Open-air museum in the Italian city of Rimini. On the pages of "VO" at different times published articles about the Roman soldiers and their weapons, battles that they won or lost, and even about British designers of Roman weapons and armor, such as Michael Simkins and Neil Burridge. They even talked about the PR embedded in the armor of the statue of the emperor Augustus, but nothing was said about the conditions in which the Romans lived, who were related to military service. But this is a very interesting topic: what could this or that rank or official of the Roman army claim after retirement? We know, of course, that when this happened, people who saved up salaries and received awards could afford to buy land with a villa and open a tavern, in a word, at that time they settled very decently. Not to mention the fact that the land was often given to veterans by the emperors for free. But still, how did they live, these same ranks of the Roman army at rest? And for a long time no one could say this, until in 1989 a very important discovery was made in the Italian city of Rimini …
Equipped and found
The fact is that it was then during the work on the arrangement of the territory in the very center of the city that the "Surgeon's House" was opened, discovered on the territory of Piazza Ferrari. Naturally, after the very first finds, archaeologists were summoned here and they began to dig there. And when by 2006 everything that was possible had been dug up, they set up an open-air museum there, although it would be more correct to say - a museum under the roof, since the entire territory of the excavations is covered from the influence of nature by a huge glass dome!
Gift from Eutychius
Yes, but why was this museum complex called the "House of the Surgeon"? Yes, only because among the artifacts found there a unique bronze box with surgical instruments was discovered. The conclusion is obvious - a surgeon who had a solid practice lived here. Moreover, it was possible to establish that it was a military doctor and even his name - Eutykhiy. That is, scientists received one more "little Pompeii", and even in the very center of Rimini, as if by order. Well, and surgical instruments from this house were included in the exposition of the city museum.
And be sure to have a treasure trove of coins! Well, what about without money ?
The total area of the excavations was about 700 square meters. m. And on this very territory there was a large two-story residential building, built in the second half of the 2nd century BC. and destroyed by a violent fire in the middle of the 3rd century AD. Inside the house, archaeologists found many fragments of floor mosaics, ceramic vases, bronze dishes, oil lamps and … a treasure of about 90 coins. One of the rooms was decorated with a multi-colored mosaic depicting Orpheus. And besides the found surgical instruments, mortars, bronze bowls, pestles and vessels for medicines were also found here.
Old foundation - new building
Interestingly, several cultural layers were found at the site of the excavation. In addition to the ruins of an ancient Roman house, there were also the remains of an early medieval settlement, several foundations of buildings from the 16th and 18th centuries, and even later dug stone wells and a granary belonging to the nearby church of San Patrignano. All this proves that life in this place has not stopped for over a thousand years.
Here it is, a showcase in which all these more than strange objects are collected. It's amazing how many surgical instruments (about 150 in total) were used in his practice by the doctor who lived in this house. Most likely, he served as a surgeon in the Roman army, but then settled in Rimini, which at that time was called Arimin. He was apparently a very experienced and successful man. Otherwise, he would hardly need so many tools.
Well, now let's get to know a little about Roman houses in general. What architecture were they, what were they?
A room with a hole in the ceiling
Well, let's start this story with the fact that the Romans even borrowed the architecture of their houses from the Greeks, because the original Roman house is a hut covered with thatch! But the Greek house is something completely different. This is … a room "with a hole in the ceiling", which over time was transformed into something like a ceremonial hall, which was called the "atrium". There was a shallow gutter under the opening in the roof to collect rainwater. The houses of the Roman wealthy were also built on this principle, and several rooms now appeared in the atrium at once - mainly bedrooms.
The house always had a living room (and sometimes two or three different sizes), and behind them - a small garden, which could have been a fountain decorated with a marble or bronze statue. The garden was surrounded by a covered colonnade, but it also had a "hole in the roof". Here, so that the wind carried away unpleasant odors, there was a door to the kitchen, and next to the dining room was a triclinium. As far as possible, the noble Romans tried to have a bathroom in the house. But in Rome, too, it was already an excessive luxury, because there at any hour of the day one could go to the chic Roman baths. However, there were public baths in almost all Roman cities, even the smallest.
It's nice to live in beauty
The walls were covered with plaster and decorated with paintings: most often these were scenes from rural life, images of birds, fish, animals and flowers. The bright colors of the murals were in harmony with the various shades of the rather dull mosaic floor. In addition to thousands of colored stones, ceramic tiles were also used for their manufacture, but such floors were more expensive.
A large house in Rome could occupy the entire space bounded by four streets, that is, form a whole quarter, or "insulu" ("island", and this was the name of large, multi-storey and apartment buildings), as the Romans called such houses. But it was not always only a residential building. Many Romans, the owners of such dwellings, arranged for additional income in them rooms that had no connection with the house and overlooked the windows and doors to the street, which they rented out to shopkeepers. (Fig. P. Connolly.)
At the front door of a house belonging to a wealthy Roman, there could be a slave who would not let intruders into him. Sometimes a watchdog was also tied next to it. In Pompeii, they found a door with a mosaic image of a dog and the inscription: Cave Sapet "(" Caution! Dog ").
P. S. It is interesting that this find took place only because one of the city parks was located above it, and the municipality decided to put it in order. That is, it was not someone's property. Now imagine how many others, and no less interesting houses, can be located under the houses that are in Rimini today? But how do you buy them out from their owners and then excavate them? What if there is nothing interesting there? Suddenly it turns out that there was a multi-storey building of the poor - and then what? In a word, those who once deliberately buried all this in the ground (this is a special remark for those who profess such views on archeology) were very stupid people. So much work, and all in vain! No, it was necessary to bury it where it could be found with minimal effort. And so it was not worth it for the sake of this and venturing!
