Rome, rare glass with portrait of goddess Rome found: no similar objects known

A valuable discovery was made yesterday in Rome’s Metro C excavations: near the Porta Metronia station, not far from the Colosseum, an extremely rare golden glass with the goddess Roma, or the personification of the ancient city, was in fact found. It already does not happen often to find a glass find in good condition, but a golden glass with a portrait of the goddess Roma is so far a unique case, the first one documented.

This find, Simona Morretta, an archaeological official at the Special Superintendence of Rome, explained to Ansa, “has no comparison in the current state of studies. A golden glass with the personification of the city of Rome had never been found.” It is, the archaeologist explained, an object of “extraordinary finesse of execution.” It was originally the bottom of a cup (and therefore the drinker could observe it in transparency), “a special object that was often used as a gift.”

However, we do not know whether it was an object of use or a cup used, as is still the case today, as an ornament. “It was a precious object,” Morretta explained, “and when it broke or chipped they did not want to throw it away. But since a glass bowl could not be repaired, its bottom was ’cut out,’ and it may have been displayed on a piece of furniture or hung on a wall.” The glass has been dated by superintendence experts to the 4th century. It certainly does not belong in the context in which it was found, an abandoned barracks in the mid-3rd century and later demolished and covered with earth. The glass was found right in the layers of subsoil.

The glass will be displayed in the upcoming Porta Metronia subway station-museum, also announced yesterday by the Roma Capitale administration. The Porta Metronia area, which is of exceptional historical and artistic importance, will in fact become a museum-station because, as anticipated, archaeologists have found there a Roman barracks that can be visited. It will thus be possible to find oneself exactly where the Roman legionaries were, in the centuria that Trajan had placed around Rome to protect it. The construction site will be closed in October 2024 with all of the museum’s construction completed. The Porta Metronia and Colosseum stations of the C line will be operational by the start of the Jubilee in 2025, while by 2030, in view of Rome’s chances of winning the Expo, the C line of the metro will be completed and will connect the historic center of the capital, up to the Piazza Venezia stop, with the Tor Vergata area.

Rome, rare glass with portrait of goddess Rome found: no similar objects known

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