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Murecine

Moregine or Murecine is a place about 600 m south of ancient Pompeii where a fine Roman building (of 1,000 m2) was brought to light in 1959 during road works. In ancient times it was on the north bank of the Sarno river and was a complex with semi-public character, perhaps related to the Pompeian port and to trading of products from the productive hinterland.

The hospitium


While only about a third of the building was excavated, around the part of the peristyle revealed were three summer triclinia (dining rooms) on the north side and two on the east overlooking the peristyle garden planted with myrtle bushes and with fishponds around the periphery. The masonry beds in the triclinia on which diners reclined were marble-faced and 14 water spouts around the periphery fed by a complex supply system fell into a channel around the top of the central part with mosaic floor. A round masonry "table" was placed in the centre painted with grapevines and birds, with a marble top and a central water spout. The walls were painted in 4th Style frescoes with extravagant architectures in which figures of gods (Zeus, Hermes, Dioscuri, Athena) stand, or depicting mythical scenes (Admetus before Pelias). They were the work of the same workshops that also decorated the House of the Vettii and were similar to others at Baiae and Herculaneum. The remarkable triclinia frescoes were partially removed and are now on display in the Palaestra Grande of Pompeii.

The multiple triclinia were ideal for businessmen to negotiate major deals during meals as was traditional. Uniquely discovered wooden expanding concertina diamond lattice panels on wheels could be extended acroos the front of the triclinia to give privacy. About 300 wax tablets recording financial and legal transactions are of unique and enormous historical importance. These features together have led to the identification of the building as the headquarters of a trading or shipping company, as were known to exist elsewhere, or a building similar to the House of Julia Felix. It has also been called the "hospitium (hotel) of the Sulpicii" after the owners of the tablets, or just the "triclinium building".

At the time of the eruption of 79 AD the building was being refurbished probably following the earthquake of 62 AD; several rooms were used for storage and 200 exotic greco scritto marble slabs were found stored in the kitchen, originating from the Hasançavuşlar quarries near Ephesus in Asia Minor. An iron anchor, oars and stern planking of a boat were found stored in the central triclinium.

Later excavations


In 2000-2001 more of the northern part of the building was excavated revealing the large baths suite on the northwest side. The Murecine Silver Treasure was also found in 2000 placed in a wicker basket in a latrine beneath the stairs in the baths complex to save it from the eruption. It consisted of an elaborate 20-piece table service weighing 4 kg and inscribed "Erasti sum" (I am Erastus's). The two beautiful drinking cups (canthari) are notable as they were probably treasured antiques at that time. They were made in the 30s BC in Alexandria to commemorate the Treaty of Brundisium during the Second Triumvirate in 40 BC which split the Roman world between between Mark Antony and Octavian. The treasure is on display in the Palaestra Grande of Pompeii.

A surprising discovery was that much of the frescoed triclinia walls remained in place and had not been removed in the poorly documented 1959 excavations, and hence the remaining frescoes were carefully renoved. On the northeast corner of the building (room F) is a large kitchen with lararium with fresco showing sacrifices and an altar approached by two long snakes.

The tablets
The wax-on-wood tablets date from 26-61 AD and are archives from a merchant bank in Pozzuoli, records of three aristocratic Sulpicii family bankers: C. Sulpicius Faustus, C. Sulpicius Cinnamus, and C. Sulpicius Onirus. Faustus and Onirus seem to have been the sons of the freedman C. Sulpicius Heraclida and from the texts Cinnamus was the freedman of Faustus.

They were found mostly in the middle north triclinium in a wicker basket either stored there as old archives during the renovation or fallen from the upper rooms. Since discovery they were never published and the texts have faded, leaving the photographs taken at the time as the best means of reading them.

Triclinium A
Triclinium A had the best preserved frescoes, representing Apollo and the muses.

Building B


About 100 m west of the hospitium complex a second building ("B"), which had also been on the north bank of the river, was also discovered in 2000-1. It consisted of many small rooms of different sizes and features and with triclinia which seem to be for accommodation of people linked to trades and businesses along the river. It was built in the 2nd century BC and renovated subsequently. Its function was probably similar to the Hospitium dei Sulpici but of a lower standard. Some rooms were decorated with 4th Style frescoes and with opus sectile floors.

One of the most important finds is the fresco depicting the compitalia or suovetaurilia religious rites.

In one room the skeletons of two women and three girls, including one of 14 and a four-year-old, were found killed by the collapse of the upper floor above them. One of the women of about 30 was found lying on her back and wearing two gold armbands in the form of snakes inside one of which was inscribed "DOM(I)NUS ANCILLAE SUAE" (from the master, to his female servant). She also had a gold ring, a little chain and a small bag with a pair of gold bracelets, two rings and a necklace with a pendant. They probably fled Pompeii after the first earthquakes to look for a safer place and if necessary escape via the port and were forced to shelter in this basement at the first ash fall.



The Baths
The baths still exist almost up to roof height, uniquely in Southern Italy. They cover an area of 700 m2. They are composed of an atrium-gymnasium, frigidarium, a small tepidarium-changing room, two large calidaria, a laconicum (sweating room) and some service areas. A central cross vault roofing system connected two short barrel vaults set on quadrangular pillars, while a complex system of canals allowed the circulation of water.

The entrance was through a large doorway 2m wide into the large atrium-apodyterium of 70 m2 which led in turn to the frigidarium, the largest room of the baths of 80 m2, with two apses for pools. The two calidaria each had two rooms, one with an apse.

The Site
The villa was located near the shoreline on the Tyrrhenian Sea on what, in Imperial times, was a thin sandy strip between the sea and the lagoon. This position was favoured by the proximity to the Via Severiana, which led from Portus to Laurentum and Lavinium. The area occupied by the residence was quite large and was delimited by an almost continuous boundary wall except on the sea side, where the main entrance was probably located.

At the center of the site are the remains of a quadrangular peristyle dating back to the Julio-Claudian age, surrounded by various rooms arranged on the arms of the quadriporticus. To the east are located, in a slightly elevated position, the remains of what would appear to be a residential district, while to the south-west are the remains of a thermal plant. The latter presents a precious two-tone mosaic having the god Neptune as the subject and dated, on the basis of a comparison with the one present in ancient Ostia, to 139. Note

The so-called Villa of Pliny, su sopraintendenzaroma.it. URL accessed January 15, 2021. ^ Villa of Pliny, on turismoroma.it. URL accessed January 15, 2021. ^ Pliny's Villa in Castel Fusano, on visitostia.tv , July 19, 2019. Retrieved January 15, 2021. ^ Stefano Lesti, The Villa of Pliny (Villa della Palombara) in Castelfusano, su ia-ostiaantica.org. URL accessed January 15, 2021.

From the archaeological remains we have the vision of a villa above all of a maritime type, with large buildings distant from each other, certainly the land was not lacking, with a large peristyle of the Julio-Claudian age with a quadrangular plan in the center, with a boundary wall which from the remains seems uninterrupted except on the side facing the sea where the main entrance certainly opened. In fact, three main phases of its construction have been recognized: the first, in blocks of tuff, from the Julio-Claudian period, the second in which the villa was enlarged in bricks between the end of the I and the beginning of the II century. AD, and the third between the age of Hadrian (117-138) and Antoninus Pius (138-161), in the second century. A.D.. The surrounding wall is of the villa visible in a large clearing next to the remains of the early Christian basilica, which can be accessed by moving away from Via Severiana along the path at stake number 16. Unfortunately, the original structure, object of clandestine excavations and looting since the 1700s, very little remains. It should be remembered that the villa, which is now about 600 meters from the sea, at the time looked directly onto the beach with a fantastic view of the sea and woods. At the center of the estate there was a large peristyle, consisting of two rows of columns, which delimited a large garden with a partially restored basin in the center, and with different rooms arranged along the arms of the quadriportico. The latter is accessed through a brick arch still surviving. The residential area is located to the east on a wide platform elevated about two meters above the peristyle, where you can recognize the remains of reticulated walls and fragments of black and white mosaic floors. To the south of the quadriportico there is a thermal plant, with a beautiful mosaic with black and white tiles in which Neptune appears with a trident on a chariot pulled by two seahorses, among fish, crustaceans and sea horses, dated to 139 AD. Even further south a circular basin and to the east of the portico, on a higher ground, the remains of a high tower. Another mosaic, with white tiles on a black background, is located immediately after the brick arch at the entrance to the villa. The Municipal Superintendency in the 90s conducted excavations in the south-eastern area of ​​the quadriportico; research has recently been resumed, to define the plan of the villa, to know its construction phases, from the initial ones already confirmed, to the later ones up to the construction of an early Christian basilica 7/8 m north-east of the surrounding wall of the villa and for a more secure attribution of the whole complex

The palatium upstream

Another sample of Hadrian's inventiveness can be seen in the building further on mountain, raised around 138 d. C.2" The heart of this extremely refined composition is now occupied by a turf which, according to the De Angelis d'Ossat, would conceal a basin of water similar to the Canopic ti— burtino.

Again according to the same scholar, a mirror was reflected in the basin monumental fountain, a large niche still partially covered by a quarter-sphere vault and flanked by two cruciform rooms which I have a cross-shaped cover (fig. 6). Leaning against the hips there they go then other environments, other levels deﬁned by an equally refined project.

A few hints will suffice to suggest the overall picture of the pala- tium built around the rectangle of the central clearing. There is no trace of ruins to the south, as to the east side, largely hidden by modern ones dwellings, a peristyle surrounded by destroyed rooms is distinguished there where the current input opens. The north side overlooks the open space an exedra flanked by two rectangular rooms, interpreted as a summer triclinium and adorned with two pink marble columns placed a tripartite access. The western side is well preserved, an excellent example what the shortage of building spaces could produce.

, suggesting that each was a separate property. IIn Mari’s terminology, there are three basic types of villas in the countryside of Tivoli and the Anio valley: the humble villa rustica (or Catonian villa); the “large residential villa” (or “otium villa”), and a tertium quid, the “rustic-residential” type.37 The villa rustica consists of a small residence with utilitarian installations such as wine and olive presses, millstones, etc. The otium villa lacks such installations, has a large residential block, usually sited on an artificial terrace, and is adorned with high-quality decorations such as mosaics, marble wall revetment, frescoes, and sculpture. In the late first or second century A.D., otium villas often were improved with bath complexes.38 Such concern for refined luxury and a lack of investment in economic exploitation of the property also characterizes the grounds around the residence, where nymphaea are common, as are topiary gardens.

The third and fourth centuries saw a general collapse of the villa system in the Roman hinterland, and the Licenza valley was apparently no exception: Mari notes the rarity in surface finds of late African red slip ware, something also observed in the western part of Tiburtine territory.49 In the more densely built-up ager Tiburtinus, Tomei counted 27 villas of Republican date, 80 dating to the first century A.D., 72 to the second century, 32 to the third, 24 to the fourth and fifth, and just 12 to the sixth century or later.50 She characterizes the mid-fifth century as a time of “nearly complete abandonment of the countryside, owning to the danger of invasions and sacks by the barbarians.”

The Motya (or Mozia) Charioteer is a marble statue dating from the ancient Greek Classical Period. It was found in October 1979 in the ancient city of Motya (Mozia), originally a Phoenician settlement which occupied the island of San Pantaleo off the coast of Sicily. It is owned by, and on view in, the Museo Giuseppe Whitaker (inv. no. 4310) on the same island.

It created a

It is considered exceptional in several ways:

The ancient Roman aqueduct of Fréjus was a major feat of engineering and architecture to supply the city with water from a source in the hills around Mons and Montauroux over a distance of 41km. Significant sections of its bridges and tunnels can still be seen. It dates from the 1st century AD

The aqueduct has been classified as a historic monument since 1886.

History
Construction began in the middle of the 1st century AD, although many modifications and additions took place later.

It remained in service for at least 300 years until destruction in the Barbarian invasions, and confirmed by the thickness of the internal concretions (carbonate deposits), which increase by about 1 mm per year.

It was partially renovated in the late 18th century for the water supply to Fréjus, and the first 5 to 7 km are still used today.

Route
When first built the aqueduct started at the Montauroux stream from the spring of La Foux, near Fontdurane, at 160m altitude and was 26 km long. About 20 years later the Siagnole stream at a further 13.5 km distance was added to its supply. Over its route it drops from 516 m to 34 m altitude with an average slope of 1.1%. The water takes about 17 hours to traverse the entire aqueduct, at an average speed of 2.4 km/h. The average flow is estimated at 34 litres/s.

The aqueduct crosses mainly rocky, hilly terrain and is mostly underground, but there is a large number of valleys over which bridges were often built. When approaching Fréjus it reaches the highest point above ground on great arches.

The mountain section: Roche-Taillée
The rocky hill of La Roche-Taillée represented a major obstacle near the start of the route. The first attempt with a a tunnel soon resulted in its collapse, but the Romans persisted and replaced it with a monumental cutting.

Descents from Pibresson and from the Callian plateau
After the mountain section, the aqueduct descends from Jas Neuf towards the plain in two zones of steep slopes first of 10% the "rapids of Pibresson" and then 24% from the Callian plateau into the valley of the Camiole stream where it follows the left bank. The route of the Callian descent is now well identified following public works and searches by private individuals. Surprisingly, its route is quite straight, with an average slope of 8%, without a fall pit or a slowing basin being identified.

The plain: Callian, Montauroux and Lake Saint-Cassien
The route in the plain of Callian and Montauroux was destroyed by farming or modern construction. It is a very straight path and has structural changes from different ages.

The crossing of the Biançon between the Foux de Montauroux and Fondurane
The branch of the aqueduct from the original source at Foux de Callian crossed the Biançon shortly after the Foux and joins the main branch in Gayet by the (known) bridge over the Carpénée, this branch being probably intended to compensate for the fragility of the two successive bridges of the main branch crossing the Biançon further downstream.

The aqueduct slope is gentle here again, about 0.7%. The aqueduct passes to the east of the La Foux spring, and crosses the Biançon river at the tip of the present St-Cassien reservoir, then turns sharply east to follow the right bank of the Biançon and crosses the Carpenée valley by a bridge. It crosses the Saoutet bridge which now drowned in the St-Cassien reservoir. At the S tip op the St-Cassien reservoir, where the aqueduct reaches the Vaux creek which joins the Biançon from the south, the aqueduct turns SW UPstream to the watershed with the Reyran creek. T

The crossing of the Biançon at Fondurane (Gayet)
This crossing is of recent discovery. It was described in several archival documents and even on the Napoleonic register, but no one had researched them. Its location had long been confused with the outlet of the Fondurane mill and sawmill. The importance of the Biançon watershed offers a significant explanation for the existence of two successive states as well as the southern supply route (passing through Plaine Neuve). This sensitive passage, belatedly known, seems to have caused more problems than that of La Roche-Taillée. Journey immersed in the lake of Saint-Cassien

In crossing the lake, the Roman aqueduct was reused in 1892 to install a 40 cm asbestos-cement pipe there to supply the towns of Fréjus and Saint-Raphaël. This work was the subject of a particularly detailed preliminary study by engineers from Ponts-et-Chaussée Perrier and Périer. The aqueduct could be fully observed in september 2006 due to the severe drought which unusually lowered the lake of Saint-Cassien [ 7 ].

in red the layout of the Roman aqueduct in black = tunnels in light green = 'Jourdan' canal (1892) in dark green = channel E2S from 1965

West branch of the lake

South branch of the lake

Bridges and culverts crossing many valleys
One of its remarkable features is the numerous valleys along the route of the Fréjus aqueduct. They were crossed using bridges, not bypassing them (as for the Aix-La Traconnade aqueduct). These often very steep valleys represent the weak point of the aqueduct:

their scaling weighed them down considerably, this scaling was accentuated by exposure to the sun, a localized source of warming Mediterranean storms have often destroyed them, and several times: in many cases, there are two successive states, if not three (Jaumin). the use of tunnel passages has been rare.

The Roman Gallery of Vaux
Crossing the Col des Vaux (watershed) required the drilling of a gallery 852 meters long. Due to its altitude, the gallery has never been visible since the formation of Lake Saint-Cassien. It is one of the weak points of the lake, which also poses sealing problems which required the installation of a drain.

Light from the aqueduct at the exit of the Roman gallery at the Col des Vaux

Reyran Valley: journey formerly immersed in the Malpasset reservoir (1959)
The Reyran valley was flooded when the impoundment of the Malpasset dam was impounded, which broke dramatically in 1959. The construction in 1962 of the Saint-Cassien gravity dam once again flooded the aqueduct by creating the reservoir of Lake Saint-Cassien. It is a hilly area, initially with a steep slope, where there are only few traces of the aqueduct.

Final section
From the A8 motorway, the Roman canal is enclosed by private property. We find some ruins in the north of the city, at Sainte-Croix, and at Clos de la Tour. In the city, urbanization has destroyed its end as well as the thermal baths of Villeneuve Construction Architecture Ornamentation

The product is very rustic, with no noticeable added decoration element. Only a bust at the arches of the Bottle symbolizes Roman power. Very damaged, in low relief, it illustrates all the sobriety of the aqueduct. (Site n ° 26) Bridges, tunnels, dams, walls

The route from the Mons aqueduct to Fréjus is characterized by a preferential use of bridges or trenches, but rarely of tunnels. The main tunnels are those of San-Peyre, Pibresson, l'Esquine, and mainly the Galerie des Vaux (852 m ), the others are much less important: Gayet, Boson Escoffier, Moutte. There are no traces of the dam crossing the Biançon at Plaine-Neuve described by Perrier in 1892. Several crossings on the walls were used: Malpasset-aval, Bosquets, Sainte-Brigitte, Gorgo-Vent The siphon technique doesn’t was not used, except for the pipes of 1892, with each visit in a siphon a manhole upstream and a suction cup (air purge) downstream. For the so-called engineering pipeline, the siphons were made using metal tubes, with manholes upstream and downstream.

Valley crossing wall upstream of Malpasset

Looks

There are only a few original looks, except for a short series before and after the Gargalon: it is therefore impossible to assess the average spacing.

Interior view of a typical section.

Materials

The Romans used more particularly two types of materials: lime mortar with centimeter aggregates, now called "Roman concrete", and (especially for waterproofing) tile mortar, still lime-based, but implemented with crushed debris infra -centimeters of common objects in red brick: tiles ( tegula and imbrex ), amphorae… By necessity they easily used local materials on a geologically very varied path: karst, sedimentary, metamorphic, imbritic, which explains the many local variants : there are thus several quarries and lime kilns on the way.

Roman lime mortar and large aggregates.

Section of tile mortar (red) topped with coarse tuff (leaks)

Technical details

Traces of mud in the Roche-Taillée stone.

Remains of holes in the rock to cut it with wet wooden corners.

Arch formwork support.

Aix-Traconnade Aqueduct : oil lamp stall.

The enemy of aqueducts in the karst region: "calcairosclerosis"

The aqueducts had many enemies: man in the first place, by actions of destruction. The heat aggravated the concretions and the cold dilated the structures, the drought also had a harmful action. Invasive roots from neighboring trees could damage them. Ground instability (solifluxion) and torrential floods destroyed the aqueducts. The animals sought to take advantage of the water or the shelter.

In the karst region, the internal carbonate concretions required regular cleaning [ 8 ].

Mediterranean aqueducts are most often found in the karst region (limestone), they are then exposed to carbonate deposits deposited by water saturated with calcium carbonate: for the aqueduct from Mons to Fréjus, it is estimated that the thickness of the deposits was 1 millimeter per year, or 10 centimeters per century. The result of this "calcairosclerosis" was manifested by a reduction in the speed of flow which required regular cleaning and, at the level of aqueducts, by an overweight which often became fatal for them and required the reconstruction of a bridge. This fragility was aggravated by the violence of the Mediterranean floods descending the short but very steep valleys and without resistant base (in particular when the aqueduct has passed karst regions). Obesity and calcairosclerosis were already two scourges of a part of the Roman world. The internal deposits are fine-grained like that of travertines, they have a periodic striation made of doublets (one clear, one darker) statistically reflecting a year of deposits. We sometimes notice, in addition, cleavage plans usually attributed to periods of drought. The study of these striations makes it possible to make a retrospective approach to the surrounding climate [ 8 ]. The external deposits are coarse-grained and often dirty, like the tuff formations visible at the emergence of caves in the karst region.

In comparison, the Lyonnais aqueducts did not suffer from this cancer. Their problems were at the level of crossing the valleys by means of siphons in lead pipes (rare, expensive and sometimes resistant to considerable pressure).

On microscopic examination, the dark streaks of the periodic doublets have a very different crystallization than that of the light streaks: this could be explained by different crystallization temperatures. These dark streaks themselves appear to be able to be broken down into several internal doublets (2 to 3). The coloring of these streaks appears in connection with impurities. However, you have to be very careful: cutting and polishing techniques are very destructive and bring degradation materials. Roman aqueduct: modern use and reuse

We do not know precisely the date of end of global operation of the aqueduct from Mons to Fréjus: the last known date corresponds to the siege of Fréjus in 1590 (religious war against the Carcists (local name of the Huguenots) by Bernard de Valletta which caused the aqueduct to be put out of use to cause the end of the siege, and immediately go to make the siege of Mons. The aqueduct is still in service on its upper quarter: this must be the heritage of the house of Villeneuve which had to maintain it for the supply of its strongholds of Beauregard, San-Peyre, Pibresson, Cananilles, Font-Bouillen, Velnasque and Tourrettes [ 9 ] . It was locally redeveloped to be used for the irrigation of the rich plain of Fonduranne as well as the functioning of its mill and its sawmill.It was also partially reused in 1892 to install an asbestos-cement pipe 40 cm in diameter to supply water Fréjus and Saint-Raphaël : See also

On other Wikimedia projects:

Aqueduct from Mons to Fréjus, on Wikimedia Commons

Mons: the origin of the aqueduct Route from the Roman aqueduct from Mons to Fréjus immersed in the lake of Saint Cassien List of historic monuments in Var the Biançon the Saint-Cassien lake

Notes and references

" Historical Monuments - Ancient Aqueduct (remains of the) ", on culture.gouv.fr (accessed February 3, 2011 ) " General inventory of cultural heritage - Aqueduct. », On culture.gouv.fr (accessed February 3, 2011 ) The Roman aqueduct from Mons to Fréjus, its description, its history and its environment, Gébara Ch., Michel T.-M. et al., RAN supp. 33, Asso. rev. Archeo. de Narbonnaise Ed., Montpellier, 2002 ( ISBN 2-84269-517-8 ) The sources of the Siagnole de Mons, Étienne M., Thèse Doct. 3rd cycle, 1987, Univ. Sc. And Tech. du Languedoc, Montpellier Observation of the route of the Roman aqueduct of Fréjus in the usually submerged part of the EDF reservoir of Saint-Cassien (municipalities of Montauroux, Callian and Les Adrets-de-l'Estérel, Var.) Royon M., Anne and Jean-Pierre Joncheray , Cahiers d'Archéologie Subaquatique, XVI, 2007 p. 5-86. Roman aqueduct from Mons to Fréjus immersed in the lake for 7 km Roman aqueduct from Mon to Fréjus Observation of the route of the Roman aqueduct of Fréjus in the usually submerged part of the EDF reservoir of Saint-Cassien (municipalities of Montauroux, Callian and Les Adrets-de-l'Estérel, Var.) Royon M., Joncheray Anne et J.-P., Cahiers d'Archéologie Subaquatique, XVI, 2007 P.5-86. Dubar M.: Climatic approach to the Roman period in the east of the Var: research and analysis of periodic components on a centenary concretion ( 1st - 2nd century AD) of the aqueduct of Frejus. ArchéoSciences 30 -2006, p. 163-171. read online Juigné De Lassigny E.,: History of the house of Villeneuve in Provence, genealogy and table from 1200 to 1900, reprint, 1990.

Tumulus details
The tomb complex is surrounded by an almost circular wall of 158 m of diameter and 3 m height made of limestone covered with marble from the island of Thassos, 60 km from Amphipolis. The state of preservation of the wall and the cornice covering the building is in part very good. The burial mound is about 30 m high and 250,000 m³ of sand were needed to fill it. Parts of the wall were removed during the Roman period and single ashlars were found in the base of the Lion of Amphipolis.

The tomb
The tomb consists of three chambers. The ceiling throughout is a barrel vault. Access is via a 13-step staircase, the masonry of the entrance area is plastered. Originally, the access to the tomb as well as the access from the first to the second chamber were closed with massive blocks of stone. The tomb was largely filled with sand or earth.

First chamber
The staircase is separated from the chamber by a wall with a doorway. The space between the lintel and the vaulted ceiling is open. There are two sphinxes on the lintel, parts of the heads and wings of which were found in the third chamber. The sphinxes were around 2 m high. The passage to the first chamber is framed by two columns decorated with painted Egg-and-dart motifs. The floor is covered with pieces of white marble embedded in red mortar.

Second chamber
The chamber is 4.5 m wide, 3 m long and around 6.5 m high. It is a few cm higher than the first chamber and is separated from it by a threshold. The lintel leading to the second antechamber is supported by two caryatids. They each stand on a 1.40 m high platform and are 2.27 m high themselves. The face of the caryatid west of the gate is well preserved, the face of the east is broken, parts of which were found in situ. The floor is completely decorated with a mosaic. It uses black, white, grey, yellow, blue and red tesserae and is framed with a meandering geometric pattern and a wave pattern on the inside. In the middle of the mosaic the tesserae are missing on an almost circular surface with a diameter of approximately 80 cm. Some of the missing tesserae were found in the layer of earth covering the chamber. The work of art depicts the abduction of Persephone by Pluto. Both stand on a chariot drawn by two white horses. They are guided by Hermes who accompanies the spirits of the deceased to Hades. Persephone wears a white robe with a narrow red ribbon around her waist. Pluto is depicted with a crown and Hermes with winged sandals.

There are also wall paintings and some figures are clearly recognisable.

The burial chamber
The burial chamber is 4.5x4.5 meters and is separated from the second chamber by a double marble door carved to imitate wooden doors with false fittings and nails. Insets in the doors indicate that metal rings were originally attached to them. The external dimensions of the tomb are 3.23 m in length, 1.56 m in width and about 1 m deep. The tomb is constructed of massive stone blocks.

The head of one of the two sphinxes and parts of the wings were found in the burial chamber with parts of the broken marble door. The box-shaped tomb is embedded in the floor which is paved with ashlars. According to a report by the Greek Ministry of Culture, nails from a wooden coffin and decorative elements made of bone and glass remained from the burial in the otherwise robbed grave.

Remains of five people were found here. The deceased were a 60-year-old woman, two men aged 35 to 45, an infant and another person who was cremated.

Read WP:NPA and WP:CIVIL. You’re making major changes including I believe stating interpretations as fact. You should have been willing to discuss them when I reverted you. I’m not the only one unhappy either. Doug Weller talk 21:29, 13 March 2022 (UTC)


 * And before you make any other edits to Hadrian's Wall, note the comments on the talk page - you should suggest them there first. Doug Weller  talk 12:32, 15 March 2022 (UTC)

The Villa Melania was a ancient Roman villa located in the modern suburb of Pistunina to the south of Messina. The villa was quite famous in ancient times and belonged to the rich and powerful senatorial family of the Gens Valeria. It owes its name to Saint Melania the Younger (383-439), noblewoman of the Gens Valeria whose stay at the villa around 408-410 was described by Gerontius :

"'We owned, in fact, a considerable property in which there were baths magnificence anything else in the world; on one side, in fact, there was the sea, on the other a forest with trees of all kinds, populated by wild boar, deer, fallow deer and other hunting beasts; those who plunged into the pool could see boats sailing on one side and hunting beasts in the woods on the other. The devil, therefore, finding also in this property an opportune reason (of temptation, n.d.t.), submitted to me the diversity of the marbles contained in it and the unspeakable revenues of the same; the property [also] included sixty large houses, each of them with four hundred agricultural slaves.'"

There are several interpretations given over the years on the location of this villa, one of which has been identified in the remains found in 1991 in the area of ​​Pistunina, a hamlet of Messina.

From the villa, Melania witnessed the fire in Reggio in 407 caused by the sack of Alaric I.

In 1991 during construction of a building, several artifacts of Roman origin came to light. A bad story of theft and damage followed; the Superintendency of Messina acted in the interest of preserving the area which, in the meantime, was seized. The reliefs made on the remains of Roman structures attested to their antiquity and the historical period (I-VII century AD). The judicial seizure at the time included about fifty blocks in lava stone, the remains of the wall structures, numerous bricks, some in limestone, a block in marble and three columns in marble. The research carried out by the archaeologist Giacono Scibona, then by his colleagues Umberto Spigo and Giovanna Maria Bacci, lead us to believe that only a small part of what was one of the most important villas in Sicily during the imperial age has been unearthed.

The few excavations carried out have led to believe for a long time that the remains found belonged to the Villa mentioned by Santa Melania in his Lives, however in recent years other interpretations have been added. At present, the area remains abandoned and the excavations are interrupted. It remains impossible to define with certainty whether the remains found belong to Villa Melania, this is only possible by resuming the excavation work. After decades of oblivion, the time has come to continue a research work that can reveal important details about the history of Messina.

The ceramic findings date the first housing system to the 1st century AD, even if the excavations have brought to light mainly elements relating to the 4th-5th century AD and, later still, to the 6th-7th century. In particular, coins of the Byzantine emperors Leone (457-474) and Zeno (476-491) and other ceramic fragments between the third and fifth centuries have been found. And again the remains of an ancient temple, the foundations of another wall structure, about fifty blocks in lava stone, many bricks some of which in limestone, a block and three columns in marble.

Roman villa of Bocca di Magra archaeological site of Ameglia Missing in English

The Roman villa of Bocca di Magra is a maritime villa, with sloping terraces built in a panoramic position along the slope of Mount Caprione on the right bank of the Magra river. The archaeological site is in the municipality of Ameglia, in the province of La Spezia. Unique together with the Varignano villa in the eastern Ligurian region, it probably hosted the poets Stazio and Persio who sang its beauty. Roman villa of Bocca di Magra Bocca di Magra Archaeological site.jpg

History

«... For me, the Ligurian beach is now warm and winters along my sea, where the rocks form a long embankment and the beach turns inside in a deep curve. "Porto di Luna, come and visit, citizens, it's worth it", Ennio recommends it ... " ( Persius VI, 6-9 )

Located in front of the Portus Lunae, overlooking the Apuan Alps , the villa was built in the 1st century BC , then subsequently modified until the 4th century.

It is one of the Roman villas of the Augustan age that are located along the entire Tyrrhenian side. Villas of the Roman aristocracy or upper middle class, often equipped with their own maritime and spa facilities, dedicated to the otia, the voluptates and amoenitates as described by the Latin writers. Description The oven and the calidarium

The villa has a very articulated architectural system to connect the different levels of the building itself, with arcades, terraces, stairs and corridors.

The oldest walls are made of stone while the later renovations are built with recycled material (bricks and marble) and low-lime mortar. Detail of the capitals of the Civic Archaeological Museum "Ubaldo Formentini" of La Spezia

The best preserved part is the calidarium of the thermal plant, with its heating system consisting of a wood-burning oven placed under the floor from which a hot air duct branches off which allowed to heat the entire room as well as the water from the tub. The tub is covered with a layer of waterproof plaster and on its bottom is painted in turquoise to obtain the effect of sea water.

A circular stamp on the bricks of the calidarium ceiling bears the capricorn of C. Iulius Antimachus and this document allows us to place the dating of this part of the building at the end of the 1st century AD.

There was probably a porticoed terrace whose columns are preserved two Corinthian capitals. The richness of this villa from the early imperial age is further evidenced by the fragments of plaster painted with plant and floral images and theatrical masks. Note

Bibliography

A. Mazzoni, Excavation essay on the remains of the Roman building of Bocca di Magra, in the Historical Journal of Lunigiana , La Spezia, International Institute of Ligurian Studies, Lunense Section, 1959, pp. 80-83.

E.Silvestri, Ameglia in the history of Lunigiana, La Spezia, International Institute of Ligurian Studies, Lunense Section, 1963, pp. 42-46.

O.Elia, Art Bulletin, Rome, Ministry of Education, General Directorate of Antiquities and Fine Arts - The State Library, 1966, p. 204.

A. Frova, Bocca di Magra, in the Archaeological Superintendency of Liguria (edited by), Archeology in Liguria. Excavations and discoveries 1967 - 1975, Genoa, SIAG, 1976, pp. 55-58.

Lunensi Study Center, Luni. Archaeological Guide, Sarzana, Zappa, 1985, pp. 138-139.