Historical Notes:
Numerous porticoes were built in the Campus Martius as a place for Romans to walk, enjoy artworks on display, and escape the sun and heat of summer. A variety of goods were usually on sale by vendors set up in the outdoor courtyards.
The historical Porticus Argonautarum was built and dedicated by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa in 25 B.C., according to the historian Cassius Dio. It was sometimes called the Porticus Agrippiana. Martial indicated that the Portico was one of the most frequented in Rome. The Porticus Argonautarum, along with the Porticus Meleagri, enclosed the rededicated Saepta. Surrounding buildings were also erected by Agrippa, including the Pantheon, Basilica Neptuni, and the Thermae Agrippa.
Sources Used and Further Reading:
Information on the locations mentioned throughout this property is derived primarily from A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, Samuel Ball Platner (as completed and revised by Thomas Ashby), London: Oxford University Press (1929), available at Bill Thayer’s Lacus Curtius website.
Help in placing the actual location of the buildings of ancient Rome was aided by reviewing the detailed models shown at the website of André Caron. This website is worth a visit for its own sake.
For some idea of the how the porticoes of Rome were used in everyday life, see Jérôme Carcopino, Daily Life in Ancient Rome, second edition, New Haven: Yale University Press (2003), pp. 249-250.
The mural of the Argonauts displayed in the Porticus Argonautarum and a pendant of the Calydonian Boar exhibited in the Porticus Meleagri were intended to encourage the Augustan regime’s political aims of instilling courage and evoking a moral ideal for the Roman public. See Delight and Danger in the Roman Water Garden, note 99, Ann Kuttner, in Dumbarton Oaks Colloquium on the History of Landscape Architecture, volume 24, Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection (2003).
The most complete ancient account of the quest for the Golden Fleece is the Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes. The translated text can be found online at the Online Medieval and Classical Library.
For a good synopsis of Apollonius’ book and useful notes on the characters in the story, see the Timeless Myths web page on the Argonauts.
Another short account with a good selection of images from artworks and other references is found at Michael Lahanas’ excellent Hellenica website.
Lists of all the Argonauts can be found at Timeless Myths and also at Ancient Greek Cities.
Entrance:
The Story Continues:
Image of the Argo sailing from Brooke Bond Tea promotional card from Whom.
Painting of Jason and the Argonauts at the Crystalinks website.
The Argo; Greek stamp from Hellenica.
Statue of Jason by Bertel Thorvaldsen (1802-03) in Thorvaldsens Museum, Copenhagen. Image and line drawing used for Souvenir from Hellenica.
Medea and Jason subdue the dragon; Greek stamp (1995) from
Hellenica.
Athena, Jason, Zetes, and Calais look on as the Dioscuri capture Talos; Greek stamp (1995) from Hellenica.
Historical Notes and Further Reading
