Roman mistery tour step #5 The Devil's chair

Now let's go in the Trieste district where we can admire the Devil's chair.

The monument ,you see in the middle of the square,  is a funeral monument (II century AD) It's dedicated to Elio Callistio, a emperor Hadrian's  libertus (liberatus) (the man freed from the state of slavery). 

This free man continues to live in the house of the patronage and he coul manage his economy.

Let's come back to the monument. This  structure , called "a temple" type, is lit on two floors and it has a lower semi-underground chamber - accessible by a staircase built under the podium - and an upper chamber. Particularly interesting, for a stylistic point of view, is the floor of the lower room, it's made entirely of white mosaic. "

Now you see only a part of the work. the collapse of one of its sections gave a new appearance to this sculpture, now reminds you of the figure of a giant chair, with armrests.

For different factors and reasons , romans call it the Devil's chair..  The homeless slept inside and they lit fires. Shadow games created a scary and sinister environment.

Devil's chair - Photo by Urban Life blog 

The Romans said that the opposites lived together in the same city. On the one hand the Pope and his papal throne in St. Peter. On the other side of the city Satan and his chair in Piazza Elio Callistio. The legend tells evil worshipers organazied orgies and banquets in this place.

In the Middle Ages (this is a Roman paradox)  it was considered a magical place. The chair had the power to guarantee and do wonders !!

Another legend: the alchemist Zum Thurm wrote on the word Kabala, and if you were reciting the formula "I want to change the story" you  life could change in a better way.

Over the centuries it was also used as a venue for funeral rites dedicated to the deceased loved ones or to ward off evil spirits.

The practicality to remove the Lemuria (malignant spirits) seems to date back to  Romulus. He wanted to ward off the vindictive spirit of his brother Remus, whom he killed.

If you go in the Christmas period you can see a crib inside the chair ... well and bad still next, come in the Roman historical traditions