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School of Heralds facing Circus Maximus reopens
Rome’s ancient imperial School of Heralds, the Schola Praeconum, has reopened after a new restoration. The remains of the Schola Praeconum are on the lowest terrace of the southern slope of the Palatine Hill, facing the Circus Maximus. They consists of a rectangular courtyard surrounded by a columned portico (only one partial column survives in place) and three large vaulted rooms . It was built in the early 3rd century during a Severan reconstruction of the southern slope and was in continuous use until the early 6th century, but its exact purpose at various stages is unclear.
During its construction, the Schola incorporated the remains of a structure from the 1st century A.D. This structure, inset into the hill under the footings of the courtyard and vaulted rooms, is decorated with a wall painting that is the earliest decorative work in the building (ca. 200-240 A.D.). The fresco depicts men standing inside columned aedicule-like vaults. They are life-sized (or larger, considering the shorter average stature at the time). They wear short tunics belted at the waist and hold objects including staffs and flower wreaths. Their clothes point to them having a servile role, perhaps as tricliniarii, who served the guests at banquets.
Later, the walls were covered with slabs of cipollini marble, some of which are now lost, and the floor covered with a large black-and-white floor mosaic that is one of a kind. It dates to the early 4th century and depicts eight men, two groups of four, in a solemn procession. They wear short tunics and shoes and hold caduceuses and vexilla (banners on staffs carried aloft as standards). The caduceus is the symbols of Mercury, herald of the gods, and their civilian attire and accessories suggest the figures were heralds of the human variety. The location opposite the Circus Maximus indicates they were heralds who announced ceremonies and proclaimed the names of the chariot race winners. It is this mosaic, believed to date from the beginning of the 3rd century, that led the antiquarians who discovered it in the 19th century to identify the building as the College of Heralds.
The interpretation of the figures depicted in the mosaic has raised several questions. They have been seen as heralds(praecones), civil servants serving the state(apparitores) or charioteers. However, it seems certain that the building and those who ’lived’ there performed functions closely related to the Circus and related events. Some hypotheses suggest that the structure may have had a second floor, used as an imperial grandstand to watch circus performances.
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