stanford University and the Sovraintendenza ai Beni Culturali del Comune di Roma. Photographs from the publication La pianta marmorea di Roma antica: Forma urbis Romae (Rome: Comune di Roma, 1960) that appear on the web pages of the Stanford Digital Forma Urbis Romae Project are the property of the Comune di Roma.
Keywords: historical maps; Rome (Italy) -- Topography; Rome (Italy) -- Antiquities; Rome (Italy) -- Maps