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Who is the Field of Mars in ancient Rome? The meaning of the Field of Mars in a brief dictionary of mythology and antiquities

On the left bank of the Tiber River, originally intended for military and gymnastic exercises. Since the expulsion of the Tarquins, military and civil meetings have taken place here. As a place for military exercises, the field was dedicated to Mars, who had his altar in its center. This center of the field subsequently remained free, under the name Campus proper, while the rest of the field was built up.

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Excerpt characterizing the Campus Martius (Rome)

- How is it, mother, that all Sorcerers and Sorceresses are closed to their Fate? But why?.. – Anna was indignant.
“I think this is so because we don’t try to change what is destined for us, honey,” I answered not too confidently.
As far as I could remember, from an early age I was outraged by this injustice! Why did we, the Knowers, need such a test? Why couldn’t we get away from him if we knew how?.. But, apparently, no one was going to answer this to us. This was our Life, and we had to live it the way it was outlined for us by someone. But we could have made her happy so easily if those “above” had allowed us to see our Fate!.. But, unfortunately, I (and even Magdalena!) did not have such an opportunity.
“Also, Magdalene was becoming more and more worried about the unusual rumors that were spreading...” Sever continued. – Strange “Cathars” suddenly began to appear among her students, quietly calling on the others to “bloodless” and “good” teaching. What that meant was that they called to live without struggle and resistance. This was strange, and certainly did not reflect the teachings of Magdalene and Radomir. She felt there was a catch in this, she felt danger, but for some reason she could not meet at least one of the “new” Cathars... Anxiety grew in Magdalena’s soul... Someone really wanted to make the Cathars helpless!.. To sow in their brave doubt in the hearts. But who needed it? Church?.. She knew and remembered how quickly even the strongest and most beautiful powers perished, as soon as they gave up the fight for just a moment, relying on the friendliness of others!.. The world was still too imperfect... And it was necessary to be able to fight for your home, for your beliefs, for your children and even for love. This is why the Magdalene Cathars were warriors from the very beginning, and this was completely in accordance with her teachings. After all, she never created a gathering of humble and helpless “lambs”; on the contrary, Magdalene created a powerful society of Battle Mages, whose purpose was to KNOW, and also to protect their land and those living on it.

FIELD OF MARS

(Campus Martius). An open place outside the walls of Rome where military and gymnastic exercises of Roman youths took place and where the Roman people gathered to elect officials.

A brief dictionary of mythology and antiquities. 2012

Champ de Mars: history

In ancient times, no one except the guards were allowed to enter the city with weapons. What about the army? For her, in fact, barracks were built outside the walls. In fact, these were real military camps: in addition to barracks, there was a hospital, weapons workshops, an arsenal, and a field for training and mock battles. All this together was called the campus (campus in Latin). Since the camp was occupied by the military, it was under the protection of the god of war - Mars. In Rome, this place was located on the left bank of the Tiber, occupying the lowland between the Capitoline, Pintius and Quirinal hills. In the center of the campus stood a small altar to a warrior god.

After the Tarquinian era, especially during the late Republic, the Campus Martius changed its status and appearance. Public meetings began to be held there, sometimes military reviews, sports competitions (comitia centuriata) were held, and even executions were carried out. Every year the festival of Equirium was celebrated here with horse races and a cavalcade of chariots. Since the field was huge, several events were taking place on it at the same time, and many spectators could find entertainment to their liking.

The further fate of the Champ de Mars

When Julius Caesar began to rule Rome, the military town moved to Selio Hill. Ordinary civilians of the city began to settle on the Champ de Mars. But the name was preserved in toponymy. Subsequently, this huge crescent-shaped space began to be actively developed. Many interesting architectural structures were erected on it, for example, the Pantheon. Since the territory of the original military town included a cemetery where the ashes of soldiers who died for the fatherland were kept, in the future citizens continued to honor their heroes at this place, for which the Pantheon temple, which adorns the Champs de Mars, was built. Rome has lost a large undeveloped space, but sacredly preserves the memory of this glorious place.

Other fields dedicated to fallen heroes

By analogy with Campus Martius in Rome, similar places began to be created in other large cities. It is noteworthy that initially their purpose was the same as in the Eternal City. They performed a military function for soldier drills and ceremonial reviews. And only then, centuries later, they began to be perceived as memorials of glory to the heroes who fell for the Fatherland.

In some cities, in such squares it was lit. Naturally, altars to Mars were no longer erected in such places, but the name remained. Perhaps because there was a fashion for antiquity. Thus, fields dedicated to the god of war appeared in lands very far from Rome. Which cities have the Champ de Mars? Paris, Athens, Nuremberg and even St. Petersburg. The most interesting, both historically and architecturally, is Champ de Mars in the capital of France. And the most instructive thing is in the German city of Nuremberg.

Parisian parade ground for military maneuvers

In 1751, Louis XV ordered the construction of a military school on the left bank of the Seine. Boys from impoverished noble families were supposed to study there (it is known that one of the cadets in this institution was the young Napoleon Bonaparte). Adjacent to the school was a vast, flat meadow intended for military exercises. The king also hosted parades here. This space near the Louvre was called the Champ de Mars.

Paris appreciated this vast area, suitable for gathering a large number of people. Here they swore allegiance to the first constitution. Some events of the French Revolution of 1791 also took place on this field. A large undeveloped space almost in the center of the city was used by Parisians for various needs. Not only were public celebrations held here, but also the first experiments in mastering airspace were carried out. In 1784, the pioneer in this area, Blanchard, took to the sky from the Champ de Mars in a controlled balloon.

A good addition. Majestic monument

The Champs de Mars, stretching over twenty hectares along the Quai Branly, unlike its Roman counterpart, remained undeveloped. It played the role of the city hippodrome in 1833-1860, then exhibitions of world scientific achievements began to be held here. Therefore, when he presented the design of his tower to Paris, it was decided to build it near the Champs de Mars. The iron openwork structure fits amazingly into the green frame of the lawns. Millions of tourists now flock to the city to view and photograph the Eiffel Tower from Champ de Mars. The natural edge of the field is the golden dome of the Invalides building and the Military School. That’s why Parisians themselves love to have picnics on the grass, coming to the field even in the evening with candles.

Field of Mars in Athens

This memorial is called Πεδίον του Άρεως (Pedion tou Areos) in Modern Greek. It was built in 1934 to honor the heroes of the national liberation revolution of 1821. By analogy with the Parisian Champs de Mars, the monument was dedicated to the god of war - Areos. It is noteworthy that you will not see his statue anywhere, but the sculpture of Pallas Athena crowns the memorial of glory. In contrast to the green meadow of the French capital, this monument is a shady park. The microclimate of the green zone in the very center of the city (from here it is only a kilometer to Omonia Square) is such that in summer the temperature here is two degrees lower than elsewhere in Athens. In front of the main entrance there is a statue of the Greek king Constantine I on horseback. In addition to the busts of twenty-one heroes of the revolution, the park also contains the grave of British, New Zealand and Australian soldiers who fell in the battles for Greece during the Second World War.

History of the Champ de Mars in St. Petersburg

A century after St. Petersburg was founded, the Champ de Mars was created in this city. However, initially it was called Amusing, since Maslenitsa festivities took place on the undeveloped territory. It was located just west of the Summer Garden. In the 18th century, this place began to be called the Big Meadow.

The name and functions of the place changed when the Empress ascended the throne. The field began to be respectfully called Tsarina’s Meadow. It hosted military reviews and parades. And since there has always been a fashion for Paris in Russia, at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries it was decided to call Tsaritsyn Meadow the Field of Mars. Paul I ordered to fence off part of the rapidly developing space with a forged lattice, and lay out a park with lawns and alleys. In 1801, by order of the same emperor, monuments to the commanders Suvorov and Rumyantsev were erected.

Transformation from meadow to square

Years passed, St. Petersburg developed, and with it changes affected the Champ de Mars. The two sculptures that adorned it were moved to other places in the city. Thus, the monument to commander P. A. Rumyantsev by architect V. F. Brenna was moved in 1818 to Vasilievsky Island. And during the reign of Emperor Alexander I, the sculpture of the great field marshal was also moved. Now it stands opposite the Trinity Bridge, next to the Marble Palace and the count's house of Saltykov. In fact, this is also part of Tsaritsyn Meadow, only separated into a separate area, named after the field marshal.

On the Field of Mars, on the Moika, it is worth special mention. In the Russian Empire it was the first monument to an uncrowned person. Sculptor M.I. Kozlovsky, who worked on the monument by order of Paul I in 1799-1800, did not particularly care about the portrait resemblance of the statue and the original. This is, rather, a collective, epic image of a victorious commander. The bronze figure on the pedestal is dressed in an antique toga. She holds a sword in her right hand and a shield in her left. Suvorov appears before us in the guise of Mars, the god of war.

Transformation into a Memorial of Glory

After the Champ de Mars lost the monuments of two commanders, nothing further indicated the relationship of this place to war and battles. However, the name remains. Therefore, when the question arose of where to bury the people who died during the February Revolution of 1917, there was no other proposal: the mass grave should be located on the Champ de Mars. Later, new graves began to appear there of workers killed in the Yaroslavl uprising in the summer of 1918, participants in the defense of the city from Yudenich’s troops, as well as fallen revolutionary figures M. Uritsky, V. Volodarsky, Latvian riflemen and others. It was decided to perpetuate the memory of the heroes by opening a memorial. It was built from gray and pink granite. The opening was timed to coincide with the second anniversary of the October Revolution. But the field itself was renamed the Square of the Victims of the Revolution.

The arena of victory, which became a place of shame

In March 1935, she decided to acquire her own Champs of Mars. It was supposed to be more than just a place for maneuvers and drill training for Wehrmacht troops. It was planned to hold party congresses here, as well as a parade in honor of the liberation of the world from the “plague of communism and Semitic dominance.” Therefore, this was supposed to be the construction project of the century - the largest Champ de Mars in Europe. Photos from those years show that the space allocated for the parade ground was the size of eighty. In the same spirit of gigantomania, there were stands designed for 250 thousand spectators. The arena was to be surrounded by twenty-four towers (eleven of them were built by 1945), and the Fuhrer's podium was to be crowned with a sculptural group of the goddess of victory Victoria with warriors. And what came of it? Let's just say that the grandiose parade ground was conceived in Nuremberg, where, as you know, hearings were held on the trial of fascists accused of crimes against humanity. Truly an instructive story!

The Champ de Mars has seen many triumphs in its lifetime - solemn parades of winners. To consolidate the moment of glory, some of the triumphants built majestic public buildings on the field: circuses, porticos, temples.
A low-lying, sometimes swampy flat area of more than 250 hectares on the left bank of the Tiber, at the foot of the Capitol, Quirinal and Pintius, was originally dedicated to the god of war Mars, according to legend, the father of Romulus and Remus. The last of the kings of the Etruscan dynasty, Lucius Tarquin the Proud, appropriated this public parade ground for himself, ordered to rename it the Roman Field and grow wheat there. After the revolution of 509 BC. e. The Champ de Mars became public knowledge and military exercises, reviews and parades began to be held there again. It was located behind the city-wide wall (the first wall on this site was erected, according to legend, by King Servius Tullius in the 6th century BC, although the oldest surviving sections date back to the 4th century BC), because according to According to the laws of Rome, the armed army had no right to enter the city.
In the southern sector of the Campus Martius, next to the Theater of Marcellus, there are the ruins of the ancient Roman temples of the goddess of war Bellona (built in honor of the victory over the Etruscans in 296-91 BC, in front of it stood a “column of war”, from which as a sign of the announcement war, they threw a spear towards the enemy) and Apollo Sosianus (built in honor of deliverance from the plague). In one of these temples, the Roman generals, returning victorious, awaited a decision whether they would be granted a triumph (a complete list of triumphants from 752 to 19 BC is carved in stone in 12 BC, presented in the Capitoline museum). There, the senators received foreign ambassadors and foreign rulers, who, like the armed army, were not allowed to cross the city’s borders. But the Gentiles had the right to build their own temples outside, on the Campus Martius, and perform religious rites according to customs.
In 221 BC. e. in the southern sector of the field, consul Gaius Flaminius Nepos marked out the Circus of Flaminius, where horse races and chariot competitions were held; He also built the Via Flaminius, which was very important for Ancient Rome, leading from the Porta del Popolo (modern Piazza del Popolo) to the bridge over the Tiber and to the north, towards Rimini.
With the coming to power of the dictator Sulla (138-78 BC), some of the plots on the public Campus Martius were sold or transferred to influential Romans for insulas (affordable apartment buildings) and villas, but this was rather an exception, and construction began in primarily public buildings: porticos, circuses and temples. Thus, Gnaeus Pompey the Great (106-48 BC), immediately after his triumph in 61, ordered the foundation of the first Roman stone theater for 27 thousand seats with a semicircular amphitheater diameter of 158 m. Pompey’s portico and Curia of Pompeii, trees planted in rows - the first city park. On the Field of Mars, by the will of the Roman people, Pompey's wife, Caesar's daughter Julia, was buried. This was considered a great honor.
Guy Julius Caesar celebrated four triumphs in a row: Gallic, Alexandrian, Pontic and African. By his order, the construction of a second permanent stone theater, known since 12 BC, began on the Campus Martius. e. like the Theater of Marcellus (completed by Octavian Augustus). And the third theater on the Campus Martius - the Balba Theater with 7.7 thousand seats - was built with his own money by Caesar's friend - politician, military man and, as it turned out, theatergoer Lucius Cornelius Balbus.
Towards the end of the Republic, the Campus Martius, this northern “hallway” of Rome, gradually begins to be filled with single buildings. And a complete architectural complex on this site will be created at the beginning of the Principate.
Initially, the Campus Martius - the area between the Tiber and the hills, Quirinal and Pintius - was used for military parades, but gradually it was built up with monumental buildings - secular and ecclesiastical, monuments and stadiums.
Planned development of the flat Campus Martius, adjacent to the historical core of the city to the northeast behind the wall, began in the imperial period.
Under Octavian Augustus, everything was transformed: a clear urban plan was developed, the number of districts was increased from 4 to 14, and municipal fire and police services were established. But it was the urbanization from scratch of the Champ de Mars, unencumbered by the disadvantages of spontaneous development within the city, that embodied the architectural splendor of the era. “And all around are many porticoes, parks, three theaters, an amphitheater and magnificent temples located one after another, so that a description of the rest of the city is perhaps unnecessary,” writes the Greek historian Strabo (64 BC), shocked by the transformation of the valley. - 24 AD).
In 29 BC. e. Octavian was awarded a three-day triumph for the conquest of Illyria, the victory at Actium and the capture of Egypt. The solemn procession moved slowly from the Campus Martius, through the Triumphal Gate, around the Palatine Hill and up the Sacred Way. Returning to Rome, Octavian ordered the construction of the mausoleum of Augustus (28 BC) in the center of the Campus Martius for himself and his loved ones. In the eastern part, the Circus of Flaminius was separated by several porticoes: Octavian, Philip and Octavia (built by the emperor in 33-23 BC in honor of his sister, inside there were two temples, Juno Regina and Jupiter Stator). In addition, in gratitude for the victory over the assassins of Caesar, the temple complex of Mars the Avenger was placed in the center of the Circus of Flavius, which included the portico of the Villa Publica, where a census of the townspeople was carried out every five years, and the Septa - a rectangular area of 310 by 120 m, where meetings were held ( near modern Piazza Venezia).
Augustus himself, they say, did not possess any special military or urban planning talents, but his childhood friend and son-in-law Marcus Agrippa Vipsanius (63-12 BC) was not only an outstanding commander and naval commander, who gave Augustus several very important victories, but and a professional architect. In 33 BC. e., holding the position of aedile, Agrippa was engaged in the arrangement of Roman gardens and parks, the construction of baths and porticos, the restoration and construction of aqueducts, the expansion and cleaning of the Cloaca Maxima. According to his project on the Campus Martius in 27 BC. e. the first Pantheon was built (temple of all gods, burned down in 80 AD) and nearby were the ancient public baths of Agrippa (25-19 BC, first private, then transferred to public use), decorated with beautiful Greek statues, including a bronze original of Apoxyomenes (an athlete clearing dirt from his body with a spatula) by Lysippos...
In 13 BC. e., after the victorious return of Augustus along the Via Flaminia from Gaul and Spain, the Senate decided to build an altar of Peace on the Campus Martius, not far from the mausoleum of Augustus - as a sign that peace was assured for Rome for many years. It was a laconic marble parallelepiped up to 6 m high, with an altar in the center of the platform on a stepped pedestal and bas-reliefs glorifying the World of Augustus. About 90 meters from the altar of Peace, a 30-meter obelisk with a ball, delivered from Egypt, rose, casting a shadow simultaneously on a huge sundial and calendar. In the same 13 BC. e. On behalf of Augustus, the grandiose construction of the Theater of Marcellus was completed.
Gradually, almost the entire Champ de Mars was built up with various temples and public buildings, circuses, theaters, porticos, baths, monuments and obelisks. After a terrible fire in 80 AD. e. under Nero, new objects appeared on the Campus Martius. Then everything here was completed and rebuilt many times. But some things have been preserved (for example, in the Piazza Colonna there is a superbly preserved column of Marcus Aurelius of the 2nd century AD), some have been reconstructed (the Altar of Peace was restored piece by piece in a new place), and some things stand out through later layers (for example, Piazza Navona is an almost exact copy of Domitian’s stadium, Piazza di Grotta Pinta is similar in shape to the Theater of Pompey, etc.).

general information

Historical center of Rome and Vatican possessions- UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Campus Martius is a flat lowland outside the city wall of Ancient Rome, used for military exercises, parades and triumphs, built up at the beginning of the Principate.

Location: on the left bank of the Tiber, northwest of the historical core of Rome.

Year of foundation of Rome: 753 BC e.
Construction of the main ancient objects of the Campus Martius: II century BC e. - II century n. e. (development of a regular building plan under Octavian Augustus).

Attractions

Current state

■ Antique: the remains of the Theater of Marcellus, the Baths of Agrippa, the Altar of Peace, the Mausoleum of Augustus, the Column of Marcus Aurelius, etc.
■ Squares: del Popolo, Spain, Nicosia, Columns.
■ Streets: Sistina, Boca di Leone, Borgognona, dei Condotti, del Babuino, del Corso (formerly Via Lata), dela Croce, de Perfetti, di Ripetta, Gregoriana, Margutta, Tomacelli, Vittoria.
■ Palaces: Borghese, Firenze, Ruspoli, Capilupi, Zuccari, Gabrielli Mignanelli, Incontro, Niner.
■ Churches: about 30.
■ Villas and gardens: Pincio, Villa Medici, Casina Valadier.

Curious facts

■ After the barbarian invasion during the Great Migration, the Roman aqueduct system was destroyed, and the greatly reduced population of the Eternal City began to move from the hills closer to the Tiber. In the Middle Ages, the Campus Martius became the main, most densely populated area of the city. As the capital of a united Italy from 1870, Rome began to grow again. Among its current 22 districts is Campo Marzio - the Campus Martius, although now it is smaller than in Ancient Rome.
■ Mars is one of the most ancient gods of Italy. What is noteworthy is that in the archaic period he was not yet the god of war: the Romans assigned this function to Mars later, drawing parallels with the Greek Ares. And the ancient Italian tribes revered Mars as a purifying god, the god of wild nature and elemental fertility. In this incarnation he became the father of Romulus and Remus.
■ Legend says that after the expulsion of the Tarquins from Rome, the Field of Mars, appropriated by the last Etruscan king, was torn down along with the royal wheat and thrown into the river. According to legend, this is how the island of Tiberina was formed. In fact, the island arose earlier.
■ Theater of Marcellus - one of the best preserved ancient theaters, could accommodate up to 20 thousand spectators. Augustus established a strict hierarchy of spectator sectors: the farthest upper sector was for women, foreigners and slaves; the one closest to the stage is for Roman citizens. An accurate cross-section of Roman society.
■ After the fall of the Roman Empire, everyone forgot about the Altar of Peace; it was covered with sand and silt; in the Middle Ages, the Palazzo Fiano was built in its place (1290, rebuilt in 1880). When in the 16th century Excavation work was carried out in the basement, and the first marble fragments of the altar were found. Then antiquity was becoming fashionable, the fragments were purchased by some of the rich, but then they were transferred to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
■ Scientists began to reconstruct the Altar of Peace in the middle of the 19th century, and when B. Mussolini came to power in Italy, he decided to make it a kind of symbol of the restoration of the empire. Since the former site was occupied by the Fiani Palazzo, the Altar of Peace was placed in another place near the mausoleum of Augustus. An Egyptian obelisk made from a sundial was found in the 18th century. and installed in Montecitorio Square.

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