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Domus Fulminata the House of the Thunderbolt at Ostia (III, Vii, 3-5)

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Domus Fulminata the House of the Thunderbolt at Ostia (III, Vii, 3-5) BABesch 80 (2005) Domus Fulminata The House of the Thunderbolt at Ostia (III, vii, 3-5) L.B. van der Meer in collaboration with N.L.C. Stevens and H. Stöger1 Abstract The unique peristyle building called the Domus Fulminata, generally dated between AD 65 and 75, is not a guild seat but a tripartite building with a private, religious, and commercial function. As it is connected with a mausoleum, built c. 30 BC, and belonging in all probability to P. Lucilius Gamala (‘senior’), it is very likely that the Domus Fulminata was constructed by one of his descendants, P. Lucilius Gamala, duovir in AD 71. The Lucilii Gamalae may have honoured their famous ancestor by holding meetings on the masonry biclinium in the peristyle, and by sacrificing at the altar on the base between the couches, in front of the aedicula. After the second century the core of the building was provided with marble decorations, just like the luxurious late Roman domus of the third and fourth centuries. In 1941 excavations took place at Ostia, outside the TOPOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT Porta Marina and near to the ancient shoreline, in Regio III. According to the excavation diary, The Domus Fulminata is located about 50 metres Domus Fulminata (III, vii, 3-5), first named Domus to the south of and outside the Porta Marina, the del Biclinio, was excavated between the 1st May city’s gate closest to the ancient shoreline (fig. 3). and 29th June (for the original Italian text see The front of the building faces east-south-east; it Appendix 2). Restorations were carried out in consists of two rows of three commercial spaces 1970. Apart from some photographs (fig. 1) no flanking the central entrance. These tabernae open records of these interventions are available.2 onto the pavement along the decumanus. To the In his monumental book Roman Ostia, Russell west, the building is bordered by open space that Meiggs gives a short impression of this enigmatic has not been excavated. To the north, an early Au- building: ‘By the Flavian period fashions have deci- gustan funerary monument (III, vii, 2) is situated. sively changed. No new atrium houses are built; Its foundation walls are at a lower level (0.83 m their place is taken by what for convenience may above sea level) than the Domus Fulminata (2.84- be called the peristyle house. The first clear exam- 3.13 m above sea level).6 A structural link does ple is a Flavian house on the western decumanus however exist between the walls enclosing the outside the Porta Marina. The entrance on the street funerary monument and the northern wall of the is flanked by tabernae; a passage leads into what Domus Fulminata. To the south of the building, was probably a garden, surrounded by a portico separated by a fauces-like corridor, premises are carried on brick piers.3 In the garden is a biclinium, located that offer a large undivided area (III, vii, recalling the open-air dining fashion familiar at 6-7). These rooms suggest a function that would Pompeii; the rooms open off the portico.’ The build- require open spaces, such as a stable and an area ing has only been cursorily dealt with in later for industrial activities. Opposite the building lies publications.4 the sanctuary of the deity Bona Dea (IV, viii, 3). The Domus Fulminata (fig. 2) raises several ques- The juxtaposition of the Domus Fulminata and tions, concerning among them its building phases the sanctuary presents a striking contrast: along and transformations, its function(s), and its pos- the western side of the decumanus, the tabernae sible founder and owners. The latter question is offer wide openings. On the opposite side of the of particular interest as very few owners of houses road closed walls safeguard the seclusion of the at Ostia are known. In order to tackle these prob- sanctuary. The sanctuary has no direct access to lems research was carried out by a team from visitors leaving the city gate. Its only entrance is Leiden University from 27 May to 8 June 2003.5 placed in a more quiet area, east of the decumanus, Some observations and considerations follow here. away from the traffic of this major thoroughfare. 91 Fig. 1. The Domus Fulminata seen from the north (Archivio Fotografico della Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici di Ostia; neg. C 2520). The gate to the sanctuary, however, is directed towards the Porta Marina, attracting the attention of those leaving the city gate. The absence of any pavement along the enclo- Fig. 2. Map of the Domus Fulminata, sure walls of the sanctuary of Bona Dea adds to from SO IV, with adaptations and additions. the impression of seclusion. On the other side of the decumanus a pavement of comfortable width is found, directing the flow of pedestrians over to the commercial front along the Domus Fulminata. The Domus Fulminata is situated to the south of an anonymous Mausoleum (III, vii, 2). This mon- ument was probably built around 30-20 BC. Its rectangular base is made of travertine and tufa, the crowning, pseudo-monopteral tholos, now almost completely lost, was of marble. The base has a triclinium at the front of the central part, flanked by two apsidal recesses with small benches (fig. 4).7 Under the benches of the triclinium, kary- atid-like, diving dolphins are visible. Amongst fragments of marble, located to the north of the tomb are two blocks of Carrara marble, one dec- orated with the prow (rostrum) of a war ship, the other with three swords and a lion’s head (fig. 5).8 Only small fragments of inscriptions remain, showing the letters: PO (?), I, and E. The mausoleum is built on the original, lowest level of the city. It lies about 1.49 m below the cur- rent floor-level of the Domus Fulminata (fig. 6). This leads to the question of when the level out- side the Porta Marina and the suburban part of the western decumanus was raised. The sanctuary of Bona Dea (IV, viii, 3) which was built at the same level as the Domus Fulminata and the west- ern, suburban decumanus, might provide some indications to narrow down the dates of this Fig. 3. Map of the Porta Marina area, extra-mural development. from: SO I, with adaptations. 92 The sanctuary is built in opus reticulatum.9 According to five fragmentary inscriptions on marble, ‘Marcus Maecilius Furr[anius?], son of Marcus, duovir, has the temple of Bona Dea built at his own expense, and he had also approved of the building’.10 It is not known in which year Maecilius was duovir. His cognomen, Furranius (?), occurs only at Rome, so his family may have moved from there to Ostia. His nomen gentilicium is not mentioned in later inscriptions from Ostia and the family may have lost its high position in Ostia in the Flavian period when a new middle class elite of freedmen emerged. The Bona Dea sanctuary has been dated by a number of scholars. H.H.J. Brouwer, following Calza, dates it to the early Julian-Claudian period.11 Fig. 4. Mausoleum (photo R. Warrink). C. Pavolini suggests a date around the end of Tiberius’ reign, around AD 37.12 I. Gismondi dates it to between AD 40 and 50.13 F. Zevi does not ex- clude a date around AD 50 or later.14 The Fasti Ostienses do not mention Maecilius, but he may have been mentioned on (partly) lost fragments referring to the years 35, 38, and 39-53 AD. What is certain is that the Domus Fulminata was built after the sanctuary of Bona Dea. This may be in- ferred from the fact that the extended decumanus curves along the bent, convex, original west wall of the Sanctuary. As a result, the façade of the Domus Fulminata, opposite the Sanctuary, has a slightly concave form. LAYOUT Apart from the curved façade, the building has an almost square layout (c. 31.48 x 32.47 m). At first Fig. 5. Rostrum (photo R. Warrink). glance the plan gives the impression of a rather axial-symmetrical arrangement (fig. 2). The fauces (5) are in line with the main east-west axis,15 giv- ing access to the peristyle. Both to the north and to the south of the fauces are three tabernae, shops or workshops (1-3, and 6-8/9). To the north of the peristyle, henceforth called the north wing, is a series of four interconnected rooms of different sizes (A, A1, B, C). The building has a second entrance at the street side, to the south of taberna 8. From there a long corridor (1) leads to the rooms in the south wing of the building (2-12), in the cen- tre of which is a staircase with steps of tiles (7). To the north there is a second corridor (3), parallel to the south wall, which separates the south wing and the peristyle. This wall first had an opening in the west (near the letter N), which was closed and then, probably soon after the completion of the Fig. 6. North wall of the Domus Fulminata and south wing, a door opening further to the east was south part of the Mausoleum (photo R. Warrink). made (near the letter I). The position of the pivot 93 Fig. 7. Map of the peristyle (H. Stöger and M. Bajema). holes in the travertine threshold shows that the longer preserving the special character of the Domus door could only be closed from the north corridor Fulminata, described as being half-way between in the south wing.
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