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Location on Forum Plan
Via Sacra
Lapis Niger
Curia (Senate House)
Basilica Aemilia
Templum Antonini et Faustinae
Basilica Constantini
Templum Veneris et Romae
Arcus Titi
Regia
Atrium Vestae
Templum Vestae
Templum Juli
Templum Castoris
Basilica Julia
Templum Saturni
Tabularium
Templum Divi Vespasiani
Templum Concordiae
Lacus Curtius
Rostra
Miliarium Aureum
Arcus Septimii Serveri
Carcer (Prison) |
 Rostra
The Rostra is the name of the great speaker's
platform in the Forum, from which speakers addressed crowds,
and from this platform many of the great and famous speeches
in Roman history were delivered. Initially, it was constructed
as a flat-topped platform (suggestus) forming part of
the large, round Comitium (an area in front of the Curia where
speakers would address the whoever was assembled). Typically,
a speaker's platform is called a tribunal, but after Duilius
won Rome's first major naval victory against Antium in 338 BCE, six bronze prows of enemy ships were attached to
the front of the speaker's platform as trophies; the Latin for
prows is rostra, and the name became used for the entire
structure. In 260 BCE, C. Duilius Nepos
defeated the Carthagians at Mylae, and replaced or supplemented
the original prows with new ones from ships captured in that
battle. Eventually,
decorative prows
that were not from actual
ships were specially constructed for the platform itself.
In his plans to rebuild the Curia, which burned
down in 52 BCE, Caesar planned to detach
the Rostra from the Comitium and reconstruct the platform along
the main axis of the Forum. This project was eventually carried
out under Augustus. This new orientation turned the Rostra into
the northwest border of the Forum Romanum, from which one would
see a panorama of the Forum toward the eastern border, formed
by the Temple of Caesar, the Temple of Vesta and the Palatine,
and the Temple of Castor.
At the back of the Rostra, curved steps led
up to the top; the top became so cluttered with statues and memorials,
that the Senate several times declared that the owners had to
remove them or they would be hauled away! The sides were topped
by balustrades with some interesting reliefs, but the front was
mostly open. There is a famous
relief
showing the Rostra with
the emperor Trajan participating in a public ceremony. Pliny
tells
of a crow that used to sit on the Rostra and greet the Emperor
Tiberius by name! |
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