Zephyros
Magistrate
Let's start with the Piazza Navona and the Stadium of Domitian
This is probably one of the most popular square of Rome, with its distinctive shape and the famous fountain made by Bernini.
Around 86 C.E. Domitian had built a stadium for athletic competitions; this kind of games were called “agones” from a Greek word, and after it was probably named the square: it became “in agonis“, then “innagone“, “navone” and finally “Navona“.
And now: According to tradition, Saint Agnes was a member of the Roman nobility born 291 C.E. and raised in a Christian family. She suffered martyrdom at the age of thirteen during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, on 21 January 304.
Ok, she was probably only 13 years old, so it would be better to say a child, a girl, but on that time, 13 years old was the age for getting married and having children, so we’ll say a woman, even if she wasn’t already.
Since she was very beautiful, many young men wished to marry Agnes, but she would always say, "Jesus Christ is my only Spouse." Agnes had made a promise, a promise to God never to stain her purity.
Hence she refused the Prefect’s son who, probably, went back crying to his father: the latter punished Agnes forcing her to become a Vestal Virgin. Anyway the Vestal Virgins were pagan and therefore Agnes refused to join them because she was Christian.
To put it short: The Prefect of Rome, when Agnes refused to join the Vestal Virgins, condemned her to become a prostitute.
In the ancient Rome there were a lot of prostitutes and obviously brothels, called lupanares. This name comes from lupa, “she-wolf“, the slang for prostitute…
Prostitutes in ancient Rome were not well regarded because they were making a living through commerce of their own body. Other jobs such as Actress, Musician or Dancer also carried a similar social stigma but avoided the legal formalities and taxes which prostitutes faced.
Because of their particular position in society prostitutes were forbidden from wearing the traditional clothing which other Roman matrons might wear, the Stola. Emperor Tiberius made things a little more strict by forbidding prostitution to women who were related to anyone of Equestrian rank or higher. Other restrictions included not being allowed to attend public shows or to sue for rape. Later they weren't even allowed to receive legacies or inheritance.
However the authorities also appreciated the need for prostitution as a sort of necessary evil to the extent that tokens called "Spintria", similar to coinage were issued by various emperors during the first century AD so that the citizens could go and enjoy a good night's rumpy pumpy: Ensuring that everyone's sexual hunger was satisfied was a prerogative to ensuring that public and social order was maintained. These tokens were similar to bronze coins showing any one of numerous sexual positions on the face and a roman numeral on the reverse side.
Anyway the lupanares were not the only workplace for prostitutes and we know that many of them used to sell themselves near the circuses and stadiums, waiting below the arches.
Agnes became a Saint
Going back to Saint Agnes, she was brought to the stadium to become a prostitute. But because of her holiness, the first man who tried to touch her was soon blinded by God (but don’t worry for him… Saint Agnes was so saint that she later prayed God to save him, and he had back his sight).
Again: The judges ordered Agnes stripped naked and dragged through the streets of Rome to a brother, where she would be forced to lose her virginity. During the trip, Agnes’ hair miraculously grew, covering her body, and maintaining her chastity and purity.
Various versions of the legend give different methods of escape from this predicament. In one, as she prayed, her hair grew and covered her body. It was also said that all of the men who attempted to rape her were immediately struck blind. In another the son of the prefect is struck dead, but revived after Agnes prayed for him, causing her release. There is then a trial from which Sempronius excuses himself, and another figure presides, sentencing her to death. When led out to die she was tied to a stake, but the bundle of wood would not burn, or the flames parted away from her, whereupon the officer in charge of the troops drew his sword and beheaded her, or, in some other texts, stabbed her in the throat. It is also said that the blood of Agnes poured to the stadium floor where other Christians soaked up the blood with cloths.
The Church of Sant’Agnese in Agone
According to tradition, Saint Agnes was martyred in the arches of the stadium and here a small shrine was built already in the 8th century C.E..
In the sixteen hundreds the present church was built, projected by the famous baroque artist Francesco Borromini, for the pope Innocent X Pamphilj.
if you ever visit Piazza Navona, enter the church and go to the chapel on the right, dedicated to Saint Agnes and here is preserved her most sacred relic: her head!
Addendum:
The most famous Rome’s she-wolf, the symbol of the city itself … the legend of the she-wolf was invented to hide and recall the real story, that probably Romulus and Remus were raised by a prostitute, Acca Larentia (who in the legend became the shepherd’s wife, who found the twins): A legendary courtesan of very early Rome who left her sizeable fortune to the Roman people and was later deified and revered in a festival called the Larentalia on December 23rd. She was referred to as the “most noble whore” and was sometimes associated with Lupa, the she-wolf who nursed Romulus and Remus.
This is probably one of the most popular square of Rome, with its distinctive shape and the famous fountain made by Bernini.
Around 86 C.E. Domitian had built a stadium for athletic competitions; this kind of games were called “agones” from a Greek word, and after it was probably named the square: it became “in agonis“, then “innagone“, “navone” and finally “Navona“.
And now: According to tradition, Saint Agnes was a member of the Roman nobility born 291 C.E. and raised in a Christian family. She suffered martyrdom at the age of thirteen during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, on 21 January 304.
Ok, she was probably only 13 years old, so it would be better to say a child, a girl, but on that time, 13 years old was the age for getting married and having children, so we’ll say a woman, even if she wasn’t already.
Since she was very beautiful, many young men wished to marry Agnes, but she would always say, "Jesus Christ is my only Spouse." Agnes had made a promise, a promise to God never to stain her purity.
Hence she refused the Prefect’s son who, probably, went back crying to his father: the latter punished Agnes forcing her to become a Vestal Virgin. Anyway the Vestal Virgins were pagan and therefore Agnes refused to join them because she was Christian.
To put it short: The Prefect of Rome, when Agnes refused to join the Vestal Virgins, condemned her to become a prostitute.
In the ancient Rome there were a lot of prostitutes and obviously brothels, called lupanares. This name comes from lupa, “she-wolf“, the slang for prostitute…
Prostitutes in ancient Rome were not well regarded because they were making a living through commerce of their own body. Other jobs such as Actress, Musician or Dancer also carried a similar social stigma but avoided the legal formalities and taxes which prostitutes faced.
Because of their particular position in society prostitutes were forbidden from wearing the traditional clothing which other Roman matrons might wear, the Stola. Emperor Tiberius made things a little more strict by forbidding prostitution to women who were related to anyone of Equestrian rank or higher. Other restrictions included not being allowed to attend public shows or to sue for rape. Later they weren't even allowed to receive legacies or inheritance.
However the authorities also appreciated the need for prostitution as a sort of necessary evil to the extent that tokens called "Spintria", similar to coinage were issued by various emperors during the first century AD so that the citizens could go and enjoy a good night's rumpy pumpy: Ensuring that everyone's sexual hunger was satisfied was a prerogative to ensuring that public and social order was maintained. These tokens were similar to bronze coins showing any one of numerous sexual positions on the face and a roman numeral on the reverse side.
Anyway the lupanares were not the only workplace for prostitutes and we know that many of them used to sell themselves near the circuses and stadiums, waiting below the arches.
Agnes became a Saint
Going back to Saint Agnes, she was brought to the stadium to become a prostitute. But because of her holiness, the first man who tried to touch her was soon blinded by God (but don’t worry for him… Saint Agnes was so saint that she later prayed God to save him, and he had back his sight).
Again: The judges ordered Agnes stripped naked and dragged through the streets of Rome to a brother, where she would be forced to lose her virginity. During the trip, Agnes’ hair miraculously grew, covering her body, and maintaining her chastity and purity.
Various versions of the legend give different methods of escape from this predicament. In one, as she prayed, her hair grew and covered her body. It was also said that all of the men who attempted to rape her were immediately struck blind. In another the son of the prefect is struck dead, but revived after Agnes prayed for him, causing her release. There is then a trial from which Sempronius excuses himself, and another figure presides, sentencing her to death. When led out to die she was tied to a stake, but the bundle of wood would not burn, or the flames parted away from her, whereupon the officer in charge of the troops drew his sword and beheaded her, or, in some other texts, stabbed her in the throat. It is also said that the blood of Agnes poured to the stadium floor where other Christians soaked up the blood with cloths.
The Church of Sant’Agnese in Agone
According to tradition, Saint Agnes was martyred in the arches of the stadium and here a small shrine was built already in the 8th century C.E..
In the sixteen hundreds the present church was built, projected by the famous baroque artist Francesco Borromini, for the pope Innocent X Pamphilj.
if you ever visit Piazza Navona, enter the church and go to the chapel on the right, dedicated to Saint Agnes and here is preserved her most sacred relic: her head!
Addendum:
The most famous Rome’s she-wolf, the symbol of the city itself … the legend of the she-wolf was invented to hide and recall the real story, that probably Romulus and Remus were raised by a prostitute, Acca Larentia (who in the legend became the shepherd’s wife, who found the twins): A legendary courtesan of very early Rome who left her sizeable fortune to the Roman people and was later deified and revered in a festival called the Larentalia on December 23rd. She was referred to as the “most noble whore” and was sometimes associated with Lupa, the she-wolf who nursed Romulus and Remus.
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