L O C V S
In the valley of the Colosseum
there is a layer of clay under many metres of
sand and silt. In prehistoric times the ground level was about 10-15 metres lower than it
is today. Rain and water from streams gathered in the valley, and, depending on the
season, formed a marsh or a little lake in the depression. From
there the waters reached the valley of the Circus Maximus and then the Tiber river.
The site in itself had advantages, but also drawbacks. One of the main problems was the
drainage of the site, but at the bottom of Nero’s lake the engineers managed to reach
the clay bed that would have supported the foundations. Drainage was guaranteed: it has
been calculated that, even though it reaches such a low level, the bottom of the arena
remains 10 metres above that of the drain.
Some drillings recently carried out have demonstrated that the
site had been reclaimed since archaic times, with a drain
that collected the waters as far as to the Circus Maximus Valley. The site had been
certainly inhabited, at least since republican times, because remains of many buildings of
that epoch have been discovered all around the valley. We know that those buildings were
expropriated and demolished after the fire of 64 AD, when Nero decided to make his first
residence there (the Domus Transitoria) In the place of the Colosseum there was a lake,
surrounded by buildings and gardens, which we know about from ancient authors.
The images show the sites of the recent survey and the results
obtained. The map shows the points of the survey (the T numbers) and also the route
of the underground line B, which, as one can see, winds between the Colosseum and
the Arch of Constantine (T5). When the excavation for the underground was made in the '30s, many
ancient drains – and probably also the passage between the amphitheatre and the
Temple of Venus - were lost. Here are two images of the works (from Raccolta Roma Sparita):
"Construction on the line started in 1937, but was halted when Italy entered the World War II. There were further delays in the construction due to the death of Mussolini and the end of the Fascist regime. In contrast to the construction of Linea A, the construction of Linea B was a lot quicker. The construction was especially fast during the period before the war. Being a dictator, Mussolini only had to answer to himself. By having an imminent deadline of the World Expo, Mussolini pushed the workers to work at an extremely quick pace. He also chose to ignore much of the historical ruins encountered during digging. Due to the nonchalant attitude towards archaeological artifacts, his workers destroyed a lot of significant pieces during the construction process.
Archaeologist believed that much of the base of the ancient palace at the Piazza Bocca della Verita was destroyed and workers also chipped a corner off of the buried foundation of the Coliseum. To further add to their carelessness towards the historical past, much of the marble slabs and relics found were carried off and tossed in the countryside. It is a little surprising that Mussolini cared so little about artifacts uncovered during digging. During his regime, he spent a lot of time and money restoring and excavating the ancient ruins in and around Rome. For example, he restored the abandoned port of Ostia".
(from https://engineeringrome.wikispaces.com/Subway+System+in+Rome).
The path of the metro line and the results of the survey
In this firm clay bed the Flavian engineers had an elliptical ring excavated, 31 metres wide, 6 metres deep, and filled it with stones and roman cement.
Then this foundation was raised for 6 more metres, so that the thickness of this enormous
doughnut is about 13 metres. So, the
excavation work for the foundation was reduced, and it was replaced with the easier task of building a wall, furtherly raising the foundations, and recycling earth and waste materials from the surrounding buildings, which had been demolished.
Click here for a page on the amazing foundations of the Colosseum.
