The Regia ("Royal house") was a two-part structure in

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom ...

lying along the

Via Sacra The Via Sacra (, "''Sacred Street''") was the main street of ancient Rome, leading from the top of the Capitoline Hill, through some of the most important religious sites of the Forum (where it is the widest street), to the Colosseum. The ro ...

at the edge of the

Roman Forum The Roman Forum, also known by its Latin name Forum Romanum ( it, Foro Romano), is a rectangular forum ( plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancie ...

that originally served as the residence or one of the main headquarters of

kings of Rome The king of Rome ( la, rex Romae) was the ruler of the Roman Kingdom. According to legend, the first king of Rome was Romulus, who founded the city in 753 BC upon the Palatine Hill. Seven legendary kings are said to have ruled Rome until 509 BC ...

and later as the office of the '' pontifex maximus'', the highest religious official of Rome. It occupied a triangular patch of terrain between the

Temple of Vesta The Temple of Vesta, or the aedes (Latin ''Aedes Vestae''; Italian: ''Tempio di Vesta''), is an ancient edifice in Rome, Italy. The temple is located in the Roman Forum near the Regia and the House of the Vestal Virgins. The Temple of Vesta h ...

, the Temple of

Divus Julius The Roman imperial cult identified emperors and some members of their families with the divinely sanctioned authority (''auctoritas'') of the Roman State. Its framework was based on Roman and Greek precedents, and was formulated during the earl ...

and Temple of Antoninus and Faustina. Only the foundations of Republican/Imperial Regia remain. Like the Curia it was destroyed and rebuilt several times, as far back as the Roman monarchy. Studies have found multiple layers of similar buildings with more regular features, prompting the theory that this "Republican Regia" was to have a different use.

History

According to ancient tradition it was built by the second king of Rome,

Numa Pompilius Numa Pompilius (; 753–672 BC; reigned 715–672 BC) was the legendary second king of Rome, succeeding Romulus after a one-year interregnum. He was of Sabine origin, and many of Rome's most important religious and political institutions ar ...

, as a royal palace. Indeed, the Latin term ''regia'' can be translated as ''royal residence''. It is said that he also built the

and the House of the Vestal Virgins as well as the ''

Domus Publica This list of monuments of the Roman Forum (''Forum Romanum'') includes existing and former buildings, memorials and other built structures in the famous Roman public plaza during its 1,400 years of active use (8th century BC–ca 600 AD). It is d ...

''. This created a central area for political and religious life in the city and Kingdom. When

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

became '' Pontifex Maximus'', he exercised his duties from the Regia. The archives of the pontifices were kept here, the formulas of all kinds of prayers, vows, sacrifices, etc., the state calendar of sacred days, the ''

Annales Annals are a concise form of historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year. The equivalent word in Latin and French is ''annales'', which is used untranslated in English in various contexts. List of works with titles contai ...

'' — the record of events of each year for public reference — and the laws relating to marriage, death, wills, etc. The Regia was the place of assembly of the

College of Pontiffs The College of Pontiffs ( la, Collegium Pontificum; see ''collegium'') was a body of the ancient Roman state whose members were the highest-ranking priests of the state religion. The college consisted of the '' pontifex maximus'' and the other '' ...

and at times of the '' Fratres Arvales.'' It was burned and restored in 148 BC and again in 36 BC, eight years after the death of Julius Caesar, when the restoration was carried out in marble by

Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus was a Roman general, senator and consul (both in 53 BC and 40 BC) who was a loyal partisan of Caesar and Octavianus. Biography Domitius Calvinus came from a noble family and was elected consul for 53 BC, despite a not ...

, on the regal foundation.

Architecture

The rebuilt structure (which seems to have been transformed into a private residential building sometime during the 7th or 8th centuries) had an irregularly formed enclosed courtyard that was paved in

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock ...

with a wooden portico. The interior was divided into three rooms with entrance from the courtyard into the middle room. The West Room was the shrine of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

, '' sacrarium Martis'', in which the ''

ancilia In ancient Rome, the ''ancilia'' (Latin, singular ''ancile'') were twelve sacred shields kept in the Temple of Mars. According to legend, one divine shield fell from heaven during the reign of Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome. He ordered e ...

'' (shields) of Mars were stored. Here, too, stood the

lance A lance is a spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior or cavalry soldier (lancer). In ancient and medieval warfare, it evolved into the leading weapon in cavalry charges, and was unsuited for throwing or for repeated thrusting, unlike s ...

s that were consecrated to Mars, the ''hastae Martiae''. According to legend reported by

Aulus Gellius Aulus Gellius (c. 125after 180 AD) was a Roman author and grammarian, who was probably born and certainly brought up in Rome. He was educated in Athens, after which he returned to Rome. He is famous for his ''Attic Nights'', a commonplace book, ...

, if the lances started vibrating something terrible would happen. According to Cassius Dio (XLIV.17.2), they are said to have vibrated on the night of 14 March 44 BC when, in spite of the vibrating lances, Caesar, Pontifex Maximus at the time, left the Regia to attend a meeting of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, where he was assassinated. The East Room contained a sanctuary of

Ops In ancient Roman religion, Ops or ''Opis'' (Latin: "Plenty") was a fertility deity and earth goddess of Sabine origin. Her equivalent in Greek mythology was Rhea. Iconography In Ops' statues and coins, she is figured sitting down, as Chthon ...

Consiva, so sacred that only the pontifex maximus and the

Vestal Virgin In ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins or Vestals ( la, Vestālēs, singular ) were priestesses of Vesta, virgin goddess of Rome's sacred hearth and its flame. The Vestals were unlike any other public priesthood. They were chosen before puberty ...

s were allowed to enter it. The site of the Regia has been investigated via archaeological excavation for some time, although a comprehensive publication of the site is still forthcoming. The site was first cleared between 1872 and 1875. In 1876 F. Dutert discussed the site in his volume on the Forum Romanum, and, subsequently, Nichols identified the site as being the Regia in 1886. The site was explored again by Hülsen in 1889. The Italian archaeologist Giacomo Boni conducted excavations at the site in 1899. The American archaeologist Frank Brown dug at the site in the 1930s and again in the 1960s. The architectural terracottas from the Brown excavations were published in 1995.http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/32698913

References

Sources

* Brown, F. E. 1935. "The Regia." ''Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome'
12:67–88
* Carnabucci, E. 2012. ''Regia : nuovi dati archeologici dagli appunti inediti di Giacomo Boni.'' Rome: Edizioni Quasar. * Downey, S. B. 1995. ''Architectural terracottas from the Regia.'' Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. *

External links

{{Roman Forum Roman Forum Ancient Roman buildings and structures in Rome Rome R. X Campitelli