Page - 116 - in The Power of Urban Water - Studies in premodern urbanism

116 DylanK. Rogers symbolofnavalvictorycontinuethestrongassociationsof theForumRomanumandanaquatic landscape. TheTempleof JanusGeminus inthe forumshouldbebrieflymentionedinrelationtoanoth- er spring, that of the Lautolae. It is believed that this shrine of Janus was located near the southwestcornerof theBasilicaAemiliaandtheCuria.64Thestorygoes that inabattlebetween Titus Tatius and the Sabines, the gates of the Janus sacellum opened (perhaps under Juno’s influence), a factwhichwasnoticed byVenus.65 She thenpersuaded the local nymphs (some- timescalledtheAusoniannymphs,butusually termedtheLautolae) toaid inclosingthetemple doors. The nymphs accomplished this by changing their cool waters into hot, sulphurouswa- ters,whichdrove away the enemy. There has beena lot of discussion about the exact location of the Temple of Janus in the forum, alongwith the source of the Lautolae. It should just be notedhere,however, that therewasat leasta literary traditionofassociatingmiraculouswaters with the forumarea, especially fromamytho-historical past,withhistorical figures (e.g. Titus Tatius) that are recurring characters in thedrama that is the aquatic landscapeof the forum. This surveyofwater-relatedstructures in the forum, including three lacus, twoshrines,and the rostra, affords theopportunity to comprehend theubiquityof structures that commemorate water insomerespect.Wecancall structures,naturally,monuments,as theyare remindersand memorialsof thepast,especially themytho-historicalpast. Indeed, theycanbecalled ‘historiat- ed’ fountains, as theycelebrateandcall tomindahistoric event.66Memory thenplaysacrucial role in their interactionwith their landscapeand their relationshipswith thoseviewing themin situ.Weonlyhave to rememberPiso’s exhortationof thedisciplinamemoriae, the ‘artofmemo- ry’, as seeingand interactingwithmonuments triggersnot onlypersonalmemories of amonu- ment,butalso theconstructedpastof thestructure.Monuments (monumenta)aremorethanthe buildingmaterials that constitute them,as ‘theyare intrinsically concernedwith themnemonic processesof rememberingand instantiatingcultureandtradition’.67Further, thevariousmonu- mentswithin the forumarepart of aprocess of ‘intersignification’with eachother, in that ‘the older andnewermonumentsproduce, in each case, an implicit narrative that carriesmoral and politicalweight’.68Thestructuresof theforumthenrecallpasteventsandthepresentcommemo- rators,withchargedmeanings forapasser-byof any timeperiod.Thus,with the inclusionofall of these structures in the forum, their patrons called onpedestrians to consider thepastwater- soaked landscape of the forum itself, along with the aquatic origins of Rome itself, whether from theTiber, the twinsbeing foundalonga stream,or thenaval supremacy that theRomans demonstrated from the time of the first PunicWar. The forum, because of its own ancient ori- gins, creates a ‘metaphysical topography’ that causes those in thepresent to have interactions with themonuments that wholly transcend the present, but include the events andmyths of that landscape in thepast, alongwith reflectingon thepotential of that space in the future. UnderAugustus, theForumRomanumseesoneof themostdrastic changes in itsuse.With thenewimperial regime,anew‘controlledaccess to thepast’ is created in the forumbyAugus- tus.69 Inpart, thepower of the emperor andhis familywasdemonstrated througharchitecture and ornamental programs in the ForumRomanumproper,with his rebuilding of the Basilicas 64 Richardson 1992, 207f.; Freyberger – Ertel 2016, 23 –26; LTUR III (1996) 92f. s.v. Ianus Geminus, Aedes (E. Tortorici). 65 Ov.met. 14, 775–804;Macr. Sat. 1, 9, 17–18; Varro ling. 5, 32. See alsoMeulder 2000 for a discussion of this spring, alongwithLanciani 1975, 232f. andCorazza–Lombardi 1995, 198, the latterofwhichshowthat the spring of the Lautolae could be potentially be confusedwith the other springs on the eastern slopes of the Capitolium, suchas theTullianumand theAquaeFontinalis. 66 Robinson 2005, 123 uses the term ‘historiated springs’ not only for the fountains of Corinth, but also for the lacusof theRomanForum. 67 Spencer 2007, 65. See alsoFeldherr 1998 especially 21–35. 68 Roller 2013, 120. 69 Muth 2012, 24.