Tucked behind the vast bulk of the Theatre of Pompey, this porticus was built in 55 B.C. as a grand, colonnaded walkway and garden. Such porticoes were a standard feature of Roman entertainment complexes, offering shade and a place to stroll between performances. But this particular walkway holds a more notorious claim: within its enclosure stood the Curia Pompei, a senate meeting hall. It was here, on the Ides of March in 44 B.C., that Iulius Caesar was assassinated. The porticus itself was a lavish piece of urban planning, lined with plane trees and adorned with fountains and statuary. Today, what remains is fragmentary, its footprint largely buried beneath the modern city. Yet for those who know where to look, the ghost of that colonnade still haunts the tangle of streets, a quiet reminder that the most monumental events often unfold in the most everyday of spaces.
Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.
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