{{Infobox ancient site , name = ''Atrium Libertatis'' , native_name = , alternate_name = , image = , alt = , caption = , map_type = , map_alt = , map_size = , coordinates = , location =

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, region = , type = , part_of = , length = , width = , area = , height = , builder = , material = , built =

3rd century BC The 3rd century BC started the first day of 300 BC and ended the last day of 201 BC. It is considered part of the Classical antiquity, Classical Era, Epoch (reference date), epoch, or historical period. In the Mediterranean Basin, the first fe ...

, abandoned = , epochs = , cultures =

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

, dependency_of = , occupants = , event = , excavations = , archaeologists = , condition = , ownership = , management = , public_access = , website = , notes = , designation1= , designation1_offname = , designation1_date = , designation1_type = , designation1_criteria = , designation1_number = , designation1_free1name = , designation1_free1value = The ''Atrium Libertatis'' (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "House of Freedom") was a monument of ancient

, the seat of the

censors Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

' archive, located on the saddle that connected the

Capitolium A ''Capitolium'' (Latin) was an ancient Roman temple dedicated to the Capitoline Triad of gods Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. A ''capitolium'' was built on a prominent area in many cities in Italy and the Roman provinces, particularly during the ...

to the

Quirinal Hill The Quirinal Hill (; ; ) is one of the Seven Hills of Rome, at the north-east of the city center. It is the location of the official residence of the Italian head of state, who resides in the Quirinal Palace; by metonymy "the Quirinal" has c ...

, a short distance from the

Roman Forum A forum (Latin: ''forum'', "public place outdoors", : ''fora''; English : either ''fora'' or ''forums'') was a public square in a municipium, or any civitas, of Ancient Rome reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, alon ...

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

reports that the edifice already existed in

212 BC __NOTOC__ Year 212 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Flaccus and Pulcher (or, less frequently, year 542 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 212 BC for this year has been ...

, when some hostages were kept there, and that it was built again by the censors of

194 BC Events By place Greece * After checking the ambitions of Nabis, the tyrant of Sparta, the Roman forces under proconsul Titus Quinctius Flamininus finally withdraw from Greece. * With the Roman legions under Flaminius returning to Italy, ...

. A second complete reconstruction was promoted by

Gaius Asinius Pollio Gaius Asinius Pollio (75 BC – AD 4) was a Roman soldier, politician, orator, poet, playwright, literary critic, and historian, whose lost contemporaneous history provided much of the material used by the historians Appian and Plutarch. Po ...

starting from

39 BC __NOTOC__ Year 39 BC was either a common year starting on Friday, Saturday or Sunday or a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar (the sources differ, see leap year error for further information) and a common year starting on Satu ...

, with the spoils gained from his victory over the

Illyrians The Illyrians (, ; ) were a group of Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking people who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan populations, alon ...

, perhaps continuing the project, already conceived by

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 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. He ...

, to complete the Forum dedicated to himself and inaugurated in the space between the saddle where the ''Atrium Libertatis'' and the Roman Forum stood just a few years earlier. The monument was to be completed by

28 BC __NOTOC__ Year 28 BC was either a common year starting on Saturday, Sunday or Monday or a leap year starting on Saturday or Sunday of the Julian calendar (the sources differ, see leap year error for further information) and a common year starti ...

. It was a large complex, which included the censors' archive, with the lists of citizens and the bronze tables with the maps of the ''

ager publicus The ''ager publicus'' (; ) is the Latin name for the state land of ancient Rome. It was usually acquired via the means of expropriation from enemies of Rome. History In the earliest periods of Roman expansion in central Italy, the ''ager pub ...

'', two libraries and maybe a basilica (''Basilica Asinia''). The sources recall the presence, inside the complex, of numerous works of art by famous sculptors, some of

Neo-Attic Neo-Attic or Atticizing is a sculptural style, beginning in Hellenistic sculpture and vase-painting of the 2nd century BC and climaxing in Roman art of the 2nd century AD, copying, adapting or closely following the style shown in reliefs and sta ...

taste, others in the more "baroque" style of the

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

n schools: among them, the sculptural group with the "Supplice of

Dirce Dirce (; , , modern Greek , meaning "double" or "cleft") was a queen of Thebes as the wife of Lycus in Greek mythology. Family Dirce was a daughter of the river-gods Achelous or Ismenus, or of Helios. Mythology After Zeus impregnated Di ...

" by the sculptors

Apollonius Apollonius () is a masculine given name which may refer to: People Ancient world Artists * Apollonius of Athens (sculptor) (fl. 1st century BC) * Apollonius of Tralles (fl. 2nd century BC), sculptor * Apollonius (satyr sculptor) * Apo ...

and Tauriscus. Also mentioned are the ''Appiadi'', the work of the sculptor ''Stephanos'', to which

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

refers in relation to the neighbor

Temple of Venus Genetrix The Temple of Venus Genetrix () is a ruined temple in the Forum of Caesar, Rome, dedicated to the Roman goddess '' Venus Genetrix'', the founding goddess of the Julian gens. It was dedicated to the goddess on 26 September 46 BCE by Julius Caes ...

in the Forum of Caesar. The building disappeared at the beginning of the

2nd century The 2nd century is the period from AD 101 (represented by the Roman numerals CI) through AD 200 (CC) in accordance with the Julian calendar. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period. Early in the century, the ...

, since the mountain saddle on which it stood was flattened for the construction of the

Trajan's Forum Trajan's Forum (; ) was the last of the Imperial fora to be constructed in ancient Rome. The architect Apollodorus of Damascus oversaw its construction. History This forum was built on the order of the emperor Trajan with the spoils of war f ...

. Its functions were inherited by the building complex consisting of the

Basilica Ulpia The Basilica Ulpia was an ancient Roman civic building located in the Forum of Trajan. The Basilica Ulpia separates the temple from the main courtyard in the Forum of Trajan with the Trajan's Column to the northwest. It was named after Roman em ...

and the two libraries next to the Trajan's Column. In particular, the ceremony of slaves manumission probably took place in one of the apses of the Basilica Ulpia. In

late Roman Empire In historiography, the Late or Later Roman Empire, traditionally covering the period from 284 CE to 641 CE, was a time of significant transformation in Roman governance, society, and religion. Diocletian's reforms, including the establishment of t ...

, the name of ''Atrium Libertatis'' was also attributed to the

Curia Curia (: curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally probably had wider powers, they came to meet ...

or to an area adjacent to it.An identification of the ''Atrium Libertatis'' connected to the Curia with the reconstruction of the portico on the south-eastern side of the

Forum of Caesar The Forum of Caesar, also known by the Latin Forum Iulium or Forum Julium, Forum Caesaris,Hornblower, Simon and Antony Spawforth. ''The Oxford Classical Dictionary''. 3d Ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. was a forum built by Julius Caes ...

under

Diocletian Diocletian ( ; ; ; 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia. As with other Illyri ...

has recently been proposed: Augusto Fraschetti, ''La conversione. Da Roma pagana a Roma cristiana'', Rome 1999, page 218 et seq.; Gian Luca Gregori, ''Alcune iscrizioni imperiali senatorie ed equestri nell'Antiquarium Comunale del Celio'', in ''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'', 116, 1997, page 169, note 37; Massimo Vitti, ''Il Foro di Cesare dopo i grandi scavi del Giubileo del 2000'', in J. Ruiz de Arbulo (edited by), ''Simulacra Romae'', Tarragona 2004, pp. 15-17 (text in .pdf downloadable fro
this page
on website SimulacraRomae).

Notes

Bibliography

Filippo Coarelli Filippo Coarelli is an Italian archaeologist, Professor of Greek and Roman Antiquities at the University of Perugia. Born in Rome, Coarelli was a student of Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli. Coarelli is one of the foremost experts on Roman antiquitie ...

, ''Guida archeologica di Roma'', Verona, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1984. *

, s.v. ''Atrium Libertatis'', in Eva Margareta Steinby (edited by), ''Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae'', I, Rome 1993, pp. 133–135. Ancient Roman buildings and structures in Rome