Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

secular architecture 947
4. Palaces, houses and tombs
(a) Palaces and houses
Palaces
Although no longer a regular imperial residence after 312, the Palatine
palace in Rome continued to be maintained, though not enlarged. Texts
refer to several palaces at Ravenna, imperial capital from 402: those of
Honorius, Galla Placidia, Valentinian III (called ‘Ad Laureta’, recalling the
Daphne section of the Constantinople palace), Odoacer and Theoderic.
Theoderic’s palace is known to have had an entrance called ‘Chalke’, a name
based on that of the imperial palace at Constantinople, and, apparently, a
basilica of Hercules. F. W. Deichmann concluded that most of these
various palaces were located in the same urban area – namely, to the east of
the Platea Major – and that they were probably situated within the walls of
a large military building, possibly a praetorium, which had been in use
between the first and the fourth century. They probably all formed part of
a single sprawling complex, similar to those of Rome and Constantinople.
The porticoed façade of Theoderic’s ‘palatium’ is illustrated in a mosaic in
the church of S. Apollinare Nuovo, and remains of what may be his palace
have been uncovered near the church. The excavated building had a central
court with porticoes on two sides, one of which opened into an apsed triclinium
and a trefoil dining-chamber. Theoderic also built or improved
palaces at Pavia and Verona. The latter, situated inside the Castrum, was
linked by a portico to the city gate. 49
The origin and extent of the imperial palace adjacent to the
Hippodrome at Constantinople is a matter of great speculation, and several
restorations have been attempted, based largely on the descriptions given
in the Book of Ceremonies (Fig. 43). The entrance to the palace was a monumental
vestibule called the Chalke on account of its gilded bronze roof tiles
or its great bronze portals. An epigram ascribing a rebuilding of
Constantine’s Chalke to Anastasius describes the new structure as large and
splendid, rectangular or square in plan and with gilded roof tiles. When this
was burned during the Nika riot of 532, it was rebuilt by Justinian on a
magnificent scale, as described by Procopius. Its rectangular plan was on an
east–west axis. Inside, four square piers engaged in the walls carried eight
arches, four of which upheld the central dome, while the other four supported
vaults. The floor and walls were covered with marble – white set off
by green and orange-red. The lateral vaults were decorated in mosaic with
scenes of Belisarius’ successful campaigns against the Vandals and the
Goths. The imperial couple and senators were portrayed in the dome. 50
49 Ravenna: Deichmann (1989) 49–75; Pavia and Verona: Ward-Perkins, Public Building 159–60.
50 Ebersolt (1910); Mango (1959) 21–35.
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