Cortina Terrace
About
A grand terrace ringed by porticoes on three sides opened onto a monumental staircase built in the shape of a theater, rising toward the sanctuary's summit terraces. A vaulted passage ran beneath the stairs to carry foot traffic and supplies out of sight of worshippers processing up above. By 117 CE the staircase has funneled pilgrims toward Fortuna's temple for two centuries.
What happened here
It was put up to be argued with. Public monuments carry an inscription at eye height naming who paid, what for, and by whose authority, because being read is the whole return on the investment. People meet at them, give directions by them, and shelter under them. Children climb them. The bronze fittings are stolen often enough that they are re-attached with lead. On anniversaries the base is garlanded and the local council makes a short speech nobody listens to. Monuments also date the town for you: a run of them along one street shows which families were rising in which decade, and which ones stopped. When a family falls out of favour, the name is chiselled out and the stone is quietly reused.
Sources
Nearby
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →