Excubitorium della VII Coorte dei Vigili

One of the many nineteenth century excavations made to recover works of art, the Excubitorium, located 8m below the street level, was exposed in 1865-66 after an ancient wall was found in the garden of a private residence at Piazza Monte di Fiore, opposite Piazza S. Crisogono (Following urban changes in the area, both of these piazzas have since disappeared). Even during the early phases of excavation, the purposes of the structures at the site were evident thanks to the large number of graffiti on the walls, where the VII Coorte dei Vigili was repeatedly mentioned. The building was identified as an excubitorium, or guard-room, built at the end of the second century AD inside a private house which had been bought or rented by the public administration.
The good condition of the monument and the extraordinary documentary value of the graffiti stimulated the interest of researchers. However, it was not enough to keep the area from being gradually abandoned. This resulted in penalizing the state of the walls and especially their decorations. Only in 1966, one hundred years after the monument’s discovery, has it been properly restored after the monument was covered. The monument is a large hall with a hexagonal, concave-sided basin at its center. In front of it, on the southern wall, an elegant arched doorway leads to the lararium, a kind of chapel meant to honor the vigilants as "guardian angels", the Genius excubitorii depicted on the graffiti no longer in existence. Probably in the western room with a type of eathern mixture (cocciopesto) floor with a trap in the middle, there was a bathroom. However, it is difficult to understand the functions of the two adjacent rooms, the one leading to the other on the opposite side. On the north side, a narrow ambulatory and a room with a container once used to store wheat, legumes, oil, etc. can be found.