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Rome: Archaeological Park of the tombs of Via Latina

Rome: Archaeological Park of the tombs of Via Latina

Rome is a city that tells its history and majesty on every corner and is still hidden by centuries of buildings built one above the other. Today I tell you something from my visit to the archaeological park of Via Latina, a place that can explain very well the history of that period in Rome. Let’s start with a small historical note about Via Latina: this street was built between 318 and 312 BC to connect Rome to Capua because it was just along this road that the soldiers travelled to move south to conquer new settlements and was isolated following tracks protohistoric. The route is practically identical to that of Via Appia, and the main difference is that Via Appia was more on the coast than Via Latina. We also know that there was already a sort of sidewalk.
Parco archeologico di via Latina In the mid-nineteenth century, the area was buried by layers and roads of land and “popped” only the upper parts of some of the tombs built here. In 1857 Lorenzo Fortunati, a teacher who was in love with archaeology, asks permission to dig here to gain from the sale of the objects and, granted this permission, Fortunati began the excavations in 1858. We must take into account the fact that, at the time, experts didn’t know almost anything about via latina and its tomb apart from the outer part of the “Barberini” sepulchre (so named in honour of the ancient owners). Once in front of “Barberini” tomb, you can see how high the earth was coming from observing the first frame which is broken due to the landfall, the various excavations and rubble (together with the negligence of time).
Thanks to the excavations the Fortunati also found the remains of a basilica and, precisely for this discovery, the Vatican intervened that appropriates the excavations: this is why, today, it is possible to admire some of the sarcophagi inside the Vatican Museums. The reality, they were inside the tombs of Via Latina. As the Barberini tomb already makes us understand, in the park, there is (mostly) no longer a small temple in brick. In 1996 there were some restorations that revealed the fact that the blocks with the clearest colour were, initially, painted: this was possible to define it because during those works traces of colours (in particular of blue and yellow red) were found.
Parco archeologico di via Latina The first tomb we enter is the “Tomba dei Valeri“, near which the remains of a Mansion were found (in addition to the remains of a thermal plant): in the mansion there where the post offices where the mail was sorted and where the travellers could stop and sleep. The mansion was built after the tomb and was used until the late antiquity when the monument had already been abandoned. Let’s go back to the grave, of which we do not know who the owners were, but only that the name derives from an inscription found in the villa opposite (but there is no connection between this tomb and the villa). We know that Lorenzo Fortunati built the external part of the building and that only one column was found of the original outer structure, which is still visible today.
Parco archeologico di via Latina Unfortunately (as often happens in these cases) when the tomb was found it had already been looted and it was therefore not possible to know exactly what was inside it in addition to the burial of the owners. To access the real tomb, the part where the bodies were buried, we descend into a small atrium that served as the only point of light between two graves: one was that of the owners (therefore more significant) and the second, precisely opposite, slightly smaller than the other. We know that husband and wife were buried together here thanks to the dimensions of the base: it was the right size to be able to rest a “double” sarcophagus (large enough to hold two people). The floor and walls were in white marble, the barrel vault was decorated with plaster, and the images realized on it were made to mould and were themed divine and marine (the deities represented are above all female).
Parco archeologico di via Latina Right in the middle of the vault we find a female image that perhaps represents the woman here buried (probably she died before her husband, who built the tomb to conceal her waiting to be buried in this place too). The second burial in which we can enter (or rather, go down) is what is called Tomba dei Pancrazi: the external walls we see today were built in modern times on the found remains of the original structure. Also, in this case, we descend a staircase to access the burial part: here there are two mortuary chambers, a “secondary” that precedes the room where the owners of the tomb were buried. In the first place, smaller, we can see the use of a sort of counter to raise the sarcophagi and keep them away from the humidity of the
Parco archeologico di via Latinaground. The first sarcophagus that visitors will see in the first room, it is known that was added when the Pancrazi company bought the grave to bury its deceased members, and on it, it is possible to read “Pancrazi hic”. To make room for the Paancrazi’s sarcophagi were removed from this place those of the family who had it built. The frescoes that we can admire today on the ceiling of the room were added later to the construction. The sarcophagus that we find in the main hall, which is also large enough for two people (husband and wife, in this case) is vast, too much to pass through the door: this allows us to understand that the building was built after this was put in its final position and not before! Parco archeologico di via Latina The polychrome ceiling of the room, undoubtedly noteworthy, is entirely covered in plaster and painting: there are painted mythological scenes and, in the centre, we find a male figure that most likely represents the man buried here (a sign that probably died before wife). Also next to this tomb have been found remains of other buildings, specifically a small spa. I visited the archaeological park thanks to the underground Rome association: I leave you the link to the official website, in case you want to know something more about the park.

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