Even in death, the emperors prominently left their mark on the city. While the impressive columns described in the previous section served as highly visible monuments to hold the ashes of the emperors who built them, these were by no means the most extravagant emperors' tombs. Augustus and Hadrian erected colossal mausoleums for themselves, which became repositories not only for their own ashes, but for those of their families as well. These tombs became some of the most highly visible monuments in the northern section of the city.
Traditionally, the remains of members of Rome's wealthy families were interred in tombs along the roads leading into the city. A very small number of individuals were granted the special privilege of being buried in the Campus Martius. Very soon after rising to power, the first emperor, Augustus, began the construction of an innovative and gigantic tomb for himself on the very northern edge of the Campus Martius, where it would have been highly visible across the flat and, at that time, mostly undeveloped plain. This building, which came to be known as the Mausoleum of Augustus, seems to have been completed during the 20s bc.
The Mausoleum of Augustus took the form of an enormous cylinder slightly less than 90 meters in diameter. This drum was composed of concentric rings of very thick concrete walls, and the exterior was faced with fine marble. Earth was piled on the top of the drum, and evergreen trees (a symbol of immortality) were planted thickly on this platform. The whole edifice was surmounted with a large bronze statue of Augustus himself, which may have stood on a second, smaller cylinder rising from the center of the trees. The overall height of the structure (not counting the statue) is estimated to have been close to 45 meters. The mausoleum was surrounded by elaborate and beautiful gardens with arbors and walkways.
The entrance to the building faced south toward the city, and the doorway was flanked by two obelisks of Egyptian marble. Also near the entrance were two bronze tablets inscribed with the Res Gestae, Augustus's autobiography. Inside the tomb was a series of circular passageways culminating in a burial chamber at the center, which included niches for other members of his family. This sfructure became fhe resting place not only for Augustus's ashes, but also for those of at least 13 other members of the Julio-Claudian family, including his wife, Livia, his friend and assistant, Agrippa, various relatives, and later Julio-Claudian emperors. The round shape was traditional for tombs and burial mounds, but the scale of Augustus's mausoleum and its visibility from the city were unprecedented.
During the Middle Ages, the mausoleum was turned into a fortress and the fine marble was stripped off. Subsequent incarnations of the monument included a bullring, a garden, and a site for theatrical performances. Today all that remains is the concentric interior walls of concrete, but even these are impressive in their scale and solidity.
The other emperor to erect a spectacular tomb close to the city was Hadrian, who built his mausoleum in the second century ao. The Mausoleum of Hadrian resembled the earlier one of Augustus in many ways and, similarly, had a long and varied history. It is today known as the Cas-tel Sant'Angelo.
Hadrian situated his tomb in an unusual location on the right bank of the Tiber River, just before the sharp bend that encloses the Campus Mar-tius. At the time it was built, this was a largely undeveloped region, and one possible motivation for this choice of site may have been to encourage growth of the city in this direction. Hadrian began construction of his mausoleum during his reign, but it was not completed until ad 139, a year after his death, when Hadrian's successor, Antoninus Pius, put the finishing touches on it and interred the ashes of Hadrian and his wife, Sabina.
Hadrian's mausoleum consists of a large cylindrical drum some 64 meters in diameter and 21 meters high that rested atop a square base whose sides measured close to 90 meters In length and that was itself 10 meters high. The walls were faced with fine white marble and covered with extremely ornate carvings. Numerous large statue groups decorated the top of the drum, and the pinnacle of the monument was capped with a huge statue of a tpiadriga, a four-horse chariot, in which rode a statue of the emperor himself. The overall height was probably dose to 55 meters.
The interior of the monument contained a complex series of passageways, including a spiraling ramp that led to the top. At the center was the burial chamber for Hadrian and his family. The entrance, like that of Augustus's tomb, was oriented toward the south. The entire structure was surrounded by a bronze grillwork fence that was topped with gilded peacocks (also symbols of immortality). A bridge, the Pons Aelius, led directly from the mausoleum across the river into the Campus Martins and seems to have been constructed in concert with the tomb. The mausoleum continued to be used as the burial site for the remains of a number of subsequent emperors, including Septimius Severus; the last known interment was that of the emperor Caracalla in ad 217.
Figure 11.13 The Mausoleum of Hadrian. Today known as the Castel Sant'Angelo, for many years this structure served as a fortress for the popes.
During the Middle Ages, Hadrian's mausoleum was transformed into a fortress, and outer bastions and other fortifications were added. In 1277, an elevated walkway was constructed, connecting the fortress directly with the Vatican; from this point on, it became the refuge of the popes in times of crisis. The structure was renamed the Castel Sant'Angelo, and today nearly all the visible superstructure reflects these later rebuildings as a castle, although the interior preserves much of the original design.
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