Area between the crypt and the portico belonging to the theater built in 13 BC by Lucius Cornelius Balbo, who was consul in 32 BC. It is the smallest of the three theaters in the Campo Marzio area
The 1961 excavations have revealed part of the great exedra on one of the sides of the almost square underground portico constituting the Crypta Balbi
In the middle of the portico there used to be a small temple, maybe the Temple of Vulcan in Campo Marzio: an inscription with a dedication to Vulcan was found under Palazzo Mattei and it is now kept in the museum. It is an inscription dating back to the Trajan period (98/117) and the dedication was made by a Praefectus Vigilum so that made some scholars identify the Crypt as the central headquarters of the vigiles (firemen and night police), the Praefectura Vigilum
The area must have been used in antiquity by artisans and for some industrial activity, as it can be also proven by the funerary inscription of one L. Aufidius Aprilis, who was Corinthiarius de Theatro Balbi, founder of bronze artifacts in the Theater of Balbus
Museo Nazionale RomanoNational Roman Museum
It is made out of five different museums in five different locations. The other four are Palazzo Massimo, Palazzo Altemps, Museo delle Terme and Museo Palatino
It opened in 2000
It does include ancient structures of the Theater, part of the Crypta and of the Porticus Minucia Frumentaria
It would really make a lot of sense if the Museo del Medioevo (Museum of the Middle Ages) in the EUR district could be merged here: the spectacular Hall in opus sectile from Ostia could be a much more accessible attraction than what it is now
FIRST SECTION - Ground Floor
"Funerary Altar of Lucius Aufidius Aprilis" goldsmith who worked with bronze in the first century AD
Archeology and history of an urban landscape:
1) CAMPO MARZIO AREA BEFORE AUGUSTUS
2) THEATER AND CRYPTA BALBI
3) CRYPTA BALBI AND PORTICUS MINUCIA
4) TRANSFORMATION OF THE URBAN LANDSCAPE - 5) S. MARIA DOMINE ROSE AND CASTELLUM AUREUM
6) THE HOUSES OF THE MERCHANTS
7) CONVENT OF S. CATERINA DEI FUNARI
8) THE BLOCK IN THE MODERN PERIOD
9) PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITIES
10) MULTIMEDIA ROOM
11) ARCHEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS
Stages of development, end of the Theater of Balbus and subsequent reuse of the same. Interesting documents in support of the findings:
"Fragment of the Forma Urbis" monumental map of Rome in 151 panels (scale 1/246) 18.10 m (60 feet) wide and 13 m (43 feet) high covering 253 m² (2,723 square feet) built between 203 and 211 at the time of Septimius Severus, of which only is about one-tenth is left in numerous fragments
It is the basic document for our knowledge of the topography of ancient Rome. Most of the fragments lie sadly forgotten in storage
"Marble base with a dedication of mensores frumentarii"
There are also findings of later periods as the "Bronze lid with the name of Domina Rosa" of the VIII or IX century, when a church was built on this site
Also noteworthy are the fragments of Roman marble from a calcara (lime kiln) set up in late Roman Antiquity (capitals, fragments of statues)
The exhibition continues with diachronic documentation from the medieval period (ceramics, notarial documents, inscriptions), to the use of the block in the modern age
SECOND SECTION - First Floor
The city of Rome from antiquity to the Middle Ages. Archaeology and history:
1) ROME AT THE END OF ANTIQUITY
2) BYZANTINE ROME
3) RELIGION AND ART: PAINTINGS OF S. Maria in Via Lata
4) ROME UNDER THE PAPAL DOMAIN
5) THE FORUM In the Dark Ages
Exhibition with synchronic display: it shows in a given period (from the V to the X century) the urban life in the city of Rome. Large quantities of findings especially domestic (kitchenware, tableware in African pottery, lamps, glasses) and clothing (buckles, pins, jewelry in Ostrogoth style)
The display highlights the importance of some objects for the reconstruction of the historical context (coins, tiles, brick stamps, inscriptions) and reconstructs a Late Antiquity landfill in order to obtain accurate data on dietary habits, on trades and on the living standards of the period (waste animal bones, fragments of amphorae and tableware)
In addition, findings of Byzantine Rome as coins, pottery, glass, objects of daily life
Interesting "Reliquary Cross with five medallions etched" dating to the seventh century
Brilliant "Early Medieval Frescoes of S. Maria in Via Lata" (VI/IX century) including "St. Erasmus flogged in front of Diocletian (284/305)" and other artifacts of a religious nature as pilgrim flasks, inscriptions
"Part of a fresco from the church of St. Hadrian" (772/795) in the Roman Forum, fragments of architectural decorations
Very valuable "Episcopal throne" decorated with incised bone of the eighth century
THIRD SECTION
Recent discoveries behind the portico of the theater including two portraits in marble: "Livia" wife of Augustus and "Julia Mamea" mother of Alexander Severus (222/235)
In addition, an underground mithraeum has been discovered and excavated, and, with the help of multimedia material, the function of these places of worship is being reconstructed
The excavations in the theater continue to this day
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