18. Hometown Boy: Honoring an Emperor's Roots in Roman North Africa

Roman Architecture (HSAR 252)

Professor Kleiner discusses two Roman cities in North Africa: Timgad and Leptis Magna. Timgad was created as an entirely new colony for Roman army veterans by Trajan in A.D. 100, and designed all at once as an ideal castrum plan. Leptis Magna, conversely, grew more gradually from its Carthaginian roots, experiencing significant Roman development under Augustus and Hadrian. Septimius Severus, the first Roman emperor from North Africa, was born at Leptis and his hometown was renovated in connection with his historic visit to the city. This large-scale program of architectural expansion features the Severan Forum and Basilica and the nearby Arch of Septimius Severus, a tetrapylon or four-sided arch located at the crossing of two major streets. The lecture culminates with the unique Hunting Baths, a late second or early third-century structure built for a group of entrepreneurs who supplied exotic animals to Rome's amphitheaters. Its intimate vaulted spaces are revealed on the outside of the building and silhouetted picturesquely against the sea, suggesting that the bath's owners knew how to innovate through concrete architecture and how to enjoy life.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Timgad: The Ideal Second-Century Colony in Roman North Africa
15:52 - Chapter 2. Leptis Magna in the Age of Augustus
30:00 - Chapter 3. The Augustan Theater and the Hadrianic Baths at Leptis Magna
44:48 - Chapter 4. Septimius Severus Sheathes Leptis in Imported Marble
59:45 - Chapter 5. The Severan Temple and Basilica, the Arch of Septimius Severus, and the Unique Hunting Baths

Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://open.yale.edu/courses

This course was recorded in Spring 2009.