The Regio III Isis et Serapis was the third regio of imperial

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, under

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

's administrative reform. Regio III took its name from the double sanctuary of

Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic language, Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician language, Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major ancient Egyptian deities, goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughou ...

and

Serapis Serapis or Sarapis is a Graeco-Egyptian deity. The cult of Serapis was promoted during the third century BC on the orders of Greek Pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt as a means to unify the Greeks and Egyptians in his r ...

, in the area of the Via Praenestina, containing the valley that was to be the future site of the

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world ...

, and parts of the Oppian and Esquiline hills.

Geographic extent and important features

Centred on the Oppian Hill, Regio III was bordered to its south east by the Via Tusculana, to the north by the Clivus Suburanus, and to the west by the

Via Labicana The Via Labicana was an ancient road of Italy, leading east-southeast from Rome. It seems possible that the road at first led to Tusculum, that it was then extended to Labici, and later still became a road for through traffic; it may even have ...

. A measurement taken at the end of the 4th century recorded that the perimeter of the region was 12,350 Roman feet (approximately 3.65km). Perhaps the most noticeable structure that resided within Regio III sat in the valley between the Caelian and Oppian Hills. This was the Flavian Amphitheatre, today referred to as the

. The most important ancient festival held there was the Secular games hosted by the Roman emperor Philip in 248 CE, celebrating the 1000 year anniversary of the foundation of Rome. Trajansthermen

Positioned immediately adjacent to the north of the Colosseum were the

Baths of Titus The Baths of Titus or ''Thermae Titi'' were public baths (''Thermae'') built in 81 AD at Rome, by Roman emperor Titus. The baths sat at the base of the Esquiline Hill, an area of parkland and luxury estates which had been taken over by Nero (AD 5 ...

and the enormous Baths of Trajan, the former built over a part of

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 unt ...

’s

Domus Aurea The Domus Aurea (Latin, "Golden House") was a vast landscaped complex built by the Emperor Nero largely on the Oppian Hill in the heart of ancient Rome after the great fire in 64 AD had destroyed a large part of the city.Roth (1993) It repla ...

, the latter dominating the Oppian Hill and its ruins are still visible in modern Rome. Nevertheless, the most important buildings to the ancient Romans within this region were the double temple of Isis and Serapis, neither of which are extant today. This fate also befell the Moneta, the imperial mint that stood nearby. Also destroyed (though the foundations are still visible) is the Ludus Magnus (also known as the Great Gladiatorial Training School), the largest of the four gladiator training schools (''ludi'') in

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to 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 (753–50 ...

built by the emperor

Domitian Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavi ...

, as well as the Ludus Dacicus, sited on the lower northern slopes of the Caelian Hill. Alongside these buildings was the Castra Misenatium. Here, marines specially enlisted from the Roman naval headquarters at Misenum were housed and were employed to work the '' velarium'' at the Colosseum. Finally, the northern limits of Regio III contained the site of the Porticus of Livia, built by the emperor Augustus on the site of the house of Vedius Pollio in 15 BCE, and finished and dedicated to his wife

Livia Livia Drusilla (30 January 59 BC – 28 September AD 29) was a Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Emperor Augustus Caesar. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal adoption into the Julian family in AD 14. Livia was the da ...

in 7 BCE. At the turn of the 5th century, the Regio contained 12 '' aediculae'' (shrines), 160 '' domūs'' (patrician houses), 18 '' horrea'' (warehouses), 80 ''

balnea In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large imperial bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed in great numbers throughout ...

e'' (bath houses) and 65 ''loci'' (fountains).

Subdivisions

At the turn of the 5th century, the Regio was divided into 12 '' vici'' (districts) and 2,757 '' insulae'' (blocks). It had two

curators A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

and was served by 48 Roman magistrates.''Notitia'', REGIO III ISIS ET SERAPIS

Notes

{{reflist

References

* Platner, Samuel Ball, ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome'', Oxford University Press (1929
(online version)
* Gregorovius, Ferdinand, ''History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages'', Vol. 1, (1894)

''Curiosum - Notitia''. 4th-century descriptions of the regions of Rome and their main buildings

from the original on 8 June 2019. Regions of Augustan Rome Subdivisions of Rome Topography of the ancient city of Rome