In 2022, a collaboration between the Archaeological Park of Ostia Antica and the publisher “L’Erma” di Bretschneider was initiated to reprint—with updated notes and bibliography—the volumes of the Scavi di Ostia series, starting with the first instalment by Guido Calza and others, Scavi di Ostia I. Topografia generale (Rome 1953). As announced by the director of the Archaeological Park, Alessandro D’Alessio, the relaunched series also aims to include new studies on the archaeology of the ancient city. The present volume by Daniele Bigi on the Caseggiato del Serapide (Insula of Serapis) follows up on that announcement.
The study is divided into three parts addressing complementary aspects of the building under investigation and its setting within Ostia’s cityscape. The author’s field research involved a comprehensive architectural survey that combined traditional recording methodologies with the use of photogrammetry and laser scanning. A set of 14 plates is included at the end of the book, featuring plans of the Caseggiato del Serapide and the construction phases and building techniques identified. In the book one also finds a range of black-and-white and two colour 3D reconstructions of the edifice’s hypothetical original elevation. Even just a quick glimpse at these pages is sufficient to realize this is the outcome of a meticulous study from the fieldwork to collect the data to their interpretation and assessment. The volume represents an important new contribution to our knowledge of Ostia’s private architecture, building upon the fundamental works by James E. Packer and Janet DeLaine as well as more recent studies such as that by Nicoline Bauers among others.[1]
Before discussing the author’s own research, the book opens with a short preface by D’Alessio and with an introduction by Dario Daffara, who outlines the rediscovery of this building complex in the nineteenth century and the history of its excavations (1935–37) and restorations (especially in the 1930s and 1960s). Ample use is made of archival documents and photographs to compensate for the lack of “giornali di scavo” for the years of these excavations, along with information that was reported in magazines, newspapers, and documentaries at the time. Apart from the importance of these chronicles for research purposes, readers will be amused by details such as the embarrassment that was caused under the Fascist regime by the discovery of Latin phrases on the defecatory processes of the human body, found in ironic association with the austere depictions of Sages on the paintings in the Terme dei Sette Sapienti annexed to the Caseggiato.
After this introduction, part 1 offers a brief outline of Ostia’s urbanism in the Hadrianic period, highlighting the role played by the new street system and the boom of the local construction industry in relation to the enhanced role of the city following Trajan’s redevelopment of the harbour infrastructures at Portus.[2] This is essential to contextualize the Caseggiato del Serapide within its historical and topographic setting. The author also looks at the pre-Hadrianic era, which is important to assess the remains of earlier building phases identified in the Caseggiato. These show the use of brick-stone masonry (opus mixtum/“opera mista”), which is easily distinguishable from the later brickwork masonry (opus testaceum/“opera testacea”) that occurs throughout the building. These remarks are supplemented by a note by Giorgio Ortolani on the nomenclature of ancient construction techniques and the use of these terms in Vitruvius. The main question is whether the prescriptions of a text written around the 20s BC for an audience of Rome’s elite members would be applicable to an edifice built in a different context some 150 years later.[3]
Part 2, the longest in the book, discusses the architecture of the Caseggiato del Serapide. In light of his observations on the so-called “preesistenza” (pre-existing building) and other elements, Bigi attempts to reconstruct the organization of the street system and city blocks before this area was extensively reshaped from the Hadrianic period onwards. The “preesistenza” should be dated during Trajan’s reign, as suggested by the chronology of a brick stamp (CIL XV, 1153), while its function remains uncertain, like that of the Terme dei Sette Sapienti whose original design did not probably envisage usage as a bathing complex. At some point in the latter part of Hadrian’s reign, around the 130s, the lot must have become the property of a wealthy landlord who invested substantial funds in a large-scale real estate enterprise, leading to the construction of the multi-residential complex of the Caseggiato.
In terms of architecture and design, this building presents notable features, some of which make it almost unique in the context of Ostia’s second-century construction activities. In particular, the very tall and slender pillars of the internal court, which were meant to support the upper storeys, represented a challenging building solution that was not replicated in other edifices of the period; the author highlights the thinness of the corner pillars, which seems to contradict their function to absorb the thrust from the upper levels. To some extent, this pushed the building’s statics to its limit, suggesting the involvement of metropolitan architects and workforce who were familiar with similar arduous solutions employed in Rome, such as in the lower peristyle of the imperial palace on the Palatine. The extant remains of the Caseggiato do not allow a secure identification of how many storeys (and apartments) would have been placed above the ground floor, but through his analysis and calculations the author hypothesizes two storeys and a terrace at the top. To these one should add a mezzanine level, the remains of which are visible in the tabernae on Via della Foce annexed to the building. Bigi is open to the possibility that the mezzanine could have been accessed from the Caseggiato, thus being part of the housing development proper rather than being connected to the tabernae underneath. This is probably difficult to prove without further evidence, although it remains an interesting hypothesis.
In part 3, the architectural analysis is extended to the Terme dei Sette Sapienti (Baths of the Seven Sages) and, more succinctly, to the adjoining Caseggiato degli Aurighi (Insula of the Charioteers). With regard to the Terme, the author convincingly recognizes two building phases. The first phase, assigned to the Hadrianic period, saw the construction of this circular building with its renowned black-and-white mosaic floor depicting animals and hunters among elaborate vegetal motifs. At a later stage, apparently not many years after the first phase, part of the building was modified through the insertion of brickwork arcaded pillars that might have replaced the putative columns of the previous phase. The combination of a circular shape with the rectilinear façade of the Caseggiato opening onto Via Della Calcara constitutes a striking visual feature that further complicates our understanding of this structure, although Bigi draws attention to similar elements in the villa of Marcus Fabius Rufus at Pompeii and in the recurring curvilinear architectures of Hadrian’s Villa, thus hinting to a putative identification as a monumental atrium. The short section on the Caseggiato degli Aurighi summarizes the last phase of the construction history of this city block. Under the reign of Antoninus Pius, c. AD 140–50, the landlord (or a new owner?) acquired the lot to the south of the Caseggiato del Serapide, determining a further extension of the existing property to reach the Cardo degli Aurighi. The author points out the differences in the design of the north and south complexes, arguing that the project of the Caseggiato degli Aurighi must have been carried out by a different architect. The final result was an enormous multi-residential unit, the monumental remains of which still impress those who visit Ostia today.
The book is suitably illustrated with numerous black-and-white photographs, plans, drawings, 2D and 3D reconstructions (plus some colour figures). Some typographic errors occur throughout the text, but luckily these do not affect its readability in general or the specific arguments presented by the author. Compared to the original volumes of the Scavi di Ostia series, the smaller (A4) format of these new instalments may leave less room for large plans or foldouts, but on the other hand it makes them more user-friendly. One can also rejoice at the fact that, unlike most titles in the publisher’s catalogue, the retail price of this book and of the previous reprint of Scavi di Ostia I makes them more affordable for both general readers and specialized libraries whose budgets have been severely cut in recent years.
In terms of broad historical phases, the development of the Caseggiato del Serapide/Caseggiato degli Aurighi and the respective district from the Trajanic to the Antonine period was already sketched out in previous studies of Ostia’s history and archaeology, such as in the classic accounts by Russell Meiggs and Carlo Pavolini.[4] The present book confirms most of the earlier interpretations but adds a level of detail to the reading of these architectures that was not reached before. This is especially evident in the reconstruction of the “preesistenza” and the layout of the city block before the Hadrianic period, as well as in the comprehensive analysis of the various components of the subsequent building complexes. The author highlights the design peculiarities and oddities of these structures and manages to present a convincing overview of the construction process of the Caseggiato throughout the different phases. Despite the nature of the data that form the basis of this work, one will appreciate that many parts of the book can be accessible even to an audience of non-specialists. It is to be hoped that this kind of approach to the study of Ostia’s architecture will be applied to other local public and private buildings, including the less monumental ones which can still reveal a wealth of information on the organization, and complexities, of ancient building processes.
Notes
[1] Packer, J.E. 1971. The Insulae of Imperial Ostia. Rome; DeLaine, J. 2002. “Building activity in Ostia in the second century AD”. In C. Bruun and A. Gallina Zevi (eds), Ostia e Portus nelle loro relazioni con Roma. Rome: 41–101; id. 2004. “Designing for a market: medianum apartments in Ostia”. Journal of Roman Archaeology 17: 146–76; Bauers, N. 2018. Scavi di Ostia XVI. Architetture in laterizio a Ostia: ricerche sulle insulae dell’Ercole bambino e del soffitto dipinto. Rome.
[2] For the latest research on the interconnected economic and urban systems of Ostia and Portus, see in particular Keay, S., Millett, M., Strutt, K. and Germoni, P. (eds) 2020. The Isola Sacra Survey. Ostia, Portus and the Port System of Imperial Rome. Cambridge; Caldelli, M.L., Laubry, N. and Zevi, F. (eds) 2023. Ostia e Portus dalla repubblica alla tarda antichità. Studi di archeologia e di storia urbana sui porti di Roma. Rome.
[3] This is a debated subject and the terminology employed for identifying and describing ancient building techniques is still not standardized in the scholarship. In this regard, a most welcome recent initiative is represented by the ACoR – Atlas des techniques de la Construction Romaine project, which attempts to overcome these issues: https://acor.huma-num.fr (with a forthcoming volume to be published by Quasar Editions).
[4] Meiggs, R. 1973. Roman Ostia (Second Edition). Oxford: 133–39; Pavolini, C. 2006. Guide archeologiche Laterza: Ostia (nuova edizione). Rome-Bari: 138–43.