Milliarium Aureum

The probable position of the Milliarium Aureum in theForum Romanum
Milliarium Aureum Shown within Rome
Location	Regio VIII Forum Romanum
Coordinates	41°53′33″N12°29′04″E / 41.89250°N 12.48444°E /41.89250; 12.48444
Type	Milestone with gilded bronze finishing
History
Builder	Emperor Augustus
Founded	Inauguration 20 BCE

TheMilliarium Aureum (Classical Latin:[miːllɪˈaːrɪ.ũːˈau̯rɛ.ũː];Italian:Miliario Aureo), or the "Golden Milestone," was a monument, probably ofmarble orgildedbronze, erected by theEmperor Augustus near theTemple of Saturn in the centralForum ofAncient Rome. All roads were considered to begin at this monument and alldistances in theRoman Empire were measured relative to it.^[1] On it perhaps were listed all the major cities in the empire and distances to them,^[2] though the monument's precise location and inscription has remained a matter of debate among historians.

According to the 19th century ecclesiastical historianPhilip Schaff,^[3] the phrase "all roads lead to Rome" is a reference to theMilliarium Aureum—the specific point to which all roads were said to lead. A marble structure speculated to be the base of the milestone is present in the Roman Forum.

According toCassius Dio, Augustus, in his position ascurator viarum, erected the monument in 20 BCE.^[4] It probably received the nameMilliarium Aureum soon after its inauguration and came to symbolize the starting point of theRoman road system to the rest ofItaly and across the Roman world.

The plan of the monument is among those missing from the recovered fragments of theForma Urbis. The remaining fragments for this area of the Roman Forum are all in the so-called "slab V-11,Stanford University#19" (Depicting the Temple of Saturn with the frontal section and staircase, through theRostra section is missing, theTemple of Concordia, and theTemple of the Deified Vespasian).^{[citation needed]} Information from ancient authors is also very scarce, so there are many problems of interpretation concerning the exact nature of theMilliarium Aureum.

It is certain that it was "hard by [under] the Temple of Saturn at the head of the Roman Forum", but its exact location is still unknown. Due to archaeological data from excavations by Kähler in 1959, which seem to confirm data from excavations by Bunsen in 1833, many scholars now believe that it was located at the southeast corner of the podium of theRostra Augusti on a symmetrical axis with theUmbilicus urbis Romae.^[5][6]

TheMilliarium Aureum seems to have been a marble column sheathed in gilded bronze; according toC. Hülsen, a huge marble cylinder was found in 1835 near the Temple of Saturn and it still had bronze hooks. The whole monument likely had the standard form of a Romanmilestone. Some scholars think that theMilliarium Aureum was made entirely of gildedbronze,^[6] while others believe only the inscribed letters were gilded bronze.^[7] Probable dimensions for the structure include a height of 3.7 metres (12 ft), and a diameter of 1.15 metres (3.8 ft) (column only) or 3 metres (9.8 ft) if including the alleged base (i.e. the carved marble fragments labeled "Milliarium Aureum" in the Roman Forum).

Ancient sources never directly say what was inscribed on theMilliarium Aureum, so every idea one may have about the inscription must be considered a modern inference based on the typical form, structure and function of Roman milestones.

The main hypotheses about the inscription suggest that it included:

• Nothing, except for the name and title of the Emperor.^{[citation needed]}
• The names of the most important cities of Italy and of the Roman Empire in 20 BCE, with the distances of these from Rome.^[8] According to a vague sentence byPliny the Elder (Naturalis Historia, 3.66), the distances in Roman miles were measured starting from the city gates and not from the location of theMilliarium (thus with a difference of ca. 1 mile):Via Appia fromPorta Capena (toBrundisium,Greece and the Oriental Provinces);Via Salaria andVia Nomentana fromPorta Collina andVia Flaminia (to Northern Italy,Raetia,Noricum,Pannonia andIllyricum);Via Aurelia (to theGalliae andHispaniae);Via Ostiensis (toOstia and the main harbours ofCorsica andSardinia,Sicilia andAfrica).
• The names of the roads out of Rome and the men of praetorian rank Augustus had madecuratores viarum to see to their upkeep,^[9] based onCassius Dio's account of the erection of the monument.

The ca. 3-m diameter marble fragments labeled "Milliarium Aureum" with ananthemionfrieze decoration have long been considered part of the base of the monument. However, there is no direct evidence for this, considering as well that the diameter of this base seems to be too large for a standardmilliarium.

According to Richardson, the ruins labeled "Milliarium Aureum" can be considered pertinent only if the column of the monument was of a colossal scale, of almost 3 m diameter and not 1.15 m:

Still less credible is that the carved stone members labelled Milliarium Aureum at the northwest end of the Forum Romanum today actually belonged to the base of that monument. The frieze decorated with an anthemion belongs relatively high on a building, and both elements are of a diameter equal to that of the Umbilicus Romae, too large for a milestone, unless it were of colossal scale.^[10]

• Kilometre zero
• Milion, an equivalent monument established inConstantinople
• Milliarium, the road marker monuments placed across the Roman road system

• Samuel Ball Platner,A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, London: Oxford University Press (1929), p. 342[1].

• UCLA Digital Roman Forum page for the "Miliarium Aureum" Archaeological discussion and 3D reconstruction
• Stanford University Forma Urbis Romae: slabs of the Forum Area with the "Miliarium Aureum" (the "Miliarium Aureum" is a missing part near the letters "...ordia")
• The book Article by C. Hülsen about the "Miliarium Aureum" atLacus Curtius

• 20s BC establishments in the Roman Empire
• Buildings and structures completed in the 1st century BC
• Roman Forum
• Roman roads
• Kilometre-zero markers
• Roman victory columns
• Monumental columns in Rome
• Rome R. X Campitelli
• Augustus

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