Lego Fun, Vol. VIII: The Basilica of Maxentius

This landmark of the eternal may not be depicted on any ancient or modern coins, but I hope I may post my little openable reconstruction of this architectural marvel here anyway

 

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Great job recreating that complex architecture.

I imagine it takes some experimentation to find the right brick types, especially for the roof.

Did you have all those pieces or did you need to search for a lot of them?

John

 

That's really cool Should be on display at Legoland.

 

Your builds are always amazing. Thanks for sharing!

 

Awesome. I love legos....and cat figurines...

 

Very cool, @Julius Germanicus ! I am always amazed at your Lego skills!

Here's a Maxentius with less complex architecture.


Maxentius as Augustus, AD 307-312.
Roman billon follis, 6.53 g, 24.6 mm, 10 h.
Rome, AD 307-308.
Obv: IMP C MAXENTIVS P F AVG, radiate head right.
Rev: CONSERV VRB SVAE, Roma seated facing in hexastyle temple, head left, globe in right hand, scepter in left, shield at side behind, Victories as acroteria, wreath on pediment, H left, R S in exergue.
Refs: RIC 202a; Cohen 21; RCV 14986.

 

If you walk up the Palatine hill there is an overlook high above the Forum. You can see @Julius Germanicus's building from there:



The photos are from my trip in November. I'm glad I went to Italy when I did.



Looking back up to the overlook from down in the Forum:

 

It is such a magnificent building, though only a part of it still exists. The sheer he ight of the brick building when you stand inside is impressing even for us twenty-first century earth dwellers! Both Romulus' tomb and Faustina's temple fit inside!

 

impressive Julius , wonder how long it took you to build it.
poor Maxentius, drowned in the Tiber and his body paraded through the streets of Rome.

 

Thank you. Actually the project started when I discovered 28 of the rare and crucial "slope 33 3x3 double concave" bricks in dark red color at my local dealer. It took me a couple of months to find the ideal use for 24 of them .

I probably have around 150.000 Lego pieces (about one fifth of them in tan color), but did need to search for some of those window parts.

About two weeks, mostly experimenting...



The famous remnants in the Capitoline Museum´s courtyard belong to a colossal statue of Constantine I (probably originally Maxentius) that originally sat in the Basilica´s apsis (like you can see in my model) to watch over the proceedings and impress his subjects by it´s sheer size.

 

I remember thinking to myself as I looked across the way. These guys really put the 'arch' into architecture.

 

You don’t realize just how BIG it is until you are there.