Santa Maria in Cosmedin: Difference between revisions

The [[basilica]] of Santa Maria in Cosmedin is in an area of Rome along the Tiber River that once housed the [[Forum Boarium]], the ancient cattle market, and a complex of temples and shrines to [[Hercules]]. Archaeologists discovered a platform of ancient [[tufa]] under the [[crypt]] of the church, which they have tentatively identified as part of the [[Great Altar of Hercules|Great Altar of Unconquered Hercules]] (Latin: ''Herculis Invicti Ara Maxima''), possibly dating from the sixth century BCE.<ref>Filippo Coarelli, ''Il foro boario dalle origini alla fine della repubblica'' (Rome: Edizioni Quasar, 1992), vol. 2, 61-7761–77.</ref> A later building on the site had a [[Colonnade|colonnaded]] [[loggia]], probably constructed in the fourth century CE. This is thought by some to have been a [[Cura Annonae|''statio annone'']], one of the government-run food distribution centers of ancient Rome,<ref>Andrew J. Ekonomou, ''Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes: Eastern Influences on Rome and the Papacy from Gregory the Great to Zacharias, A.D. 590-752590–752'' (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2007), 209; Richard Krautheimer, ''Rome: Profile of a City'', 312-1308312–1308 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980), 35.</ref> but other scholars believe it was one of the buildings dedicated to Hercules.<ref>Filippo Coarelli, ''Rome and Environs: An Archaeological Guide'', James J. Clauss and Daniel P. Harmon, trans., rev. ed. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2014), n.p.</ref>

In the sixth and early seventh centuries CE, this area of Rome developed into a Greek quarter (''schola graeca''), a compound initially populated by Greek, Syrian, and Egyptian merchants and by functionaries of the imperial government in Constantinople during the [[Byzantine Papacy]] of 537-752537–752, when the popes were approved by and subject to the Byzantine emperors. Several waves of eastern refugees added to the population as they fled from wars and persecution, the encroachment of [[Islam]], and the violence of the [[Byzantine Iconoclasm|Iconoclastic Controversy]] in the Christian East. The quarter became an important economic sector of the city and was allowed to govern itself with little interference from Roman authorities.<ref>Krautheimer 1980, 60, 75-7675–76, 89-9089–90.</ref>

Around 550, a hall was built on the site, incorporating some of the loggia columns of the previous building in its west and north walls.<ref>Maria Fabricius Hansen, ''The Spolia Churches of Rome: Recycling Antiquity in the Middle Ages,'' Barbara J. Haveland, trans. (Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 2015), 64, 168.</ref> This was identified as a [[Diaconia|''diaconia'']] (deaconry), an early Christian welfare center, where charitable distributions were given to the poor.<ref>Thomas F. X. Noble, ''The Republic of St. Peter:  The Birth of the Papal States, 680-825680–825'' (Philadelphia:  University of Pennsylvania Press, 1984), 231-33231–33.</ref> The brick masonry of the building was not typical of Rome at this time but was common in [[Naples]] in the sixth century, suggesting the work was done by Greek or South Italian builders, perhaps immigrants residing in the ''schola graeca''. The hall itself was probably a gathering place and place of worship; two-story aisles on each side contained chambers on the ground floors, perhaps for the functions of the ''diaconia,'' and galleries above with six windows on each side, opening onto the main hall.<ref>Krautheimer 1980, 78.</ref>