ALT FRAGMENT OF A NILOTIC EMBLEMA FROM THE ASÀROTOS ÒIKOS, EARLY C2 CE. VATICAN MUSEUMS A highly detailed early C2 CE Roman mosaic fragment of a Nilotic landscape, now mounted vertically on a wall in the Museo Gregoriano Profano. The scene features three wading birds—including an ibis and a duck—standing on uneven ground around a small, stylized tree. The central image is bounded by an original ancient mosaic frame, consisting of an inner geometric band resembling colourful gemstones and an outer band of black vine scrolls on a white background. Originally, this was a surviving piece of the central emblema of a dining room floor excavated on the Aventine Hill in 1833. While the famous "unswept floor" border of this room is set into the museum floor elsewhere, this central fragment is displayed separately in the entrance vestibule.

ALT FLUTED SPOLIA COLUMNS, C1 CE, IN THE CORTILE DELLE SUORE, C15. HOSPITAL OF S. SPIRITO IN SASSIA Looking up at the upper loggia of the Nuns' Courtyard in the Santo Spirito hospital complex, we see two ancient fluted marble columns with Ionic capitals supporting the arches of an ochre loggia beneath a wooden beamed roof, with a potted purple plant on the ledge between them. These lonely examples are the only fluted spolia in the entire complex. They are remnants of the imperial Horti Agrippinae buried directly below. These gardens hold a dark history: Seneca records in De Ira, On Anger, that Caligula would stroll here along the river by lamplight, having senators flogged and beheaded, asking wryly "how very small a favour it would have been to wait until morning, and not to kill the Roman people's senators in his slippers." Saved from this bloody past, these columns witnessed more centuries of healing in this oldest of European hospitals.

ALT SARCOPHAGUS WITH EROTES CARRYING THE ARMS OF ACHILLES, C. 160 CE. MUSEO PIO-CLEMENTINO, VATICAN MUSEUMS A deeply carved Antonine marble sarcophagus, found in 1776 in the Vigna Moroni along the via di Porta S. Sebastiano, whose excavated finds were soon bought by Pius VI Braschi. The high relief features a swarm of Erotes struggling under the weight of military gear. In their role as divine assistants, they are aiding Thetis in transporting the newly-forged arms of Achilles after Patroclus was killed wearing the originals. Two larger Erotes hold up the central shield, decorated with a Gorgoneion meant to strike fear into enemies. Beneath, a tiny Eros wrestles a satyr. This is a classic allegory for "Love conquers all," proving Eros can defeat earthly chaos as easily as the Erotes carry the weapons of war. The narrow lid features Erotes with garlands flanking a blank tabula. By wrapping the deceased in the legendary armour of Greek myth, the composition replaces death with heroism.

ALT FRESCO FROM THE HOUSE OF THE VETTII, 62-79 CE. POMPEII A brilliant example of late Fourth Style painted illusion designed to artificially expand a small space. The artists relied on clever visual tricks and a top-to-bottom progression from light to dark. At the pinnacle, a bright white background serves as the sky behind spindly fictive architecture. Below this, three large yellow-ochre panels dominate the middle ground, their borders subtly curved to suggest luxurious draperies stretched tightly across the void. Behind the lower halves of these faux cloths sits a solid wall of rich red cinnabar, while the lowest register grounds the composition with a heavy black dado decorated with reeds. By layering these elements, the painters successfully push the physical boundaries of the room back into a deep illusory space. In the centre, a tiny vignette grounds us with a peaceful scene of xenia, featuring domestic poultry pecking near a small stepped altar.

ALT ROMAN MOSAIC EMBLEMA OF A LEOPARD FROM FALERIO PICENUS, MID-LATE C2 CE. VATICAN MUSEUMS A Roman mosaic panel featuring a leopard walking left, depicted with brown and ochre tesserae, framed by a guilloche border. Falerio Picenus was a pristine Roman town until 1777, when Pope Pius VI's excavators arrived to furnish the Museo Pio-Clementino. Stripped from a private domus and cemented into the Scala Simonetti as spolia, this emblema invites reflection. Devoid of Dionysian symbols, the leopard is pure physical threat. Yet, frozen in mosaic, it is utterly tamed. For the Roman diners reclining above it, this apex predator was a conversational set-piece about empire, bringing the wild safely into the domestic sphere. Ultimately, the true predator was not the leopard, but the papal excavators. The homeowners were safe from the beast beneath their feet, but Falerio Picenus had no protection from the C18 diggers who tore the town apart to feed the Vatican collections.

ALT COURTYARD OF PALAZZO VARESE, 1930 A night-time view looking down into the courtyard of palazzo Varese on via Giulia, where spotlights illuminate potted plants, modern concrete paving, and walls adorned with sarcophagus fountains and busts. The inscription over the doorway on the faux-Baroque tabula reads "BUILT 1495" and "RESTORED 1930". The palazzo was not built in 1495. The cellars, however, might have been, as they sit on a different alignment from that of via Giulia, which was cut through this neighbourhood in 1508. The construction of the lungotevere behind the palazzo entailed the loss of its garden and prompted its owners to construct an irregular new wing at the back of the courtyard. To conceal the mess, the last family to own the building, the Mancini Jacobini, built up the portal with a Maderno-esque overdoor, and created the courtyard as we see it today.

ALT MARBLE SARCOPHAGUS WITH DIONYSUS AND ARIADNE, C. 180-190 CE. VATICAN MUSEUMS A Roman marble sarcophagus resting on two carved lion-footed pedestals. The front relief features a continuous narrative dividing his worship into three scenes. On the far left, a young, drunken, nude Dionysus leans on his lover, the boy-satyr Ampelos, as he discovers the sleeping Ariadne, portraying both his homosexual and heterosexual loves. In the bustling centre, a second Dionysus commands the mystery cult; he holds a theatrical mask aloft and cradles a tragic mask in his left arm, symbolising his role as patron of drama, while a panther rears at his feet. Finally, on the far right edge, a third iteration of the god receives offerings. Depicted as a bearded, luxuriously-dressed Dionysus-Sardanapalus type, he represents the sacred cult statues worshipped in temples. This solemn idol provides a sharp theological contrast with the active figures on the left.

ALT FRESCO WITH GARLANDS AND COLUMNS, HOUSE OF LIVIA, C. 30 BCE. PALATINE HILL A section of ancient Roman fresco displaying the Second Style of wall painting. Though Livia only inhabited this house after Augustus's death in 14 CE, it was decorated circa 30 BCE, contemporary with the nearby House of Augustus. The flat wall is painted to create a three-dimensional illusion, with fluted columns framing a central panel. Suspended between them is a heavy garland of pine foliage, leaves, and round fruits. Crucially, these plants are shown fruiting and flowering simultaneously, defying the seasons. This impossible ripening is a visual manifesto of the Augustan Aurea Ætas or Golden Age of perpetual abundance. The artist painted subtle cast shadows behind the ribbon-tied garland to enhance the depth. Above is a horizontal yellow frieze featuring faintly-sketched, monochrome sacro-idyllic landscapes showing rural shrines.