The monument known as Trofei di Mario (“Trophies of Marius”) is located on the north-eastern corner of the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II in the Esquilino district Rome. It is the rather misnamed ruin of a monumental fountain that used to be the showpiece at the end of one of the city’s aqueducts. The white marble gate behind the monument is known as the Porta Magica.
A brief history of the Trofei di Mario in Rome
The Trofei di Mario has been called thus since the Middle Ages, even though the two “trophies” that used to adorn it have since been moved to the balustrade of the Campidoglio.
For a long time is was thought that the monument was a memorial dedicated to the victory by Gaius Marius over the Cimbri and Teutones (101 BC).
In reality the monument is of a more recent origin. It was a monumental fountain built in 226 AD, at the end of a branche of either the Acqua Claudia or the Anio Novus Aqueduct.
It is located on the highest point of the Esquiline Hill and has three floors, the upper one of which has a central niche flanked by two open arc hes.
The water used to fall into a basin from the upper part of the fountain and was then transported to lower parts of the city.
World War I monument
At the back of the Trophies of Marius is a monument in memory of the World War I victims from the rione Esquilino.
Porta Magica
The Porta Magica was built between 1655 and 1680 by the Marquis of Pietraforte, Massimiliano II Palombara, whose residence was located more or less where Piazza Vittorio is today.
At the end of the 19th century, after the unification of Italy and the declaration of Rome as the capital of the new country, the population increased rapidly, and thus new housing had to be provided. One of the affected neighborhoods was Esquilino, unfortunately at the expense of the Villa Palombara.
Of the five entrance gates to the Villa, only the Porta Magica remains, although its location behind the ruins of the nymphaeum is not the original one.
The gate is now bricked up. On the white doorframe are symbols from alchemy. The two statues flanking it did not belong to the Villa Palombara, but came from Quirinal Hill and were placed here during the opening of Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II in 1888. The statues depict the (Egyptian) God Bes and used to grace the no longer existing Temple of Serapis.
According to legend, the alchemist Giustiniani Bono stayed here one night in search of a mysterious herb that could produce gold. The next day he disappeared through the Porta Magica, never to be seen again. Besides some gold flakes, he left behind a document filled with alchemical symbols that supposedly contained the secret of the Philosopher’s Stone. The marquis had these symbols engraved on the five doors and architraves of his villa, hoping that someone would one day be able to decipher them.
The inscription on the marble disk above the gate is Christian in nature, meaning, “Three are the miracles: God and Man, Mother and Virgin, Triple and Single.” The Star of David within the disc is an alchemical symbol referring to cosmic balance.
What to know before your visit
The monument is protected by a gate, so you can really only see it between sunrise and sunset, while the Piazza Vittorio Emanuel II is open. To see the Porta Magica, you need to walk around the right side of the monument.
Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II – Rome
Sources
Lucentini, Mauro, Rome Guide – Step by Step through History’s Greatest City
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