ICCROM Mora Samples Collection
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Rome, Catacombe di Domitilla, Cubicolo di Ampliato: MRA-ITA-Rom238

Type Sample Item

Sample ID

MRA-ITA-Rom238

Sample Material Type

Mural painting

Sample Sub-type

fragment

Dimensions (cm)

Length
18.8
Width
18.8
Height
4.5

Weight

weight value (g)
1499

Geographic Location

Country
Italy
Place
Rome

Site/monument

Italy (ITA)
Rome
Catacombe di Domitilla
Catacombe di Domitilla, Cubicolo di Ampliato

Historical note about the site/monument

The Ampliatus hypogeum is part of the larger complex of catacombs of Domitilla and dates to the 1st to 3rd centuries CE. It was discovered in 1881. The tombs take their name from a wall inscription over the arcosolium reading AMPLIATI. The tombs in this part of the catacombs are richly decorated with mural paintings and have a style reminiscent of the Pompeian frescoes. It has been hypothesized that the Aurelius Ampliatus named in one of the inscriptions was a freedman in the Aurelian family, a clan known for their early conversion to Christianity.

Further Reading:
George Edmundson (1913). The Church in Rome in the First Century. London: Longmans, Green and Co. 
Borg, B. (2013). Crisis and Ambition: Tombs and Burial Customs in Third-Century AD Rome. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN-10: 0199672733.

Chronological period (sample)

1st-3rd century

Inventory