Archaeological excavation at Palazzo Valentini : A residental area in the Shade of the Trajan's Forum

The archaeological excavations which were carried out at Palazzo Valentini, Rome, revealed two rich domus that were refurbished with internal decoration in opus sectile, incrustationes and mosaics. The paper focuses on a polychrome mosaic dating to the end of 3rd or the beginning of 4th c. in a triclinium of the domus A. Its central area has a geometric pattern with rotae sericae filled out by geometric and figural motifs. The African origin of the typology during the 3rd century and its diffusion first in Italy, later in the western and finally in the eastern provinces parallel the presence of figured elements, which are numerous in late phases and especially diffused in the Illyrian Greek and oriental sphere. The owners and the possible tenants of the two domus, which rise in the centre of the Urbs adjoining the Imperial Fora, were probably senators and high level dignitaries. (Excerpt from the author’s abstract.)