The Parco archeologico del Colosseo, as part of a research project, has brought to light some rooms of a luxurious domus dating back to the late Republican age, of which some wall structures had been excavated in 2018, and that once existed exactly in the area where, in the Augustan age, the Horrea Agrippiana, the famous warehouses along the vicus Tuscus (the commercial road that connected the river port on the Tiber and the Roman Forum) built by Augustus’ son-in-law Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, were built.

Behind the Horrea, between the warehouses and the slopes of the Palatine Hill, the domus developed on several floors, probably articulated in terraces and characterised by at least three building phases, datable between the second half of the 2nd century BC and the end of the 1st century BC. Distributed around an atrium/garden, the domus features, as its main room, the specus aestivus, a banquet hall imitating a grotto, used during the summer season and originally enlivened by spectacular water games thanks to the passage of some lead fistulas (pipes) between the decorated walls.

Making the discovery exceptional is the revelation, in this room, of an extraordinary wall covering in so-called ‘rustic’ mosaic, which, in terms of the complexity of the scenes depicted and the chronology, is unparalleled. Consisting of different types of shells, Egyptian blue tesserae, precious glass, minute flakes of white marble or other types of stone, “tartars” (i.e., fragments of “spongy” travertine) and pozzolana pebbles bound by mortar and warps, the mosaic, which dates to the last decades of the 2nd century AD, presents a complex sequence of figurative scenes. In the four aediculae, defined by pilaster strips and decorated with vases from which vines and lotus leaves sprout, are depicted stacks of weapons with Celtic-type trumpets (carnyx), ships’ prows with tridents, and helms with triremes, alluding, perhaps, to a double triumph, terrestrial 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 simulated cliff with travertine “tartars”, facing the sea ploughed by three large ships, one of which with raised sails; a wall with small towers surrounds the city with porticoes, gates and a large public building; on one of the sides a pastoral scene. The representation of a coastal city could allude to a warlike conquest by the owner of the domus, belonging to an aristocratic figure, presumably of senatorial rank.

In an adjoining reception room, moreover, careful restoration work has brought to light a white stucco covering with landscapes within mock architecture and figures of the highest quality.

“The discovery of a new domus with a room decorated with a truly extraordinary mosaic is an important result that demonstrates, once again, how much the Parco archeologico del Colosseo and the Ministry of Culture are constantly committed to promoting research, knowledge, protection and enhancement of our extraordinary cultural heritage. The discovery also has an important scientific value that makes the Domus even more relevant. After the reopening of the Domus Tiberiana and the improvement of the accessibility of the Flavian Amphitheatre, with the inauguration of the lift that now reaches the third order, the heart of Romanity has thus unveiled an authentic treasure, which we will be responsible for safeguarding and making accessible to the public,” says Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano.

“This is an important result,” adds the Director of the Parco archeologico del Colosseo, Alfonsina Russo, “that repays a long work of study and research and that falls within one of the PArCo’s priority objectives, that of knowledge and its dissemination. The archaeological excavation will be completed in the first months of 2024, and after that we will work intensively to make this place, one of the most evocative in ancient Rome, accessible to the public as soon as possible”.

The domus therefore qualifies as a residence in which the so-called asiatica luxuria, which throughout the late republican age was a source of controversy and fierce political struggle between the aristocratic factions and which confirms what the sources say about the presence, with extensive residences, of exponents of the great Roman senatorial families in the north-western area of the Palatine.

An extraordinary discovery that brings to light an authentic jewel that, at the end of the excavations and restoration work, will be added to the new and diversified visiting routes that have been opened in recent years and that make up the varied cultural proposal of the Parco archeologico del Colosseo.