Deities in the facade

In the early third century Minucius Felix, a Christian author, described how he walked through Ostia with two friends, on the way to the beach:

Placuit Ostiam petere, amoenissimam civitatem, quod esset corpori meo siccandis umoribus de marinis lavacris blanda et adposita curatio: sane et ad vindemiam feriae iudiciariam curam relaxaverant. Nam id temporis post aestivam diem in temperiem semet autumnitas dirigebat. Itaque cum diluculo ad mare inambulando litori pergeremus, ut et aura adspirans leniter membra vegetaret et cum eximia voluptate molli vestigio cedens harena subsideret, Caecilius simulacro Serapidis denotato, ut vulgus superstitiosus solet, manum ori admovens osculu, labiis pressit.

We agreed to go to that very pleasant city Ostia, that my body might have a soothing and appropriate remedy for drying its humours from the marine bathing, especially as the holidays of the courts at the vintage-time had released me from my cares. For at that time, after the summer days, the autumn season was tending to a milder temperature. And thus, when in the early morning we were going towards the sea along the shore, that both the breathing air might gently refresh our limbs, and that the yielding sand might sink down under our easy footsteps with excessive pleasure, Caecilius, observing an image of Serapis, raised his hand to his mouth, as is the custom of the superstitious common people, and pressed a kiss on it with his lips.

Minucius Felix, Octavius 2, 4. Translation G.W. Clarke.

Caecilius did not have to peek inside a building to see a god. Deities were present in the facades, in the form of a relief or an intarsio (inlaid depiction), sometimes through a statuette. High in the facade of the House of Annius, on a street corner, is a curved niche for a statue of a long-gone god: Fortuna perhaps, or Mercury. The back is made of curved bricks and has remains of a thin layer of plaster. The bottom is of bricks that protrude in front of the wall.

The curved niche high up in the facade of the House of Annius.
Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.

An intarsio of Fortuna is in a similar position in the House of the Grain Measurers. The badly damaged figure is described by the excavators as holding a cornucopiae in her left hand, and a rudder with her right hand. Today this cannot be recognized anymore. For the inlay pieces of terracotta, tufa and pumice were used.

The intarsio of Fortuna high up in the facade of the House of the Grain Measurers.
Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.

The intarsio of Fortuna in the corner pier.
Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.

In the facade of the House of the Millstones are four small brick frames, three in the east facade, one in the south facade. Three are empty, one in the east facade contains a terracotta relief of a Genius holding a cornucopiae, stretching out a patera towards a snake. In the Severan period a brick pier was set against it. The snake is the Genius Loci, it is not clear what the human Genius is related to. The other frames may have contained either deities or shop signs. A shop sign with carpenters' tools, without a brick frame, can be seen in another pier that was set against the east facade.

The relief of a Genius with a snake in the facade of the House of the Millstones.
Photo: Daniel González Acuña.

Two empty brick frames for reliefs can also be seen in the facade of the Building behind the Curia. Again we cannot tell whether they were intended for deities or shop signs.

The Road of the Republican Houses, with the Building behind the Curia to the left.
The two empty frames can be seen top left. Photo: Klaus Heese.

Presumably from such a frame comes a terracotta relief of the Celtic deity Epona. The place of discovery is unfortunately unknown. The upper part is missing. The relief is very flat, but details were originally painted: remains of red and black paint have been preserved. The goddess sits on a throne, her feet resting on a low bench, between two horses. In her left hand is a sceptre, with her right hand she is feeding one of the horses. The horses stand partly behind the throne and turn their heads towards the goddess, lifting one front leg.

The relief of Epona with two horses.
Photo: ICCD E027317.

Epona was the protector of horses and donkeys, and we may assume that this relief comes from the facade of a stable or the workshop of a blacksmith where horseshoes and horse harnesses were made. The goddess features in Apuleius' novel "The Golden Ass". Lucius, changed into an ass, sees a shrine of Epona in the interior of a stable:

Sic affectus atque in solitudinem relegatus angulo stabuli concesseram, dumque de insolentia collegarum meorum mecum cogito atque in alteram diem auxilio rosario Lucius denuo futurus equi perfidi vindictam meditor, respicio pilae mediae, quae stabuli trabes sustinebat, in ipso fere meditullio Eponae deae simulacrum residens aediculae, quod accurate corollis roseis equidem recentibus fuerat ornatum. Denique agnito salutari praesidio, pronus spei, quantum extensis prioribus pedibus anniti poteram, insurgo valide et cervice prolixa nimiumque porrectis labiis, quanto maxime nisu poteram corollas appetebam.

Such treatment forced me to seek my own company, and I retired to a corner of the stable. There I reflected on the arrogance of my fellow-beasts, and I planned revenge on my disloyal horse next day, when with the aid of roses I would return to being Lucius. These thoughts were interrupted by my catching sight of a statue of the goddess Epona seated in a small shrine centrally placed, where a pillar supported the roof-beams in the middle of the stable. The statue had been devotedly garlanded with freshly picked roses. So in an ecstasy of hope on identifying this assurance of salvation, I stretched out my forelegs and with all the strength I could muster, I rose energetically on my hind legs. I craned my neck forward, and pushed out my lips to their full extent, making every possible effort to reach the garlands.

Apuleius, The Golden Ass 3, 27. Translation P.G. Walsh.

A relief of a horse was also found in Ostia, but it is known from a photo only.

Relief of a horse, known from a photo only.
Photo: Floriani Squarciapino, 1959, 199 nr. 19.

In the debris of the porticus of house III,XVI,6, on the Road of the River Mouth, an intarsio of an Egyptian deity, the bull Apis, was found. The inlay is of pumice. The bull is standing below a garland and next to a shrub. It will not be a coincidence that the Temple of Serapis was nearby.

Intarsio of the bull Apis, found in the porticus of house III,XVI,6.
Photo: Archivio Fotografico Ostia, neg. B 706.

A tufa relief of Hercules provided the name for the Porticus of Hercules on the southern Cardo Maximus. It was apparently found in the rubble and may have been the keystone of an arch. Hercules is naked. To his right is the club, the lion skin is hanging down from his left arm. The relief is now in modern masonry in the interior of the porticus.

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The relief of Hercules (h. 0.40) from the porticus of the same name.
Photo: Jan Theo Bakker