The place of bears

The road to the east of the House of the Gorgons has been called Semita dei Cippi by the excavators: Path of the Cippi. Two low, travertine cippi are standing on the east side of the road, not far from each other, firmly embedded in the ground. They have the same text:

HAEC SEMITA HOR P       R       I EST

Location of the cippi and detail of one of them. Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.

In Scavi di Ostia volume I the inscription has been interpreted, with some hesitation, as Haec Semita Hor(reorum) p(---) r(---) i(---) or pri(---) est, "This is the path of the store building". There are no parallels for P R I. The letters are far apart and can therefore not be the beginning of one word, pri(---), they must be an abbreviation of three words. One suggestion is p(rincipium) r(egionis) I or p(rimae) r(egionis) i(nitium), "beginning of the first region". An inscription from the third century AD informs us that Decimus Flavius Florus Veranus was sodalis corp(oris) V region(um/is) col(oniae) Ost(iensis), a member of the guild of the five Ostian regions or the fifth Ostian region (EDR164814; we know nothing about the activities of this guild). Another suggestion is P(opuli) R(omani) i(ussu) (or i(uris)), "By order (or according to the law) of the Roman people" (Zevi 2002 (MEFRA), 56-58). In that case it remains to be explained what the involvement of the people of the city of Rome could have been in the south part of Ostia. Based on the explanation of hor as horrea the building to the east (V,I,2) has been called Horrea, a warehouse. The road to the west of the building would then have taken its name from it. However, the function of the building cannot be deduced from the remains, because it has been excavated partially only.

The cippi seen from the south-west. Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.

The two cippi seem to have a formal nature. They are quite low and easily overlooked. The absence of parallels for P R I amongst the thousands of Latin abbreviations that we know is significant. It looks as if the inscriptions were not meant to be read by the general public. It is also unlikely that they were regular street signs. If so, surely a few more of such signs would have been preserved. Furthermore the presence of two cippi close to each other suggests that they have a connection with the passage between them, flanking that passage, not with the road along them. There is a door in the back wall of the room between the cippi. It leads to an opening in a late curved wall, possibly from the fourth century, in the supposed warehouse. Now a suggestion by Michael Heinzelmann gains importance. According to him the curved wall might belong to a small amphitheatre (oral communication). We may consider the possibility that through the two openings dead gladiators were dragged out of the arena.

Part of the late curved wall, seen from the south-east.
Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.

This gate in amphitheatres is known as the Porta Libitinensis and mentioned in a late antique biography of Commodus:

Ipse autem prodigium non leve sibi fecit; nam cum in gladiatoris occisi vulnus manum misisset, ad caput sibi detersit, et contra consuetudinem paenulatos iussit spectatores non togatos ad munus convenire, quod funeribus solebat, ipse in pullis vestimentis praesidens. Galea eius bis per portam Libitinensem elata est.

He was himself responsible for no inconsiderable an omen relating to himself; for after he had plunged his hand into the wound of a slain gladiator he wiped it on his own head, and again, contrary to custom, he ordered the spectators to attend his gladiatorial shows clad not in togas but in cloaks, a practice usual at funerals, while he himself presided in the vestments of a mourner. Twice, moreover, his helmet was borne through the Gate of Libitina.

SHA, Commodus 16, 6-7. Translation David Magie.

Artist's impression of the Porta Libitinensis. Source unknown.

As to hor, there are not many words in Latin beginning with these letters. It might be a variant of horror. The expression locus horridus is used by acholars for a literary topos, a commonplace, in ancient literature, linked to monsters, dangerous landscapes, the underworld, and openings of the underworld. The expression is modern however (McIntyre 2008, 27). Still, could horridus or horribilis have been applied to the path? Was is the "Path of horror"?

For the undertakers the little arena would have been a convenient place for executions. That would also offer an explanation for the presence of the populus Romanus here. The duoviri of Ostia did not have the power to impose the death penalty on Roman citizens, for that they had to turn to Rome. Therefore lictores, when walking before the duoviri in public, carried a bundle of rods without the usual axe, and the name of the bundle was bacilli, not fasces (Meiggs 1973, 174). There may be a parallel in Portus. Here a small amphitheatre was found not long ago, and inscriptions suggest that it was used for executions, by furnishing convicted criminals with weapons for a compulsory gladiatorial contest.

In the Acta Sanctorum many executions of Christians are dealt with in detail. One description is of particular interest here, that of Asterius, during the reign of Claudius Gothicus (268-270 AD). It mentions an amphitheatre in Ostia:

Et iussit ut omnis populus diluculo ad spectaculum convenirent. Tunc iussit sibi editionem in amphiteatro parari, et Beatum Asterium sibi et omnes Sanctos praesentari. Cui ita dixit: Defere amentiam vanitatis tuae, et te diis libaturum promitte, ut non in tormentis deficias, et isti omnes simul intereant. Respondit Beatus Asterius, et dixit: Nos omnes hoc desideramus, sicut Dominus noster Iesus Christus pro peccatoribus passus est, ita et nos immeriti peccatores pro nomine eius sustineamus tormenta; ut purgati ab inquinamentis seculi huius, securi ad desiderata regna caelorum pertingere mereamur. Hoc audiens Gelatius iudex, ira commotus iussit eos feris tradi. Et subito comprehenderunt eos ministri, et duxerunt ad locum qui appellatur Ursarius, iuxta fanum aureum, quia ibi ferae nutriebantur. Et dum introissent omnes Sancti in lacum, subito dimissae sunt ferae ut eos interficerent. Tunc Beatus Asterius facto signaculo Christi, voce clara dixit: Domine Deus omnipotens, qui misertus es famulo tuo Danieli in lacu leonum, et per Abacuc Prophetam eum confortasti, ita et servos tuos visita per Angelum tuum sanctum. Et currentes ferae coeperunt pedes Beati Asterii adorare, simul et omnium Sanctorum. Et cum vidisset Gelasius, dixit ad populum: Vidistis quomodo magicis artibus feras mansuetas fecerunt? Multi autem dicebant, quia Deus eorum liberavit eos. Tunc iussit Sanctos eiici de lacu, et flammis exuri. Tunc Beatus Asterius exclamans dixit ad Sanctos: Confortamini et nolite timere, quia ille quartus, qui inter tres pueros Hebraeos in camino ignis affuit, ecce nobiscum adest. Et confestim extinctae sunt flammae, ita ut nullum de membris eorum contaminaretur. Tunc videns Gelasius quia in omnibus victus erat, iussit eos foras muros Ostiae civitatis eiici, et ibi eos capitalem subire sententiam, alios vero lapidibus obrui. Tunc corpora eorum Christiani cum omni diligentia sepelierunt sub die XV Kal. Febr. In quo loco fabricata est ecclesia, et ibi florent beneficia Martyrum usque in praesentem diem.

He [the judge Gelasius] gave orders that the entire population should assemble for the spectacle at daybreak.Then he gave orders that a show should be prepared for him in the amphitheatre, and that the blessed Asterius and all the saints should be taken to him. And this is what he said to him [Asterius]: "Drive away the madness of your lies, and promise that you will offer libations to the gods, so that you will not die in torture, and all those perish simultaneously." The blessed Asterius replied, and said: "We are all longing for this, that, like our Lord Jesus Christ suffered for the sinners, we too, undeserving sinners, undergo torture in his name; so that we will reach the desired kingdom of heaven deservedly and safely, cleansed from the filth of this age." After hearing this the judge Gelasius, driven by anger, gave orders to hand them over to the wild animals. And immediately they were seized by servants, who led them to the place of bears, as it is commonly known, next to a golden sanctuary, because wild animals are fed there. And while all the saints entered the den of the animals, the wild animals were released immediately to kill them. Then the blessed Asterius made the sign of Christ, and said with a clear voice: 'God, omnipotent Lord, who had pity for his servant Daniel in the lion's den, and through him strengthened the prophet Habakkuk, likewise go to see your servants through your holy angel'. And immediately the eager wild animals started to worship the feet of the blessed Asterius, and of all the saints. And when he had seen this Gelasius said to the people: 'Did you see how they tamed the wild animals through magic?' Many however said, that their God had liberated them. Then he gave orders to drive them out of the den, to be burned. Then the blessed Asterius shouted to the saints: 'Be strong and have no fear, because that fourth person, who amongst the three Jewish children in the furnace was absent, behold, is present with us'. And immediately the flames went out, so that no part of their body was defiled. Then Gelasius, seeing that he had been beaten in all respects, gave orders to drive them outside the walls of the city of Ostia, and to receive the death penalty there, and to strike down others with stones. Then Christians buried their bodies with great care on January 18. In that place a church was built, and there the benefactions of the martyrs flourish until the present day.

Acta Sanctorum, The martyrdom of Asterius 13-14. Translation Jan Theo Bakker.

There seems to be some genuine local topography in the text. We hear of a bear-pit next to a golden sanctuary (Ursarius, iuxta fanum aureum), somewhere near an amphitheatre. These structures were located within the city walls, because at the end of the story the martyrs are driven outside the walls of the city of Ostia (foras muros Ostiae civitatis). Were this amphitheatre and the place of bears located next to the House of the Gorgons? If so, the golden sanctuary was most likely the Field of the Magna Mater, on the other side of the House of the Gorgons.

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