Old Rome: A Handbook to the Ruins of the City and the Campagna

by Robert Burn

Cryptoporticus.

Near the ruins of this Temple of Jupiter Stator we find vast blocks of substruction which belong to the complicated ranges of buildings occupying the north-eastern end of the hill, and generally believed to have been erected by Caligula. They extend along the side of the hill over the Forum, and along the Clivus Victoriæ by which we entered, to the point which overlooks the Velabrum. The modifications and enlargements of this structure during the ages succeeding Caligula have rendered it a confused mass of ruins, and the walls and chambers now left have served chiefly as substructions for the lofty mansions erected upon them in the course of ages. From the corner of these ruins, next to the Temple of Jupiter Stator, runs a long arched cryptoporticus or covered passage, which can be entered from the ruins of this temple or from below nearer to the modern entrance gateway. It is supposed that this may have been the cryptoporticus in which, as we learn from Josephus, Caligula was assassinated on his return from the ludi palatini given in front of the palace. He is said to have turned off from the direct line of entrance, and to have passed into this covered way in order to hear and see some youths from Asia performing. The assassins, after accomplishing their end, were afraid to venture through the front of the palace, and took refuge by hiding in the house of Germanicus.[20]

House of Tiberius.

At the western end of the cryptoporticus a house has been disinterred by the late excavations, and it has been inferred that this must have been the one called by Josephus the house of Germanicus. Whatever name may now be assigned to it, the house appears to have been preserved for some reason from destruction, and it seems reasonable to conclude that some connection with the earlier history of the imperial Cæsars rendered it an object of veneration and care. The space between the cryptoporticus, along which we have passed, and the so-called basilica of the palace, is supposed to have been called the Area Palatina, where those who came to call upon the emperor had to wait.[21] The long cryptoporticus was connected with the Flavian public buildings, and perhaps also previously with the house of Augustus, by a branch passage which runs off from the long cryptoporticus at right angles, towards the back of the atrium and lararium. By this means the emperor could pass from his private palace to the public audience and banqueting chambers without encountering the crowd of those who were waiting for audience in the area. In this area was found, in 1868, the pedestal bearing the name of Domitius Calvinus, now placed on the site of the ruined temple which lies farther to the west, and which we shall presently mention.

In the angle of the cryptoporticus near the house of Germanicus, are some beautiful remains of decorative work, consisting of paintings of birds and winged genii. These have been much injured by the damp exuding from a piscina which was constructed here in the second or third century for the keeping of fish, and which can be entered at the angle of the cryptoporticus. Near this piscina is the entrance to the building called the house of Tiberius or Germanicus. The construction of this house belongs to the period of Roman architecture, when reticulated work formed of the harder tufa, with small diamond-shaped stones, and with corners and connecting parts of the same stone, but without brickwork, was generally used. It was therefore probably built during the later republican times, and this agrees with the supposition that it was the works of Tiberius’s father or grandfather. Suetonius says that Tiberius was born on the Palatine.[22] The leaden pipes which have been found here, bear the names of Julia, the daughter of Titus, of one of Domitian’s, and one of Septimius Severus’s freedmen.

The house is divided into two main parts, one of larger dimensions for receiving guests and showing hospitality, and the other of smaller sized rooms, for the family. The vestibule is an arched passage adorned with paintings on the walls, and mosaic pavement. From this the atrium is entered which had no impluvium, but was covered entirely with a roof. On the left are the remains of an altar of the Lares, and at the further side of the atrium are three large rooms, the decorative paintings of which are well preserved.

In the central chamber, the walls are divided into large compartments by columns of the Composite order, adorned with vine leaves. One of the large scenes represented here is that of Polyphemus, who, after having crushed his rival Acis with an enormous rock, turns towards Galatea, who is riding on a hippocampus. Another, placed above the frieze, is a picture of a domestic initiation ceremony, as the sacred tænia which is being presented seems to prove. A third picture, also above the frieze, shows the preparations for a sacrifice. On the right sits a female figure, with a mantle, and a faun standing before some utensils for ablution, which are being lifted by a second female figure, while the sacrificial kid is being brought by a young slave. The next picture represents a row of houses along the side of a street or road, at the door of one of which a lady with her maid is knocking, while four or five figures present themselves above on the balconies. The last picture is one of Io hidden in the wood of Juno at Mycenæ, and watched by Argos, with a figure of Hermes descending by Jove’s command to rescue Io. The names of Io, Argos, and Hermes are legible here.

The room on the left hand of this one is also divided by Composite columns adorned with vine leaves, and by a beautiful frieze of giallo antico. The lower compartments have no figures, but the upper are ornamented with designs of genii and fantastic flowers.

The room on the right hand is decorated with beautifully-designed paintings of flowers and fruit, hanging from one column to the next. From these festoons hang the emblems of various divinities, the lyre of Apollo, the timbrel of Cybele, and the mystic sieve and mask of Bacchus. These seem to indicate that this was the lararium of the house. The frieze contains a number of landscape and marine views, with many figures of men and animals painted on a yellow ground.

At the north-western corner of the atrium opens a fourth chamber, which may perhaps have been the dining-room, or triclinium, decorated with trophies of sacred emblems of Diana and Apollo. The atrium communicates with the rooms at the back of the house and with a small courtyard by means of a corridor. Some of these rooms were used as baths, others seem to have opened towards the street, the pavement of which still remains along the side of the house.