Excavated: 1913 (GdS 1913, 44 (January 27-31); NSc 1913, 133 with 134 fig. 12; Vaglieri); 1970 (Pohl 1987, trench d).
Mosaic: SO IV, 80 nr. 122, tav. 173 (bottom).
Inscription: CIL XIV S, 4549 nr. 48.
Date: 190-200 AD (SO IV).
Meas. of tesserae: 0.015-0.02 (SO IV).
Mosaic
General descriptionThe floor of the rear part of the back room has not been preserved. In the north part of the front part of the back room is a patch of white tesserae with a black band - four tesserae wide - separating it from statio 47. The model has parts of a wide black frame in the back room.
The floor of the west and central part of the front room has been preserved, containing a large depiction. There is no frame on the north side (there is a wide black band on the area of statio 47). On the south side is a black band, 12 tesserae wide. At its west end is a small, black square. This square does not touch the base of the column on the plate in Scavi di Ostia, as it does today. At the west end of the room is a black line, two tesserae wide, not reaching the north and the south side. On the figure in the Notizie degli Scavi it is shown as a wide band that does reach the columns.
TextOn the neck of an amphora the letters MC can be read (h. of letters 0.10). After each letter is a dot. The text is interpreted as M(auretania) C(aesariensis) by Vaglieri.
Suggested reading:M(AURETANIA) C(AESARIENSIS)
DepictionsTwo date palms (h. 1.66) flank an amphora with the text MC on the shoulder (h. 1.23). Below this scene are two large fish, swimming towards each other, flanking a small fish swimming to the left. Some horizontal lines indicate the sea.
Becatti
Trees and amphora. Due palme da datteri stilizzate, dal tronco reso in tutti i suoi nodi, con profili curvilinei, le quali inquadrano una grossa anfora panciuta dal piede appuntito, con corto collo munito di due anse verticali a bastoncello.
Fish. Tre pesci; uno piccolo nel centro volto a sinistra e due più grossi ai lati verso il centro. Quello di destra dal muso arcuato, con pinna lunga dorsale e con quella caudale lunata.
Masonry
The back wall of the back room is of opus latericium. The room does not have side walls. However, the plans of Vaglieri and Gismondi do show a north wall. Vaglieri's plan also shows a second wall or bench set against the back wall, the model a bench, the continuation of a bench in statio 49. The model also has half a north wall, in the west part.
Interpretation
Vaglieri's identification of the letters MC has been confirmed by Ben Abed-Ben Khader.[1] She explains that in the past comparisons have been made between real amphorae and the amphora on the mosaic. In Rome and Ostia amphorae have been found with the stamps PMC, PROV MAVR CAES, PROVINC MAURETAN CAES, mentioning the city Tubusuctu (El Ksour, Algeria; known for its olive oil), where they were produced (CIL XV, 2634-2635). The amphora-stamp MC, flanking a palm tree, has been identified in Ostia. It was found on amphorae of Dressel type 30. However, the real stamp is on the handle, the stamp on the mosaic on the shoulder of the amphora. This has been explained as an "error" or choice by the mosaicist.
During excavations in Pupput (Hammamet, Tunisia) she found a new type of amphora, again with the stamp MC, flanking a palm tree. It is this type of amphora, not Dressel type 30, that is depicted in statio 48. The mosaic is an accurate representation of the amphora, with the stamp on the neck of the amphora, as on the real amphora.
Ben Abed then explains that two other instances of the stamp on this type of amphora have been found, one in Bu Njem (Libya), the other at the Golfe de Fos, near the mouth of the river Rhône, France. They belong to the second century and the first half of the third century. The greasy interior of the French specimen excludes the transport of oil, we must think of wine or fish sauce. Ben Abed points to the numerous installations for the salting of fish found on the coast of Algeria, especially between Caesarea Mauretaniae (Cherchell) and Tipasa. A third instance of the stamp MC flanking the palm tree was also found at the Golfe de Fos. It is on an amphora of type Africana 2, usually assigned to southern Tunisia. However, the stamp is on the shoulder, the normal practice in Mauretania Caesariensis, whereas in Tunisia the stamps are normally on the neck. The amphora is therefore most likely an imitation of the Tunisian type, made in Mauretania Caesariensis.
Ben Abed notes that African amphora-stamps usually mention the name of a city, sometimes combined with the province, but never the province alone. She compares this to the situation on the square, where we always read the names of cities, not of provinces. She would like to explain this as follows. The date palm is very common in Algeria. Depictions of date palms are found on lamps from Mauretania Caesariensis, but not from other provinces. Ben Abed therefore regards the palm tree as an obvious (almost redundant) addition to MC. She then points out that a mint in Caesarea often produced depictions of the date palm, especially in the first half of the first century. She suggests that the coins had forcefully contributed to equating Mauretania Caesariensis with the palm tree, and to making Caesarea a pars pro toto for the province, in other words: that the palm tree of the stamp and the mosaic can be understood as a symbol of the city.
Bonifay however is not convinced: "Enfin, le type station 48 de la place des corporations n'a pas encore livré le secret de son origine. A l'issue d'une visite à Cherchell en 2012, l'hypothèse d'une production à Césarée de Maurétanie me paraît de moins en moins vraisemblable en raison de l'incompatibilité de la géologie locale. Une origine en Tunisie, pays situé au centre de la zone de diffusion de cette amphore (de Cadix à Alexandrie, en passant par Fos-sur-Mer, la Corse, Ostie, Pupput, Bu Njem, Salakta et Kerkenna...) serait beaucoup plus plausible. Il conviendrait dès lors de trouver une signification locale aux lettres M et C, pour lesquelles je proposerais volontiers, à titre de nouvelle hypothèse, le développement M(unicipium) C(ercina): Kerkenna. Sur la mosaïque de la place des corporations à Ostie, le socle planté de deux palmiers sur lequel repose l'amphore pourrait alors (?) symboliser l'île très plate de Kerkenna où les pêcheurs ont semble-t-il de tout temps utilisé les palmes pour construire des pêcheries fixes (cherfiya) sur les hauts fonds qui entourent l'île".[2]
I hesitate to follow this proposal, because solving a single-letter abbreviation as referring to this small group of islands (the Kerkennah Islands) is very difficult, now and presumably in antiquity. Stressing the city Caesarea Mauretaniae runs into the problem of the order of the letters M and C. Thinking primarily of the province seems preferable.
Statio 48 is then remarkable because it is the only statio with a reference to a province instead of a city, and also because there is no long inscription in the front room (which is preserved well), only the single-letter abbreviation. Why the special treatment of Mauretania Caesariensis?
The Imperial government experienced problems with the efficiency of food-production in North Africa and intervened.[3] Were the problems in Mauretania Caesariensis greater than elsewhere? The situation may have been exacerbated by continuous unrest in the province in the second and third century.[4] It is conceivable that the navicularii from the province were put under forced administration. This might explain why the whole province is found, and why it is presented elaborately in a visual way, but textually minimally.
However, I believe that the assumption of the uniqueness of the mosaic is flawed. I have argued that stationes 15-16, 49-50 and 51-52 were also used by provinces. We may be inclined to conclude that normally only cities were present at the square, because we can read their names in big and explicit inscriptions. But what if provinces were normally not depicted with a long mosaic inscription? The overall nature of a province, implying political power, may well have led to a marble inscription over the entrance of a statio. This would accord with a greater distance from the daily reality of the shipping business. A single-letter abbreviation would reflect this distance as well.
It is quite amazing to witness the identical reference to the province: a unique amphora-stamp (unique because the province alone is never mentioned on stamps) and a unique mosaic-text (a single-letter abbreviation of a province), both on the shoulder of the amphora. The central role and impact of the square suggest that the stamp is a copy of the mosaic.
Amphora type Dressel 30, that has been likened to the mosaic amphora, is documented in Ostia in a deposit of amphorae in the Baths of the Swimmer (Terme del Nuotatore, V,X,3). Here the type occurs in a layer dated to ca. 225-250 AD. It is absent in the layer from the last decades of the second century.[5]
Finally we may note the reference to fish in the mosaic, that replace the usual dolphins. Apparently fish and fish sauce were imported. This might explain why one city in Mauretania Caesariensis, Musluvium, occupied a separate statio (nr. 11): in this statio we saw references to olive oil and grain.
(1) Ben Abed-Ben Khader - Bonifay - Griesheimer 1999.
(2) Bonifay 2016, 513.
(3) Kehoe 1988, chapter 7.
(4) The scholarly discussion about this unrest is unfortunately contaminated by political judgements about French colonialism and the Algerian War (1954-1962): Benabou 1976; N. Benseddik 1979; Fevrier 1990; Benseddik 1991; Benseddik 1998; Christol 2005; Vanacker 2008.
(5) Panella 1972, 99-100.