Excavated: 1913 (no excavation report published; Vaglieri) - 1914 (GdS 1914, 18 (January 9-24); NSc 1914, 98-99; lower level; Pasqui).
Mosaic: SO IV, 82-83 nr. 129-130, 375, tav. 138 (top).
Inscription: ---.
Date: 190-200 AD, 138-200 AD (lower level) (SO IV); ca. 160-180 AD (lower level) (Clarke).
Meas. of tesserae: 0.015-0.02; tesserae of lower level: 0.01 (SO IV).
Mosaic
General descriptionThe statio was excavated in 1913. In 1914 the lower level of the back room was investigated. We are not told what was found above this level. The model in the Museo della Civiltà Romana has a thick black frame around the back room.
The western half of the floor of the front room has been preserved. On the north side it is bordered by a wide black band and by a band of white marble. Both are moved slightly to the south. On the south side is a black band, 9 to 12 tesserae wide, on the axis of the central column. In between is a depiction. In the centre of the passage between the front and back room are the remains of a third black band.
In the back room, at the lower level, most of the floor has been preserved. In the centre is a frame (1.93 x 2.29) with a depiction. The frame is surrounded by white tesserae forming diagonal lines. The frame itself consists of two black bands (3 and 4 tesserae wide) and a white band in between (4 tesserae wide). Around the bases of the columns thick, black circles (donuts) can be seen. They imitate plinths. Along the north wall are the remains of a black band.
TextNo text has been preserved.
DepictionsIn the centre of the floor of the front room a grain measure is depicted. On the rim is an object that might be a grain ear, although the oval top perhaps suggests something else. In the frame on the lower level, below two dolphins, is a Nereid sitting on a hippocampus. Black lines with short transverse lines indicate the sea. Becatti sees a strong affinity with the mosaics of the Terme di Nettuno.
Becatti
Grain measure. Un moggio nero cilindrico su tre piedi appuntiti, con due anse semicircolari verticali, decorato da una fascia bianca orizzontale nel centro raffigurante una cerchiatura con borchiette a stella. Nel mezzo del moggio c'è una lacuna. Da esso spuntano alcuni steli che possono rappresentare spighe di grano, sebbene siano disegnate schematicamente.
Nereid. Una figura di Nereide seduta sulla coda di un cavallo marino rivolto a sinistra, dalle lunghe volute pisciformi che si rialzano a destra verticalmente, terminando in una pinna trifoliata. La Nereide siede di lato con il corpo di prospetto, la gamba sinistra piegata, nuda, tenendo con la mano sinistra alzata un lembo del velo che gira dietro le spalle, ripiegandosi con l'altro lembo sulla coscia sinistra. La mano destra è abbassata, i capelli a ciocche ricciute si dispongono con un nodo sull'alto della fronte e incorniciano il volto scendendo sulla nuca. Parchi dettagli bianchi per l'anatomia. Il mare è simboleggiato da segmenti neri paralleli superiormente dentati. In alto il campo è decorato con due delfini opposti simili. Il campo bianco marginale, intorno al rettangolo figurato, è tessuto a file diagonali. Vi sono strette somiglianze che mi fanno propendere a vedere in questo mosaicista un vicino imitatore del Maestro del Nettuno, forse un suo diretto collaboratore.
Masonry
The back wall of the back room is of opus reticulatum. There is a very low south wall of uncertain masonry, bridging the difference in height between the room and statio 54. This is not indicated on the plans of Vaglieri and Gismondi, and it is probably modern. There is a north wall of uncertain masonry, the west end seemingly of opus vittatum simplex. It starts at the lower level and is higher than the upper level. The east part of the wall is preserved to a low height. The higher part shows the core of the wall at the east end. There may have been a door here.
The central columns do not have a brick plinth at the upper level. However, a lump of lime was found against the south side of the southern column, similar to other blocks below the fake plinths, and meant to support a plinth ( excavation Pohl). On the plan of Vaglieri a secondary wall or bench set against the north part of the west wall can be seen, on the model a bench. On the plan are also some large structures set against the east end of the statio, so on the square.
Interpretation
The panels in stationes 52 and 53, with depictions of a hunter and a Nereid, seem contemporaneous: both have tesserae of 0.01, both are 2.29 high, and both have frames of black bands surrounded by white tesserae forming diagonal lines. The imitation of plinths by tesserae and the great height of the north wall in the back room, starting at the lower level, should be noted.