The Central Idea: There is very little art on the UO campus that references the activities of scholars. In replicating the solarium Augusti, we draw attention to the creative work of astronomers and physicists, to architects. historians and literary scholars, to classicists and archaeologists.

The Historical and Archaeological Model of the Augustan Solarium / horologium. The device consists of two parts,

• a vertical riser or gnomon [the obelisk itself] to mark the shadow of the sun and
• a grid on which one can read time, the horologium, a device for marking hours and reading time.

The obelisk is one of five so-called Cleopatra's Needles (but no relationship to Cleopatra). One is in Rome (this is the one used by Augustus), one remains at Heliopolis in Egypt, one stands at Place de la Concorde in Paris, one stands on the Embankment in London, the fifth stands in Central Park, NY. It should be noted that the quarrying, transportation, and placement of these monuments was a challenge to engineers ancient and modern. The achievement of the ancient Egyptian engineers in this respect cannot be overestimated. Even in the modern period the placement of the Needles in Paris and London was a major logistical undertaking.

• On the archaeological and architectural background to the project
• The obelisk in Piazza Monte Citorio in Rome; details. Its location in Rome
• the schematics of the obelisk.
• the solarium and its relationship to the Ara Pacis and the Mausoleum of Augustus; and a ground level view. Artist's reconstruction
• the dedicatory inscription, and details (commemorating Augustus conquest of Egypt)

The Science of the solarium /horologium behind the Oregon model.

• The Augustan model is the only one of the Needles [see above] to be actually used to measure time. It was a significant device in the history of Western scientific culture, for it was one of the first devices employed to take advantage of the new Julian Calendar. The significance of this calendar is that it marks the transition from a lunar to a solar year.
• The basic problem is how to coordinate clock time with solar time. The earth moves at a varying velocity around the sun, and at different inclinations. Moreover, Eugene is some 12 minutes west of the meridian for our time zone, which means that solar noon comes on the average 12 minutes later than "clock" noon. How then to draw the face of the sundial so that the discrepancies between solar and clock time can be accommodated?
• the problem of the analemma. The analemma is a representation of the difference between solar an clock time and may be calculate by using the "equation of time".
• our reconstruction of the face of the sundial with the analemma shown at 9am, 10am, noon, 2pm and 3pm.
• For a full scale model of how the sun moves through the analemma, go to this site. At the top of the grid there is a "location" box. Select Eugene, Oregon, and the grid will update illustrating exactly where the sun is on the "sundial".
• daily variation in the setting and rising of the sun
• monitoring the analemma in McKenzie Plaza, winter to spring 2005

Developing the project / model in McKenzie Plaza

• painting in the basic coordinates, September 2004
• students and faculty involved; some of the faculty involved from CAS and Architecture
• adding the line of the equinox on 29 September
• monitoring the analemma, winter to spring 2005

A project plan and search for a permanent location. How would the obelisk / sundial look on...

• the south lawn of Library ?? or in Memorial Quad??
• the obelisk / gnomon --models

Other images:

• Map: the monument in reference to ancient Rome and modern Rome
• The meridian on the Augustan solarium showing the seasons, months and days. Fragments of the Augustan solarium showing months (with their Greek names) and days.