Arch of Dolabella & the Little Boat of the Navicella
Why is it significant?
Stand in front of the plain travertine arch at the top of the lane and read the faded letters cut across it. They name two consuls, Publius Cornelius Dolabella and Gaius Junius Silanus, and they date the arch to the year 10, when Augustus was still alive.
Key Facts
| Place | Arch of Dolabella & the Little Boat of the Navicella |
|---|---|
| Address | Via di San Paolo della Croce, 00184 Roma RM, Italy |
| Geo Coordinates | 41.88560, 12.49500 |
| Part of Walk | Rome in Layers: The Quiet Celian Hill, San Clemente & the Lateran |
| Generated | Generated |
Stand in front of the plain travertine arch at the top of the lane and read the faded letters cut across it. They name two consuls, Publius Cornelius Dolabella and Gaius Junius Silanus, and they date the arch to the year 10, when Augustus was still alive. Above it, a line of brick arches marches off into the distance.
Those brick arches are the Arcus Neroniani, a branch of the Claudian aqueduct extended by Nero to bring water across the Celian Hill. His engineers simply used the old arch as a ready-made support and ran the water over the top. Rome rarely knocks anything down when it can build on it instead.
Now look to the right of the arch, above a small gateway. There is a round mosaic, made around 1210 by a father and son of the Cosmati family of marble workers. Christ sits enthroned, holding the wrists of two chained men, one black and one white, and he is setting them free. It was the emblem of the Trinitarian order, founded to ransom Christian captives from slavery. Their founder, Saint John of Matha, died in 1213, and tradition says his cell was built into the top of this very arch.
Walk a few steps on to the little square in front of the church of Santa Maria in Domnica, and you will find a marble boat sitting in a fountain. This is the Navicella, the little ship. It is a sixteenth-century copy, made for Pope Leo the Tenth, of an ancient votive boat found nearby, perhaps an offering left by soldiers from a Roman barracks that stood on this spot. Romans have called the church Our Lady of the little boat ever since.
Step inside if the door is open. In the apse, a ninth-century mosaic shows Pope Paschal the First kneeling at the feet of the Virgin, with a square halo behind his head. The square means he was still alive when it was made. Now go in through the gate of Villa Celimontana, right beside the church, and follow the main path into the gardens.