Beyond the Viator ad Aerarium

This post is the promised follow-up to my earlier one featuring the "Viator ad Aerarium" relief in the Italy section of Busch Gardens Williamsburg. There are lots of cool pictures, which are my own (except, of course, for the map included below).

Map of Italy and Festa Italia in Busch Gardens Williamsburg

The examples of the Roman-themed architecture, artwork, and graffiti surround the San Marco Theatre, which can be seen at the top of the map. just off center to the left. The theming created by the park works (in my humble opinion) and lends a classical flair to a comfortable and interesting recreation of a timeless Italian village. The largest and most impressive structure is a group of columns, reminiscent of Roman ruins.

Nearby -- next to a gelato shop! -- is an example of some faux, polychrome marble inlay, very well done. The object is a small stage.

But most impressive to me are the depictions of Roman art (the first one, at least) from an actual fresco found in the excavations of Stabiae near Mt. Vesuvius. Many will recognize the image of Flora picking flowers.

There is also a relief which may itself be inspired by actual Roman art. There are works such as these, surviving from ancient Rome, which depict scenes from work or businesses and give us insight into how things in the ancient Roman world worked.

What I have always found interesting, and somewhat surprising, is the inclusion of graffiti in what is supposed to be a form of Latin. The first example below (obviously in Italian) is an introduction to the theater.

I particularly like the depiction of the chariot pulled by horses and the other doodles which accompany the "Latin words".

So, what are we to make of all this? As a classicist, I am pleased and impressed that the park took the time to incorporate these details into their theming. Most people probably don't even notice them as the efforts blend into the background to make this area seem authentic and other worldly. Is there actual Roman art and Latin graffiti on the walls of villages in Italy today? Of course not, but these examples add to the effect and remain a whimsical and surprising addition to the park. I encourage you to check it out!

Viator ad Aerarium

 

I had intended to write an article about some nonsensical Latin graffiti used as decoration in Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA, but a quick check on the internet revealed that one item, which I had believed to be created in-house, was actually authentic!

I am a frequent visitor of the theme park and I often scoffed at the faux relief with the inscription viator ad aerarium mounted on the wall of the theater in San Marco, an Italo-Roman-themed section of the "countries" available to visit. I thought, "What in world do they mean by 'traveller to the treasury'? Did they mean to say, 'Way to the bank'? Is this what Google Translate generated for them?" I had to reconsider that last statement because I realized the relief has been in place long before Google Translate was been a thing.

Furthermore, the context of the inscription did not inspire confidence that the phrase was real. Take a look:

The items scrawled on the wall around the relief, with the exception of the horse, are basically meaningless, just doodles and letters in Latin word-like objects. It's not supposed to mean anything, but I didn't want to let it go.

Imagine my surprise when I did a search for "viator ad aerarium" and found that art pages and museums were selling pictures and posters of an actual relief which was obviously used to create this particular item. A little more digging revealed that this relief and inscription can be found in the Vatican Museums! Behold this work available from art.com:

So, what does the original and its decorative copy really mean beyond the literal "traveller to the treasury"? I learned that aerarium is the term used to describe public funds, kept separate from the fiscus, or private funds, or the Roman emperors. It's very important to keep these monies in different piles. The term viator denotes an actual public official who worked for the ancient Roman banking system. The best description I could find was translated from the Enciclopedia Italiana (1937):

The functions of the viatores were similar to those of the lictores; the most important were to communicate to the senators the convocation of the senate, to carry out judicial summonses, seizures, and arrests. They were also information officers. Outside Rome the governors of the provinces had viatores under them. There were also some in some municipalities; a dozen lictores and viatores were at the service of the municipality of Narbonne. In one relief, a bag is found as the emblem of a viator, employee of the treasury (viator ad aerarium), indicating the collection service and the qualification of cashier officer.

Essentially what we are looking at is the the sign of a real Roman tax collector! So, how did this copy of an authentic Roman relic come to set the scene in a theme park in southeast Virginia? I am guessing that such items were available for purchase and used without much thought of what it really meant. I applaud Busch Garden's attempt at authenticity.

The first two photographs are my own; the third is from the website art.com.

I will be making a future post showing more graffiti and art from San Marco, BGW.

Remains from the Temple of Vespasian

I was looking through a folder of photographs from a trip to Rome in 2014 and came across this interesting pic of a well-preserved portion of the entablature of the Temple of Vespasian and Titus in the Roman Forum. The piece itself is now on display in the Capitoline Museum, and from the appearance of the archway to the back of this image, I am thinking it is located in the portion of the museum which is housed in the remains of the Tabularium, which overlooks the ruins of the Forum.

For a lot of good information about how this portion of the frieze survived and what is depicted by the images carved there, take a look at this report from the Library of Symbolism.

The Emperor Decius Still Looks On

A bust of the Roman emperor Decius, who ruled during the mid-3rd century CE. I captured this image in the Capitoline Museums during my last visit to Rome in 2014. I love the angle and the contrast between the light and shadows.

How Old Is Your Mother?

I have read several articles over the past few days concerning the claim that the bronze statue of the Capitoline Wolf, that iconic image from ancient Rome, is not as old as previously thought. The Lupa Capitolina has long been revered as the image of the she-wolf who found and nutured the babies Romulus and Remus after they had been cast into the Tiber River. Romulus would, of course, go on to found the City of Rome.

Anna Maria Carruba, a member of the team that restored the statue a decade ago, claims that carbon-dating methods show that the statue was cast in the 8th century A.D., not around 500 B.C. as commonly believed. I have also read that the statue could be as late as the 13th century! History of the piece reveals that Pope Sixtus IV donated the statue to the Capitoline Museums in 1471 and that the twin babies were added during the 1500s. More information is needed to find out when and how the statue was "discovered" and where it was kept before the Pope gave it away.

Another argument which casts doubt on the ancient date of the statue is that the restorers discovered that it was cast as one piece, not separate units joined together after casting. Most, if not all, of the bronze statues created by the Etruscans in the time period in which the she-wolf was thought to be created, were made and assembled piecemeal. To have the statue cast as one unit would represent technology unavailable until the medieval period.

These articles also bring to mind another claimed revision to art history in that the magnificent statue of the death of Laocoon and his sons, a piece housed in the Vatican Museum, is not ancient but a fabrication, complete with burial and a staged discovery in the ruins of the Domus Aurea of Nero, of the Renaissance master Michelangelo.

I am intrigued by the claims concerning both statues, but I remain unconvinced. I'm not being close-minded, I just need more information.

Regardless of whether the Capitoline Wolf is ancient or medieval, it still remains as a symbol of Rome and is no less dear to me, nor should it be for others, for its supposed new-found youth.