Meridian
Meridian vs. Horologium-Solarium
For years, scholars accepted the hypothesis that the obelisk served as the gnomon of a vast sundial, the so-called "Horologium-Solarium", which recorded the hours of the day and days of the year, as seen in the diagram below with sundial superimposed in red on the groundplan of modern building. Most scholars now recognize that there is no evidence for such a vast sundial and that the obelisk served instead as the gnomen of only a single median, charting the length of the shadow cast at midday each day. Buchner's discovery of the meridian and inscription remains a major achievement.
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This is the first published map to show the location of the meridian with no indication of a vast sundial, the so-called "Solarium" or "Horologium", no longer accepted by scholars. Scanned from Amanda Claridge, Rome, an Oxford Archaeological Guide, Oxford University Press, 2nd ed., 2010, p. 214; map drawn by the author. Reproduced with appreciation.
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"Complete recording of the summer 1980 excavations, standpoint of the viewer on the basement floor, looking south" [literal trans.] Scanned from Buchner, Die Sonnenuhr, 1982, p.103, pl.141. Reproduced with appreciation.
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"Line network of the clock after installation of the concrete basin, looking north" [literal trans.] Scanned from Buchner, Die Sonnenuhr, 1982, p.110, pl.4. Reproduced with appreciation.
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"Fig. 1. Plan showing position of obelisk, Ara Pacis, Mausoleum and other features mentioned in the text". The author points out that nos. 12 and 13, once proposed as a vast sundial related to the Ara Pacis, are not supported by any evidence and that only no. 4, a single meridian, ever existed. Scanned from Peter Heslin, "Augustus, Domitian and the So-called Horologium Augusti", Journal of Roman Studies, vol. 97 (2007), pp. 1-20. Reproduced with appreciation.
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"Modern buildings, the Solarium Augusti (expansion confirmed in the summer 1980) and the Ara Pacis Augustae; excavations summer 1979 (I) and winter 1979/summer 1980 (II) also holes summer 1980 (1-14)" [literal trans.] Scanned from Buchner, Die Sonnenuhr, 1982, pp.60-61 (1976 pp.356-357), fig.1. Reproduced with appreciation.
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"Fig.13 Birds-eye view of the Solarium and Ara Pacis". Scanned from Buchner, Die Sonnenuhr, 1982, p.43 (1976 p.353), figs.13-14. Reproduced with appreciation.
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