Celio Roman Houses
The archaeological complex of Celio Roman houses , located under the Basilica of Saints John and Paul, in Rome, is identified according to tradition, with the place where the saints lived and were buried, after having suffered martyrdom there during the reign of Emperor Julian the Apostate (361-363 AD).
The area, discovered in 1887 by Father Germano of St. Stanislaus, rector of the Basilica, consists of more than 20 underground rooms on various levels, some of which are frescoed with paintings dating between the 3rd century AD and the Middle Ages.
Four main phases of use of the complex have been identified:
First phase The Domus: at the beginning of the 2nd century, the area of the present basilica was occupied by a two-storey luxury residential building, overlooking an alley parallel to the Clivo di Scaurus, equipped with a bathhouse on the ground floor and living rooms on the upper floor.
Second phase The Insula: at the beginning of the 3rd century an insula was built in front of the domus, a multi-storey block of flats for rent, with commercial rooms on the ground floor and small flats on the upper floors, intended for the lower classes.
Third phase The new Domus: between the end of the 3rd and the beginning of the 4th century, the entire block was purchased by a single owner; maybe the upper floors remained divided into rental flats, while the ground floor was used as noble residence for the family that owned the building.
Fourth phase The Domus of the Martyrs: in the second half of the 4th century the Christian tradition places the dwelling of Saints John and Paul here. The construction of the basilica above, built at the beginning of the 5th century by the senator Pammachius, probably identified as the last owner, led to the obliteration of the Roman rooms.
A
Portico on the Clivo di Scaurus
The entrance to the houses opens onto the Clivo di Scaurus, which was the main axis of the Caelian. The present entrance leads into what was once the portico for the passage to the shops on the ground floor of the insula.
C
Hall of the Genies
This room, originally used as a storeroom, was transformed in the 3rd century into an elegant reception hall that opened onto the nymphaeum behind it.
The hall was covered, on the floor and for the first two metres of the walls, with a luxurious decoration in opus sectile marble. In the lower part there are figures of winged youths identified as the genies, personal tutelary deities, connected by garlands of fruit and flowers; in the upper part there is a harvest scene with small cupids and birds of different species.
D
Hall of false marbles
The name of the room comes from the fresco decoration on three superimposed registers, datable to the beginning of the 4th century. The lower register has a plinth with large panels imitating a marble covering in opus sectile; in the middle part is a decoration with acanthus volutes and birds; in the upper register were a series of paintings with naturalistic subjects, almost completely lost.
E
Hall of the Prayer
The painted decoration of the walls, dating back to the beginning of the 4th century, shows in the lower part a plinth imitating the marble opus sectile surmounted by a floral decoration with acanthus heads. Above are a series of panels with various figures: Silenian masks surrounded by plant elements, sea monsters suspended in mid-air and a female mask amidst polychrome flowers. Completely intact is the female figure of a praying woman that gives the room its name, depicted wearing a long tunic and her arms outstretched, as a sign of prayer
F
Vestibule
The small room preserves images of the Egyptian god Apis and two Bacchae on the vault. The choice of themes seems to match with the same eclectic and syncretic logic that animates the decoration of the adjoining Sala dell’Orante.
G
Winery Cell
This room was carved out of an elegantly frescoed 2nd-century room, transformed into a service room used until the 7th century as a storeroom. This use seems to be testified by the amphorae found here, exhibited today in the Antiquarium, as well as by some cocciopesto basins, an underground amphora and a well.
H
Confessio
Built after the mid 4th century, the Confessio is a small place of worship linked to the martyrdom and burial of Saints John and Paul. In the niche is a decoration dated back to the end of the 4th century arranged in two registers. In the upper one there are the scenes of the arrest and death by beheading of the Christians Crispus, Crispinianus and Benedicta, who were martyred because they were devoted to the cult of the two saints; in the lower one there is a praying figure, probably John or Paul, with the adoring figures of the senator Pammachius and his wife Pauline at his feet.
I
Ninfeum
On the three walls of the nymphaeum is represented a mythological scene set in a marine context in which small heroes engaged in fishing and sailing activities can be distinguished. In the centre, on a kind of small island, two female figures stand out, one wrapped in a cloak, the other half-naked, with a male figure standing beside her, in the act of pouring a drink. The scene has given rise to various interpretations, including the depiction of a marine Venus or the return of Proserpine from Hades, between Bacchus and Ceres.
J
Antiquarium
The antiquarium is housed in the basement of the chapel of St. Paul of the Cross above it. Roman and medieval materials coming from the excavations of the houses carried out between 1887 and 1936 are collected here.
Among the most interesting materials are a fragmented alabaster bust from the 2nd century, a finely decorated glass bowl and a collection of glazed ceramic dishes of Byzantine, Hispano-Arabian and Middle Eastern production.
On the back wall is a large 12th-century fresco depicting Christ between the archangels Michael and Gabriel and Saints John and Paul, detached from the medieval oratory.