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The Domus Romana (
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
for "
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
House"), stylized as the Domvs Romana (after Latin's lack of distinction between u and v), is a ruined Roman-era house located on the boundary between
Mdina Mdina ( mt, L-Imdina ; phn, 𐤌𐤋𐤈, Maleṭ; grc, Μελίττη, Melite (ancient city), Melíttē; ar, مدينة, Madīnah; ), also known by its Italian-language titles ("Old City") and ("Notable City"), is a fortifications of Mdin ...
and
Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...
,
Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
. It was built in the 1st century BC as an aristocratic town house (''
domus In Ancient Rome, the ''domus'' (plural ''domūs'', genitive ''domūs'' or ''domī'') was the type of town house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. It was found in almost all the ma ...
'') within the Roman city of Melite. In the 11th century, a Muslim cemetery was established on the remains of the domus. The site was discovered in 1881, and archaeological excavations revealed several well preserved Roman
mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
s, statues and other artifacts, as well as a number of tombstones and other remains from the cemetery. Since 1882, the site has been open to the public as a museum, which is currently run by
Heritage Malta Heritage Malta ( mt, Patrimonju Malta) is the Maltese national agency for museums, conservation practice and cultural heritage. Created by the Cultural Heritage Act, enacted in 2002, the national agency replaced the former Museums Department. Or ...
. It was erroneously called the ''Roman Villa'' when rediscovered as it was thought to be outside the city of Melite but on further examinations it was clarified to be within city limits.


History and description


Roman house

The ''Domvs Romana'' is believed to have been built in the beginning of the 1st century BC, and it remained in use until the 2nd century AD. The house had a colonnaded
peristyle In ancient Greek and Roman architecture, a peristyle (; from Greek ) is a continuous porch formed by a row of columns surrounding the perimeter of a building or a courtyard. Tetrastoön ( grc, τετράστῳον or τετράστοον, lit=fou ...
inspired by
ancient Greek architecture Ancient Greek architecture came from the Greek-speaking people (''Hellenic'' people) whose culture flourished on the Greek mainland, the Peloponnese, the Aegean Islands, and in colonies in Anatolia and Italy for a period from about 900 BC unti ...
, and its best features are the well-made polychrome
Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
style
mosaics A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
found in the peristyle and the surrounding rooms, which show decorative motifs or mythological scenes. Two types of tesserae were employed:
opus vermiculatum ''Opus vermiculatum'' is a method of laying mosaic tesserae to emphasise an outline around a subject. This can be of one or more rows and may also provide background contrast, e.g. as a shadow, sometimes with ''opus tessellatum''. The outline cr ...
, in the centre of the pavement;
opus tessellatum ''Opus tessellatum'' is the Latin name for the normal technique of Greek and Roman mosaic, made from tesserae that are larger than about 4 mm. It is distinguished from the finer ''opus vermiculatum'' which used tiny ''tesserae'', typically cubes ...
, larger tesserae to create three-dimensional designs all around the main image. The picture sought to imitate a highly popular motif which may be first painted by an artist from Sophos. The ''domus'' also shows fine painted wall plaster imitating coloured marbles and showing partly stylized architectural elements which would place them somewhere between the 1st and 2nd
Pompeian Styles The Pompeian Styles are four periods which are distinguished in ancient Roman mural painting. They were originally delineated and described by the German archaeologist August Mau (1840–1909) from the excavation of wall paintings at Pompeii, whi ...
. Although the house was mostly destroyed over time, its mosaics have survived largely intact, and they are comparable with those found at
Pompeii Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...
or
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
. A number of 1st century AD statues of the imperial Roman family, along with coins, glassware, tableware, bath accessories, amphorae and other fine artifacts have also been found in the domus.


Muslim cemetery

In the 11th century, while Malta was part of the
Fatimid Caliphate The Fatimid Caliphate was an Isma'ilism, Ismaili Shia Islam, Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the ea ...
, the site of the domus was converted into a cemetery. At least 245 burials were discovered during the excavations, which also unearthed a number of
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
(and one marble) tombstones with Naskh or
Kufic Kufic script () is a style of Arabic script that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts. It ...
inscriptions. Some ceramics and a silver ring were also found during the excavations.


Discovery and excavations

The ''Domvs Romana'' was discovered accidentally in 1881 by workers during a landscaping project. It was subsequently excavated by the leading archaeologists of the time, including
Antonio Annetto Caruana Antonio Annetto Caruana (14 May 1830 – 3 March 1905), also known as A. A. Caruana, was a Maltese archaeologist and author. Biography Born in Valletta, Malta, Caruana showed an unusual proficiency in the knowledge of classical literature by hi ...
, Sir
Themistocles Zammit Sir Themistocles "Temi" Zammit (or Żammit; 30 September 1864 – 2 November 1935) was a Maltese archaeologist and historian, professor of chemistry, medical doctor, researcher and writer. He served as Rector (1920–26) of the Royal Univer ...
, Robert V. Galea, Harris Dunscombe Colt and Louis Upton Way.


Museum

After the domus was first excavated, a museum was built on the site of the
peristyle In ancient Greek and Roman architecture, a peristyle (; from Greek ) is a continuous porch formed by a row of columns surrounding the perimeter of a building or a courtyard. Tetrastoön ( grc, τετράστῳον or τετράστοον, lit=fou ...
of the house in order to preserve its mosaics. The museum opened in February 1882, and it was the first building in Malta that was constructed specifically to house a museum of a particular archaeological site. The museum was originally known as the Museum of Roman Antiquities, and apart from the mosaics and other Roman or Muslim artifacts uncovered from the domus, it also exhibited some other Roman marble pieces which were found in the streets of Mdina. Eventually, many Roman artifacts found elsewhere in Malta were transferred to this museum. In 1922, the museum was enlarged to designs by the architect Galizia, and a neoclassical façade and a large display room were added. The remains of the domus were included on the Antiquities List of 1925. The museum closed during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and it housed a restoration centre before reopening to the public in 1945. The mosaic of the peristyle was restored in the second half of the 20th century, but was unintentionally damaged in the process. Currently,
Heritage Malta Heritage Malta ( mt, Patrimonju Malta) is the Maltese national agency for museums, conservation practice and cultural heritage. Created by the Cultural Heritage Act, enacted in 2002, the national agency replaced the former Museums Department. Or ...
is carrying out a report on how to conserve the mosaic and repair it with as little damage as possible. The displays of the museum were renovated between 2002 and 2005, and again in 2011.


Further reading


Ancient mosaic


References

{{Mdina Mdina Rabat, Malta Archaeological sites in Malta Buildings and structures completed in the 1st century BC Houses in Malta Ancient Roman buildings and structures in Malta Cemeteries in Malta Muslim cemeteries Former cemeteries Islam in Malta 1881 archaeological discoveries Museums established in 1882 Neoclassical architecture in Malta Museums in Malta Sites managed by Heritage Malta