Excavated: 1912 (GdS 1912, 292 (October 14-15); NSc 1912, 435; Vaglieri).
Mosaic: SO IV, 70 nr. 97.
Inscription: CIL XIV S, 4549 nr. 16.
Date: 190-200 AD (SO IV).
Meas. of tesserae: 0.015 (SO IV).

Photos and drawings:

Front room and back room (ss)

Front room and back room (dga)

Front room and back room (gh)

Front room and back room (gh2)

Statio 17 + statio 16 (centre + right) (gh2)

Mosaic

The floor of the back room has not been preserved. NADIS inv. nr. 642 shows a north-south running black band, at the same distance from the back wall as bands in stationes 17 and 18. There are some white tesserae in the passage between the front and back room.

The east end of the front room has been preserved. A black band at the north side belongs to statio 17. A black band of seven tesserae is shared with statio 15. Neither band continues in statio 16.

Near the passage is a single line of text. Directly below is a black line, somewhat longer than the text, two tesserae wide, at the south end replaced by a mixture of black and white tesserae.

At the east end of the front room is a single line of text without a frame or tabula ansata (h. of letters 0.18):

NAVICVLARIETNEGOTIANTESDESVO

Suggested reading:

NAVICVLARI ET NEGOTIANTES DE SVO

Depictions

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Masonry

The back room has a rear wall of opus latericium and side walls of opus vittatum mixtum B. On Vaglieri's plan the side walls have a double width and do not touch the back wall. Today only the west end of the north wall (touching the brick column) has a double width, while the remainder of the wall was set somewhat to the north. The north wall is absent on the model.

Interpretation

The statio does not have its own frame and was as it were installed in remaining space. The similarity of the text of stationes 15 and 16 is striking and cannot be a coincidence. The texts are remarkable for two reasons. First of all, the profession negotians is added, clearly distinct from that of navicularius, whereas we normally encounter navicularii only. Secondly, the stationarii do not mention the city or region to which they are related. Negotiantes must always have been present in the background. As a matter of fact, navicularii may have been negotiantes. The reason that negotiantes are drawn to the forefront here implies direct and active involvement.

The words de suo show that the office had been set up by the skippers and traders themselves, that it had not been provided by the overseers of the square. This excludes generic use by skippers and traders without a fixed office.

The absence of a city or region implies an overall activity. Taken together with the single depiction of a ship in statio 15, the situation is reminiscent of stationes 7-9. In the east porticus we find clusters of skippers from Africa Proconsularis and Sardinia. I suggest that representatives of these two provinces used stationes 15 and 16.