A maenianum was a

balcony A balcony (from , "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor. They are commonly found on multi-level houses, apartme ...

or gallery for spectators at a public show in

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

. The name was originally given by censor

Gaius Maenius Gaius Maenius (possibly Gaius Maenius Antiaticus) was a Roman statesman and general who was elected consul in 338 BC and appointed dictator twice, in 320 BC and 314 BC. Consulship and the Latin War Hailing from a plebeian family, Maenius was elec ...

in 318 BC to the decorated gallery in the

Forum Romanum 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, along ...

, where spectators watched gladiatorial combats. The maenianum was divided into several levels: ''maenianum primum'', which was reserved for the non-senatorial noble class called the

equites The (; , though sometimes referred to as " knights" in English) constituted the second of the property/social-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian order was known as an (). Descript ...

. The ''maenianum secundum'', which featured the better, lower seats for the wealthy

plebeians In ancient Rome, the plebeians or plebs were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not Patrician (ancient Rome), patricians, as determined by the Capite censi, census, or in other words "commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Et ...

; and ''maenianum summum'' with the upper seats for the poor plebeians.

Literature

* ''Maenius''. In:

Karl Ernst Georges Karl Ernst Georges (; 26 December 1806, Gotha – 25 August 1895, Gotha) was a German classical philologist and lexicographer, known for his edition of Latin-German dictionaries. From 1826 to 1828 he studied classical philology at the Univers ...

: ''Concise Latin-German pocket dictionary''. 8th edition. Volume 2, Hannover 1918, Sp. 755
online
. * KIP , 3 , 864 , , , Walter Hatto Gross * Philip Smith: ''maenianum. '' In: William Smith: ''. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities '' John Murray, London, 1875. 723 S.
E / novel / text / secondary / SMIGRA * /)

References

{{reflist, 30em Architectural terminology Ancient Roman architecture