| Tullianum in the Mamertine Prison (picture by Peter Watts) |  |
Tullianum in the Mamertine Prison
Photographer Description of Tullianum in the Mamertine Prison
This panorama was taken inside the lower Tullianum chamber of the Mamertine Prison in Rome. This is the only state prison of Ancient Rome and is now a Christian church because of a supposed link with the Apostles Peter and Paul. The conditions here are cramped, and lighting levels very low.Tullianum in the Mamertine Prison - Further Information
The Mamertine Prison (Tullianum) is was the only state prison in ancient Rome and was also simply known as the Carcer (Latin for prison). The Mamertine Prison is in the Roman Forum on the slope of the Capitoline Hill facing the Curia. A flight of stairs between the Mamertine Prison and the Tabularium next to it lead to the Arx of the Capitoline.The Tullianum is the lower chamber of the Mamertine Prison. It is a circular chamber partly cut directly into the rock and partly made of tufa bricks. The chamber narrows towards the top and has a hole in the roof, which in the times of ancient Rome was the only access point with the upper chamber and the outside world. Prisoners were thrown through this into the lower chamber to die slowly. Later on a stairway between the two chambers was built and notable prisoners who were not executed publicly were executed in the Tullianum.
The Tullianum contains a spring and an altar with an inverted cross on it. This is because writings circulated from the 6C associating the Tullianum with the imprisonment of the Apostle Peter in Rome. The highly apocryphal and unsubstantiated story states that the spring miraculously began to flow while Peter was imprisoned here allowing him to baptize his prison guards. The cross on the altar is inverted as Peter was executed by crucifixion upside down.