Memento Mori.
The fact that the famous Alexander Mosaic was not visible to the public because of a much-needed restoration was, of course, a minor disappointment during my otherwise successful visit to the archaeological museum of Naples. Fortunately, this is certainly not the only mosaic in the museum. A mosaic that I also really wanted to see was the work that is known as Memento Mori, “remember that thou art mortal”. The mosaic comes from a building in Pompeii that was used as a house and shop. It was laid around the middle of the first century BCE, so well before the volcanic eruption of the year 79 that brought a dramatic end to this Campanian town. The mosaic has become famous internationally since it was used – in animated form – in the introduction of every episode of the brilliant series Rome from 2006.
Memento Mori is a very special work and highly symbolic. The skull in the centre represents death, a fate that awaits us all. Below the skull we see a butterfly, a symbol of the soul, and a wheel, a symbol of fortune. The object above the skull is a plumbline, a kind of levelling device used in Antiquity for the construction of buildings. The fate of the mortal man can be either wealth or poverty. Wealth is symbolised on the left by the purple cloak and the sceptre. On the right we see, on the other hand, symbols of poverty, i.e. the attributes of a beggar: ragged clothes, a staff and a travel bag.
Many mosaics have been executed in opus vermiculatum, a mosaic style in which minuscule tesserae are used to make extremely detailed images. We know this style from the famous Nile Mosaic in Palestrina. Plato’s Academy is an example of such a mosaic. A group of philosophers is having a discussion just outside a walled city. The mosaic dates from the early first century BCE and came from a villa just outside Pompeii. From a house in Pompeii itself is a mosaic of a choregos (producer) with actors and a flutist. The mosaic served as an emblema – decorative centrepiece – of a floor in the tablinum, the reception room, of the house. It was made in the second half of the first century BCE. Thanks to the use of opus vermiculatum the work is rich in detail. Just look at the double flute, the theatrical masks and the actor on the right (the one with his hands above his head) who is being helped into a costume. Of a later date – late first century BCE or first century CE – is a portrait of a woman. Here again we see lovely details, for instance the pearl necklace the lady is wearing.
Portrait of a woman.
The aforementioned mosaics are all from Pompeii, but I happened to also stumble upon a beautiful floor mosaic from Minturnae (modern Minturno in Latium). Minturnae was a town in the territory of the Aurunci that must have been founded well before the Latin war (340-338 BCE). The Romans captured the town in 314 BCE and founded a Roman colony there in 296 BCE. This colony would play an important role in Roman history in the year 88 BCE. In that year the old rivals Marius and Sulla went head-to-head. Sulla had been elected consul for that year and was granted command of the war against Mithridates of Pontus by the Senate. But then people’s tribune Publius Sulpicius Rufus tabled a proposal in the popular assembly to grant the command to Marius as a proconsul. The proposal led to riots in Rome, and Sulla was forced to seek shelter in the house of Marius. The people then indeed gave the command to Marius, but Sulla fled to his troops and ended up leading 35,000 men (six legions) from Nola to Rome. It was the first time ever that a Roman general marched on Rome with an army and took the city. Many of the friends and supporters of Marius were subsequently murdered.
Now it was Marius’ turn to flee. After many wanderings he was taken prisoner in a swamp and sent to Minturnae, where he was handed over naked to the magistrates of the town. There the decision was taken to execute him, but the German or Gallic executioner was reportedly unable to kill this great Roman hero, the saviour of Rome from the wars against Jugurtha and the Germanic tribes. In the end, Marius was released and fled to Africa with his son. There he drummed up a small army of veterans from his previous campaigns, with which he returned to Italy. By this time Sulla had travelled to the east for the war against Mithridates, so the road to the capital lay wide open. Marius joined forces with the ousted consul Lucius Cornelius Cinna, and marched on Rome. His army occupied the Janiculum, killed the other consul Gnaeus Octavius and took the city. Until his death in 86 BCE Marius treated Rome to a reign of terror. He can, by the way, never have seen the beautiful floor mosaic from Minturnae with its birds, fish and fruit, as it probably dates from the fifth century. At the end of the sixth century, Minturnae was destroyed by the Longobards.
Floor mosaic from Minturnae.
Sources: website MANN Napoli|Museo Archeologico di Napoli, Capitol travel guide for Naples (2018 edition), p. 90-93 and a reader from my high school years!