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Introduction The forum Houses and workshops Baths and water supply Gallo-Roman temples |
The precinct of temple II The mithraeum The amphitheatre Christianity Burials |
During the reign of Claudius a rectangular street grid was laid out. The resulting blocks are called insulae, "islands". Many of these have been investigated partially. Some dwellings were narrow, deep strip-houses, others had a peristyle. They were sometimes separated by narrow alleys. All houses had at least one heated room. The wall paintings were simple, and so far no mosaics have been found. One of the most complete houses is the House of the Domestic Genius in insula 8. It was excavated in the 1980's and 1990's, and named after a bronze statuette of the Genius of the paterfamilias, found together with other statuettes from a private shrine. The house had a peristyle, a garden, and private baths. It was used until the late fourth century.
Reconstruction drawing of the House of the Domestic Genius. Morisod 2009, fig. 41.
A: road; B: porticus; D: vestibule: E: staircase; F: service area with praefurnium; G: caldarium; H: frigidarium; I: apodyterium;
K: shop; L: backroom of shop; M: peristyle; N: latrine; O: kitchen; P: corridor; Q: triclinium (dining room); S: garden.
Bronze objects from the House of the Domestic Genius. Photo: Kaufmann-Heinimann 1998, Abb. 244.
Top row: Mercurius (h. 0.30), Lar (h. 0.174), Genius (h. 0.165). Middle row: Mercurius (h. 0.101), Victoria (h. 0.062), two cornucopiae.
The remains of the House of the Domestic Genius today. Photo: vici.org, Werner Doenni.The wealth of some of the inhabitants is illustrated by a marble statuette of a bathing Venus, discovered in a house in insula 7 in 1939. It has been assigned to the Hadrianic period.
The marble statuette of Venus. H. incl. the base 0.293.
Photo: Bossert-Neukom 2004, Taf. I.Remains of workshops were also found. Furnaces for the production of glass were excavated in insula 1 and below the House of Minerva (named after a bronze statuette of the deity) in insula 12. In insula 1 the stock of a tableware merchant was found.
A furnace for the production of glass. Photo: information leaflet, Office cantonal d'Archéologie.A building complex is documented by a fragmentary inscription found in 1936 near the intersection of the Rue du Nymphée and the Rue Principale. The complex may have been in insula 6, but the heated auditorium mentioned in the inscription has not yet been found.
FABRI[cam fun]DITVS [erutam]
CVM [portic]V ET TABER[nis]
VI IGN[is consu]MPTA [r]ESTITVIT
IN QVA AV[dit]ORIVM [h]YPO
CAVSTVM A SOLO EXSTRVXIT
TITVS COEL[i]VS [---]NIANVS
[vir] E[g]RE[gi]VS [pr]OCV[rato]R
[Aug]VST(orum) NOSTR(orum)The workshop, destroyed from the foundation
with a porticus and shops,
consumed by the violence of fire, restored,
in which a heated lecture-room
from the ground raised
Titus Coelius [---]nianus,
distinguished man, procurator
of our Emperors.Fragments of a marble tabula ansata. W. 1.08, h. 0.48.
EDCS-30800349. Wiblé 1983, Abb. 30.
View of the excavations of insula 6 in 1981. Photo: Wiblé 2008, fig. 149.Somewhere ointments for diseases of the eyes were sold. Two small stone stamps (between 0.035 and 0.04 long) were found with the names of the disease, the ointment, and the physician or manufacturer.
I(uli) VIC(tori) VICTORIS
LENEM(entum) CONT(ra) LI(ppitudinem)Of Iulius Victorius Victor.
Ointment against inflammation of the eyes.I(uli) VIC(tori) VICTORIS
DECENTETV(m) P(ost) IM(petum)Of Iulius Victorius Victor.
Puncturing (?) after an attack.D(ecimi) IVL(i) HER(metis)
DIAPSOR(icum) AD CALIGINESOf Decimus Iulius Hermes.
Eye-salve for foggy vision.Stamps of ointments for the eyes. EDCS-08401621, EDCS-59500294. Photo: Archäologie der Schweiz 5,1 (1982), fig. 15.
For the nature of the ointments and diseases see B. Maire, 'Greek' and 'Roman' in Latin Medical Texts, Leiden 2014.
Introduction
The forum
Houses and workshops
Baths and water supply
Gallo-Roman templesThe precinct of temple II
The mithraeum
The amphitheatre
Christianity
Burials
[5-Feb-2024]
