Casal Rotondo
Encyclopedia
Casal Rotondo is the largest tomb on the Appian Way
, to the southeast of Rome
, Italy
. A small farmhouse has been constructed on the top.
The structure is found at approximately the VIth mile of the ancient Appian Way. The name comes from the fact that the tomb is round and because a farmhouse (casale) was built on the top in the Middle Ages when it belonged to the Savelli family and was one of a system of watchtowers along the Appian way. The mausoleum dates from around 30 B.C. It is a large circular building with a diameter of 35 m, decorated with a frieze and, originally, had a cone-shaped roof. The base offered seats where travellers could rest out of the sun.
Near the mausoleum, the archaeologist Luigi Canina
(1795-1856) built a brick wall containing architectural fragments. These were originally thought to have been from the Casal Rotondo but this is now disputed. Canina deduced from a small piece of inscription with the name "Cotta" that the monument had been built by M. Aurelius Cotta Messallinus for his father, Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus
, but this inscription and other architectural fragments are now assumed to have come from a smaller monument at the site, and they may have nothing to do with Messalla Corvinus.
Appian Way
The Appian Way was one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, Apulia, in southeast Italy...
, to the southeast of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. A small farmhouse has been constructed on the top.
The structure is found at approximately the VIth mile of the ancient Appian Way. The name comes from the fact that the tomb is round and because a farmhouse (casale) was built on the top in the Middle Ages when it belonged to the Savelli family and was one of a system of watchtowers along the Appian way. The mausoleum dates from around 30 B.C. It is a large circular building with a diameter of 35 m, decorated with a frieze and, originally, had a cone-shaped roof. The base offered seats where travellers could rest out of the sun.
Near the mausoleum, the archaeologist Luigi Canina
Luigi Canina
Luigi Canina was an Italian archaeologist and architect.Luigi Canina, Italian architect and archeologist, was born in Casale Monferrato in 1795 and died in Florence in 1856. He was a pupil of F. Bonsignore in Turin, and settled in Rome in 1818...
(1795-1856) built a brick wall containing architectural fragments. These were originally thought to have been from the Casal Rotondo but this is now disputed. Canina deduced from a small piece of inscription with the name "Cotta" that the monument had been built by M. Aurelius Cotta Messallinus for his father, Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus
Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus
Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus was a Roman general, author and patron of literature and art.-Family:He was the son of politician Marcus Valerius Messalla Niger Although, some dispute his parentage and claim another descendant of Marcus Valerius Corvus to be his father.Messalla Corvinus is...
, but this inscription and other architectural fragments are now assumed to have come from a smaller monument at the site, and they may have nothing to do with Messalla Corvinus.