Roman Wall Research Articles

Hyperspectral imaging-based approach for the in-situ characterization of ancient Roman wall paintings

A diagnostic study was recently carried out on fragments of wall paintings belonging to the decorations of an old Roman residential villa of the Ager Gabinus, in the locality Pratolungo (Rome, Italy). The study was organized in two stages. A first stage, in which small splinters of these painted specimens were embedded in resin to obtain polished and thin cross-sections to study by optical microscopy and a second phase, in which the specimens were analyzed by Raman Spectrometry and HyperSpectral Imaging (HSI). The results obtained by classical methods (i.e. optical microscopy), were compared with those resulting from non-destructive investigation such as, Raman spectroscopy and HSI based techniques. The attention was particularly addressed to the utilization of HSI in the SWIR range (1000-2500 nm), being this techniques potentially used directly in situ without any physical sampling/removal of the specimen of interest. The collected hyperspectral data (i.e. images) were processed applying chemometric methods. For its intrinsic characteristics, the utilization of HSI as a diagnostic tool in the field of cultural heritage is of great interest and it presents high potentialities, being this analysis intrinsically non-destructive, non-invasive and in principle applicable in any site. Furthermore, the possibility to couple hyperspectral data with chemometric techniques allows getting not only qualitative but also quantitative information on the nature and the physical-chemical attributes and characteristics of the investigated materials. Following this strategy, it is thus possible to obtain information comparable with those commonly acquired by optical microscopy, allowing also the identification of pigments and the constituent materials directly in situ.

Wall Paintings from the Roman Emona (Ljubljana, Slovenia): Characterization of Mortar Layers and Pigments

This study concerns the investigation of mortar layers and pigments of wall paintings from the Roman town of Emona (Ljubljana, Slovenia). Fragments of wall paintings consist of up to three preserved mortar layers. The mineralogical–petrographic compositions of the mortars were determined by means of optical microscopy and FT–IR spectroscopy. The investigated samples were divided into several groups based on similar thicknesses of the mortar layer, the binder colour and the composition of an aggregate. Furthermore, the results of mercury intrusion porosimetry showed that mortar layers consisting of carbonate grains exhibited lower porosity with respect to layers with mainly silicate grains, which is attributed to the angular shapes of carbonate aggregate. This is in accordance with the drilling resistance measurement system test (DRMS), confirming that layers with angular carbonate grains are harder than those with addition of rounded silicate ones, due to the good packing effect. The wall paintings were mainly executed using the fresco technique, while for some details secco was used. The identified pigments were red and yellow ochre, green earth, Egyptian blue, carbon black and lime white; all of them belonged to the so‐called austere pigment, which is quite common in Roman wall paintings.

Improving FTIR imaging speciation of organic compound residues or their degradation products in wall painting samples, by introducing a new thin section preparation strategy based on cyclododecane pre-treatment.

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) imaging in transmission mode, employing a bidimensional focal plane array (FPA) detector, was applied for the detection and spatially resolved chemical characterisation of organic compounds or their degradation products within the stratigraphy of a critical group of fragments, originating from prehistoric and roman wall paintings, containing a very low concentration of subsisted organic matter or its alteration products. Past analyses using attenuated total reflection (ATR) or reflection FTIR on polished cross sections failed to provide any evidence of any organic material assignable as binding medium of the original painting. In order to improve the method's performance, in the present study, a new method of sample preparation in thin section was developed. The procedure is based on the use of cyclododecane C12H24 as embedding material and a subsequent double-side polishing of the specimen. Such procedure provides samples to be studied in FTIR transmission mode without losing the information on the spatial distribution of the detected materials in the paint stratigraphy. For comparison purposes, the same samples were also studied after opening their stratigraphy with a diamond anvil cell. Both preparation techniques offered high-quality chemical imaging of the decay products of an organic substance, giving clues to the painting technique. In addition, the thin sections resulting from the cyclododecane pre-treatment offered more layer-specific data, as the layer thickness and order remained unaffected, whereas the samples resulting from compression within the diamond cell were slightly deformed; however, since thinner and more homogenous, they provided higher spectral quality in terms of S/N ratio. In summary, the present study illustrates the appropriateness of FTIR imaging in transmission mode associated with a new thin section preparation strategy to detect and localise very low-concentrated organic matter subjected to deterioration processes, when the application of FTIR in reflection mode or FTIR-ATR fails to give any relevant information.

One or two things about architecture: Restoration works at Trajan׳s Market

One of the objectives of the redevelopment project for Trajan׳s Market, which spanned from 2000 to 2002, was to rearrange the market׳s accessibility and the visiting paths that connect and cross the entire site. The purpose was to extensively expose its beauty and thus invite more tourists into the area. The project design consisted of a series of catwalks placed at different levels and was conceived with respect to three criteria: (1) the didactic significance of forms and materials; (2) the coherence between architectural forms, techniques, and materials with the identity of the place; and (3) the possibility of removing, if necessary, newly added elements without damaging the relics. The project also involved the rearrangement and reconstruction of the former “Giardino delle Milizie” (2002–2007) to allow public access to the archaeological stratification and to the ancient Roman street located at its bottom. Consequently, the vaults of the convent were suspended upon a system of steel beams, which, together with several wooden pillars, also support the glass roof of the space, offering a close view of the ancient Roman walls. The structure and architectural forms coincide, implying that each of these elements is necessary and genuine.

Witnesses and Participants in the Shadows: The Sexual Lives of Enslaved Women and Boys

The fate of many women and children captured in a war with Rome was enslavement and prostitution. (1) Even if some individuals living in slavery never worked in a brothel, Roman authors make it clear that slaves' sexual lives were often employed to serve the needs and desires of the free. (2) Because the sexual lives of prostitutes and enslaved persons overlapped in many important ways, any discussion devoted to sexual labor in ancient Rome cannot be purely confined to those who sold their wares as prostitutes. In fact, it is likely that most slaves could expect at one time or another during their enslavement that their slave owners (or other free persons) would employ either indirectly or directly their sexual experiences and lives. Unfortunately, there are no documents from the Roman world which allow modern scholars to know how a slave experienced or thought about his or her sexual relationships. (3) Rather the sources we have about slaves' sexual lives were written from the perspective of slave owners, and Latin authors' writings indicate that free persons viewed slaves' sexual lives in instrumental terms. For instance, Roman sources on prostitution are commonly concerned with the financial benefits, but also the fuzzy moral situations, which the sale of sex provided Roman men who owned a brothel; additionally, these sources point to assumptions about men who visited (too frequently) brothels. (4) Outside of the brothel, slave owners also expected financially to take advantage of enslaved women's sexuality. (5) Indeed, Roman writers viewed slave women's sexual reproduction as the primary means of the slave population's growth in Rome. (6) In addition to gaining from female slaves' reproductive abilities, agricultural writers indicate that they relied on sex with enslaved women to keep their male slaves in line (Varro, Rust. 1.17.5, 2.10.6; Columella, Rust. 1.8.5). The instrumental use of slaves' sexual lives, however, is not limited to these economic benefits. In fact, Roman wall paintings, mosaics, and literature make transparent the multifaceted ways in which slave owners and other free persons relied on slaves' sexual experiences to meet their social, physical, and emotional needs and desires. In this paper, I examine the layered nature of sexual relationships between free men and enslaved women and boys in ancient Rome. First, I explore the visual language that Romans employed in wall paintings and mosaics to represent slaves as observers of others' love acts or as sexual participants. To do so, I start with an examination of erotic scenes from Roman homes and then move to those found in Pompeii's purpose-built brothel. Next, turning to Roman literary sources, I look at Latin authors' accounts of slaves' sexual lives in order to consider Roman assumptions about the instrumental use of slaves' indirect or direct sexual experiences. Throughout this study, I assert that Roman male slave owners--either intentionally or unconsciously--imagined their slaves as substitute audiences and witnesses during their sexual acts with others. Yet, in their own relationships with enslaved persons, Roman men also envisioned slaves as instruments meant to fulfill their own sexual needs and desires. Indeed, when they sought avenues that allowed them to indulge in fantasies and needs outside of traditional sexual relationships, they frequently turned to enslaved women and boys. In order to frame my discussion, I rely on William Fitzgerald's claim that slaves were a third presence who faded in and out of visibility and that Roman slave owners often treated their slaves as shadows of free humans; that is to say, that free individuals' relationships with the enslaved were impressions of those that the free had with one another. Yet, despite their resemblance to, or reflection of, relationships between free people, the relationships between enslaved and free were structured around the convenience, needs, and desires of free persons (Fitzgerald 2007, 124-7). …

Augustus' Power from the Stars and the Foundation of Augusta Praetoria Salassorum

Augustus' propaganda founded the ruler's power on a series of references to the sky: Caesar's comet, which helped to establish the divine nature of kingship, the completion of the calendar's reform celebrated in the Campus Martius' meridian, and Augustus' association with Capricorn, the zodiacal sign of the winter solstice. Various forms of proof derived from texts, works of art and numismatics show the key role of such a ‘power from the stars’. We present here new archaeological and archaeoastronomical evidence coming from Augusta Praetoria Salassorum (modern Aosta), founded around 25 bc after the victory of Augustus' army on the Salassi. An emergency excavation along the Aosta's Roman walls has brought to light, on a corner of one of the towers, an in situ block which carries several reliefs — including a plough and a spade — apparently related to the town's foundation ritual. As a consequence, we carried out a complete analysis of the original urban plan of Aosta and of its relationship with the sky and the landscape, taking into account the complex natural horizon of the Alps in which Aosta's valley is nested. The results show that the town was oriented in such a way as to pinpoint Augustus' ‘cognitive’ relationship with the ‘cosmic’ signs of renewal.

THE SOUTHWESTERN LIMES OF ROMAN DACIA AND BEYOND - NEW SURVEYS AND EXCAVATIONS

This paper presents the results of a research project on the southwestern frontier of Dacia, which was an external frontier of the Empire in this area. The research aimed to investigate and locate on the ground all military sites with modern devices (GPS) and establish the elements of the ancient landscape that had an influence on the choice of particular locations for the forts. Also, the military sites have been placed on geo-referenced maps. Another goal was to locate and investigate the great earth ramparts from nowadays southwestern Romania (so-called Roman walls) and try to see whether there is a relation between them and the forts on one side and the many sites (cemeteries and settlements) of the Sarmatian Iazyges. This people, that lived to the west from Dacia, penetrated the marshy plains east of the river Tisza much earlier than the researchers previously supposed, that is right after the Marcomannic wars (after 180 AD) and not only at the end of the 3 rd century AD.

Multi-Analytical Investigation on Roman Wall Paintings: The Case of Tuna El-Gabal Funerary Houses, Middle Egypt

Multi-Analytical Investigation on Roman Wall Paintings: The Case of Tuna El-Gabal Funerary Houses, Middle Egypt

Stratigraphic investigation of wall painting fragments from Roman villas of the Sabina area

A number of plaster fragments of Roman wall paintings have been investigated through micro-Raman and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy in order to characterize the different layers of paint. The samples come from two Roman villas in the Sabina area, a countryside close to Rome. The two sets of painted plasters present different palette of colors, pictorial technique and texture as the villas are dated one in the first century A.D. and the other in the second. Both micro-Raman and LIBS spectroscopies have supplied compositional information by consuming a microscopic amount of sample material and not requiring sophisticated and expansive preparation of the plaster. Depth profile analysis has also been performed by monitoring the intensities ratio of specific emission lines related to some characteristic elements. The spectroscopic results have been integrated with microscopic and profilometric investigation of the samples, allowing to analyze the depth and morphology of the craters produced by the penetration of the laser pulses into the samples.

Invasive and non-invasive analyses for knowledge and conservation of Roman wall paintings of the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum

The Villa of the Papyri is one of the most imposing architectural examples of Herculaneum dated before the eruption occurred on 79A.D. During the earliest years of the excavation of the site (18th century), the Villa has been explored through a thick network of tunnels dug into the hard bank of tuff rock. Recent excavations went on discontinuously between 1990s and 2008, until the discovery of a room located in the lower floor of the building, showing serious phenomena of colour change of some areas of the painted walls. Some dark green parts of mural paintings after volcanic mud removal became white and powdered, detaching from the plaster.During the last restoration works a scientific approach became necessary in order to acquire detailed information about the wall painting technique and the degradation phenomena occurring in some decorative elements in the vault of the Basis Villa (a room in the lower floor of the building); it was established to perform a scientific recognition.Integrated investigations – carried out by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy with X-ray microanalysis (EDS), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), ion chromatography (IC), FT-IR spectroscopy, gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) – had primarily the goal to characterize the materials used for the realization of the these impressive wall paintings, as well as to assess their state of conservation.A second aim of the research was to test the reliability of non-invasive analyses that are sometimes performed in situ to study mural paintings, like reflectance spectrometry in the visible range (vis-RS), X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF) and micro-Raman spectroscopy, as well as imaging analyses like false colour IR (IRC) and visible induced IR luminescence (VIL).The whole set of analyses allowed to identify a typical Vitruvian plaster with the following pigments: Egyptian blue, red and yellow ochre, goethite and hematite particles, green earth and carbon black particles.The high content of soluble salts, which is related to the sulphur-rich water in the site located few metres above water level in the walls and floors, caused a worsening in the state of conservation of mural paintings.

Mosaics of Frescoes: Digital Photogrammetry, Raster Representation, Pigment Analysis and Metrology of a Flavian Wall Painting on the Caelian Hill (Rome)

Chronological and stylistic studies of Roman wall paintings and mosaics were based for a long time only on optical direct analysis and current analogue or digital photographic reproduction. The aims of fresco research today remain the same as in the past — i.e. pigment types and sources, painting subjects and styles, application methods, and the relationship between paintings and the function of their locations. Modern technologies, however, have now been developed which can finally improve our knowledge about ancient decorative taste and workshops. New methodologies such as highly accurate colour reproduction of paintings and mosaics, digital reconstruction of fragmentary decorations, or chemical analyses of pigments or plasters are increasingly being used to fill important research gaps. Some of these techniques are illustrated in this article as solutions to obstacles in the archaeological documentation of an unpublished first-century ad painting (Late Flavian period) on the Caelian Hill in Rome. With relation to Fourth Style decorations, the problematic question as to whether there was an intentional ratio between the component parts of the fresco is also discussed, linking for the first time the Vitruvian architectural concept of Commodulatio (meaning ‘with symmetry/proportion’) to wall paintings.

Restitución virtual de la muralla romana de León: una visión diacrónica

The Roman wall, of rectangular plan and rounded corners, following the canonical military model, is the major evidence of the fortress built by the Legion VII Gemina in León in 74 AD. The archaeological interventions developed throughout the decades have confirmed that the defensive system consists of two adjacent walls: the first one dates back to the Low Empire, while the other, attached to the previous one by its external face, is dated Late Third to Early Fourth century AD. We, too, must add an internal rampart (agger) corresponding to a previous defensive system. The 3D virtual restitution we have undertaken allows us to contemplate, with further detail, the features of this almost 20 meters wide constructive complex that has conditioned the urban development of the city of León.

Roman impact on the landscape near castellum Fectio, The Netherlands

Castellum Fectio was one of the largest fortifications along the Limes, the northern border of the Roman Empire. The castellum, situated 5 km southeast of Utrecht, the Netherlands, was occupied from around the start of our Era to ca. a.d. 260. It was situated along a river bend of the Rhine that was cut off from the main stream during the occupation of the Roman fort. A 6 m long sediment sequence was recovered from the infill of the residual channel and pieces of Roman wall plaster, glume bases of Triticum spelta and radiocarbon dates indicate that the sediments were deposited during the period of Roman occupation. The combined palaeoecological analyses—palynological, macrobotanical, entomological and geochemical—allow a detailed reconstruction of changing environmental conditions as a consequence of the Roman occupation. The pollen record reveals a dramatic decrease in arboreal pollen, suggesting that the Romans were involved in large-scale deforestation, transforming semi-open parkland to a landscape of meadows and agricultural fields. Non-pollen palynomorphs, botanical macrofossils and insect remains support this conclusion. The recorded mycoflora shows a shift from assemblages characterised by the tree pathogen Kretzschmaria deusta to assemblages dominated by spores of fungi associated with herbaceous plants, concurrent with the decrease in arboreal pollen. The presence of masticated bran fragments of cereals, clover remains, eggs of intestinal parasites and entomological and geochemical data in the upper part of the sequence indicates that these sediments largely consist of faeces that were dumped into the former channel. Surprisingly, seeds of salt tolerant species are encountered in the sediments of this inland site, which was situated outside the influence of the sea. Horses may have brought these seeds to Fectio in their intestinal tracts after grazing in coastal meadows.

Evolución urbana de un sector de la ciudad de Tortosa durante la Antigüedad: intervenciones arqueológicas en la calle de Sant Domènech

The study of the ancient past of the city of Tortosa suffers from a delay of several decades in comparison with other cities with a similar heritage. In order to mitigate that lack, the Seminari de Protohistoria i Arqueologia (GRESEPIA) de la Universitat Rovira i Virgili, of Tarragona, has been leading a research project that has provided very interesting results, particulary from the archaeological excavations carried out in Sant Domenech street in Tortosa. In this area of the old part of the city, two graves belonging to an extensive late Roman necropolis have been discovered, as well as several early Roman walls and, what is more significant, the remains of an iberian fortification. The discovery of this fortification confirms the long-speculated presence of an important pre-roman oppidum at the top of the Zuda hill, in the middle of the old part of the city.

La recuperación y restauración de la pintura mural romana en el sureste español

<p>Recovery of the Roman wall painting in the southeast Spanish is done, by a party's own excavations in the archaeological site, where you can find this mural in two ways, still located in the walls of Roman villas or at the foot of these walls collapsed, fragmented and even buried, making it necessary cooperation in the recovery work of the archaeologist and restorer. You can also recall Roman wall paintings in the collections of archaeological museums, as many boxes remain innumerable multitude of fragments of mural pieces found in excavations and record stored there pending further study, grading and restoration. Examples of the above are discussed.</p>

A multi-technique approach for the characterization of Roman mural paintings

In the frame of an ongoing archeological study on the Sabina area, a countryside close to Rome, white and red samples of roman wall paintings have been investigated by combining X-ray diffraction and different spectroscopic methodologies, namely laser induced breakdown spectroscopy, μ-Raman and Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy. The used multi-technique approach has allowed the unambiguous identification of the red pigment as red ochre and has provided insight on the provenance of both the pigment and the material used for the realization of the wall paintings. The experimental results have confirmed some assumptions on the use of local materials in roman rural architecture.

A multi-analytical approach for the study of the pigments used in the wall paintings from a building complex on the Caelian Hill (Rome)

In the present study, shards from Roman wall paintings (from the end of the first century to the fourth century A.D.) decorating the domus below the Basilica of SS. John and Paul on the Caelian Hill (Rome), were analyzed in order to identify the pigments used. The analytical techniques employed for the characterization of the pigments were the scanning electron microscope coupled with an energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS) and infrared spectroscopy (ATR and micro ATR). While SEM-EDS allowed to perform a qualitative analysis of the material, by FT-IR chemical species have been identified. The pigments identified were those mentioned in the literature for the Imperial Roman fresco painting: different types of ochre (yellow and red), mixtures containing lead, green earths and precious pigments such as cinnabar and Egyptian blue. They were often used as mixtures and the use of the most valuable pigments (cinnabar and Egyptian blue) were found in the most ancient rooms.

Case study: GPR survey at the archaeological Roman site of Ciavieja, El Ejido (Spain)

ABSTRACTThis paper, describing a ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) survey performed on the archaeological site of Ciavieja, El Ejido (Spain), is part of a series of historical studies performed in Ciavieja to analyse the extent and importance of the remains buried at this site. The objective of the GPR survey was to locate the most promising areas within the archaeological site to help design a park that combines leisure and culture. The time slices built with the radar data show several locations with linear and square anomalies with sizes compatible with those of Roman walls or rooms. The interpretation of the GPR data is corroborated with FDTD computer simulations.

SIEGE WARFARE AND COUNTER-SIEGE TACTICS IN LATE ANTIQUITY (ca. 250–640)

Although there are numerous remains of Late Roman walls and other defensive works, these offer little insight into how individual sieges progressed, and most of our knowledge about siege operations in Late Antiquity comes from literary sources, which, for different reasons, provide a wealth of information. Tactics and techniques were substantially the same as in earlier Roman and Hellenistic times, so that comparative evidence is relevant, and the main issue for debate is the switch from torsion-powered to traction artillery and who was responsible for this development.

Wall painting in the Roman empire: colour, design and technology

Roman wall paintings are frequently admired by visitors to such famous sites as Pompeii and Herculaneum, and traces of them also survive in the remains of many towns and villas throughout the lands of the former empire, but the technological skill of the Roman painters is less widely appreciated. Here the sources of the pigments used and the methods the painters employed to plaster and paint the walls are described.