The Castra Nova equitum singularium was an ancient Roman fort in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 housing part of the emperor's cavalry bodyguard. The site of the fort now lies beneath the Basilica of St John Lateran.
The Castra Nova, or "new fort", was one of two cavalry forts that provided a base in Rome for the mounted bodyguard

Bodyguard

A bodyguard is a type of security operative or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous, wealthy, or politically important figure—from assault, kidnapping, assassination, stalking, loss of confidential information, terrorist attack or other threats.Most important public figures such...

 of the Roman emperors (the Equites singulares Augusti

Equites singulares Augusti

The equites singulares Augusti during the Principate period of imperial Rome. Based in Rome, they escorted the Roman emperor whenever he left the City on campaign or on tours of the provinces.The regiment was reconstituted in the late 1st century AD as a milliary ala, under the command of a...

).

The Castra Nova ("new fort") was so-called because it was the newer of the two forts, built to house an enlargement of the cavalry guard. Their previous fort Castra Prioria which lay not far away to the north had been built earlier, possibly under the emperor Domitian

Domitian

Domitian was Roman Emperor from 81 to 96. Domitian was the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty.Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his brother Titus, who gained military renown during the First Jewish-Roman War...

, and still housed the original force of 1500 mounted troopers. The full name of the fort is Castra nova Equitum singularium Augusti.

History

The fort can be precisely dated to AD 193, at the beginning of the reign of Septimius Severus

Septimius Severus

Septimius Severus , also known as Severus, was Roman Emperor from 193 to 211. Severus was born in Leptis Magna in the province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of...

. The new camp was necessitated by this emperors increase of the size of his cavalry guard from 1,500 to 2,000 men.

The site of the camp was always speculated as being beneath the cathedral of St John Lateran (Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano), but it was identified definitively by excavations between 1934 and 1938 undertaken by Enrico Josi. Josi had obtained permission to explore the area of the basilica’s nave

Nave

In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...

 in advance of the construction of a new reinforced concrete floor. Within days it became clear that the remains of the Castra Nova existed in good condition just below the floor level and that the excavation was including a large part of the principia (headquarters) building. The completed excavations were then published by Colini.

A large two-storey stoarge building and two barracks were also uncovered, but the greatest interest centered around the principia as its two strong rooms were very well preserved as were several office rooms. On the completion of the investigation the remains were preserved beneath the basilica (along with the remains of the Constantinian cathedral and a Neronian domus) in a spectacular underground archaeological park.

The curatores inscriptions

On August 13, 1934, an ionic

Ionic order

The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...

 capital was uncovered within one of the headquarters rooms (room “ε” on plan above), lying beside a short granite column that was still set into the floor. Upon the capital two inscriptions had been carved on behalf of an association of curatores, soldiers who were the grooms for the garrison horses. The first text was dedicated in 197 AD on the 1st of January in the consulship of Rufinus and Lateranus. The Equites were known to have served at the Battle of Lyon on the 19th of February, though evidently these men did not. The inscription records the dedication of the schola curatorum to Minerva

Minerva

Minerva was the Roman goddess whom Romans from the 2nd century BC onwards equated with the Greek goddess Athena. She was the virgin goddess of poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, weaving, crafts, magic...

Augusta, indicating that the collegium curatorum itself had only recently become in possession of an official meeting room that they could consecrate.

The second inscription was dedicated in 203 AD ob reditum ab expeditione felicissima in urvem sacram i.e on the return of the guards to Rome following their escorting of the imperial family. The expeditione felicissima may refer to the entire series of events since the equites singulares Augusti left Rome in AD 197.

The toppling of the capital furthermore provided historical evidence attesting to the destruction of the Castra Nova by Constantine’s forces and providing a terminus ante quem for both the dissolution of the collegium as well as for the camp itself.

Sources

• Buzzetti, C. 1997. ‘Castra Equitum Singularium’, in E. M. Steinby (ed), Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae, 1 (A - C). Rome: Edizioni Quasar.
• Colini, A. M. 1944. Storia e Topografia del Celio nell’antichità (Atti Pontificia Accadia romana archeologia (3rdseries) 7). Vatican: Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana.
• Coulston, J. 2000. ‘Armed and belted men: the soldiery in imperial Rome’,in J. Coulston and H. Dodge (eds.), Ancient Rome: The archaeology of the eternal city. Oxford: Alden Press.
• Josi, E. 1934. ‘Scoperte nella Basilica Constantiniana al Laterano’, Rivista di Archeologia Cristiana, 11, 353-358.
• Speidel, M. P. 1994. Riding for Caesar. London: Batsford.