Seite - 809 - in Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court - The Antique as Innovation, Band 2

809Student of Antiquity Commentaries. His interest in the architecture of the ancients is evident not only in his measurements of Roman ruins, but also in his descriptions and re- constructions of the buildings depicted on the architectural reverses of the coins he documented. Surely it is no coincidence that of the reverses Strada selected to describe in his Epitome thesauri antiquitatum—one, occasionally two for each Emperor—a very large number depicted a monument dating to the reign of that ruler. In several instances Strada complemented his description of the reverse with a succinct description of the monument itself, based on the available literary sources, but often also including references to relevant inscriptions. Examples are the Mausoleum of Augustus, the aqueduct of the Aqua Clau- dia, the Colosseum; his description of the ‘Palatium Nervae’ is so detailed, and includes an inscription of such a length, that it is evident that he cannot have used an authentic medal or a coin as his (only) source. Other examples are the Circus Maximus and the Pons Aelius, followed by a description of both the bridge and the adjoining mausoleum of Hadrian, now the Castel Sant’Angelo [Fig. 15.6].17 Occasionally Strada’s phrasing suggests his first-hand observation—or rather admiration—of the relics of such monuments, for in- stance when he comments on the ‘Thermae Antoninae’, the Baths of Caracalla [Fig. 15.7 and 15.8]: … in fact one still sees their incredible ruins, huge walls, most high vaults, most beautiful columns half-standing, large marbles broken and 17 Strada 1553(a), pp. 18–19 (Tiberius); 27–28 (Claudius); 56 (Titus); 62–63 (Nerva); 65–68 (Trajan) and 71–72 (Hadrian). Other coin reverses described as showing public and reli- gious buildings are those of Augustus (Temple of Peace), Didius Julianus (Temple with Ionic columns), Septimius Severus (Septizonium), Heliogabalus (Temple), Alexander Severus (Colosseum and Triumphal Arch of Titus). For a more detailed listing, see Heenes 2003, pp. 18–20. Figures 15.9–15.11 The image of Vespasian from Strada’s Epitome, and an exemplar of the coin type on which he may have based his description of a reverse.