2023-12-12 12:07:55
Time.news – He Colosseum archaeological parkas part of a study and research project, has brought to light some rooms of a luxurious domus from the late Republican age, of which some wall structures had been excavated in 2018, and once existing exactly in the area where, in the Augustan age, the Horrea Agrippiana, the famous warehouses along the vicus, were built Tuscany (commercial road that connected the river port on the Tiber and the Roman Forum) built by Augustus’ son-in-law, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa.
Behind the Horreas, between the warehouses and the slopes of the Palatine Hill the domus is spread over several floors, probably divided into terraces and characterized by at least three building phases, dating back to the second half of the 2nd century BC and the end of the 1st century BC. Distributed around an atrium/garden, the domus presents, as its main environment, the specus aestivus, a banquet room that imitates a cave, used during the summer season and originally animated by spectacular water features thanks to the passage of some fistulas ( lead pipes) between the decorated walls.
What makes the discovery exceptional is the discovery, in this environment, of an extraordinary wall covering in so-called “rustic” mosaic, which, due to the complexity of the scenes depicted and chronology, is without comparison. Made up of different types of shells, Egyptian blue tiles, precious glass, minute flakes of white marble or other types of stone, tartars (i.e. fragments of spongy travertine) and pozzolana cretones bound by mortar and warps, the mosaic, which is dated to the last decades of the 2nd century BC, it presents a complex sequence of figurative scenes. In the four aedicules, defined by pilasters and decorated with vases from which shoots of lotus and vine leaves emerge, stacks of weapons are depicted with Celtic-type trumpets (carnyx), prows of ships with tridents, rudders with triremes which allude, perhaps , to a double triumph, land and naval, of the owner of the domus.
The large lunette above also presents a fascinating depiction of a landscape with, in the centre, a city, with a cliff simulated with travertine tartars, overlooking the sea crossed by three large ships, one of which with raised sails; a city wall with small towers surrounds the city equipped with porticoes, doors and a large public building; on one side a pastoral scene. The representation of a coastal city could allude to a war conquest by the owner of the domus, belonging to an aristocratic figure, presumably of senatorial rank.
In an adjoining reception room, however, the careful restoration work has brought to light a white stucco covering with landscapes within fake architecture and figures of the highest quality.
“The discovery of a new domus with an environment decorated with a truly extraordinary mosaic represents an important result which demonstrates, once again, how much the Colosseum Archaeological Park and the Ministry of Culture are constantly committed to promoting research, knowledge, protection and valorization of our extraordinary cultural heritage. The discovery then has an important scientific value which makes the domus even more relevant. After the reopening of House of Tiberias and the improvement of the accessibility of the Flavian Amphitheater, with the inauguration of the elevator which now reaches the third level, the heart of Romanity has therefore revealed an authentic treasure, which it will be our responsibility to safeguard and make accessible to the public”, declares the Minister of Culture, Gennaro Sangiuliano.
“This is an important result – adds the Director of the Colosseum Archaeological Park, Alfonsina Russo – which repays long study and research work and which falls within one of the priority objectives of the Park, that of knowledge and its diffusion. The archaeological excavation will conclude in the first months of 2024 and we will subsequently work intensely to make this place, among the most evocative of ancient Rome, accessible to the public as soon as possible.”
As a whole, the domus therefore qualifies as a residence in which that Asian luxuria is precociously expressed which throughout the late Republican age was a source of controversy and ferocious political struggle between the aristocratic factions and which confirms what the sources say about the presence , with extensive residences of members of large Roman senatorial families in the north-western area of the Palatine.
An extraordinary discovery that brings to light an authentic jewel which, at the conclusion of the excavations and restorations, adds to the new and diversified visit itineraries opened in recent years and which make up the varied cultural proposal of the Colosseum archaeological park.
#Colosseum #domus #discovered #Roman #Forum #Palatine