The Truth About La Bocca della Verita' (The Mouth of Truth)

[guy]

(I have the honor and privilege to review Anne Olga Koloski-Ostrow’s book "The Archaeology of Sanitation in Roman Italy: Toilets, Sewers, and Water Systems." This serves as a preview of my forthcoming complete review.)

 

Reviewing Professor Koloski-Ostrow’s book, I came upon this interesting insight concerning a very famous Roman attraction.

 

 

 

Many people are familiar with the Roman "La Bocca della Verità" (The Mouth of Truth) stone. This large ancient stone disc is now used as a test for truthfulness, including among the betrothed or newlyweds to test their pledges of fidelity. Legend has it that the monument’s mouth would bite down on the hand of any liar.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bocca_della_Verit%C3%A0

 

The stone disc was prominently featured in this famous scene from the movie “Roman Holiday” featuring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck:

 

 

Professor Koloski-Ostrow presents a compelling argument suggesting that the large stone was not intended for decorative use in a fountain. Instead, she believes it was likely used as a sewer cover despite its large size. She stated, "After carefully studying the water wear pattern on the eyes, nose, and mouth of the Bocca—perhaps a representation of a water god or the Tiber River itself—I believe it originally lay flat for a long period in a location where it received a continuous flow of runoff water onto its openings, not out of them."

 

Professor Koloski-Ostrow offers additional evidence indicating that the stone was likely used as a sewer cover rather than as a decorative facial feature of a fountain. She cites contemporary anecdotes from both Suetonius and Tacitus, which support the existence of large sewer openings in the ancient city of Rome that would have necessitated sewer covers as large as La Bocca della Verità. The professor also contends that the crack running down its center suggests that the stone may have been damaged when it was lifted from a flat position or when it was thrown down again.

 

Professor Koloski-Ostrow summarizes by saying, “…we can say that the Bocca is more likely a sewer covering that allowed water to pour into it than fountain face, and the evidence therefore points in a much less romantic direction than contemporary Roman marital traditions would have us believe.”

 

 

guy also known as gaius

Edited June 28 by guy