Work in the Capitolium by Michael Myer and his students (2014)
On Wednesday, 12 March 2014, a team of two teachers and eleven students from Heathwood Hall Episcopal School in Columbia, South Carolina, took some time in the middle of a site visit to the Ostia Antica excavations to participate in a pilot program. We wanted to help document and thus preserve knowledge of graffiti at this ancient site. The teachers were Dr. George Scouten and Michael Myer. The students were Aspasia Amiridis, Will Arnold, Agnes Barroll, Abby Bartman, Jesse Bynum, Sarah Elton, Miriam Harrell, Edward Kimbrough, Gadson Lefft, Alexis McCullough, and Linnell Ray.
We had been asked by the Ostia Graffiti Project to extend the work of Eric Taylor, in particular the discoveries he had made on the steps of the Capitolium:
G0001 Geometric and vegetative motifs A circle with an inscribed cross Capitolium On the (restored) steps of the main staircase G0002 Geometric and vegetative motifs A rectangle with inscribed lines, looking like a simple plan Capitolium On the (restored) steps of the main staircase G0003 Unclassified texts EVT Capitolium On the (restored) steps of the main staircase G0004 Geometric and vegetative motifs Three objects looking like a branch, a stick and a bracelet Capitolium On the (restored) steps of the main staircase G0005 Unidentified objects Grooves Capitolium On the (restored) steps of the main staircase G0399 Animals A two-headed horse or wolf? Capitolium On the steps The Capitolium is one of the few ruins in Ostia Antica that have always been visible, from antiquity to the present day. Early photos show that the first archaeologists found it stripped from the marble steps of its majestic staircase (see for example this photo, taken in 1911). The staircase was restored in two phases (see this photo for the first phase), with ancient marble found elsewhere in Ostia. This means that the graffiti on the steps are either ancient (but not from the steps), or modern (made after the restoration).
We had all looked at the older, low-resolution images of our assigned graffiti, and when we got to the Capitolium everyone began to slowly ascend the steps while looking for them. The students quickly noted that there were more marked stones than we were expecting; some seem to be carvings made when the stones were being used for some other purpose, but we have included them all for more trained eyes to make sense of. When students found an image, they would set a water bottle or a day pack down next to it on the step and move on. We moved from inscription to inscription along with Jesse Bynum, who took our pictures, and Abby Bartman, who kept notes of what we were shooting and where it was located on the steps.
We checked our photographer's work on the first couple of graffiti, and were satisfied that she was taking the pictures square on with as little parallax distortion as possible. Only a few of the images were taken from an oblique angle that distorts the shape of the images a bit.
We should have packed a standard black & white cm-ruled grid to include in the pictures. We had thought that we would make one in our Roman apartments once we were on the ground, but our days were so packed that we were unable to acquire a simple ruler to use as a guide in making our reference rule for the pictures. As a quick-and-dirty substitute, we used a mass-produced ink pen, 16.2 cm in length from cap to point, as both a rule and a direction indicator. In each photograph, the pen's point is oriented toward Ostia north, up the Decumanus Maximus towards the entrance / exit gate.
Similarly, it would have been good to have a tape-measure along to more accurately record locations of the graffiti. We have at least recorded upon which step each graffito is found and general location along the step, but we feel we should have been more precise.
Because all of these inscriptions are on exposed horizontal surfaces, a good bit of dirt was present in and on the graffiti. We did not want to contribute to wear and degradation, so we did not scrub (nor even wipe) the inscriptions clean. We did kneel down and blew loose dirt off, and a can of compressed air would have been useful (perhaps the sort used for cleaning out keyboards and other electronic equipment). We gently poured some drinking water on some of the graffiti to increase reflectivity for the pictures. For the pictures that lack sufficient detail and for graffiti that are near the vertical surface of the next step and have accumulated a good bit of run-off dirt, we recommend having people trained in cleaning and conservation prepare and photograph the inscriptions.
Also owing to these inscriptions' location and the beautiful, blue skies we had that day, lighting was no problem. Had we been assigned, say, graffiti inscribed on interior plaster walls, we would have wanted a couple of good lights on hand so that exposures could have been taken with tangential light from different angles and the exposures later combined to help differentiate between actual incised lines and discoloration.
All-in-all, then, not the best start to the project, but not (we hope) a total disappointment. We made several rookie mistakes and will have to be more diligent in future attempts. At the very least, though, we have gathered more information about the location of five of our six assigned graffiti (one, G0399, we never located) and have come back with higher resolution images. We have also noted some graffiti that were not previously listed, We think that we may have contributed some useful information about some of the geometric markings on the steps.
1. G0001 Catalog of the pictures we took
img_9364, img_9365, img_9366, & img_9367; on the first step up from the pavement on the right-hand side as you ascend.
2. G0002
img_9368, img_9369, img_9370, & img_9371; on the second step up from the pavement on the right-hand side as you ascend.
3. G0003
img_9372, img_9373, & img_9374; on the fifth step up from the pavement in the center side as you ascend.
4. G0004
img_9375, img_9376, img_9377, img_9378, img_9379, img_9380; on the seventh step up from the pavement on the left-hand side as you ascend.
We had stopped double-checking the photographer, and the pictures are taken at an angle instead of square-on. I blew the loose debris off of it and poured a bit of water onto the step before photography, but the graffito needs careful cleaning and re-imaging. The wavy line to (Ostia) north of the "bracelet" is clearly part of the inscription.
5. G0005
img_9394, img_9395, & img_9396, on the 19th step up from the pavement on the right-center side as you ascend.
6. G0399
We failed to find this one and had instituted a systematic search, but decided to stop when time ran out. Has the place of discovery been reported correctly by Eric Taylor?
7. Animal?
img_9405 & img_9406, on the third step up from the pavement on the left side as you ascend.
This almost looks like a stick-figure of an animal. Four of the students and the other prof all independently checked the ostia-antica website pic416.htm to make certain they had not found G0399. It's obviously not. But it needs careful cleaning and some special attention.
8. Text?
img_9392 & img_9393, on the twentieth step up from the pavement on the left-center side as you ascend.
Could be a poor inscription of the letters IB.
9. Geometrics
img_9407, img_9408 & img_9409, on the pavement at the bottom, left side of the stairs (as one prepares to ascend).
There are two things here. The large one is a long rectangle with inscribed lines. It looks a bit like a ladder. The smaller one is simply a pair of crossed lines. Both figures are inscribed on the same large slab.
10. Geometrics
img_9410, on the pavement at the bottom, left side of the stairs (as one prepares to ascend).
This is a close up of the crossed lines in 8.
11. Geometrics
img_9411 & img_9412, on the pavement at the bottom, left side of the stairs (as one prepares to ascend).
Box with inscribed perpendicular lined, like a window-pane motif.
12. Geometrics
img_9413, img_9414 & img_9415, on the pavement at the bottom, left side of the stairs (as one prepares to ascend). A circle.
13. Geometrics
img_9387, img_9388, & img_9389, on the fifth step up from the pavement in the center as you ascend, near EVT (G0003). Grooves, very similar to G0005.
14. Geometrics
img_9397, img_9398, & img_9399, on the 18th step up from the pavement on the right side as you ascend.
Grooves, very similar to G0005. Note that both G0005 and others have a deliberate, perpendicular line with serifs (meant to indicate three-dimensional depth?) serving as a cap to the two parallel lines.
15. Geometrics
img_9381, img_9382, & img_9383, on the ninth step up from the pavement in the left side as you ascend
Geometric motif with a right angle, like the corner of a frame.
16. Geometrics
img_9384, img_9385, & img_9386, on the eighth step up from the pavement on the left-center side as you ascend.
Geometric motif, parallel lines carved (perhaps) to indicate three-dimensionality.
17. Geometrics
img_9390 & img_9391, on the fifteenth step up from the pavement in the center as you ascend.
Geometric motifs with right angles, like the ends of frames.
18. Geometrics
img_9402, img_9403, & img_9404, on the ninth step up from the pavement on the right side as you ascend.
Geometric motif, parallel lines carved (perhaps) to indicate three-dimensionality.
19. Geometrics
img_9400 & img_9401, on the 17th step up from the pavement on the right side as you ascend.
Geometric / architectural line & possible rectangular slot. These marks look like they are on the previously hidden (unfinished) side of a stone that had been used for something else. This might not be a graffito at all.