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Summary overview

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The Vatican inscription lists local officials and members of the seviri Augustales, including freedmen with the name Trebulanus, suggesting a link to Trebula Suffenas. It likely comes from Ciciliano, where similar names were found.

The Gismondi inscription, found near Ciciliano, records the founding of the Augustales and their contributions to a schola decorated with imperial busts. The dedication was celebrated with food, wine, and likely games on July 23rd, 14 CE, during the Neptunalia.

Trebula Suffenas

Trebula Suffenas flourished during the Imperial period, becoming the political and economic center of the Suffenates. This era saw the construction of major public buildings, notably a bath complex discovered in 1948 at Ospedale S. Giovanni.

Located on the northern side of the forum, the baths were built along a slope and consisted of around ten rooms beneath present-day Villa Manni (fig. 1), using opus mixtum and latericium. Excavations focused mainly on exposing mosaic floors and perimeter walls, leaving the plan incomplete (fig. 2).

Dated to the Antonine period (130–150 CE), the complex is remarkable for its scale and refined decoration, unusual for a small rural town. It may have been sponsored by the Plautii Silvani or the emperor. Mosaic styles suggest craftsmen from Rome or Ostia.

At the center was a large apse hall (1), connected to a lower corridor and service rooms with hydraulic functions. An adjacent open area may have served as a palaestra, while a marble-clad vestibule once stood in front. The complex extended to an artificial terrace overlooking the Empolitana Valley.

Rooms 1 and 2 contained two key mosaics: one depicting Helle and Phrixus with a marine thiasos, the other showing gym scenes, both now in the museum. The apse hall likely had a groin vault with geometric decoration, found collapsed during excavations (fig. 3).

In room 3 (approx. 8x8 m), a black-and-white mosaic restored in 1987 survives in situ (figs. 4–5). It features a border of a fortified wall with battlements and towers, enclosing a central square with geometric motifs. This design, rooted in Hellenistic textile patterns, was popular in Imperial Lazio and Campania.

A final marine-themed mosaic, now fragmented (depicting a woman, fish, sea serpent, and bird), was found in an unidentified room and is now embedded in the fountain basin in front of Villa Manni (fig. 6).

Trebula Suffenas flourished during the Imperial period, becoming the political and economic center of the Suffenates. This era saw the construction of major public buildings, notably a bath complex discovered in 1948 at Ospedale S. Giovanni.

Located on the northern side of the forum, the baths were built along a slope and consisted of around ten rooms beneath present-day Villa Manni (fig. 1), using opus mixtum and latericium. Excavations focused mainly on exposing mosaic floors and perimeter walls, leaving the plan incomplete (fig. 2).

Trebula Suffenas - bath complex

The mosaic was found in room 1, likely the frigidarium of the baths. On the back wall was a semi-circular pool, accessed by steps and fed by a lead pipe (fistula plumbea).

The rare mosaic subject, more common in frescoes (figs. 1–2), depicts the myth of Helle and Phrixus in black figures on a white background (fig. 3). At the center is the myth: to escape sacrifice, the siblings are rescued by a golden-fleeced, winged ram sent by Hermes. Helle falls into the sea, giving name to the Hellespont, while Phrixus reaches Colchis, sacrifices the ram, and gifts its fleece to the king, who hangs it on a sacred oak guarded by a dragon (fig. 4). This later inspired Jason’s quest.

Around the scene, clockwise: a dragon, bearded centaur with a flute, Cupid on a dolphin, sea bull, young centaur with aulos (fig. 5), hippocamp led by Cupid, another centaur with a shell, and two large fish. The five Nereids follow typical poses found in Hadrianic mosaics from Ostia (fig. 6).

Roman mosaics decorated floors, walls, and vaults, using small tesserae of stone, glass, or terracotta (opus tessellatum). The finest works (opus vermiculatum) used tiny pieces (1–4 mm) for detailed, painterly effects.

Popular between the 1st c. BCE and 2nd c. CE, mosaics depicted mythological scenes, marine life, and daily activities, especially in bathhouses. Later mosaics were simpler, often black-and-white, while luxury examples included gold and bright colors.

The mosaic was found in room 1, likely the frigidarium of the baths. On the back wall was a semi-circular pool, accessed by steps and fed by a lead pipe (fistula plumbea).

Mosaic of Helle and Phrixus

The palestra-themed mosaic was also removed and stored outdoors, where it quickly became moss-covered due to poor environmental conditions.

In the 1980s, both mosaics were transferred to the Sanctuary of Hercules Victor in Tivoli. Basic restoration followed in the 1990s, but conservation issues persisted.

In 2019, with public funding and collaboration between Ciciliano, Villa d’Este, La Sapienza University, and the ICR, the mosaics were finally brought to the Civic Archaeological Museum of Ciciliano. Restoration began thanks to support from PNRR regional and EU funds.

Restoration Process

As part of a training program, fourth-year students from SAF_ICR carried out a pilot restoration on four sections of the mosaic, chosen to represent the overall degradation.

A preliminary study showed advanced damage: chipping, losses, and cracks in the mortar. Cleaning was done with warm water, soft brushes, and dental tools (fig. 2). Inappropriate stuccos were removed manually, and neutral pH saline solutions were applied using cellulose and Japanese paper poultices.

For future handling, the mosaic surface was stabilized: flakes were reattached using acrylic adhesives, and loose tesserae were reset with lime-based mortars. Temporary stucco fillings were added to fill gaps and level the surface (figs. 3–4), meant to be removed later.

To protect the mosaic during transport, safety bandages were applied (fig. 5), using cotton gauze and starch-based adhesive, with a small amount of biocide to prevent mold.

The palestra-themed mosaic was also removed and stored outdoors, where it quickly became moss-covered due to poor environmental conditions.

In the 1980s, both mosaics were transferred to the Sanctuary of Hercules Victor in Tivoli. Basic restoration followed in the 1990s, but conservation issues persisted.

Mosaic relocation and restoration

The Palestra Mosaic and Sports in Ancient Rome

The palestra-themed mosaic, in black figures on a white background, was found in Room 2 (fig. 1), measuring about 6 x 5.8 meters with two aligned marble-threshold entrances. Due to severe damage, it was removed for conservation along with the Helle and Phrixus mosaic.

Originally framed by an 8 cm black border, set 60 cm from the walls (fig. 2), the mosaic’s central scene shows three figures facing right: a nude male (upper body missing), a young man with a palm, and a tunicked herald playing a tuba or lyre—likely winners of athletic and musical contests, led by a judge. Surrounding them are athletes in action: wrestlers, a partially lost group of three, and fragments suggesting a ball game, with one figure wearing the distinctive cirrus hairstyle.

The muscles are rendered with short, tense lines, and the mosaic is stylistically dated to the Antonine period, comparable to works from the Baths of Porta Marina and Baths of Neptune in Ostia (figs. 3–4). Such athletic themes were common in Roman bath mosaics, often paired with marine imagery—as in Ciciliano—especially in the 2nd–3rd centuries CE in Campania, Rome, and Ostia.

Sport in Roman Culture

In ancient Rome, sport was more than entertainment—it was a cultural expression of virtue, discipline, and power. Athleticism reflected Roman identity and civic ideals like courage, endurance, and loyalty.

Practiced daily by elite youth in gymnasiums and baths, sports included running, wrestling, boxing, discus, javelin, hunting, and horseback riding. These were part of both physical training and rituals of beauty and purification.

Sports also had a public, performative dimension: games, gladiatorial contests, and chariot races reinforced imperial power and social order. Roman art reflects this importance, offering a rich visual language of athletes—wrestlers, boxers, runners, judges—shown in dynamic, idealized poses. The male body, meticulously detailed, symbolized control, strength, and perfection.

The Palestra Mosaic and Sports in Ancient Rome

The palestra-themed mosaic, in black figures on a white background, was found in Room 2 (fig. 1), measuring about 6 x 5.8 meters with two aligned marble-threshold entrances. Due to severe damage, it was removed for conservation along with the Helle and Phrixus mosaic.

Athletes mosaic

EQUI

Il popolo italico degli Equi abitava il territorio prima della conquista romana, circondato da Sabini, Vestini, Marsi ed Ernici. Nel V-IV secolo a.C., durante la lunga guerra contro Roma, gli Equi si appostavano in siti fortificati d’altura (oppida o munitissimi loci), dislocati in particolare a sud dell’Aniene, sui monti Ruffi e Affilani e verso la valle del Sacco. Lo storico Tito Livio racconta che nel 304 a.C. i Romani ne espugnarono 31 in soli 50 giorni.

Fonti:

Z. Mari, La topografia degli Equi della valle dell’Aniene, in A. M. Dolciotti e C. Scardazza (a cura di), L’ombelico d’Italia, Gangemi, Roma 2007, pp. 117-146

Tito Livio, Ab Urbe condita, IX, 45, 17

CASTELLIERI

Nella media valle dell’Aniene, tra Tivoli e Subiaco, si trovano resti di abitati posti su alture strategiche, noti come “castellieri”, nati per difendere uomini, animali e beni dalle incursioni nemiche e risalenti alla fine dell’età del bronzo. Fortificati con muraglioni a secco e palizzate, all’interno presentavano delle capanne e dei recinti per il bestiame usati durante la transumanza. Comunicavano visivamente tra loro, creando un sistema di allerta rapido ed efficace.

Fonti:

P. Ceruleo, I castellieri nella media valle dell’Aniene, in «Atti e Memorie della Società tiburtina di storia e d’arte», LIII, 1980, pp. 3-28

CICILIANO

Presso Ciciliano sono state rinvenute tracce di fortificazioni e sostruzioni di un antico oppidum equo, arroccato sulle due sommità del colle di S. Liberata e attivo dal V-IV secolo a.C. Nell’area circostante si trovano altri resti che lasciano pensare a un sistema organico di sfruttamento e controllo del territorio, lungo l’asse principale dell’attuale via Empolitana. Strade secondarie convergevano verso il Passo della Fortuna, dove è documentata la presenza di un santuario dell’Età del Ferro.

Fonti:

Z. Mari, Il territorio degli Equi aniensi. Nuove acquisizioni, in L. Attenni (a cura di), Studi sulle Mura Poligonali, atti del V seminario (Alatri, 30-31 ottobre 2010), Valtrend editore, Napoli, pp. 1-11

RIOFREDDO

La necropoli di Casal Civitella, databile all’età arcaica (tra VII e V secolo a.C.), potrebbe essere riferita al castelliere situato sul monte Morregare, dove erano presenti cinte murarie difensive con terrazzamenti e un insieme di capanne. Sono state rinvenute 25 tombe di due tipologie distinte: a cassone e a fossa. Il corredo degli uomini era costituito da armi di diverso tipo, mentre quello delle donne e dei bambini da fibule e ornamenti vari.

Fonti:

Z. Mari, La topografia degli Equi della valle dell’Aniene, in A. M. Dolciotti e C. Scardazza (a cura di), L’ombelico d’Italia, Gangemi, Roma 2007, pp. 117-146

GUARCINO

Il cosiddetto Arco di Trevi si trova tra i comuni di Trevi nel Lazio e di Guarcino, lungo uno degli antichi sentieri che collegavano Trevi con gli Altipiani di Arcinazzo. Realizzato a secco con grossi blocchi di calcare compatto di forma trapezoidale, è alto circa 6 metri e largo 4 metri e si fa risalire al IV secolo a.C. Anticamente segnava il confine tra il territorio degli Equi e quello degli Ernici, configurandosi come una sorta di dogana per il controllo del bestiame durante la transumanza.

Fonti:

https://www.visitvaldaniene.it/

BELLEGRA

L’antico centro di Vitellia, oggi Bellegra, sorge in posizione dominante sul monte Celeste. Fondato dagli Equi come oppidum con caratteristiche urbane o semi-urbane e divenuto nel 304 a.C. colonia romana, presenta ancora i resti delle mura ciclopiche in opera poligonale realizzate in più fasi tra VII e II secolo a.C. All’estremità del recinto difensivo si trovava un’arce più piccola e, vicino a questa cittadella fortificata, si può osservare il basamento a blocchi squadrati con bugnato, su cui forse sorgeva un tempio più tardo (III-I secolo a.C.).

Fonti:

https://www.visitvaldaniene.it/

Z. Mari, La topografia degli Equi della valle dell’Aniene, in A. M. Dolciotti e C. Scardazza (a cura di), L’ombelico d’Italia, Gangemi, Roma 2007, pp. 117-146

EQUI

Il popolo italico degli Equi abitava il territorio prima della conquista romana, circondato da Sabini, Vestini, Marsi ed Ernici. Nel V-IV secolo a.C., durante la lunga guerra contro Roma, gli Equi si appostavano in siti fortificati d’altura (oppida o munitissimi loci), dislocati in particolare a sud dell’Aniene, sui monti Ruffi e Affilani e verso la valle del Sacco. Lo storico Tito Livio racconta che nel 304 a.C. i Romani ne espugnarono 31 in soli 50 giorni.

Pre-Roman age

VILLA ADRIANA

VILLA DI ORAZIO (LICENZA)

SANTUARIO DI ERCOLE VINCITORE (TIVOLI)

TEMPLI DI TIVOLI (TIVOLI)

MAUSOLEO DEI PLAUTII (TIVOLI)

VILLA DI NERONE (SUBIACO)

TREBULA SUFFENAS

VIA TIBURTINA VALERIA

LE VILLAE

TREVI NEL LAZIO

L’antica Treba era situata a circa 800 metri di altitudine, tra i monti Cantari e Simbruini presso le sorgenti dell’Aniene, dove adesso sorge Trevi nel Lazio. In età repubblicana divenne municipio aniense e Traiano le concesse l’epiteto di Augusta, in occasione della captazione dell’acquedotto Anio novus dal tratto di fiume presso la villa di Nerone a Subiaco. Sono tuttora visibili i resti delle mura poligonali e di una piattaforma templare, datate al III-II secolo a.C.

Fonti:

Z. Mari, La topografia degli Equi della valle dell’Aniene, in A. M. Dolciotti e C. Scardazza (a cura di), L’ombelico d’Italia, Gangemi, Roma 2007, pp. 117-146

Roman age

ABBAZIA DI SANTA SCOLASTICA (SUBIACO)

MONASTERO DI SAN BENEDETTO (SUBIACO)

CASTELLO THEODOLI (CICILIANO)

ROCCA PIA (TIVOLI)

BUBERANO E SAMBUCI

CASTELLO ORSINI (SAN POLO DEI CAVALIERI)

CASTEL MADAMA

ORVINIO

ABBAZIA DI SANTA SCOLASTICA (SUBIACO)

MONASTERO DI SAN BENEDETTO (SUBIACO)

Middle Ages

The Vatican inscription lists local officials and members of the seviri Augustales, including freedmen with the name Trebulanus, suggesting a link to Trebula Suffenas. It likely comes from Ciciliano, where similar names were found.

Panel I

Trebula Suffenas flourished during the Imperial period, becoming the political and economic center of the Suffenates. This era saw the construction of major public buildings, notably a bath complex discovered in 1948 at Ospedale S. Giovanni.

Panel II

Panel III

The palestra-themed mosaic was also removed and stored outdoors, where it quickly became moss-covered due to poor environmental conditions.

Panel IV

The Palestra Mosaic and Sports in Ancient Rome

Panel V

Collection highlights

Documents, mosaics, and excavation traces are composed into a single continuous narrative: from the pre-Roman phase to restoration and public display.

LILYROSSTAYLOR

Trebula Suffenas

Trebula Suffenas - bath complex

Mosaic of Helle and Phrixus

Mosaic relocation and restoration

Athletes mosaic

Pre-Roman age

Roman age

Middle Ages

Trebula Suffenas

Trebula Suffenas - bath complex

Mosaic of Helle and Phrixus

Mosaic relocation and restoration

Athletes mosaic

Pre-Roman age

Roman age

Middle Ages

Trebula Suffenas

Trebula Suffenas - bath complex

Mosaic of Helle and Phrixus

Mosaic relocation and restoration

Athletes mosaic

Pre-Roman age

Roman age

Middle Ages