The Square of the Corporations

Playful ambiguity or bizarre amateurism?

A reorganization of the square was begun by Commodus, but finished only under Septimius Severus: the rebuilt theatre and the square were inaugurated in 196 AD, witness the large dedicatory inscription of the theatre. The square has not been the subject of a monograph. As a result, many details of the work from the 190's have gone unnoticed, or were in any case not published. An example are white marble strips or bands separating the front rooms. Some are very narrow, others a bit wider. Due to restorations in antiquity and damage to the floors it cannot be established precisely which rooms were separated in this way.

White marble strips separating the front room of statio 27 from the flanking rooms.
A narrow strip to the left, a wide one to the right. Photo: Gerard Huissen.

Often panels in the mosaics are surrounded by narrow or wide bands of black mosaic stones. What seems to have gone unnoticed are narrow bands, dividing the back rooms of some stationes into a front and rear part.

Narrow black bands dividing the back room of stationes 18 and 17 into a front and rear part.
Photo: Klaus Heese.

As to the depictions in the mosaics, not only did many details go unnoticed, some were left unexplained. A few were even called "bizarre" by Becatti. One author suggests that the sketchy, inaccurate depictions of ships are the result of a lack of maritime knowledge on the part of the mosaicists. And as to the texts in the mosaics, archaeologists more or less gave up when trying to explain some single-letter abbreviations.

The idea that second- or third-rate mosaicists were hired and allowed to make unintelligible, clumsy mosaics is untenable. The square is linked structurally to the theatre that was being rebuilt by the Emperors, Commodus, Septimius Severus and Caracalla. However one wishes to interpret the function of the square, there is a predominant presence of skippers and merchants involved in the Rome's food supply, one of the main pillars of the Imperial throne. On the square, statues were erected of distinguished citizens and officials, after approval by the local city council. This makes work of amateurs most unlikely. And how could the mosaicists, working in the most important harbour of the Empire, not have known what ships looked like? Apart from the fact that on the square they worked at a distance of 70 meters from the Tiber quays, where all sorts of ships were moored. Would their employers, skippers themselves, have been satisfied with failed representations of their ships? It is an apparent expressionism that needs to be explained.

The depictions are not just sketchy, many are also ambiguous. Some seem to be a clear represention of a particular object or building at first sight, which proves to be wrong however on closer inspection. Diametrically opposed orientations of objects are found. In other cases a pattern is interrupted or symmetry broken. Metaphores are also used. In other words, the artists are sending us a plethora of messages. As to the abbreviations, these are not tucked away in a corner, but presented in a prominent way to the visitor. There are no good parallels, even though we know hundreds and hundreds of Latin abbreviations. They must have been equally puzzling for the ancient visitor. What was the key in understanding such depictions and abbreviations? There is no hard, unequivocal evidence to explain it all. It seems to me however that the institution of an auxiliary grain fleet by Commodus was a crucial trigger. This classis Africana Commodiana Herculea is mentioned in the Historia Augusta:

Classem Africanam instituit, quae subsidio esset, si forte Alexandrina frumenta cessassent, ridicule etiam Carthaginem Alexandriam Commodianam Togatam appellavit, cum classem quoque Africanam Commodianam Herculeam appellasset.	He did organize an African fleet, which would have been useful, in case the grain-supply from Alexandria were delayed. He jestingly named Carthage 'Alexandria Commodiana Togata', after entitling the African fleet 'Commodiana Herculea'.
Historia Augusta, Commodus XVII,7-8. Translation David Magie.

Commodus organized a fleet of Africa Proconsularis, modern Tunisia, that could offer assistance as a reserve in case the Alexandrian grain would not be forthcoming. This could be the result of occupation by a usurper, or a shortage of manpower due to a plague. We may assume that Carthage, the main port in North Africa, would in some way take the lead. The name of the fleet refers to Commodus' favourite deity Hercules. The date of the institution can be derived from two coin types, struck in 191/192 AD. One is shown on the start page of this section, the other shows Commodus as Hercules, holding a club and with a foot on the prow of a ship. He is clasping hands with Africa, who has a lion at her feet and wears the elephant headdress that is characteristic for Africa, but holds a rattle (sistrum), attribute of the Egyptian deity Isis. In the clasped hands are grain ears. The coin has the text PROVIDENTIAE AVG, so it celebrates the foresight of the Emperor.

Aureus of Commodus, struck in Rome in 191 or 192 AD.
On the obverse: L AEL AVREL COMM AVG P FEL. Photo: British Museum.

The problem Commodus was faced with was not the availability of grain in regions other than Egypt, but how to get it to Rome fast in case of an emergency. Of course he did not order the construction of a new fleet, to float around in a harbour, just waiting for the emergency to happen and with crews merely standing by. Ships must have been designated that transported commodities other than grain, commodities that were not or less urgent: marble, wild animals, salted fish, fish sauce. These ships could then be "activated" in case of an emergency, to start the transport of grain. This required negotiations and signed contracts, also because of the financial impact. I suggest that, after taking the decision to institute the fleet, Commodus and his officials wanted to follow up the negotiations and contracts with practical measures. The members of the fleet should occupy a statio on the square, to be used for their regular activities, but also to enable efficient communication and fast activation of the fleet. It will certainly have benefitted the skippers and traders, recognized now as essential, even Imperial suppliers.

The challenge with which the mosaicists were now confronted was, how to depict a paper fleet that might never be activated. They decided to use little puzzles, such as ambiguity, contrast, and metaphores. This approach was then also applied in stationes that were used by skippers that were not members of the auxiliary fleet, coming also from other provinces. The square developed into a full-fledged communication centre for maritime trade, the ancient equivalent of email and the mobile phone.

Mosaics with similar effects may already have been made in Rome, but still we must ask ourselves who came up with the idea to use all these special effects on this square in Ostia. Here it is important to stress that the square was of eminent importance, linked as it was to the supplying of Rome. One thing is certain: this visual approach was approved by the Imperial administration, first the procurator of the food supply (annona), who will have talked to the prefect of the food supply, who in turn talked to the Emperor. Perhaps the artists came up with the idea, in discussions with the skippers and traders. But treating the supplying of Rome in this remarkable way would have been a brave initiative. It is conceivable that the idea came from Commodus himself, talking with the mosaicists. Commodus used a villa at modern Tor Paterno, a bit to the south of Ostia, and he will surely have visited Ostia and Portus on a number of occasions. Remarkable artistic developments are documented in the late-Antonine and early-Severan period, such as the introduction in painting of the so-called linear style or catacomb style, with a white background and slightly inclinated bands, and the portraits of Caracalla, breaking with tradition, characterized by a deep, downward frown on the forehead. To such new approaches the mosaics on the square may be added.