Underground Rome – Part One

Underground Rome – Part One

While walking through the streets of Rome, no matter where you stroll, there are 3000 years’ worth of ancient human activity beneath your feet. Remains of the earliest settlement, temples from republican Rome, and ruins of the imperial period slowly come to light as the modern city evolves. Construction of the subway has brought out many old villas, mosaics and frescoed walls.

In addition to the well-known ancient underground attractions, others have been recently opened to the public: underground areas of the Terme di Caracalla, the Vergine aqueduct under the Rinascente department store, and the Domitian stadium under Piazza Navona.

Some underground sites have the advantage of having been protected over the years by later construction above them. One such example is the area under San Clemente.

The Basilica of San Clemente, http://basilicasanclemente.com/eng, named for the fourth pope, who died around the year 100, during the reign of Trajan, is a time machine of the city across the centuries. Constructions from the first, third, fourth centuries, Middle Ages and then additions in the eighteenth century are overlaid on four levels.

Three churches were successively built on this spot. After the Normans sacked the fourth century church in 1084, it was reconstructed at the beginning of the twelfth century. The main structure that we see today of the Basilica is from this period, but the atrium, the portico and the façade were added in the eighteenth century. Toward the middle of the nineteenth century excavations were begun that brought to light the remains of the fourth century church below, which, in turn, had been constructed over an earlier building that once housed the imperial Roman mint.

Be prepared to go back in time, in the labyrinth of a sacred and profane world. San Clemente is an incredibly suggestive place and the underground exploration culminates in a visit to a space in the form of a grotto dedicated to the mysterious god Mithras. As you descend, there are well-situated lights and appropriate restorations, which allow you to see old frescoes and part of the ruins incorporated into the walls. On the left is a marble pagan inscription, which, when you turn it over shows that it has been reused for a Christian burial. “To Sorus, rest in peace, erected by his brother Euritidiranus.”

 

Continuing the descent, observe how the arches of the old church have been filled in to better support the newer church above. The fourth century basilica is also formed by a nave and two aisles, and is directly under the new. The numerous frescoes from the eighth to the eleventh centuries are rather faded, but an interesting fragment of a ninth century Last Judgment stands out. Frescoes of the lives of Sant’Alessio and San Clemente are also painted here.

Proceeding still lower, we find structures from the first and third centuries. On this third level, there are the ruins of an enormous rectangular building with walls of tuff and travertine about two feet thick that was the imperial Roman mint. Part of this massive edifice supports the current architectonic complex, that is the western wall, two side walls of the building, two walls of the twelfth century church and three walls of the fourth century basilica.

In the courtyard of a first century apartment block a mithraeum was erected, which included a pronaos (vestibule) and triclinium (dining room). In the latter, we see the altar and the benches where the participants of this mysterious religion sat. The god Mithras was born from a rock and ascended into heaven. The vault of the grotto represented the heavens, that is, the universe. On the ceiling were stars and constellations known at that time.

Mithras was a Persian god introduced to Rome by the soldiers stationed in the east. Like Jesus, Mithras was a savior god, come to earth to show the way and oppose evil; he died and rose again. His followers were baptized in bull’s blood. The legionnaires built temples to the god Mithras all over the empire. This religion was very popular with the Roman aristocracy and was in direct competition with Christianity until it was outlawed in 395. This religion put emphasis on loyalty and faith and, for this, held particular sway on the military. The Roman legions introduced it in all parts of the empire and remains of mithraeums have been found in many countries.

The muscular god Mithras is represented while killing a bull, whose blood makes the earth fertile. Even though the cult originated in Persia, a bearded and reclining Roman god, possibly Oceanus or Neptune, often assists in the foreground of the scene. A dog instrumental in finding the bull is sometimes depicted while the tail of the bull terminates in a large stalk of grain that symbolizes the cycle of life made possible by the blood of the animal.

It has been estimated that during the third century about 2000 Mithraeums flourished in the city. For another example, see the description of the Mithraeum of Santa Prisca in Walk 2 of my book Walk Rome.

The fourth and last layer is mostly unexplored and consists in part of houses that were destroyed during the famous fire in 64 AD during emperor Nero’s reign. One area, not yet brought to light, contains a structure from the republican period. The excavations continue and each year new rooms and floors are discovered. The sound made by rushing water under a grate in the floor is the final surprise.

Excavations were begun on the third level in 1867, but gradually ground water seeped in to make it inaccessible. It rose until it reached the door of the triclinium in 1912, indicated by a sign posted. That same year Cardinal O’Connor of Boston had a canal built 700 yards long to drain away the water that pressed on the foundations. The water pours into the Cloaca Massima, a drainage system, built in the sixth century BC and still functioning, which leads to the Tiber. This channel crosses the fourth level under the church, six yards under the level of the mithraeum, and passes under the nearby Via Labicana.