Julius Caesar's assassination site reopens

Today is June 20th, 2023. Largo Argentina as a site is open officially today. You're allowed to come down now on these new walkways that have been inserted which is financed by Bulgari and we have four temples of Largo Argentina finally once again accessible to the public. We'll take a quick tour through and of course the tourists are here and of course there's a museum space as well. Right next to the archaeological park our tour starts here at Torre del Papito which is a nickname after the antipope Anacletus II of the 12th century and it's right here you get your ticket and you can get a new site publication. It's a wonderful place to start your tour. Here are the remains from the decoration of the church of the 15th century that stood on top of temple A. We descend down this nice narrow staircase but if you need help with a stroller or wheelchair there's also a nice elevator. Hey this is Darius Aria for Ancient Rome Live. We are here in Largo Argentina. We are all around Ancient Rome. We are all around the Roman Empire. It's an opportunity for you to learn so many new things about Ancient Rome, the Roman world around the Mediterranean. Come and follow us and subscribe. First thing we should do is admire this incredible walkway floating above the original ground level giving us plenty of access to the archaeological park but you might be wondering where are the cats? The opening is extraordinary because we have access to these four temples. The cat sanctuary in the corner still exists. The cats are still here. Let's start off with the plan of the campus marshes. We have our four temples of Largo Argentina hemmed in by many other structures. To the east we have the Porticus Minucia, place for grain distribution. To the west the mighty remains of the theater of Pompey including the Curia of Pompey where Julius Caesar was assassinated. Here's a reconstruction of those four temples, the Porticus Minucia. You can even see the theater of Balbus. It's a crowded neighborhood. The oldest temple in the sanctuary is temple C. It's attributed to the goddess Feronia, a savine deity dedicated by Manlius Curius Dentatus in 290 BC. It was followed shortly thereafter by temple A. This is attributed to the goddess Geturna dedicated by Gaius Lutetius Catulus. Temple A, like temple C, was dedicated as a result of a victory and you use the spoils of war, the Manubii, to build a victory temple. The next temple is temple D. It's the largest in the sanctuary, possibly dedicated to the Lares. It dates to the early 2nd century BC. The last temple is squeezed in between temples A and C. It's the temple of Fortuna on this day, vowed after the battle of Vercelli in 101 BC by Quintus Lutetius Catulus. But what really captures the imagination is the structure behind temple B. These are the remains of the Curia Pompeiana, where Julius Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March 44 BC. The remains behind temple B are poorly preserved. What we can see on this map, it's number 3, and it gets erased in antiquity, replaced by latrines number 4 and number 5. So public latrines replace the Curia of Pompey. And behind here, temple A, we can actually see just how large that public latrine actually was. To the east of the sanctuary, we have these pillars made of tuff, faced with plaster that belonged to the Porticus Minucia. We have the remains of the colonnade of the Hecastylon to the north of the four temples of Largo Argentina, beautifully preserved, dating to the imperial period. Then you have the devastating fire of 80 AD that goes through the Campus Martius. You're going to have, as a result, the laying of new pavement. So you have the original pavement in tuff, and now on top of it is laid, in the reign of Domitian, pavers of Travertine stone. This is the remains of a residence of the 8th to 9th centuries AD. And then you have the creation in temple A of a church, and it's dedicated to San Nicola at least by 1132. And here we have some of the remains of later frescoes of the church. Next to the archaeological site, of course, is Torre del Papito, a nickname of the antipope Anacletus of the Perleone family. So it's their tower that eventually passes into the property of the Ceserini family. And of course, along with this tower, it's the Ceserini church of San Nicola, which is then demolished in the excavations between 1926 and 1929. This is when the great discovery was made of the archaeological park, of the temples, all these ruins that we can explore today. And it's not just the architectural remains, it's also incredible sculpture, like this colossal acrolithic statue of Fortuna that comes from Temple B, now in Montemartini Museum. Now let's take a tour. A quick walk through this site. Some medieval structures on one side of the walkway, but I'm walking past the oldest temple, Temple A, which becomes the church of San Nicola. And you have a lot of different routes that you can take. Shops are inserted here in the imperial period. And then we get to Round Temple B, which is the youngest of the four temples here in Larga Argentina. You can see it's spacious. You can see you've got plenty of opportunity to explore and wander around, look at the various artifacts in the hustle and bustle of Rome. Temple B, to Fortuna of this day. Here's Temple C, it's the oldest, along maybe to the Temple of Ferronia, along with Temple A, maybe to, dedicated to Giuttorni. And finally, Temple D, the biggest temple, is actually partially underneath the road. There's Temple D, or we can also go right inside. I'm here in front of Temple D. It's the largest of the four temples in the Larga Argentina area, and this is a place that was forever inaccessible. Today it's part of the experience in the Largo Argentina Archaeological Park. And you can see the rest of the staircase. What's up on top of us? It's the sidewalk, and it's the road. But now we get a sense of just how massive this temple actually was, probably dedicated to the Lares, possibly dedicated to the nymphs. And next to it is the Temenos Wall, telling us it's the end of the sacred precinct. Temple D is also where you have the Cat Sanctuary. It sits on top of the podium in the back. It still exists today. Now here you just don't have the archaeological site. You also have, in this very long corridor, a new museum space. And it's going to give you insights into the history of the site, from antiquity all the way through to the Middle Ages. And it truly is an extraordinary experience. And this has to be on your list of places to go if you really want to understand the layers of history. We're in the epicenter of the Campus Martius. We're down the street from the Pantheon. And we have, of course, on the back side of the archaeological site, this site where Julius Caesar was assassinated in the Curia of Pompey. The museum contains several statues. This might be one of the goddesses of the temples. This one has been linked to the goddess Feronia of Temple C. We have many other statues, many other dedications here. We're able to see just how this storeroom area has become an extraordinary museum. There's lots of decoration of the temples on display. There's also lots of dedications, like this one to Vespasian. And finally, the Middle Ages is well documented, even the reuse of marble for a pavement of the medieval church. It's like a dream, folks. We've been documenting this for years. And La Argentina is now open. I'm here at Temple A, which also becomes a church of San Nicola. It's marvelous to be here. It's marvelous to explore these locations, these four temples, and more. The museum space, it does not disappoint. So come and get it. Come to Rome. Come and explore Republican Rome. Come and explore the pavement that's laid after the fire of 80 AD. And get to know another section of the Campus Martius. We're here daily. Ancient Rome Live brings you amazingly fresh content in the trenches, in the exhibits, in the archaeological spaces. Please hit the like button. Please subscribe. And we'll continue to give you an unparalleled vision of ancient Rome and empire throughout the Mediterranean.