An exceptional residential building was the so-called Derrière la Tour palace, in the western part of the city. It was built in the years 50-60 AD and then measured 80 x 40 m. It was enlarged in the first half of the second century with a large courtyard surrounded by porticoes decorated with paintings, and with a dining room with an apse, decorated with paintings and a black-and-white mosaic. More modifications have been dated to around 200 AD. Baths and a courtyard with gardens were added. In a large hall (basilica) a (lost) mosaic was laid measuring 11.70 x 17.80, with a depiction of Bacchus and Ariadne in the central panel. Eventually the building was 200 meters wide, so large that it has been called a palace.
Plan of the building in the final phase. De Pury-Gysel 2012(2), Abb. 27.
Reconstruction of the building, seen from the north. De Pury-Gysel 2012(2), Abb. 32.Amongst the finds from the building were a part of a gilded bronze equestrian statue, a (lost) portrait of the young Marcus Aurelius, and a relief of the she-wolf and the twins. Quite remarkable was the discovery of the remains of bronze beds with silver and copper inlay. They have been dated to the years 50-25 BC (!). Furthermore bronze parts were found of a portable hydraulic organ. Such organs were used in the amphitheatre, but also during ceremonies, perhaps also in this building. Inscriptions on bronze tablets document the family of the Otacilii, one of the leading families in the city, together with the Macrii.
The relief of the she-wolf and the twins. Photo: Wikimedia, ETH-Bibliothek.
Reconstruction of one of the beds. Photo: De Pury-Gysel 2012(2), Abb. 35.
Reconstruction of the water organ, with the preserved parts in red and yellow. De Pury-Gysel 2012(2), Abb. 38.
[1-May-2024]
