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Palatine, and the Thermae Antoninianae.
153
Septimius Severus dedicated the so-called Septizodium in A.D. 203, a monumental
façade erected to conceal some buildings behind it; its remains were torn down in
1588-89. 264 From a drawing Martin van Heemskerk made before its destruction it is known
that the building had three rows of superimposed Corinthian columns. Various nymphaea
built in Asia Minor in the first and second centuries A.D. provide the Septizodium’s closest
parallels, further strengthening the cultural connections between the Severans and the
East. 265 The connection with the Orient is explicit in Caracalla’s Temple of Serapis, in
which Ward-Perkins noticed a strong “Asiatic” character, and in Elagabalus’s Temple of
Ba’al on the Palatine. 266
In A.D. 203 an arch commemorating Septimius Severus’ victories over the
Parthians was erected at the northeast corner of the Roman Forum. 267 Proconnesian marble
was used for the columns, whose shafts are 24 Roman feet tall (7.10 m), while the
remaining structural parts were made of Pentelic marble from Attica. 268 The use of Luna
marble is uncertain: it appears to have been utilized only for the relief panels. 269
The Thermae Antoninianae, started in A.D. 212 and dedicated four years later, were
the most well-known and esteemed Severan building complex in antiquity, due to their
magnitude, lavishness, and perfectly-structured system of heating, water-supply, and
drainage. 270 This complex could host 1,600 bathers, and remained in use until the middle of
264 Nash 1962, 302-5.
265 Ward Perkins 1981, 132.
266 Nash 1962, 376-83; Ward Perkins 1981, 132-4.
267 Brilliant 1967, 29.
268 Brilliant 1967, 51.
269 Brilliant 1967, 55.
270 Grant 1996, 71.