The hum of excavators and the smell of fresh concrete usually signify progress, the relentless march of modernity. But in Rome’s upscale Parioli district, at the turn of the millennium, this very progress unearthed a profound echo from a distant past. Beneath what was destined to be a multi-story underground car park, between late 1999 and 2000, an ancient fountain dedicated to the enigmatic Roman goddess Anna Perenna came to light. This wasn’t merely an archaeological find; it was a window into the shifting soul of ancient Rome, a site that transitioned from sacred worship to a clandestine hub for magical rites.
A Glimpse into a Vanished World: The Discovery
Fabrizio Santi, the archaeologist responsible for the Anna Perenna Fountain for the Special Superintendence of Rome, guided idealista/news through the layers of history and intrigue surrounding this extraordinary discovery. “While excavating for an elevator shaft, this ancient fountain came to light,” Santi explained. “It was a fountain that featured an active spring at the time of the excavation. Not anymore, of course.”
The excavation, conducted at a depth of approximately 6 to 10 meters below street level, revealed the remains of a rectangular fountain. What immediately struck researchers were the embedded inscriptions bearing the name of the goddess: Anna Perenna. Santi emphasized the significance: “This was a very important discovery for its time. It provided evidence of the cult of this ancient Roman deity and offered a wealth of information about the goddess, as well as the magical rites that took place at this site in late antiquity.”
The original spring was located behind the wall, within a cistern that is still partially visible. From there, the water flowed into a basin and then through lead pipes. Santi noted that this represents “the last phase of this fountain’s life, as evidenced by the building technique in Opera vittata, a technique involving courses of bricks and tufa blocks, probably dating back to the end of the 3rd century AD.” However, the evidence suggests a much older history. “The fountain must have already existed, as shown by the materials found in the cistern, in the Republican age around the 3rd century BC, and had a very long life, at least until the 5th-6th century AD.”
A Social and Archaeological Testament: A Society in Flux
The discovery was exceptional due to three inscriptions embedded in the basin wall, mentioning Anna Perenna and the Nymphs. “Anna Perenna appears in only two of the inscriptions,” Fabrizio Santi clarified. “These inscriptions date back to the mid-22nd century AD, so they are older than the visible phase, but they were incorporated into the subsequent refurbishment.”
The fountain provides a wealth of information about the cult of the goddess and the festival that took place in her sacred grove. Anna Perenna was already known from historical and literary sources, as well as from Roman marble calendars, the so-called fasti. Her festival was celebrated on March 15th, during the Ides of March, the original New Year of the Roman agricultural year.
Santi further elaborated: “We know from sources that on that occasion, Romans celebrated the goddess with sacrifices in her honor and went along the Tiber to do what we would today call a picnic. Drinking wine, getting drunk, reciting jokes, jesting, and so on.” But there was more: “It is likely that there was also a competition, a contest mentioned in the inscriptions. We don’t know exactly what kind of competition took place, as Ovid speaks of people drinking as many cups of wine as the years they wished to live. Some have suggested a drinking contest. Others, perhaps, improvised poetic contests.”
Much information was gleaned from the texts of the inscriptions themselves, testifying that the winners of the competition dedicated to the goddess during her festivities were subsequently required to dedicate an altar or a gift in her sacred grove. “In particular,” Fabrizio Santi explained, “the central inscription is very interesting because it provides a lot of information about this competition. Gaius Suetonius, Germanus, and his wife Licinia, in fact, dedicated an altar to Anna Perenna after winning the race.”
From Sacred Offerings to Dark Arts: A Shifting Society
The cistern yielded a multitude of materials, some of which documented the offerings made to the goddess. Numerous coins, pine cones, and eggshells were found. The goddess, after all, was a deity of the New Year, representing abundance and prosperity. We know from sources that Romans performed public and private sacrifices to ensure a good start to the year and a prosperous one.
However, as the archaeologist pointed out: “In addition to this material, many other artifacts were found that refer to a later phase of the fountain’s use, in which magical activities, almost black magic, began to occur.”
This, then, is a precious testament to how Roman society was evolving at the time. A place of worship was transforming into a center where anthropomorphic figurines made of organic material, so-called magical lamps (never used), and even a copper cauldron, the caccabus, were discarded, suggesting the preparation of magical concoctions. “It has been hypothesized,” explained the archaeologist from the Special Superintendence of Rome, “that there were indeed specialized sorceresses and witches who offered their services at the fountain.” All these activities, however, date to the last phase of the fountain’s life, between the 4th and 6th centuries AD, when Roman religion began to intertwine with superstition.
To illustrate the point, curses were inscribed on lead lamellae, rolled up and pierced with nails. These curses, also written on folded lead sheets, were thrown into the fountain or inserted into lamps, wishing illness and death upon the recipients and mentioning figures such as the demon Abraxas, the Nymphs, or even Jesus Christ.
Source: idealista/news interview with Fabrizio Santi, archaeologist responsible for the Anna Perenna Fountain for the Special Superintendence of Rome.
