Cremona — A Roman colony founded during the war with Hannibal. In AD 69 it twice found itself at the center of the civil war.
The Gemonian Stairs — Stairs on the slope of the Capitol, leading up from the Forum beside the prison (the Carcer). The bodies of the executed were thrown onto them so that the crowd could abuse them, and then dragged to the Tiber.
Rome — Rome is the capital where most of the stories in the course take place. Here Caesar died (44 BC), here Augustus “left marble,” and here in July AD 64 the fire broke out.
Roman Forum — The Roman Forum was the center of Rome. After the Ides of March the Romans began to worship Caesar.
Capri — In AD 26 Tiberius left Rome and spent the rest of his life on Capri, at the Villa Jovis. He ruled by letters to the Senate, while power in Rome was held by the prefect Sejanus.
Alexandria — In Alexandria in 48/47 BC Cleopatra met Caesar; Plutarch writes of a bedding sack, and the popular carpet is a later version. On August 1, 30 BC, Octavian entered the city.
Actium — At Actium on September 2, 31 BC, Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra. In the middle of the battle Cleopatra sailed away and Antony followed her; historians dispute whether it was flight or a plan to break the blockade.
Rubicon — In January 49 BC Caesar stood at the Rubicon with one legion. The little river was the boundary of his province.
Ostia — Ostia was the port through which grain and goods from all over the empire reached Rome. Claudius expanded the harbor here.
Philippi — At Philippi in 42 BC Octavian and Antony together defeated Caesar’s assassins. Revenge for Caesar had been taken, but the victors now had to divide power.
Tarsus — In 41 BC at Tarsus Cleopatra met Antony. Plutarch describes a gilded barge with purple sails, but Appian presents the meeting differently: as the conversation of a stateswoman enumerating her services.
Alesia (52 BC) — Alesia lay on a hill in central Gaul, today near Alise-Sainte-Reine in France. In 52 BC Vercingetorix shut himself up in it.
Forum of Augustus (dedicated in 2 BC) — Augustus built it because people and lawsuits were multiplying and two forums were not enough. He vowed the temple of Mars the Avenger at Philippi, when he was avenging his father (Suetonius, Augustus 29).
Baiae (resort on the Bay of Naples) — Baiae was a resort known for its hot springs and summer villas. In March AD 59 Nero celebrated the festival of Minerva here and invited his mother to dinner, after which Agrippina boarded the ship (Tacitus, Annals 14.
Nola (where Augustus died) — Augustus died at Nola, in the same room as his father Octavius, on August 19, AD 14 (Suetonius, Augustus 100). Tiberius, summoned by an urgent letter, hurried there; Tacitus writes that it is not known whether he found him still alive (Annals 1.
Palatine — The Palatine is a hill in Rome on which stood the palaces of the emperors. Caligula extended the palace so that it reached the Forum: he turned the temple of Castor and Pollux into a vestibule and linked his house to the Capitol by a bridge (Suetonius, Caligula 22).
Pharsalus (48 BC) — At Pharsalus in Thessaly the armies of Caesar and Pompey faced each other. Pompey had more than twice as many infantry and seven times as many cavalry.
Misenum (cape and fleet base) — On the promontory of Misenum (today’s Miseno, near Bacoli) lay one of the main Roman fleets, created by Augustus. Tiberius died here on March 16, AD 37, in a villa that had once belonged to Lucullus (Suetonius, Tiberius 73; Tacitus, Annals 6.
Teutoburg Forest (site of the disaster of AD 9) — In AD 9 Varus’s army was lured into a forest. Dio describes four days of marching in rain and gale, narrow passes and ranks colliding (56.
Theatre of Pompey (March 15, 44 BC) — The Theatre of Pompey in Rome had an adjoining hall in which the Senate met when the Forum was occupied. On March 15, 44 BC, Caesar was killed in it.
Golden House (Nero’s residence, AD 64–68) — After the fire Nero built a residence with a lake, a giant statue of the emperor and a dining hall that revolved day and night (Suetonius, Nero 31). The architects were Severus and Celer (Tacitus, Annals 15.
Gardens of Lucullus (Rome, gardens on the Pincian Hill) — The Gardens of Lucullus (Horti Lucullani) were laid out by Lucullus. Tacitus writes that in AD 47 Messalina coveted them when Valerius Asiaticus was landscaping them beautifully, and she set an accuser on him.
Camulodunum (today’s Colchester) — Dio writes that after arriving in Britain Claudius defeated the Britons and took Camulodunum, the capital of Cunobelinus (60. 21).
Lake Fucinus (central Italy) — Claudius had a mountain between Lake Fucinus and the river Liris tunneled through, in order to drain the water and gain land. The work lasted eleven years and employed thirty thousand men (Suetonius, Claudius 20).
Antioch — Antioch was the capital of the province of Syria. In October AD 19 Germanicus died here, and his body lay in public in the forum before it was burned (Tacitus, Annals 2.
Pandateria — Pandateria, today Ventotene, was an island of exile for women of the imperial house: Julia, Octavia and Agrippina the Elder were sent here. Agrippina was exiled in AD 29.
Misenum — Miseno lies on a cape in the Bay of Naples and was the main base of the Roman fleet. In a villa that had once belonged to Lucullus, Tiberius died on March 16, AD 37 (Suetonius, Tiberius 73; Tacitus, Annals 6.
Gades — Gades is today’s Cádiz in Spain. In Roman times a temple of Hercules stood here, in which, according to Suetonius, the quaestor Caesar saw a statue of Alexander the Great and sighed over his own idleness.
Capitol — The Capitol is the most sacred hill of Rome, with the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. In 65 BC, when Caesar was aedile, gilded statues of Marius and his trophies were set up here by night.
Geneva — Geneva lies where the Rhône flows out of the lake. In March 58 BC Caesar came here from Rome and ordered the bridge torn down to stop the Helvetii.
Bedriacum — A village between Verona and Cremona. Tacitus writes that it became notorious for two Roman disasters (Histories 2.
Brixellum — A small town on the Po, today Brescello. Before the first battle of Bedriacum, Otho’s advisers persuaded him not to risk himself in the field and to await the outcome here.
Lacus Curtius — Lacus Curtius was a hollow in the middle of the Roman Forum, tied to the legend of Marcus Curtius, who leapt into the chasm to save Rome. Here on January 15, AD 69, the bearers overturned Galba’s litter and the emperor died at the hands of soldiers (Tacitus, Histories 1.
Cologne — Colonia Agrippinensis, today’s Cologne on the Rhine. It was the chief town of the Ubii, where Agrippina the Younger was born; Tacitus writes that she arranged for a colony of veterans to be settled there and the town was named after her (Annals 12.
Mogontiacum — Mogontiacum, today’s Mainz on the Rhine, was the main camp of the army of Upper Germany. On January 1, AD 69, the legions of that army refused the oath to Galba, smashed his portraits and swore only to the Senate and People of Rome (Tacitus, Histories 1.
New Carthage — New Carthage, today’s Cartagena, was one of the assize towns of Hispania Tarraconensis. In the spring of AD 68 Galba was holding court here when he received Vindex’s letters and intercepted Nero’s orders to have him killed.
Vesontio — Vesontio, today’s Besançon. In AD 68 Verginius Rufus was besieging the town when Vindex came to its relief.
Arch of Titus (after AD 81) — An arch on the Via Sacra in the Roman Forum, erected after Titus’s death in AD 81, under Domitian; the year of construction is unknown. The inscription on the attic reads: the senate and people of Rome to the deified Titus, son of the deified Vespasian.
Flavian Amphitheatre (Colosseum) — Construction was begun by Vespasian; Titus opened it in AD 80 with games lasting a hundred days (Dio). Suetonius writes of five thousand wild animals in a single day; Titus threw wooden balls with gifts written on them to the spectators.
Herculaneum — A seaside town at the foot of Vesuvius, on the Bay of Naples; today Ercolano.
Pompeii — It lay about 10 km from the crater, downwind. For more than a dozen hours pumice fell on it, and on the morning of the second day hot avalanches of ash and gas arrived.
Stabiae — A town on the southern shore of the Bay of Naples, today Castellammare di Stabia. In AD 79 the admiral’s friend Pomponianus lived here.
Vesuvius — Before AD 79 its slopes were covered with vineyards. Strabo noticed that the burned-out summit showed the mountain’s earlier fires, but in Campania no one remembered an eruption.
Aquae Cutiliae (where Vespasian died, AD 79) — Cold springs in the Sabine country, near Reate, where Vespasian was born; today Terme di Cotilia. The emperor spent every summer here.
Jerusalem — The capital of Judaea, set on hills behind three walls, with the Temple and the Antonia fortress. In the spring of AD 66 Queen Berenice stood barefoot here before the tribunal of the procurator Florus, begging that the soldiers stop killing.
Jotapata (siege of AD 67) — A fortified town in Galilee, today the site of Yodfat. Josephus writes that it stood on a precipice surrounded by ravines so deep that the eye could not reach the bottom, and that it could be approached only from the north.
Masada (siege of AD 73 or 74) — A fortress on an isolated rock. After the fall of Jerusalem it was held by Eleazar ben Yair’s rebels.
Reate (Rieti) — A Sabine town in central Italy, today Rieti. The Flavian family came from here: Vespasian’s grandfather, Titus Flavius Petro, was a burgher of Reate who fled from Pharsalus and came home to work as a debt collector.
The Temple in Jerusalem (burned in August AD 70) — Josephus reports that it burned on the tenth day of the month of Lous, on the anniversary of the destruction of the first Temple by the Babylonians. The sources differ on Titus’s role: Josephus writes that he wanted to save it, Sulpicius Severus that he voted for its destruction.