Everything about The Meta Sudans totally explained
The
Meta Sudans (
Latin: "sweating
meta") was a large monumental conical
fountain in ancient
Rome.
The Meta Sudans was built some time between
89 and
96 under the
Flavian emperors, a few years after the completion of the nearby
Colosseum. It was built between the Colosseum and the
Temple of Venus and Roma, close to the later
Arch of Constantine, at the juncture of four
regions of ancient Rome: regions I, III, IV, X (and perhaps II).
A
meta was a tall conical object in a Roman
circus that stood at either end of the central
spina, around which racing
chariots would turn. The Meta Sudans had the same shape, and also functioned as a similar kind of turning point, in that it marked the spot where a
Roman triumphal procession would turn left from the
via Triumphalis along the east side of the
Palatine onto the
via Sacra and into the
Forum Romanum itself.
The Meta Sudans was built of a
brick and
concrete core, faced with
marble. It seems to have "sweated" the water (
sudans means "sweating"), rather than jetting it out the top. This may mean that it oozed out the top, or perhaps that water came from holes in its side. The monument is estimated to have stood up to 17m high; until the 20th century, its concrete core was still over 9m high. It had a base pool 16m wide and 1.4m deep.
The fountain was obviously damaged in the Middle Ages because it already appears as a ruin in early views of the Colosseum. Photos from the end of the 19th century show a conical heap of bricks next to the Arch of Constantine. The ruins of Meta Sudans survived until the 20th century. In
1936,
Mussolini had its remains demolished and paved over to make room for the new traffic circle around the Colosseum. A commemorative plaque was set in the road. Although the above-ground structure is gone, its foundations were later re-excavated, revealing the extensive substructure. After another excavation in 1997-98 the traffic circle was closed and the area became a pedestrian district.
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