John’s ecclesiastical career illustrates tension, common in twelfth-century Christianity, between a desire to engage with the world and the traditional pursuit of piety in monastic isolation. The mosaic captures this tension. Christ is shown resolving a realistic human problem, one of whose subjects is African--indicative of the order’s trans-regional mission. However, the work is located over the gate in the walls of the monastic complex. The urge to separate the activities of a religious order from the world – even if they were engaged with the world – was still strong.

As for the Cosmati mosaic itself, the scene should not necessarily be understood as an abstract meditation on racial egalitarianism. Among other activities, the Trinitarians purchased Afro-Italian slaves and exchanged them for captive Christians. The mosaic thus brings to mind the founding myth and the public activities of the order. A helpful analogy is that of a modern-day corporate logo.

While we cannot speak with any certainty to the specific purpose of the Tor Millina, medieval towers as parts of houses would have served in several roles. The most obvious one is a product merely of their elevation, towers allowed their owners to dominate the local area, with towers functioning as a means of control. Additionally, towers were defensive structures, providing a location of safety and shelter for the family that owned them, very much a luxury at the time.

Its earliest usage served as a connecting road for pilgrims to the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica, while it was still a section of the Aurelian walls. As the Middle Ages progressed, the walls of Via Della Lungara served as fortification to some of the most important residential spaces in Rome. At the beginning of the Renaissance, Via Della Lungara was one of the most significant roads in Rome, and the neighborhood became home to noble families, such as the Riario family who had a villa along the Lungara (Villa Corsini) which once hosted Bramante and Michelangelo. An interesting aspect of its residential history is that even as nobility dominated much of the area, there were also simple, more average homes and apartments in the immediate vicinity. The nobility and history of the Villas and buildings that occupied the street is the likely inspiration for the walls serving as such great fortification, perhaps to indicate wealth and significance. Today you’ll find many modern and renaissance marvels along the road, including the Porta Settimiana, the Palazzo Corsini, John Cabot University and the Villa Della Fernesina. The constructions along the walls of the Via Della Lungara act as a time capsule of important constructions throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, which has seemingly been hidden by Trastevere’s tourist sites and the very wall itself.

According to Deborah Robbins, this home exhibits the principle characteristics of a middle tier Roman house and was likely owned by a merchant or successful craftsman. Featuring an arcaded portico that extended into both Via Della Lungaretta and Vicolo della Luce and supported by simple but expensive marble columns, the ground level would have been used for the owner’s shop or for storage space. Above the portico sequence of small arches called corbels provided attractive decoration and expanded the available floor space of the second story. The living quarters on the second floor were accessible by an external staircase (located along the wall facing Vicolo della Luce) that was protected by walls and a roof. Therefore, this residence was equipped with a number of features (portico, columns, ornamental frieze, etc.), testifying to its owner’s status as a well-to-do businessperson.

Ultimately, this illustrative home highlights many of the features we should be looking for as we endeavor to uncover the medieval city. If you stumble upon an external staircase or band of corbels in Trastevere or one of Rome’s other urban neighborhoods, you may very well be looking at a medieval home. Try to strip away the modern plaster and windows and imagine the original portico protruding into the street from the façade. Although a romanticized depiction of this home, Roesler Franz’s 19th painting helps us do this by shedding light on what the brickwork, shop, and staircase may have looked like in the medieval period. For other examples of medieval residencies consider visiting the house on Vicolo dell’Atleta, the Casa dei Mattei facing the piazza in Pisculina, or the Casa di Fieramosca in front of Santa Cecilia.

Archaeologically speaking, the site is rich. It is a wonderful example of the restoration practices that were characteristic of the 17th century. Cardinal Scipione Borghese was engaged in a feud with his uncle (also a cardinal), and made the competitive move to renovate San Crisogono in 1618-1628 in order to keep pace with his uncle’s equally impressive building program. The restoration project was meant to modernize the basilica, glorifying the existing structure and recalling the magnificence of the late antique church. Thus, Cardinal Scipione Borghese’s renovation project was a restoration, meant to bring the building into the future while simultaneously celebrating the past.

The early Christian basilica of San Crisogono is still visible via a small door in the left nave of the modern church. A trip down a set of stairs leads visitors into the cool quiet of what appears to be an active excavation site, where the structure of the original basilica and its surrounding houses is still apparent. Frescoes and sarcophagi abound, as are nooks and crannies featuring artifacts, pottery, and even the occasional bone fragment.

Going back to the Middle Ages, however, this area was not a serene vineyard. In the middle of the complex, there is a tufa block tower that protrudes from the building. This tower has been dated to the 13th century, thus, the Cafferelli family must have built their residence around the preexisting tower. In fact, this tower is one of five towers that were built along the Almone River by feuding baron families who were staking claims to the surrounding countryside. During the 13th century, as seen in Cola di Rienzo, the political families in and around Rome were constantly feuding with each other for control of resources and political hegemony. The foundation of another tower, The Valca Tower, can be found a couple of kilometers upstream from the one that was incorporated into the Cafferelli estate. Although the campagna romana has been romanticized throughout history, during the Middle Ages it was a site for political maneuvering and violent confrontations between the baron families that jostled for power in Rome.

The work itself should be comprehended as a fusion of arts from Gothic France and Byzantine, contributing to the trend in the 1270s to bring back Roman antiquity. However, the pictorial creativity of Cavallini does not accord very well with the prevailing ecclesiastical taste: for example, the angel wings with colorful shades were interleaved to impart three-dimensionality. The more naturalistic style made it harder for people to read the messages passed through, such as the promotion of papacy, thus this public imagery was considered as a less effective political and religious propaganda.

While the physical evidence of the temple spoils presence in the Lateran are gone, the Arch of Titus provides a visual record of the Roman victory over the Jews. Erected in 82 C.E. to celebrate Titus’ military victories, it features depictions of the spoils taken from the temple in Jerusalem after its destruction in 70 C.E. The arch, in addition to being architecturally and historically significant, can help the modern visitor to imagine the purported journey of the temple treasures to the Lateran.