Shrines

There is ample documentation for religion in the area. To the east of the House of the Charioteers is the Shrine of the Three Naves. A long aisle is flanked by reclining couches, quite reminsicent of a mithraeum. The evidence from the shrine suggests otherwise. On the walls thyrsus-staffs and a cista mystica (mystical basket) were painted, the floor mosaic has a depiction of a krater, while a marble head of a young man with a wreath of vine leaves was found inside. It all points to the cult of Dionysus. From an elaborate kitchen near the entrance of the shrine we may deduce that a group of worshippers was related to it and shared ritual meals on the couches.

The Shrine of the Three Naves, slightly reconstructed by Marianna Tedeschini.

On the walls of the apse in the back part of the shrine are graffiti of ships and names written in Greek: Eros, Abaskantianos, Diodoros. In Latin someone else wrote: POMPEIVS FIILIX DS, Pompeius Felix, d(e) s(uo) [d(ono) d(edit)] ("Pompeius Felix donated a gift at his own expense").

Graffito of a cargo ship with two rudders and below that two names in Greek: [.]ΒΑCΚΑΝΤΙ[.]ΝΟC and ΔΙΟΔΩΡ[--].
Photo: ICCD N005259.

In the south-east part of the area is a small room with an ornate entrance, obviosuly a shrine (III,II,11). It may also have been dedicated to Dionysus, because inside a fragment of a marble statue was found of a naked, young man, supported by the stump of a tree from which a Pan-pipe is hanging down.

Shrine III,II,11. Photo: Klaus Heese.

A similar room was added in the courtyard of the House of Serapis. Against the back wall is a stucco relief of the Egyptian deity Serapis (a fusion of Osiris and Apis), with traces of red and yellow paint. In front of him stands an altar. On a rainy day early in 1984 I was quite alone in Ostia. When the rain increased, I decided to take shelter in the shrine. Sitting on the metal fence I rolled a cigarette, when a custode saw me and shouted: "Tu, fuori!" ("You, get out!"). I then produced the forms with permission for research, signed by the Superintendent, Valnea Santa Maria Scrinari: the white one, the yellow one, the red one and the green one. The colour of the face of the custode changed accordingly. Resuming my break inside the shrine I started wondering whether something could not have been painted on the purple panels on the side walls, and then discovered the vague remains of two figures: Fortuna with cornucopiae and rudder on the left wall, Isis with sistrum on the right wall.

The shrine of Serapis shortly after the excavation. Photo: ICCD E040713.

Left: Fortuna with cornucopiae and rudder. Right: Isis with sistrum. Photos: Jan Theo Bakker.

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