A Nerd Goes To Rome
Chapter 4: Outer Rome
The Baths Of Caracalla
At the end of Chapter 3, I mentioned the Baths Of Caracalla. This is not outside Rome. And it is an imposing, impressive, well known and very popular visitor site. But I am including it on this journey for 2 less well known features. First of all, for a short while only, the underground level was open to visitors. Various websites suggest that the opening was around 2019, but my own investigation suggests 2016. It was open in 2017 when we went. But it was closed last year. There is no mention of it now on the Baths website. Whether this is because of safety, COVID restrictions, or lack of interest, I don’t know. Other websites suggest the tunnels only open for special events. Best to check before you go.
That is a shame, I thought it was very impressive, more than a mile of huge, vaulted tunnels, where the hard work was carried out. The tunnels are big enough for horses and carts to bring in iron and other supplies for the mills and furnaces down there. There was also a Mithraeum in the tunnels.
During their heyday, the baths were a massive operation, staffed by slaves responsible for constantly stoking the fires of the 50 brick ovens that kept the waters of the caldarium a piping hot 104 degrees 24 hours a day. The complex was powered by a nearly two-mile-long network of lead pipes, with an aqueduct on a nearby hillside supplying some 18.5 gallons of water per second to heated copper tanks. It must have been stiflingly hot working down there.
The second feature is the opening in 2022 of part of a reconstructed ancient home containing a prayer room with frescoes dedicated to Roman and Egyptian deities. The frescoes come from an early 2nd C AD domus which was initially excavated in the 19th C, near the eastern gymnasium of the Baths. Conservation work on the domus began in the 1970s.
The frescoes from the two-floor house depict Jupiter, Juno and Minerva together with Anubis, Isis and probably Serapis. This indicates that the Romans worshipped gods of different cults at the same time, in their private homes. The house was built during the reign of Emperor Hadrian, was part of a neighbourhood that was partially demolished to make way for the Baths of Caracalla which opened in 216 AD.
The Clivus Scauri
Just beyond the top of city end of the Vialle della Terme di Caracalla is a minor street called the Clivo di Scauro which climbs the Caelian Hill. This is an actual Roman street, the Clivus Scauri. Clivus is the word for a narrow alley or street. It runs up the east side of the Caelian, up to the top. The Clivus Scauri now begins at the church of San Gregorio al Celio, and runs along the side and underneath the buttresses of the Basilica of Saints John and Paul. It may have been named after the Vicus Scauri mentioned on an one inscription, and probably owes its origins to the Aemilia Scauri family, possibly Marcus Aemilius Scaurus.
The road has preserved an ancient appearance, with some sections flanked by homes from the time of the Roman Empire, and large parts of the facades preserved and linked. It also runs underneath the buttresses of the Basilica of Saints John and Paul. Opposite the Piazza Santi Giovanni e Paolo are brick remains from the third century, consisting of a row of tabernae (small shops), with traces of a second floor. In the piazza, at the base of the campanile, are ruins of the Temple of the Divine Claudius. The final stretch of the road leads to the Porta Caelimontana, preserved as the Arch of Dolabella. The original purpose of this arch was probably to support a branch of the Aqua Marcia.
The remains of a Roman house can be visited on the street, but it was closed when we went up there, even though it should have been open that day. As we came back down, a wedding party was walking up the Clivus as they might have done 2000 years ago. The Clivus Scauri is literally like stepping back in time to Ancient Rome, but still on a city alley still in use as a thoroughfare today. Other remains on the Clivus are parts of the Library of Pope Agapito I.
The Palatine Insula
Guidebooks and websites often say the Insula dell’ Ara Coeli is the only ancient Insula left in Rome. Not correct. If you walk along the Via di San Gregorio from the Circus Maximus, after visiting Clivus Scauri, towards the Colosseum, or if you start or finish a Palatine Hill tour at this point, at the foot of the hill, set back from the road, are the remains of a late Roman Insula from the 2nd/3rd C AD. Not forgetting the former insula inside Vicus Caprarius.
The ruin is set into the hillside. It is a long rectangular building with shops at street level, and steps to apartments on the upper floors, arranged around a courtyard. The insula had a small bath suite added in the 4th C AD. A nymphaeum was also added in the courtyard, which suggests the insula may have been converted into a domus for a wealthy family at this point. Other suggestions include an early church on the site but there is no evidence.
San Giovanni Metro Station
There is station on the Rome Metro called San Giovanni. In 2018 it became an interchange for Lines A and C, as part of the Line C extension. When excavating for the new lines and platforms, the builders came across a lot of archaeology, around 40,000 finds in total. So, it was decided to display some of the finds in the station when it re-opened.
In the 1st C AD there was a farm here. The exhibits here include a series of statues of nymphs, amphorae, and drainage piping, as well as a large basin that was originally used to store and redistribute water. Also some pieces of Roman buildings recycled for use in buildings from the 17th C AD onwards. There are also smaller exhibits, like rings, coins and gems, displayed in specially designed showcases built into the walls. Lower down the station levels at a depth of 30m are displays illustrating the area back in the Pleistocene period (11,7000BC to 2.5m BC). It is a great idea, and use of the space, so we made sure we changed lines at this station one day. In a similar vein, although we haven’t been to it, at a McDonald’s burger joint that opened in 2018 in Frattocchie, a district south of Rome, a section of the Via Appia, the Appian Way is preserved. It was discovered during development of the site, and McDonalds decided to include it as a feature of their new restaurant.
The Park Of Aqueducts
From San Giovanni station you can get the metro to one of the 3 stations near the Park Of Aqueducts: Lucio Sestio, Giulio Agricola, or Subaugusta, all very Roman named stations. Access to the park is a short walk from all of them.
The park runs parallel to the Appian Way, and is part of the suburban regional park of the Appia Antica. It covers approximately 600 acres. It is what is left of a stretch of Agro Romano which originally extended up to the Alban Hills. The name of the park derives from the remains and/or the site of 6 of the 11 aqueducts that supplied Rome: the Anio Vetus (underground), the Marcia, the Tepula, the Iulia, and the Claudio with Anio Novus. Additionally there is the Renaissance Aqua Felice aqueduct, which was built using the remains of the Aqua Iulia, under the direction of Pope Sextus V. Felix was his birth name.
From 1965 to the 1970s work began on improving the area for public access by removing shacks and other illegal buildings. However, this work was not entirely successful, and in 1986 a Committee for the protection of the Aqueduct Park and Old Rome was set up. In 1988 the committee succeeded in having the Aqueducts area included in the Appia Antica Regional Park. There are now many pathways and water features in the landscape. The area is effectively a very pleasant nature reserve for the public, with free access at all times. With your Atac transport ticket, a wonderful countryside stroll with history thrown in, that costs nothing.
We were able to see remains of the Aqua Felice (formerly the Julia), and the Aqua Claudio whilst having a lovely walk away from the bustle of central Rome.
The Tiber At Ostia
Speaking of being away from the crowds, a train ride to Ostia Antica, the old port of ancient Rome, is another option. I have now visited Ostia 3 times. I still haven’t seen everything. There is far too much to say about Ostia for this article.
However it occurred to me that I had never seen the Tiber at Ostia on previous visits, so that was one reason we went again. There is no clear information on how and where to see the river either, but plenty of photos from the air. The map indicated it is behind the gift shop. However, that is all fenced off.
Then we noticed some steps leading nowhere in particular, beyond the grassed picnic area near the site cafeteria. I walked to the top and could see a glimpse of water through the vegetation. Well that was disappointing I thought. But suddenly walking back down, about half way, the Tiber appeared in view. Success.
I still haven’t seen what is left of the original Ostia wharves. Apparently there are some very scanty remains in a nature park off Via della Saline (Natural Park of the Salt Pans). The Tiber has changed course over the years, and a huge meander, near where the wharves were, disappeared after a storm in 1557. Even for me, going there might be just a bit too much effort.
Portus
Across the other side of the Tiber from Ostia Antica is the later ancient Rome harbour called Portus, built when the Ostia harbour began to silt up. Portus was built initially in Claudius’s reign, and expanded under Trajan, with the large hexagonal basin. I had never been to Portus before last year, so we decided it was time we did. Look at a map. It is on the doorstep of Fiumicino Airport. Easy then. Well, no. Think ‘Planes, Trains, and Automobiles’. Or in our case, Planes (if you count the flight out to Rome), Buses, Metros, Trains, and Automobiles.
A day or so after arriving in Rome I spotted a large tourist office, and went in to ask the best way to get there on public transport. I might as well have asked for ‘The Way To San Jose’ or ‘The Way to Amarillo’ (with Peter Kay and Mr Blobby thrown in). In Britain ‘Amarillo’ was sung by Tony Christie. Fun fact: my wife Rachel used to deliver his post in the early 1980s.
Fortunately a friend of ours lives near Rome. As there were 7 of us in total he agreed to pick us in 2 car journeys from Ostia Antica station. That was after bus from near hotel, metro to EUR Magliana, and train to Ostia Antica. Normally you can get a train from Porta San Paolo but works on the line last year meant the extra metro journey.
If you are going to Portus it is best to buy an all in ticket valid for 8 days which covers Ostia Antica, Portus, Boat Museum, Isola Sacra Necropolis, and the Castle of Julius II. We had a day at Ostia, then the next day at Portus. As a site for visitors, it is ‘work in progress’. There is a new ticket office and refreshment stall. A small leaflet contains a map and a little information.
The site is a park with scattered ruins. It is a nature park as well as an archaeological site. You can see the remains of fortifications and warehouses, and the Claudian inner harbour. Some of the park is still off limits to visitors. A horse and carriage ride around the basin perimeter is apparently the best way to see hexagon itself, but it wasn’t running when we went. We did manage to see a small part of the basin though. For me, another bucket list item ticked off.
Perhaps the most impressive part is the Magazzini Traianei (Trajan’s Warehouses) which includes a colonnaded street featuring rustic columns. This is a site that I hope will be improved for visitors as time passes, to take the pressure off central Rome. But it will require better transport links. I need to do another article on Ostia and Portus too.
Villa Giulia National Etruscan Museum
Back in Rome there are many museums, way too many to include in this article, though I have mentioned certain items in or around the Capitoline Museum. A museum which receives very little coverage is the National Etruscan Museum in the Villa Giulia, on Viale delle Belle Arti, to the north of central Rome. So, as a nerd this is the one I am including.
The villa was built for Pope Julius III, for whom it was named. It remained a papal property until 1870, when it became the property of the Kingdom of Italy. The museum was founded in 1889 as part of the new nationalistic movement. The aim was to gather all the pre-Roman antiquities of Latium, southern Etruria and Umbria from the Etruscan and Faliscan civilizations in one building. From the early 20th C, the villa has been the National Etruscan Museum.
The most famous exhibit there is a funerary monument, the almost life-size Sarcophagus of the Spouses. The sarcophagus is made of terracotta and was once brightly painted. It shows a man and woman lying on a couch supported by cushions. The style is Archaic, and they have elongated body proportions. The couple’s eyes are almond-shaped, giving them a happy look. There is a line across the middle of the sarcophagus that shows that it was made as separate pieces.
The museum also hosts many other significant finds: sculptures, ceramics, sarcophagi, funerary art, as well as reconstructions of Etruscan tombs. Popular history depicts the Etruscans as rivals to Rome, who took over the kingship in the early days, but were ultimately driven out, and later conquered. There is a growing view now that Rome was founded by the Etruscans, but later broke away from the Etruscan league. That is another topic altogether. However, the Etruscan museum is definitely worth a visit.
Nothing to do with Ancient Rome, but once you have been to the museum, on the way back into Rome, stop off at Bioparco Roma. It is a lovely zoo, with all the big animals, and many smaller ones. My favourites are the hippos, then the giraffes. They also have a white tiger, very unusual.
Finale
I have covered only a limited number of sites in this article. There are many more. My purpose has been to highlight some of them to show how much can be learned from the smaller or less well-known and visited sites, as well as the popular ones. When you go to Rome, look for the sites off the beaten track, and explore them. Consider what went on there in the days of the Roman Republic and Empire, and indeed in the following 1500 years. They all have a story to tell.
Information Sources & Additional Reading
Campus Martius and its Ancient Monuments: L F Aulbach & L C Gorski, 2016
Along The Aurelian Wall: L F Aulbach & L C Gorski, 2015
Constantine’s Rome: L F Aulbach & L C Gorski, 2019
Rome, An Oxford Archaeological Guide: Amanda Claridge, 2010 Edition
The Eternal City: Jessica Maier, 2020
Rome, A History In Seven Sackings: Matthew Neale, 2017
Google Maps, Google Earth, Google Street View, Wikipedia
Peter Coglan
April 2024
