An Ancient Home Found Beneath the Baths of Caracalla Is Now on Display

On their own, the early third-century Baths of Caracalla in Rome are a site of imposing magnificence. But now, visitors will get to see what existed at the site before the lavish public baths were built: a Roman home with frescoed ceilings and a prayer room paying homage to Roman and Egyptian gods.

“For the first time, visitors can admire parts of the frescoes from the ceiling of a second room of the Domus [home] that collapsed,” Luca del Fra, spokesperson for the Special Superintendence of Rome, tells CNN’s Livia Borghese and Jeevan Ravindran.

The two-story home was built around 134 to 138 C.E., in the time of the Roman emperor Hadrian, reports Nicole Winfield for the Associated Press (AP). But the structure was dismantled in part to make way for the baths, which opened in 216 C.E.

These ruins went largely undetected until the mid-19th century when they were discovered roughly ten yards below the baths.

Another century passed before they were excavated, at which point the prayer room and parts of the frescoed dining room ceiling were taken away to be restored, per the AP.

Now, the ceiling frescoes and prayer room are open as part of a permanent exhibition, which will help visitors see the baths in the context of what came before. 

The ceiling depicts images of Bacchus, the god of wine, in “prized Egyptian blue and Cinnabar red pigments,” as conservators told the AP.

The inner temple shows the Roman gods Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, while also depicting silhouettes of the Egyptian deities Isis and Anubis. This religious melting pot suggests a mixing of Roman and Egyptian culture and religion, even in the domestic space.

“It’s stunning that there are two separate pantheons or groups of gods, one from the Greek-Roman tradition … and one from the Egyptian tradition,” del Fra tells CNN. “This could indicate that the family who owned the Domus had a close relationship with Egypt.”

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The site’s director, Mirella Serlorenzi, tells CNN that the juxtaposition of the two cultures is an example of the “religious syncretism typical of ancient Rome since its foundation.”

Additionally, experts are interested in the frescoes because other existing evidence of Roman wall art is found largely in Pompeii and Herculaneum, two towns buried and eventually preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 C.E., Serlorenzi tells the AP. 

“Roman painting after the first century C.E. has remained a mystery,” she adds, “because we just haven’t had rooms so well-conserved.” 

After 5,300 years, the last meal of an ancient Iceman has been revealed – and it was a high-fat, meaty feast

Some 5,300 years ago, Otzi (aka “frozen Fritz”) was murdered in the Alps with a simple one-two punch move: an arrow to the chest, and a blow to the head. But first, the roughly 45-year-old iceman fueled up, enjoying one last hearty meal.

Fortunately for science, his dead body was neatly preserved in a rock hollow and naturally mummified as the glaciers moved in and slid right over him, freezing his stomach contents.

What Otzi ate remained something of a mystery after he was first found in 1991. His stomach had shifted upwards over time, making it tough to pinpoint what he ate right before he died, and earlier studies focused more on his intestines. Some scientists thought he might’ve munched on some kind of prehistoric bacon.

New research, released Thursday in the journal Current Biology, gives us a closer picture than ever of exactly what the mountain man ate to power his high-altitude journey.

Turns out, the guy loved fat.

Microbiologist Frank Maixner of the Eurac Research Institute for Mummy Studies said he found a “remarkably high proportion of fat” – roughly 50% – in the mummy’s stomach.

Probing further into the DNA in iceman’s stomach, scientists found evidence of ibex [wild goat] and red deer inside, as well as einkorn wheat. A new analysis of the meat fibres in iceman’s gut confirms they were probably cooked, barbecued, or smoked and dried in some way before he ate them because the protein compounds looked different than raw meat would. Previous studies of iceman found some charcoal in his intestine, further suggesting he was a griller.

A rendering of what Ötzi might’ve looked like, from the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy.

It looks like Otzi ate well. He had a good mix of nutritional minerals, like iron, calcium, zinc, magnesium, and sodium in his stomach. These probably came from consuming animal products.

He also had smaller concentrations of chromium, copper, manganese, selenium, molybdenum, and cobalt in there.

“These data suggest that the Iceman’s last meal was well balanced in terms of essential minerals required for good health,” the scientists wrote in their paper. That was a smart strategy for someone trekking nearly 10,500 feet high, slogging through the Alps between Austria and Italy.

“Iceman seemed to have been fully aware that fat represents an excellent energy source.” paleopathologist Albert Zink, also at the Eurac Research Institute for Mummy Studies said in a release. “The high and cold environment is particularly challenging for the human physiology and requires optimal nutrient supply to avoid rapid starvation and energy loss.”

The iceman functioned using a similar principle to today’s popular ketogenic diet. When there are no carbohydrates or sugars left to fuel your journey, the body can switch into ketosis, relying on fats to keep the brain and body moving.

But the iceman was not a paleo dieter, nor was he a fan of the low-carb, high-fat keto plan.

“The Iceman’s last meal was a well-balanced mix of carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids, perfectly adjusted to the energetic requirements of his high-altitude trekking,” the paper’s authors wrote.

In other words, he wasn’t a picky eater, and nibbled on all kinds of foods, including some dangerous toxic bracken ferns. Scientists still aren’t sure exactly why he would have eaten a toxic leaf, but suspect it could have been some kind of early stomach medicine, or else it was just an earthy container that some of his other food was wrapped inside, like an early Tupperware.

His prehistoric body was not immune to some of the ill effects of a high-fat diet, either. Body scans show that his middle-aged arteries were hardening, and it looks like he was well on his way to developing coronary artery disease. That didn’t matter once he was murdered and plunged down into a dark rock hollow, putting his fresh and fatty meal on ice for curious scientists to discover thousands of years later.

Jar Residues Reveal Roman Winemaking Practices

A recent study reveals new details about how Ancient Romans kept their wine safe and packed full of flavour.

Consuming wine in Ancient Rome was divinely ubiquitous, available not only to aristocrats and emperors, but also to slaves, peasants, and men and women alike. Yet while scholars have known this for some time, exactly how ancient Romans kept their wine safe and full of flavour was unclear.

But now, a study published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal PLOS ONE reveals new details about these mysteries.

The authors looked at three 1,500-year-old Roman amphorae (jugs used to transport wine) that were taken from a seabed deposit found in San Felice Circeo, about 55 miles southeast of Rome.

For the study, led by chemist Louise Chassouant, scientists using methods in the burgeoning field of archaeobotany (the study of plant remains) were able to determine how Ancient Romans made wine and what elements they used in the process. 

By looking at the chemical deposits found within the amphorae, plant tissue residue, and pollen, researchers were able to determine which grape derivatives were used, but also, crucially, how ancient peoples were able to insulate their jugs and waterproof them. 

The study found that pine was used to create a kind of waterproofing tar to coat the inside of jars, but also speculated that this could have been done to flavour fermenting grapes. 

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Interestingly, the study also determined that because pine was not local to the region, it would have likely been imported from Calabrian or Sicily, adding credence to existing archaeological and historical evidence of trade links between the regions 1,500 years ago. 

All told, the authors emphasized that using a multidisciplinary approach was key to their findings. By looking not only at chemical analysis, but also at historical and archaeological records, plant remains, and individual amphorae design, “we have pushed the conclusion further in the understanding of ancient practices than it would have been with a single approach,” the scientists wrote.

What would it have been like to down a glass of wine with Augustus or Justinian? That we will likely never know, but we are now one step closer to understanding the Dionysian pursuits of Ancient Roman wine lovers. Salut!