Before and below the Baths of Trajan

BEFORE AND BELOW THE BATHS OF TRAJAN (ROME) Rita Volpe T he Colle Oppio, or Oppian hill, is the southernmost height of Rome’s Esquiline hill. It lies between the Via Merulana and the Colosseum. A large park crossed by a central avenue was laid out here in the 1930s within which lie the imposing ruins of the Baths of Trajan and the buried chambers of the Domus Aurea (fig. 1). 1. The Construction of the Baths of Trajan on the Colle Oppio The Fasti Ostienses1 record that Trajan inaugurated and opened his magnificent new bath complex to the public in A.D. 109; it was built on a plot of land in the center of town near the new Flavian Amphitheater (Colosseum). This area had formerly housed part of the Domus Aurea. It faced onto the populous neighborhoods of the Esquiline and the Subura. As director of the project, literary sources2 cite Apollodorus of Damascus, who created an architectural model to be adopted later by the larger imperial Roman baths. The complex was characterized by two different sections: externally there was an open area with gardens, colonnades, and chambers intended for sports and cultural activities; this surrounded a central building with symmetrical rooms designed on either side of a central axis. These catered to the bathing procession from natatio to frigidarium to tepidarium to calidarium.3 The baths were laid out in an area extensively damaged by the great fire of A.D. 64. Back then Nero had designed and built here a large pavilion of his Domus Aurea, which lay between the Augustan Porticus Liviae to the north and the valley with the stagnum (by now occupied by the Colosseum) to the south. Presumably the land probably already belonged to the emperor when Trajan chose it for his baths; the new complex extended over an area of 6 hectares, between the Augustan Porticus Liviae to the north and the Flavian Baths of Titus to the south. Taking in such amenities as the large water reservoir known as the Sette Sale (the Seven Halls) and the horreum in front of it, the baths would In November 2013 Kimberly Bowes kindly invited the archaeological team of the Sovrintendenza ai Beni Culturali di Roma Capitale (Giovanni Caruso, Marta Giacobelli, Francesco Pacetti, Simonetta Serra, Carla Termini, Rita Volpe) to give a lecture in the American Academy in Rome about the new discoveries on the Oppian hill. I thank Dr. Bowes for the chance to publish this essay in the MAAR as a consequence of that lecture. 1 The opening day of Trajan’s Baths was 22 June A.D. 109: MAAR 61, 2016 X K. Iul. Imp. Nerva Traianus. Caes. Aug. Germ. Dacicus. Thermas suas. Dedicavit et publicavit (II 8.1.5; Paus. 5.12.6). 2 Dio Cassius (69.4.1): “Hadrian first drove into exile and then put to death the architect Apollodorus, who had carried out several of Trajan’s building projects: forum, odeion, and gymnasion.” 3 On the Baths of Trajan: Caruso and Volpe 1999; 2001. Fig. 1. Rome, Oppian hill. The Baths of Trajan over the current aerial photo; in the circle the excavation’s area (photo Volpe and Rossi 2012). Fig. 2. Rome, Baths of Trajan, the southwest exedra (photo F. Rossi). Fig. 3. Baths of Trajan, the southwest corner with the exedra and the portico facing it (photo Volpe 2010). BEFORE AND BELOW THE BATHS OF TRAJAN (ROME) 61 have covered over 10 hectares of the city.4 Its eastern limit may have coincided with the rampart of the ancient Servian Wall. The new complex was orientated northeast/southwest to make the most of the warmth and brightness of the sun. This distinguishes it from the north/south orientation of all of the previous buildings in the area (such as Domus Aurea) constructed after the fire of A.D. 64. Prior to construction all of the pre-Trajanic buildings were flattened to the predetermined ground level of the future thermal complex. The remaining standing structures went to form some of the supporting substructures.However, new structures needed to be added to fill the open spaces of the earlier buildings (such as the courtyards and peristyle of the Domus Aurea). This change of orientation makes it easier to distinguish earlier structures from those of the Trajanic buildings. Archaeological excavation in the southwest corner of Trajan’s Baths carried out between 1990 and the present day has uncovered another piece of Rome’s past prior to the Trajanic construction, in addition to the Domus Aurea. One of the most substantial of the remains of the ancient baths can be seen here: the large exedra in the southwest corner. This is known as the Grande Biblioteca (Large Library) since it contains twenty wide niches intended for shelves to contain papers and documents (fig. 2). Like the similar one in the southeast corner, the exedra faced onto the portico that surrounded a large open green area (fig. 3). The portico was built over a vaulted passageway that had been constructed as a means of consolidating the substructures and was not intended to be accessible. Archaeological excavation inside this gallery has led to the discoveries that are the theme of this essay. 2. The Discoveries inside the Trajanic Gallery During the archaeological excavations carried out in the gallery between 1998 and 2004 some walls aligned north/south came to light (fig. 4). These are the remains of pre-Trajanic buildings. The first discovery occurred in 1998: after excavating the earth that had entirely blocked the near end of the tunnel, at the far end the façade of a large building came to light. It had at least three naves and was aligned north/south so it was earlier than the baths. Part of the fresco that had covered the brick façade had survived just to the right of the monumental entrance.5 The fresco, now known as the Città Dipinta (Painted City) depicts a city enclosed by walls and overlooking the sea (fig. 5). The fresco is unique for its dimensions and has since become a significant milestone in the study of Roman landscape painting.6 Another fresco with a different city probably adorned the other side of the main entrance7 of the building. This was probably intended for a public function, possibly related to the administration of the city.8 4 On the Sette Sale: De Fine Licht 1990; on the horreum: Volpe and Geri 2011. 5 Volpe 2000; Caruso and Volpe 2000; Volpe 2010. 6 La Rocca 2000; 2001; 2008. 7 The archaeological evidence for another fresco is suggested by the discovery of some fragments of painted fresco in a deeper excavation in the corner of the gallery, depicting a second, different city: Volpe 2010. 8 The type of building and its monumental entrance, as well as the choice of decoration, would imply the existence of a public building. A Flavian period praefectura urbi has been conjectured (Caruso and Volpe 2001), with the supposition that this would naturally have been relocated with the Trajanic phase of construction: Volpe 2000; Caruso and Volpe 2001. It may be no coincidence that many of the written records to do with the prefect’s office (albeit dating to late antiquity) originate from the nearby area of S. Pietro in Vincoli: see Marchese 2007. The rank of praefectus urbi was particularly familiar to the early dynastic and subsequent republican period (Tac. Ann. 6.11 Fig. 4. Baths of Trajan, the southwest Trajanic gallery and the topography of the earlier quarter (photo Volpe 2010). Fig. 5. Structures under the Baths of Trajan, the fresco of the “Painted City” (photo M. Fortini, Sovrintendenza Capitolina Archives). BEFORE AND BELOW THE BATHS OF TRAJAN (ROME) 63 Fig. 6. Structures under the Baths of Trajan, vendemmia (grape harvest) mosaic (photo S. Castellani, Sovrintendenza Capitolina Archives). The insertion of a tiny photographic camera into one of the scaffolding holes in the Trajanic brickwork that was blocking the access gave a first glimpse of the great vaulted room that would have been the entrance. Part (ca. 3 × 2 m) of its original mosaic decoration remained. Five male figures were depicted performing various operations associated with the grape harvest (fig. 6).9 This building, with its fresco and mosaic, can be dated to the Flavian period based on both the building technique and the style of painting and mosaic, as well as its pre-Trajanic orientation.10 A few months later there was a further discovery in the middle of the same gallery: This was another building, also earlier than the construction of the Baths of Trajan. Both buildings were part of the quarter built by the Flavian emperors in the spaces available after the great fire of A.D. 64. Until the death of Nero these had been kept exclusively for the Domus Aurea. The remains of a mosaic depicting a Muse and a Philosopher11 adorned a wall of this building (fig. 7). It had almost been cut in half diagonally during the construction of the baths. It was immediately clear that the wall and its mosaic decoration extended beyond the excavated area, but further excavation wasn’t possible until 2011 and 2013. dates its origins to the reign of Romolus; Livy 1.59; Dion. Hal. 2.12; Lydus Mens. 1.19); the office was definitively reinstated during the Augustan period and was reserved for senators who held consular rank. By means of the cohortes urbanae (formed by Augustus in A.D. 5: Suet. Aug. 49.2; Dion. Hal. 55.24.6; Tac. Ann. 4. 5) the urban prefect, diligentissimum atque eundem lenissimum securitatis urbanae custodem (Vell. Pat. 2.98), was expected to maintain public order (as well as guarantee supplies to the city of Rome). Over time the prefect’s legislative role was expanded, and by late antiquity it had become the most important magistrate’s office for the administration of justice (see the essential contribution of Vitucci 1956 for the later middle imperial period and Chastagnol 1960 for late antiquity). 9 By 2004 surface excavation above the gallery had made it possible to climb down into this space from above. In December 2010 the grape harvesting hall (more precisely the part of the hall that had been sealed off by the Trajan intrusion) was fully excavated. This was the entrance hall accessed via the monumental gateway adorned with the Città Dipinta. Several sections of the detached mosaic were recovered. However, in many cases the over 10-m drop had caused too much damage, disintegrating the fragments and leaving what was depicted illegible. The mosaic must have adorned the whole of the vault with various decorative styles. Different types of marble were used, chiefly Parian for the white background. The tesserae were frequently irregular and roughly cut. See Billi 2016. 10 See Caruso and Volpe 2000; Volpe 2000; 2010. 11 Caruso and Volpe 2000; Volpe 2000; 2010. RITA VOLPE 64 Fig. 7. Structures under the Baths of Trajan, mosaics with Muse and Philosopher (photo S. Castellani, Sovrintendenza Capitolina Archives). Fig. 8. Structures under the Baths of Trajan, overview of the long wall with mosaics after the excavation and test pits in 2014 (photo F. di Majo, Sovrintendenza Capitolina Archives). 3. The Room with the Wall Mosaics With the demolition of a late eighteenth-century construction associated with the modern gunpowder mill known as the Fabbrica de’ salnitri12 almost halfway down the gallery in 2011, the excavation could be extended to include the room of the Muse and Philosopher. Excavation took place both inside and out of the room. The archaeological deposit was made up of a series of backfills and trodden levels associated with the construction of the Trajanic gallery.13 12 The gunpowder mill known as the Polveriera or Salnitrara Camerale was moved here from the Palatine hill at the end of the 1700s. It gave its name to the nearby Via della Polveriera. The structure occupied the first stretch of the gallery and the area in front and above it: see Caruso and Volpe 1994; Pontani 2010. 13 Excavation continued until February 2014; at the time of writing (late 2014), in anticipation of further funding for its resumption, work is in progress on a means of opening the site to the public. There was a preliminary presentation of the mosaics at the AIEMA 2012 international conference: Caruso et al. 2015; and at the conference in Lucca in the same year: Termini 2016. BEFORE AND BELOW THE BATHS OF TRAJAN (ROME) 65 Fig. 9. Structures under the Baths of Trajan, excavation test pit against the long eastern wall with mosaics, with clamp holes and seashells frame (photo M. Di Ianni, Sovrintendenza Capitolina Archives). Two perpendicular walls of the room were exposed. Almost 16 m of an east wall (fig. 8) and 10 m of a south one were exposed. Given its different alignment from the Trajanic Baths above, the room had been cut diagonally during the construction of the gallery. The length of the other side of the room is known thanks to a single surviving trace of the west wall in the southwest corner, adorned with seashells. Thus far the two walls have been exposed to a depth of 5.5 m of a calculated height of 10 m (see below). Though now somewhat patchy, they were originally completely covered in decorative mosaics. The possible existence of angular plaster pilaster strips can be conjectured from the rectangular impression found in both corners bordered by the mosaic decoration. So far two decorative registers have been exposed, the upper one vertically shorter than the lower. At the end of the excavation two test pits, approximately 2 m × 80 or 90 cm, were sunk against the east wall to a depth of 80 cm, one to the left, the other in the center. The hope was to see whether there was a further mosaic register below or anything else. In both pits traces of what may have been a cornice or inscription came to light. Before it was removed during the construction of the Trajanic gallery, this architectural element had been held in place by metal clamps and framed with seashells and a mosaic decoration (fig. 9). Several architectural elements are depicted in the decorative mosaic, providing an almost theatrical backdrop: smooth-leaved Corinthian capitals decorated with garlands and scrolling vegetation pick out a series of buildings mirrored across a central vertical axis upon which the composition converges. In the upper register within a niche delineated by Tuscan columns a young male takes the stance of a “heroic nude” (fig. 10). On both sides of the niche figures stand among the columns of the symmetrical buildings. A muse and bearded philosopher stand to the Fig. 10. Structures under the Baths of Trajan, central young male figure of the upper register (photo S. Castellani, Sovrintendenza Capitolina Archives). Fig. 11. Structures under the Baths of Trajan, lower register of the long mosaic, central image (photo Zètema, Sovrintendenza Capitolina Archives). BEFORE AND BELOW THE BATHS OF TRAJAN (ROME) 67 left.14 To the right a statue of a centaur stands on a pedestal (there may have been a twin figure on the other side where now there is a blank space). He is accompanied by a second female figure (perhaps another muse) and a beardless male in Greek costume, again a philosopher. It would be easy to assume that the central male figure is Apollo as god of the arts surrounded by muses and philosophers. On the other hand, he could represent the hero of some mythological scene depicted here. In his left hand he holds an oblong object, with his fingers slipped into a depression on the bottom. It is held steady by a belt across his chest. Sadly the object is difficult to recognize and decipher as it could have helped identify the figure. The lower register is much taller than the other. Here again a portico with tall columns provides an architectural backdrop. The same scrolling vegetation is present as above over the columns, but here there are also symbols associated with Dionysius. These include theater masks, shepherds with their crook or pedum, heads of satyrs, panthers, and sea panthers with fish tails. The portico stands on a dark red plinth whose decoration alternates among friezes, cornices, vegetal motifs, and figures to create a chiaroscuro effect. Unlike the upper register, where the figures appear somewhat static, in the scene below many of them shift in and out of the portico, moving within the space almost like characters in an unfolding story. Here too the figures are disposed on either side of a central image that is unfortunately missing. Two figures stand in a spacious opening set back into the base of the portico (fig. 11). The head, torso, and feet of a male figure can be made out, while all that remains of the other, female figure is the face and neck, slightly crooked to one side. Between them a few steps are depicted front on. Presumably these lead up to the portico. A small female figure on the steps is handing something to the man at her side. This may be the same leafy (ivy or vine leaf) crown that he is seen placing on his head. The man sits bare-chested with a shawl across his shoulders. The firm lines of his face have been furrowed by life’s experiences and middle age, and his noticeably big ears make it likely that this is an actual portrait, probably of the person who paid for the work and whose house it is. The fine features of the female figure on the other side of the steps may also be a portrait, most probably of his wife. On the left-hand side of the portico a line of four women can be seen (fig. 12): the first from the left holds a green beaded ribbon; the second is seated, adorned with a diadem, bracelet, and arm band; she looks toward a third beshawled woman dressed in a tunic with one foot on a stairway that will lead her out of the portico; there she will find a fourth female figure, draped against one of the columns, naked but for a wrap covering her right leg, while a no-longer-identifiable object lies in her left hand. Only the head remains of the next in line, a male figure. On the other side further figures alternate inside and out of the portico (fig. 13). From the left: inside, a female figure stands dressed in spectacular shimmering colors, her hair gathered; outside stands a woman with marked features and a wrinkly, stocky neck; back inside is probably a female figure, her face with strong lines; a third badly damaged figure, perhaps a woman, is wearing a white shawl; in the foreground in front of the portico stands the last figure on the right, who is dark skinned, possibly of North African origin, a conclusion borne out by the figure’s broad nose (badly preserved) and dark curly hair tied in a band across his forehead. Here too the figure is dressed in the Greek fashion. Instead of being muscular the thick torso appears misshapen with the onset of middle age spread. It is almost as if the artist responsible for the right side of the mosaic felt more at ease depicting clothing (in an incredible display of shimmering colors) rather than human anatomy (fig. 14). 14 This part of the mosaic was discovered in 1998 and has already been published; see above and n. 6: Volpe 2000; 2010. Fig. 12. Structures under the Baths of Trajan, lower register of the long mosaic: four women into a portico (photo S. Castellani, Sovrintendenza Capitolina Archives). Fig. 13. Structures under the Baths of Trajan, lower register of the long mosaic: the figures on the right (photo Zètema; Sovrintendenza Capitolina Archives). BEFORE AND BELOW THE BATHS OF TRAJAN (ROME) 69 Fig. 14. Structures under the Baths of Trajan, lower register of the long mosaic, the figure beside the right corner, still visible the travertine blocks below the plaster (photo Zètema, Sovrintendenza Capitolina Archives). Less remains of the decoration of the shorter southern wall of the chamber. The construction of the gunpowder mill powder tubs15 has extensively compromised this section. The upper part of the wall was patched up during the construction of the powder tubs. These were built directly above (and with the same dimensions as) the underground nymphaeum.16 Today access to the nymphaeum is via a modern breach just below the bipedal brick load-bearing arch over the door. Originally there was a window here above the travertine lintel of the doorway. There may have been another window in the same wall farther to the right. A wide opening some 1.7 m wide is visible, now bricked up,17 and originally it may have provided access to a flight of stairs to the upper stories. The little that remains of the mosaic decoration appears to be a continuation of the two registers present on the east wall. Here, too, it is articulated around an architectural backdrop (fig. 15). Part of the colonnade depicted in the upper register has survived. It rests on a horizontal lintel picked out in a blaze of blue and yellow glass paste tesserae. In the opposite corner part of the perspective colonnade of the lower register survives. In the foreground a male figure appears to be walking to the left looking over his shoulder: he wears a leafy crown and a bulgy cloak. The wall decoration terminates in a vertical red painted strip encrusted with seashells highlighted with white tesserae. This is to emphasize the corner of the room where a tiny part of the west wall has survived destruction by the Trajanic foundations. 15 For the gunpowder mill, see n. 12 above. 16 A further wall, probably from the same period, blocks an irregular hole in the vault of the nymphaeum. This was prob- ably cut by Renaissance “excavators” in search of antiquities. 17 This too can be associated with the construction of the gunpowder mill. RITA VOLPE 70 Fig. 15. Structures under the Baths of Trajan, shorter southern wall with mosaics, architectural backdrop (photo S. Castellani, Sovrintendenza Capitolina Archives). 4. Technical and Stylistic Characteristics of the Mosaic Most of the tesserae used on both walls are made from glass paste. In some cases these have deteriorated, altering their original tonality. There are also colored marble tesserae: light gray palombino, ash-colored porta santa, yellow giallo antico, red rosso antico, and some made from terracotta. The tesserae are fairly regular, about .5 cm square. For the background scenes and architectural elements they have been laid in fairly regular courses, whereas those used for the faces, the folds of the clothing, and especially the decoration of the plinth and the columns can vary in shape and size, adapted to fit to the shape required. At several points where the tesserae are missing the colors are visible where the underlying plaster has been painted to guide the craftsman. Often, however, the underlying colors don’t seem to correspond to the colors of the overlying tesserae. In some cases the figures are picked out with a silhouette of reddish-brown tesserae. The white highlighting would imply that the surface of the mosaic may have been bathed in light, though no indication remains as to its source. The numerous glass paste tesserae would have been particularly dazzling. In some spots the symmetrical layout of the picture makes it possible to try and fill in the gaps, but the loss of so many tesserae complicates matters. The bare spots cannot be the result of the mosaic disintegrating over time because most of the wall was buried when the room was backfilled during the construction of Trajan’s Baths. The lack of fallen tesserae in these backfilled deposits BEFORE AND BELOW THE BATHS OF TRAJAN (ROME) 71 would imply that the mosaic may have been removed during the Trajanic construction. On the upper part they might even have tried to strip away the whole picture. This would have left in place only the parts lain with greater care, usually the figures. This phenomenon, also identified at the Domus Aurea,18 could explain the almost horizontal cut nearly halfway down the lower cycle. Here it seems likely that a different method was used, aimed at recuperating tesserae of the same color. In this case those in the background in particular are missing, as is much of the clothing of the female figures, both areas of predominately the same color and apparently easier to recycle. 5. Identification and Date of the Building The representation on the large wall mosaic can be classified as the Pompeian Fourth Style. The single elements have matching iconographical counterparts in the frescoes that adorn the houses in Pompeii renovated after the earthquake of A.D. 62. However, the decoration can be dated primarily thanks to the stratigraphic record. For the first phase of construction of the east wall, large ashlar travertine blocks were used. These are visible where the preparatory plaster layer is missing. Some of them are slightly inclined and would have been lintels, proof that originally there would have been three large doorways in the wall. The chamber would therefore have been highly accessible from the outside, implying that it may have been a public building. From the rough exterior of the ashlar blocks we can presume that the façade was left undecorated. The north/south alignment of the buildings in this part of the city, including this one in travertine, can be dated to the Neronian and Flavian reconstruction after the fire of A.D. 64. Subsequently (presumably toward the end of the century, probably in the last quarter century)19 the doorways were bricked up. At the same time a brick wall was built to raise the height of the façade some 2 m, and the rough finish to the ashlar blocks was smoothed down to provide a flat surface for the wall mosaic that was to cover the entire expanse. So the room was no longer open to the outside, but it became an internal space giving onto the nymphaeum mentioned above. It may well have been the presence of water that called for the use of mosaic as opposed to fresco. As of yet this is the largest known example of wall mosaic. 6. The Nymphaeum Unfortunately the nymphaeum is still filled by backfill up to the base of the barrel vault. The vault is entirely covered by a layer of plaster that in many points preserves the pointing for a mosaic. Tiny blue glass tesserae go to make up a background speckled with yellow stars within circles (fig. 16). The edges of the mosaic are emphasized by a red painted band encrusted with shells. To the south the back wall is almost entirely filled by a large semicircular niche. There is a large robber cut where there was once a lead waterpipe, confirmation that this was a nymphaeum (fig. 17).20 The entrance lay on the north wall, originally covered by a travertine lintel. Only two blocks are still visible. Over the door a load-bearing arch straddles a 2-m-high square window. If the door 18 The advice and experience of Elio Paparatti has been invaluable in the interpretation of these voids. His thorough work on the Domus Aurea also provided some useful comparisons. fall within a time span that runs from the great fire in A.D. 64 to the beginning of the second century, when the Baths of Trajan are built. 20 19 As previously mentioned, all of the pre-Trajanic buildings The niche is 3.90 m wide; the length of the fistula hole is 1.33 m max. RITA VOLPE 72 Fig. 16. Structures under the Baths of Trajan, mosaics on the vault of the nymphaeum (photo Volpe, Sovrintendenza Capitolina Archives). Fig. 17. Baths of Trajan, robber cut of the water pipe in the nymphaeum (photo Sovrintendenza Capitolina Archives). below were the height of the lintel + window + arch (3.5 m) the room would have been 7.5 m high. This would mean that the floor level would have been the same as the room with the mosaic over which it looks. This leaves a depth of at least 4 or 5 m left to excavate, which would take us more or less to the same floor level as the adjacent building of the Painted City.21 Several questions still remain unanswered: How was the lower part of the two rooms decorated? What kind of floor did they have? Did the water from the nymphaeum flow up into a fountain or pool in the room, which would explain the use of mosaic instead of fresco, highlighted by shells in some points? And finally was it a large nymphaeum-triclinium or a reception hall? By its very nature mosaic resists humidity better and so is often used in nymphaea and fountains. The cornices adorned with seashells, typical of the type of decoration used in nymphaea, apparently confirm the presence of water, possibly playing water games in the room. It seems likely in any case that the room was part of a private residence, perhaps the home of the man depicted in the mosaic. For the moment no matching likeness has been found with any of the imperial family, but in any case this must have been somebody incredibly prominent, given the fact that what was a “public” space has been requisitioned. Not to mention such an ostentatious display of wealth by splashing some hundreds of square meters of wall with mosaic! In the small world of wall mosaics that have come down to us, this is without doubt an exceptional find, both for its size and for the complexity and quality of the work. Excavations and research are still going on, and maybe the interpretation of the building’s architectural and decorative features will enable us to determine the original function of the room and the identification of the context in which it is located. The study of the mosaic and its elements is still only beginning and is likely to provide an additional subject for study for future generations of scholars. 7. Other Finds in the Gallery: Graffiti and Inscriptions The area on the other, outer side of the wall mosaic was also excavated. Here too was a series of backfills and trodden levels associated with the construction of the Trajanic gallery. A trial trench was sunk to the level of the travertine blocks that had been seen on the other side. The aim was to discover whether the blocks were present on both sides of the wall, below the brick construction 21 Volpe 2000, 524. BEFORE AND BELOW THE BATHS OF TRAJAN (ROME) Fig. 18. Baths of Trajan, the outer side of the wall mosaic, with Trajanic planking levels (photo S. Castellani, Sovrintendenza Capitolina Archives). 73 Fig. 19. Baths of Trajan, the graffito on the plaster of the outer side of the wall mosaic (photo S. Castellani, Sovrintendenza Capitolina Archives). and behind the layer of white plaster that coated both building phases. There were two reasons behind the operation: first to verify the state of preservation of the structure and evaluate any damage; and second to relieve any excessive pressure from the weight of the soil on the outer wall when the interior was excavated. A depth of approximately 1.5 m of Trajanic backfill over the whole area was removed (fig. 18). The roughly triangular shape of the site was defined by the eastern wall of the gallery and the façade of the mosaic wall. Excavation ceased about 3 m short of the crest of the wall, on one of the Trajanic planking levels. Excavation of the backfill confirmed that at least to this level the white plaster covering the façade continued uninterrupted, with numerous gaps and holes of varying shape and size. About 1.6 m below the crest of the wall the surface of the plaster appears to have been incised with a horizontal cut. Beneath it some Latin graffiti was decipherable. One stands out in particular, a couplet already documented among the Pompeiian graffiti (fig. 19): QVISQVIS AMAT VALEAT PEREAT QVIS NESCIT AMAREM [sic] BIS TANTO PEREAT QVIS AMARE VETAT Who loves lives, the loveless live death! And love dies twice when it’s denied.22 The graffiti are concentrated at the center of the wall at what must have been a fair height above ground level. This wall should have been some 9 or 10 m high, which leaves the graffiti at about 7 or 8 m up, well out of normal reach. Unless there were some kind of gallery, of which no physical evidence remains, the graffiti must date to the Trajanic construction phase, when the succession of backfills and planking levels would have raised the workmen to the right height.23 The whole of the façade is puckered with holes of various sizes and depths, probably from the Trajanic building phase.24 Work in the gallery goes on: At the moment a project is underway in the hope of introducing the site to the public, prior to continuing research, excavation, and future discoveries. 22 The anonymous couplet must have been fairly well known. Almost exactly the same text has been found on various walls in Pompeii (CIL 4.1173 add. p. 204), as well as abbreviated versions CIL 4, n. 3199; CIL 4, n. 4091; see also CIL 4.3200d, 5272, 6782). 23 Analysis of the graffiti continues to shed new light on the organization of the Trajanic building site and the workmen involved. 24 The Trajanic building site contains numerous inscriptions painted in red on the brick walls, signaling the day and date on which they were built (see Volpe 2002; 2008, 2010; Volpe and Rossi 2012). RITA VOLPE 74 Bibliography ABBREVIATIONS CIL II Mommsen, T., et al., Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (Berlin 1862–) A. Ferrua and A. Garzetti, Inscriptiones Italiae (Rome 1948–1986) WORKS CITED Billi, E., “Il mosaico della Vendemmia a Colle Oppio: note tecniche sul colore,” in Il colore nel Medioevo. Arte, simbolo, tecnica, Atti VI Convegno Internazionale dell’Istituto Storico lucchese, Lucca 24–25–26 ottobre 2013 (Lucca 2016) 207–220. Caruso, G., and R. 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