(by Silvia Lambertucci).
Elegant and light, stunning in the complexity and delicacy of
its tin and bronze decorations, incredible in its completeness,
with traces of its cushions, ropes to hold its garlands of
flowers, and even the imprint of two ears of wheat left on a
seat. In Pompeii, excavations at the villa di Civita Giuliana
show no sign of exhausting their amazing finds, recently
yielding an extraordinary parade carriage, painted in red and
covered in decorations of an erotic nature, destined perhaps for
the cult of Ceres and Venus or more likely for an aristocratic
wedding ceremony.
"It is unique for Italy," ANSA hears from Massimo Osanna,
outgoing director of the Archaeological Park and the scientific
head of the excavations, "a discovery of very great importance
in advancing our knowledge of the ancient world".
It may be, the archaeologist explains, a 'Pilentum', namely
something that ancient sources describe as a ceremonial
carriage, a vehicle only used by the elites and only in
ceremonial contexts.
"We had never seen one like this in Italy before. It can only be
compared with a series of carriages found 15 years ago in a
tomb in Thrace, in northern Greece, on the border with
Bulgaria," Osanna says.
One of these Thracian carriages, in particular, he explains,
"resembles ours very much, but is not decorated."
These 'Pilenta' (plural), cited by Claudianus and others, could
in fact be painted blue or red, as is the case with the Pomeiian
find. Reserved for the well-off classes, they were used for
religious cults, but were a little like an automobile reserved
for prestigious events.
The discovery made a few days ago therefore reopens the mystery
of the owners of this great villa built just outside the ancient
city, and which is today being brought back to light, also in a
bid to stop the depredations of the tomb raiders, who in past
years dug tunnel after tunnel around these rooms, plundering and
destroying. And who are today on trial, albeit on parole (the
home of one of the accused is in fact on the land where the dig
is proceeding) thanks to the investigations, still ongoing, by
prosecutors in the nearby town of Torre Annunziata, led by
Nunzio Fragliasso.
"A very large and particularly precious villa for historical
investigation, because unlike many others that were emptied by
restructuring following the earthquake in 62 AD, it was still
inhabited in the days of the eruption in 79 AD," recalls Osanna.
It is in fact, it should be recalled, the same dwelling in
which, a few months ago, digs found the remains of two men,
perhaps a master with his slave, whom the park's archaeologists
reconstructed using the cast technique. And it was right here
that, in a stable a few steps from the portico that stored the
carriage, the remains of three horses came to light in 2018, one
of them sumptuously decked out, ready, it appeared, to set out
on the road. Without forgetting the fresco with a graffito of
the little Mummia, perhaps a young house girl, which emerged on
another wall, a short distance away too.
The discovery of the carriage thus appears to be a fresh,
precious piece in the complicated jigsaw of this story. So much
so, in fact, that it may well not have been the only one, since
in the ongoing trial a witness mentioned the presence of another
carriage, also richly decorated, which sadly ended up in the
hands of the plunderers and then disappeared. But the question
remains: what was the purpose of this decorated 'pilentum', as
bright as a jewel? Who really were the wealthy owners of this
estate which, with its fabulous terraces, stretched down to the
sea?
"We found the imprints of ears of wheat on the hardened ash
taken from one of the two seats," said Osanna.
A detail, he explains, that could lead one to think of the cult
of Ceres, who was honoured at Pompeii together with Venus, and
therefore "the presence in the villa of a priestess of these
cults". But that's not all. Because more simply, he says, it
could be a fertility augury: "the sheaves on the seat could be
evidence of a marriage celebrated shortly before, or which was
ready to be celebrated".
The mystery of who the owners were remains, in other words. But
in support of the second hypothesis, that of an imminent or just
celebrated wedding, we have the decidedly erotic nature of the
refined tin decorations applied on a bronze mounting to adorn
the rear and sides of the carriage: a series of cupids and pairs
of satyrs and nymphs engaging in passionate embraces. It will be
the restoration, already under way in the park's workshop, and
academic studies, of course, that will shed more light.
But in the meantime, Osanna concludes, "since the ancient
sources allude to the use of the 'pilentum' by priestesses and
aristocratic ladies, it cannot be ruled out that it may be a
carriage used to take the newlywed to her new domestic hearth".
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