IANUS QUADRIFRONS: the name ordinarily given to a four-way arch of marble, which stands directly over the cloaca Maxima, and probably marked the line of separation between the forum Boarium and the Velabrum. It consists of four piers connected by quadripartite vaulting, and is 12 metres square and 16 high. The arches themselves are 10.60 metres high and 5.70 wide. Round all four sides run two rows of niches for statues, forty-eight in all, of which sixteen are unifnished. The keystones of the arches were sculptured, and the figures of Minerva and Roma are still visible on the north and east sides. The structure is of late date, third or fourth century, and may perhaps be identified with the arcus divi Constantini in Region XI.
Hülsen points out that the superstructure, which was removed in 1827 as mediaeval, probably belonged to the attic; and reconstructs it with a pyramid on top.
Samuel Ball Platner, A Topography and Monuments of Ancient Rome (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1904), p. 280.
Bill Thayer notes: It is attributed to a period a little before Diocletian in Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Architectur as against the attribution to the second third of the fourth century in Toebelmann.
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With the tetrapylon standing directly over Rome's main sewer (cloaca maxima), it not only marks the intersection of two streets but the underground axis of the main sewer as well.
Even if the tetraplyon was not originally dedicated to the god Janus, it is nonetheless worth noting that the Pagan deities of Minerva and Roma inhabit key positions within the archway's design. The presence of Pagan iconography may have some bearing upon whether this archway was designed and constructed under Constantine, the first Christian Roman emperor, however, it must be remembered that Constantine did not end Paganism, rather he made the tolerance of Christianity enforceable. Pagan iconography on coins minted throughout the reign of Constantine, for example, remained a staple.
Hülsen's reconstruction of the Janus Quadrifrons recalls the "hybrid" building of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. Since the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili dates from 1499 and Hülsen's reconstruction dates from 1896, it may be worth speculating whether Hülsen drew inspiration from the Hypnerotomachian design. In any case, there is no physical evidence to confirm or even suggest that there once a pyramidal superstructure atop the Janus Quadrifrons.
The reign of Diocletian began in 284 and the reign of Constantine ended in 337.
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