Morard, T. (2021). "Schola of Trajan." Gardens of the Roman Empire, accessed October 2, 2026. https://roman-gardens.github.io/id/d74ca61040/

Schola of Trajan

Published: 2021-04-21
Last modified: 2026-07-29

Dates

built 160-200 CE and abandoned after the 4th century CE

Excavation Dates

winter of 1938-1939

Garden Description

The monumental complex of the Schola of the Trajan, presumed headquarters of the corporation of the marine carpenters, was built c.160-200 and abandoned after the 4th century CE. It was excavated and restored during the winter of 1938-1939. It includes a vast internal courtyard, which is oblong and marked with an obtuse angle in its median part (Fig. 1, a). Unfortunately, ancient damage and early, inaccurate excavations make it impossible to know if this space was paved or a garden.

An Ionic portico, with a colonnade of bricks with stucco, surrounded this internal space. A long and narrow water channel crossed the peristyle court of the Schola in all its length. It had a low parapet, decorated on its internal face by a row of rounded niches, and was faced with marble (much restored) (Fig. 2). Slightly offset, the particular position of this channel provokes a subtle optical correction of the angle, which marks the plan of the building. The channel was reduced, or perhaps even abandoned during the construction of the receding part of the Schola. New excavations since 1998 in the Northern sector of the peristyle court have uncovered an important part of the plumbing network. It must have been used for the water supply of this internal space of the Schola, which was probably rich in jeux d'eau.

Figures

Figure 1: Plan (from Morard, Wavelet).
Figure 2: The courtyard of the Schola of Trajan and the House with Peristyle, reconstruction after the 1938 excavations (PA-OAnt, Photo Archive).

Bibliography

  • G. Calza, G. Becatti, I. Gismondi, G. De Angelis D'Ossat, H. Bloch, Topografia generale, Scavi di Ostia I, Rome, 1953.
  • R. Meiggs, Roman Ostia. (worldcat)
  • C. Pavolini, Ostia: Vita quotidiana. (worldcat)
  • Jean-Paul Descœudres, Ostia: Port et porte de la Rome antique. (worldcat)
  • E.J. Shepherd, P. Olivanti (eds), Giardini ostiensi, Bullettino della Commissione archeologica comunale di Roma, 109, 2008, pp. 69-98. (worldcat)
  • M. De Vico Fallani, C. Pavolini, E. J. Shepherd, M. Pileri, "Le sistemazioni a verde di Michele Busiri Vici per Ostia Antica: un caso di studio," Rivista di Archeologia 43, 2019, pp. 165-176. (worldcat) (Rivista di Archeologia)
  • M. De Vico Fallani, C. Pavolini, E. J. Shepherd, M. Pileri, "Un sogno lasciato a metà: il progetto di Michele Busiri Vici per le sistemazioni arboree e per i giardini nella zona di Ostia Antica Scavi (1939-1941)," Bollettino d'Arte, in press. (worldcat)
  • Giornale degli Scavi, 1938, pp. 65-69, 75-81.
  • T. Morard and D. Wavelet, Mélanges de l'École française de Rome: Antiquité Tome 114, No. 2 (2002), Rome, pp. 759-815. (worldcat) hathitrust

Keywords

Places