“THIS ONE CITY I HAVE TAKEN FOR MY OWN OUT OF ALL ASIA”

Octavian, from a Letter of Octavian to Stephanus (governor of Laodicea) concerning Aphrodisias, c. 38 BC

Mosaic depicting Aphrodite, from the east Bouleuterion, 2nd century AD, Aphrodisias Museum, Turkey
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The beautiful ancient Greek city of Aphrodisias, still partly excavated, is one of the most important archaeological sites of the late Hellenistic and Roman period in Turkey. The city was located in Caria in Asia Minor, on a plateau 600 meters above sea level. Today it lies near Geyre village, some 80 kilometers west of Denizli. The city was founded in the 2nd century BC on the site of a rural sanctuary of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. It was named after Aphrodite who had her unique cult image, the Aphrodite of Aphrodisias, and who became the city’s patron goddess.

In the 1st century BC Aphrodisias came under the protection of Augustus, following the return to the city of Zoilos, an Aphrodisian who had been made a free man by the Roman emperor. Zoilos had become a very wealthy man when he returned to Aphrodisas in 40 BC and this initiated a period of prosperity and growth. He was responsible for the planning of much of the civic centres of Aphrodisias and of many of its early monumental projects. The ruins that remain today reflect this period of wealth which lasted until the 6th century. They include a Temple of Aphrodite, a theatre, a large Agora with its associated Bouleuterion (council house), a bath complex and a stadium.

Plan of Aphrodisias

A nearby marble quarry provided the ancient city with a supply of high-quality white and blue marble and a school of sculptors flourished in Aphrodisias and rose to prominence under Hadrian. Aphrodisian signatures have been found on sculptures in Italy and Greece, notably on the Centaurs discovered at Hadrian’s Villa.

Hadrian AE28 Diassarion of Caria, Aphrodisias. AV K LI TPAIN ADPIANOC CE, laureate and cuirassed bust right, seen from front, slight drapery on left shoulder / AFRODEICIEWN, cult state of Aphrodite of Aphrodisias standing facing within tetrastyle shrine with arched central bay; ornate roofline.

Hadrian visited Aphrodisias on one of his journeys to the Greek East. The city’s council had baths constructed as a memorial of his visit. They were constructed on the Roman model, with a series of parallel vaulted halls. Directly in front of the entrance on the north side was a marble pool ornamented with statues and with large pillars at the corners.

The pool of the tetrastyle court with columns at its corners and surrounding statues of the Hadrianic Baths, Aphrosidias
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The pool of the tetrastyle court with columns at its corners and surrounding statues of the Hadrianic Baths, Aphrosidias
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The pool of the tetrastyle court with columns at its corners and surrounding statues of the Hadrianic Baths, Aphrosidias
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The parallel vaulted rooms were, in order, the apodyterium (changing room), the frigidarium (cold baths), the tepidarium (warm baths) and the calidarium (hot baths). The lower walls of these halls, which are still standing, were built out of huge limestone blocks and faced with marble. The vaults, which no longer survive, were made out of mortared rubble, plastered on the underside. The floors were lined with marble.

The Hadrianic Baths, Aphrodisias
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The pool of the tetrastyle court with columns at its corners and surrounding statues of the Hadrianic Baths, Aphrosidias
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The Hadrianic Baths, Aphrodisias
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The Hadrianic Baths, Aphrodisias
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The first excavations on the Hadrianic Baths were undertaken in the year 1904 by the French engineer, amateur archeologist and collector Paul Gaudin. A portion of the works unearthed in the course of this excavation were moved to the Istanbul Archaeology Museum, while some were removed from the country without permission. A marble torso, part of the Old Fisherman’s statue which was discovered there, was sold to Berlin’s Pergamon Museum by Gaudin’s heirs (while the head was discovered only in 1989 and remains in Aphrodisias). Today, the Old Fisherman’s torso is on display in the Altes Museum, Berlin.

The Aphrodisias old fisherman, dating between 150 and 250 AD, the head is a plaster cast of the original, discovered at Aphrodisias in 1989, Altes Museum, Berlin
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The baths were richly decorated with sculptures, including mythological statues depicting Trojan themes around the pool, architectural decoration of the highest quality in the palaestra and in the front portico.

The pilaster friezes of the palaestra which are distinctive works of the Aphrodisias school of sculpture, Aphrodisias
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The bath complex was carefully maintained throughout antiquity and was still functioning in the 6th century AD when it continued to attract wealthy sponsorship for its redecoration. The complex was both a bathing facility and a museum of marble statuary.

Nude hero, Achilles?, from the Hadrianic Baths, 2nd century AD, Aphrodisias Museum
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The Achilles and Penthesilea statue group from the tetrastyle court of the Hadrianic Baths, 1st-2nd century AD, Aphrodisias Museum
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The statue group (image above) depicts the hero Achilles supporting the Amazon queen whom he has fatally wounded and fallen in love with. The stab wound under her right breast was carefully carved and painted.

Heroic male torso wearing a chlamys, 2nd century AD, Aphrodisias Museum
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Priestess wearing a star-decorated crown, found in the Hadrianic Baths, 2nd-3rd century AD, Aphrodisias Museum
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Head of a Satyr playing the double flute, found in the Hadrianic Baths, late 2nd or 3rd century AD, Aphrodisias Museum
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The long-lived Hadrianic Baths provide an unparalleled opportunity to examine the evolution of statuary decoration in imperial bath complexes over time.

Statue of a Governor wearing the chlamys (cloak) with two children, found in the Hadrianic Baths, 5th century AD, Aphrodisias Museum
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

A  major  conservation  project  in  the  Hadrianic  Baths begun  in  2010 under the auspices of New York University and the Institute of Fine Arts. Work has been focused mainly in the rooms with hypocausts and walls were restored. Sadly a large part of the baths was fenced when I visited the site last month and all the vaulted rooms were inaccessible. The images below show some of the rooms of the bath complex after conservation in 2013 (source).

APHRODISIAS 2013
New York University – A report on the archaeological field season

Sources: IFA Excavations at Aphrodisias / Aphrodisias School of Archaeology – University of Oxford / Aphrodisias 2013 – A report on the archaeological field season (pdf)

This week’s sculpture from Hadrian’s Villa is a marble head of a female divinity, probably Persephone, the daughter of Demeter and queen of the underworld.

Head of a female divinity (Persephone?), from the Nymphaeum at Hadrian’s Villa
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The head is closely related to the head of Persephone which is on display in the Museo Barracco in Rome (the Barracco-Budapest type female head, Inv. MB 85), and to the statue of Persephone recently excavated at Rione Terra near Naples and now in the Castello Aragonese in Baia (Kore-Persephone). Another marble head of Persephone from the Hadrianic era was put up for auction at Sotheby’s in 2013.

The head was probably part of a larger than life-size statue inspired by a Greek work in the Severe style of the 5th century BC. It was found in 1927 inside the cryptoporticus near the nymphaeum.

The Temple of Hadrian at Ephesus is regarded one of the most famous monuments of the ancient city of Ephesus. It lies on the south side of Curates Street, one of Ephesus’ main arteries connecting the Gate of Hercules with the Library of Celsus.

The Temple of Hadrian on Curetes Street, Ephesus, Turkey
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The remains of the Temple were unearthed in 1956 during excavations carried out by the Austrian Archaeological Institute (ÖAI). Due to its excellent state of preservation and cultural and historical importance it was rebuilt with original building elements in 1957/1958. There were also some supplementation with modern building material so as to reproduce the building’s precise appearance more fully. In 2012 the Austrian Archaeological Institute began an extensive conservation project with the support of the J. M. Kaplan Fund. The project was completed in September 2014. All the photos included in this post were taken in April 2015 after the conservation was finished.

The Temple of Hadrian on Curetes Street, Ephesus, Turkey
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

According to an inscription engraved on the archivolt of the entablature, the small temple-like structure was dedicated to Artemis Ephesia, Emperor Hadrian and to the demos of Ephesus, by the asiarch Poplius Vedius Antoninus Sabinus of Ephesus.

The entablature with inscription decorated with the crowning bust of the goddess Tyche, and behind the cella’s tympanon
Temple of Hadrian, Ephesus, Turkey
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The building is a tetrastyle (4 columns) prostyle (only columns are along the front side) temple of modest dimensions and has rich architectural and sculptural decorations. Two Corinthian columns and two pillars on the edges support the entablature with a curved Syrian type pediment decorated with floral patterns and bearing a relief of Tyche, the goddess of victory. The Goddess is wearing a crown depicting the walls and towers of the city.

The curved arch decorated with floral patterns and bearing a relief of Tyche, the goddess of victory
Temple of Hadrian, Ephesus, Turkey
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Behind the arch is the pronaos, the inner area of the temple’s portico. It has a door opening crowned by a typanum, a semi-circular relief depicting a female figure (probably Medusa) among acanthus leaves and scrolls.

The tympanum, a semi-circular relief over the entrance door depicting a female figure among acanthus leaves and scrolls
Temple of Hadrian, Ephesus, Turkey
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The door leads to the cella, the interior of the monument. The cella measured 7.50m in width and 5m in length and was roofed by a barrel vault.

The door opening leading to the cella, Temple of Hadrian, Ephesus, Turkey
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The pronaos is decorated with a frieze consisting of four marble slabs depicting the foundation of the city of Ephesus by the Athenian prince Androclus. The frieze is not Hadrianic as it was not sculptured at the same time as the Temple. It was probably added to the monument from an unknown building during a restoration in the 4th century AD. The frieze on the Temple is a copy, the original is on display in the Ephesus Museum.

Original frieze slabs from the Temple of Hadrian depicting the foundation of Ephesus, 4th century AD
Ephesus Museum, Selçuk, Turkey
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The first slab depicts five figures: from left to right; a male possibly representing Zeus, a Nymph representing the Hypelaios spring, a warrior and Androclus on horseback attacking a wild boar. Beneath the figure of the animal is a fallen warrior. The foundation myth of Ephesus states that Androclus, the son of Athenian king Codrus, consulted the oracle of Apollo in Delphi, who prophesied that fish and a wild boar would lead him to the site where he would found a new city. After landing on the coast of Ionia near the later harbour of Ephesus, the Greek colonists – in search for a new location for his people to protect them from the Dorian invasion – cooked some fish. One of them leaped out of the brazier scattering coals and set fire to the nearby bushes, from which a boar ran out. Androclus slew the boar and established the city where the animal fell.

Original frieze slab from the Temple of Hadrian depicting the foundation of Ephesus, 4th century AD
Ephesus Museum, Selçuk, Turkey
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The second frieze shows a Roman Emperor making a sacrifice in front of an altar decorated with garlands. The Emperor wears a military tunic and paludamentum (a military robe), and is crowned by a Nike. On the right of the altar is a male figure, possibly Theseus, and next to him Heracles while four Amazons are fleeing from him. The Amazons, according to myth, took refuge in the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus from both Heracles and Dionysus.

Original frieze slab from the Temple of Hadrian depicting a sacrifice in front of an altar following a military victory, 4th century AD
Ephesus Museum, Selçuk, Turkey
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The third frieze depicts three female figures which have been identified as Amazons fleeing from Dionysus. Dionysus is represented embracing a Satyr in the centre of the relief with Pan holding a thyrsus on his right. Next to him a figure sits on an elephant and a dancing Maenad is holding a cymbal.

Original frieze slab from the Temple of Hadrian depicting Amazons, Pan, Dionysos, Satyrs and a Menead, 4th century AD
Ephesus Museum, Selçuk, Turkey
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The fourth frieze portrays various divinities: from left to right; Dea Roma, Selene (Moon), Helios (Sun), Apollo, Artemis, Heracles, Dionysus, Hermes, Aphrodite, Ares and Athena. In the middle of the frieze is Androclus and his dog.

Original frieze slab from the Temple of Hadrian portraying various divinities and Androclus and his dog, 4th century AD
Ephesus Museum, Selçuk, Turkey
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

During the imperial period, the image of the city founder could be seen throughout the city. Androclus was also represented in various statuary forms while the boar appeared on coins minted in Ephesus. A statue from the Fountain of Trajan shows him standing with his dog.

Statue of Androclus depicted with his dog as a hunter, 2nd century AD, from the Fountain of Trajan
Ephesus Museum, Selçuk, Turkey
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Another statue was discovered in 1927 in the Vedius Baths and Gymnasium complex at Ephesus by the Austrian team who was excavating the site. The statue was dated to ca. 150 AD. It is thought to represent Antinous as Androclus. A fragment of a dog’s paw grasping a stiff hair from a boar was found next to the statue. This indicates that Androclus was shown boar hunting.

Antinous portrayed as the hero Androclus, mythical founder and first king of Ephesus, ca. 150 AD,
from the Vedius Baths and Gymnasium complex at Ephesus
Izmir Archaeological Museum, Turkey
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Long before the frieze was added in the 4th century AD, the Temple had suffered extensive damage following the 262 AD earthquake. It was renovated with several additions and alterations about forty years later, when the pedestals with the statues of the Tetrarchs were added to the facade. The pedestals with inscriptions in front of the temple are the bases for the statues of the emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Constantius I, and Galerius. The originals of the statues have not been found.

The original function of the temple-like structure remains unknown but it was long assumed to have been an official cult temple of the emperor Hadrian because Ephesus received permission to construct such a building. However this interpretation has since been refuted since it hardly seems possible that the Ephesians would have honored Hadrian with such a small temple. After Hadrian’s second or third visit to Ephesus in 129-131 AD, the Emperor granted the city a second “neokorate” (temple warden of the imperial cult – the first neokorate was granted during the reign of Domitian). Between 1984-86, archaeologists uncovered a massive structure in the northwest part of the city which has been attributed to the Olympieion, a temple dedicated to Hadrian Olympios. The Olympieion would therefore be connected to the second neokorate temple but this has also been debated amongst scholars.

Ephesos (AD 117-138) AE 32 – Hadrian
Laureate and draped bust right / Two temples, each containing standing male figure holding scepter, viewed in perspective, vis-à-vis; Π and Δ in pediments.
© 2004-2014 AsiaMinorCoins.com

Hadrian visited Ephesus on at least two occasions during his journeys through the eastern part of the Empire; in August 124 and five years later in 129 (and possibly in 131). The outcome of his visits was several monuments and benefactions. In return the Emperor was granted the honorific title of “founder and savior” by the council (boule) and the Ephesian people (demos).

The Temple of Hadrian on Curetes Street, Ephesus, Turkey
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Sources:

* TEMPLE OF HADRIAN – Conservation Project 2012 – 2014 (pdf)

* Dalaveras Andreas , Dawson Maria-Dimitra , “Ephesus (Antiquity),
Temple of Hadrian“, Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor (2005)

* Aristodimou Georgia, “Ephesus (Antiquity), Olympieion”, Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor (2005)

* Erich S. Gruen (ed.), Cultural Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean. Issues & Debates.   Los Angeles:  Getty Research Institute, 2010.

* Bowie, E. 1971. ‘The “Temple of Hadrian” at Ephesus‘

* “Temples of Hadrian, not Zeus” by Barbara Burrell, Dept. of Classics
Univ. of Cincinnati, February, 2003

The recent developments in the Middle East have drawn the attention of the world to the magnificent ruins of the ancient city of Palmyra. Its impressive remains were brought to light by travellers, first in 1678, and by archaeologists in more recent times. Equally impressive are the numerous representations of the inhabitants of the city in the form of funerary sculptures in the distinctive Palmyrene style.

From the 1st century BC the city grew in both wealth and population with the name Palmyra (city of palms) coming to replace the older Tadmor. It flourished as a caravan oasis on the trade route linking the Mediterranean with the West and Central Asia (the Silk Road). It was incorporated into the Roman Empire in the early years of Tiberius’ reign and became a metropolis with “free” status (civitas libera) under Hadrian, who visited the city in 129 AD and renamed it “Hadriana Palmyra”. Caracalla declared Palmyra a Roman colony in 212 AD and exempted the city from paying taxes on luxury items.

Palmyra on Vici.org

Many members of Palmyra’s prosperous merchant class commissioned funerary busts depicting fashionably dressed individuals and family groups. These stone faces, representing Palmyrenes who lived between 50 AD and 270 AD, came from tombs outside the city in the so-called Valley of the Tombs. Their fashion were Syrian but they were shown in a Greco-Roman style with Parthian elements. Tombs built for wealthy citizens took the form of towers of several storeys rising more than 20 m high, single-storey temple or house tombs, or underground rock-cut tombs called hypogea. They were richly decorated with wall paintings and each tomb contained several chambers (cubicula). Each cubiculum had funerary portraits with a brief dedicatory inscription (often in Aramaic and Greek) carved on limestone slabs that sealed the niches (loculi) in which the mummified bodies of the deceased were laid to rest. Palmyrenes called their tombs “houses of eternity” and took great pride in their construction. Altogether, about 300 funerary monuments have been discovered in Palmyra.

Funerary bust showing a deceased couple, from Palmyra, Syria, about AD 50-150, British Museum
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Palmyrenes were portrayed wearing elaborate clothing, jewellery and accessories with accompanying inscriptional genealogies to honor their deceased ancestors. The men wore a chiton (tunic) and himation (cloak) of linen or wool. The cloak was usually draped so as to provide a support for the right hand. The women also wore a long tunic over which a cloak was draped. The cloak was held by a fibula (brooch) on the left shoulder, and over it all a long veil covering the head, shoulders and arms. They wore jewelry such as ornate necklaces, rings, and earrings.

Palmyran funerary sculpture is the largest corpus of portrait sculpture in the Roman world outside Rome. Today, more than 1500 funerary portraits are scattered through many museums and private collections across the world. Here is a small collection of these portraits I have collected during visits to various museums.

Limestone bust from a Palmyrene funerary relief depicting a matron with smaller figure of a child, 84 AD
British Museum
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Limestone bust of a veiled woman, ca. 80-100 AD
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Limestone portrait of a Palmyrene lady, the lion’s head door knockers symbolize the entrance to the world of the dead, c. 120 AD
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Limestone portrait of a Palmyrene lady called Aha, Daughter of Zabdila, 149 AD
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Limestone portrait of a Palmyrene couple, c. 150 AD
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Limestone portrait of a lady from Palmyra, 2nd century AD
Romisch-Germanisches Museum, Cologne
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Limestone funerary bust of Aqmat, late 2nd century AD
Victoria and Albert Museum (on loan from the British Museum)
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Limestone bust including head and upper torso of a clean-shaven man wearing a toga and holding a feather (quill pen?), ca. 150-200 AD
British Museum
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Funerary portrait of a lady from Palmyra, 2nd century AD
Civico museo archeologico di Milano
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The lady Marti, funerary portrait of a woman from Palmyra, c. AD 170-190
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Limestone portrait of a Palmyrene man called Yedibel and shown with a full beard (following the fashion in Rome), c. 170-190 AD
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Limestone funerary bust of a unknown woman from Palmyra wearing an elaborate hair ornament, 150-200 AD
British Museum
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Limestone funerary bust so called ”The Beauty of Palmyra”, AD 190-210
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Funerary bust showing two veiled women wearing robes, AD 217
British Museum
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Limestone funerary relief carved with bearded man reclining on richly covered couch with wife seated beside and Palmyrene inscription 200-273 AD
British Museum
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Besides portrait busts in relief, Palmyrene tombs might have also contained portrait statues. Very few have been recovered from the city and whether they were funerary elements or honorific statues is not known.

Limestone portrait of a Palmyrene notable, c. 210-230 AD
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Limestone portrait of a leading Palmyrene, c. 230-250 AD
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Limestone funerary portrait of a Palmyrene priest (identified by his cylindrical hat -modius-), c. 190-200 AD
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Bibliography and links:

• Smith II, Andrew M (2013). Roman Palmyra: Identity, Community, and State Formation
• Malcolm A. R. Colledge, The Art of Palmyra, London, 1976
• Andrade, Nathanael J. (2013). Syrian Identity in the Greco-Roman World
• A. Henning, The tower tombs of Palmyra: chronology, architecture and decoration,
  Studia Palmyreńskie 12, 2013 (pdf).
• Palmyrene Funerary Sculptures at Penn by Michael Danti, 2011 (pdf)
• Palmyra Portrait Project – Projects – Aarhus Universitet
• The Palmyra Portrait Project by Andreas J. M. Kropp and Rubina Raja, Syria 91 (2014) p. 393-408 (pdf)

This week’s sculpture from Hadrian’s Villa is a marble head of Hypnos, the Greek god of Sleep.

Marble head of Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep, 117-138 AD, Hadrian’s Villa
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Hypnos is represented as a young man with wings attached to his temples (now lost). The head must have been part of a full length statue showing Hypnos running forwards, holding in his hands poppies and a vessel from which he presumably poured a sleeping potion. One of the most complete representations of Hypnos is a bronze statuette from the collection of the Roman Museum in Augst (see an image here).

Hypnos was the son of the goddess Nyx (the deity of the Night) and Erebus (the deity of Darkness). His wife, Pasithea (the deity of Hallucinations), was one of the youngest of the Graces and was promised to him by Hera. His sons were Morpheus (the personification of Dreams), Phobetor (the personification of Nightmares), Phantasos (the personification of inanimate objects in prophetic dreams) and Ikelos (the personification of people seen in prophetic dreams).

This marble head of Hypnos was found inside the cryptoporticus from the entrance of the Piazza d’Oro (Golden Court), one of the most luxurious complexes at the villa. It was a vast building complex with a great rectangular garden embellished with flower-beds. A canal was running down the main axis and was surrounded on all sides by a portico. On its eastern side was a series of rooms including a triclinium, while on its southern side, opposite the entrance, was a monumental exedra with a nymphaeum and perhaps also a library.

See images of the Piazza d’Oro here.

See more images of Hypnos here.

The Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence is one of the oldest and most famous art museums in the world. In addition to Renaissance masterpieces including works from Botticelli, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, the Uffizi houses one of the world’s most important collections of ancient Roman and Greek statues. The Medicis’ interest in ancient art started with the founder of the family Cosimo I de’ Medici (1519-1574) and grew over nearly four decades. The antiquities were stored and displayed in several rooms in Palazzo Vecchio and Palazzo Pitti where they could be admired by the visitors to the court. The antiquities were later transferred to the Uffizi.

Most of the ancient statues and busts are displayed on the u-shaped second floor of the museum. The wide corridors are filled with numerous portraits of the members of the different imperial dynasties including those of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty.

• Nerva (ruled 96 – 98 A.D.)

Bust of Emperor Nerva in lorica military cloak and paludamentum, Greek marble, 96 – 98 AD
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

• Trajan (ruled 98 – 117 A.D.)
  

Statue loricata with the head of Trajan, Greek marble (head), Italic marble (?) (statue), 98 – 108 AD
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Trajan, Greek marble and oxyx, ca. 110 AD, the bust is a modern work
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Bust with the head of Trajan, ca. 105 AD, the head is inserted in a modern bust of red marble
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

• Ulpia Marciana, beloved elder sister of Trajan
  

Female statue with a portrait of Ulpia Marciana, 110-120 AD, with modern restorations
Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence

• Salonina Matidia, niece of Trajan and mother-in-law of Hadrian

Female statue with a portrait of Matidia, 110-120 AD, with modern restorations
Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence

• Hadrian (ruled 117 – 138 A.D.)
  

Bust of Hadrian, 117-121 AD (of the Termini type)
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

• Antinous, favorite of Hadrian
  

Bust of Antinous, 130-138 AD
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

•  Lucius Aelius Caesar, intended successor of Hadrian

Lucius Aelius Caesar (101–138 AD), intended successor of Hadrian who died prematurely
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

• Antoninus Pius (ruled 138 – 161 A.D.)

Marble bust with the head of Antoninus Pius, middle of 2nd century AD
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

• Empress Faustina the Elder, wife of Antoninus Pius

Bust of Empress Faustina the Elder, wife of Antoninus Pius, circa 141 AD
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

• Marcus Aurelius (ruled 161 – 180 A.D.)

Young Marcus Aurelius, circa 150 – 160 AD
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Marble bust with the head of Marcus Aurelius, end of 2nd century AD
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

• Empress Faustina the Younger, wife of Marcus Aurelius

Bust of Empress Faustina the Younger, wife of Marcus Aurelius
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

• Lucius Verus (ruled 161 – 169 A.D.)

Modern marble bust with the head of Lucius Verus, 2nd half of 2nd century AD
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

• Empress Crispina, wife of Commodus

Portrait of Crispina, wife of Commodus, 180 – 187 AD
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

In addition to the members of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty, the Uffizi houses a number of portraits of unknown citizens from the same era. Some of these portraits were incorrectly attributed to members of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty during the Renaissance but the original inscriptions have remained.

•  Private portraiture of unknown citizen from the Nerva-Antonine era

Portrait of Vibia Sabina (wife of Hadrian) with a Flavian hairstyle?, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Portrait of an elderly woman inspired by the iconography of Marciana (sister of Trajan), 98 – 117 AD, Greek marble (head) and red onyx (modern bust)
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Portrait of an unknown young man from the Antonine era (previously thought to be Lucius Verus or Marcus Aurelius)
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Portrait of an unknown young man so-called “Young Hadrian”, 130-140 AD
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Bust with the head of a young man (previously known as Marcus Aurelius), mid 2nd century AD
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Togated statue with the head of a man, circa 100-200 AD
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Portrait of an unknown woman so-called Lucilla, mid 2nd century AD, Apuan marble
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Private portrait of a citizen of the late Antonine period thought to be Commodus, 160 – 180 AD
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Many more portraits of the Nerva-Antonines dynasty can be viewed from my image collection on Flickr.

Related posts:

• The Nerva-Antonines in Cologne
• The Nerva-Antonines in Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome
• The Nerva-Antonines in Copenhagen

This week’s sculpture from Hadrian’s Villa is a marble head of Antinous, one of the ten marble images of Antinous found there.

Antinous, from Hadrian’s Villa, late Hadrianic period 130-138 AD, Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome

This portrait of Antinous is conserved in the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme in Rome. It is related to a coin type minted in the city of Adramyttium in Mysia (modern Edremit, Turkey) by an individual called Gessius (his name appears on the reverse of the coin). The coin was struck with the head of Antinous on the obverse and the words ΙΑΚΧΟC ΑΝΤΙΝΟΟC (Iacchos Antinous). Antinous is portrayed as Iacchos, a minor Dionysian deity (also epithet of Dionysus) associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries (Hadrian first took part in the Mysteries in about 124 AD and again in late summer 128 AD together with Antinous). The British Museum holds such a coin with the Eleusinian goddess Demeter on the reverse.

Commemorative coin minted by Gessius at Adramyttium
OBV: Antinous as Iacchos, with legend IAKXOC | ANTINOOC
REV: Demeter seated left ΓECIOC ANΘHKE AΔPAMVTHNOIC
©Trustees of the British Museum

Gessius’ inclusion of his own name on the reverse of the coin shows how the provincial elite members sought to identity themselves and their cities with the imperial cult.

Sources:

• Theoi Greek Mythology – Iakkhos
• British Museum collection online Coin of Antinous
• Fox, Tatiana Eileen.  The Cult of Antinous and the Response of the Greek East to Hadrian’s Creation of a God. The faculty of The College of Arts and Sciences
  Ohio University. May 2014 (pdf)
• T. Opper, Hadrian: Empire and Conflict, The Antinous Cult, p. 188-190.

Last year Rome celebrated the 2000th anniversary of Emperor Augustus’ death. To commemorate the date, a series of special events and openings were launched in the Italian capital, including the opening of new parts of the ‘House of Augustus’ and ‘House of Livia’ on the Palatine Hill. After years of restoration works, new lavishly frescoed rooms are now on show for the first time. The restoration included installing protective roofing, stabilizing the structures, conserving the frescoes as well as designing a visitation route through the house with lighting and information panels… and the results are impressive!

Last week, I travelled to Rome and visited for the first time the House of Augustus, the House of Livia and Nero’s Domus Aurea (all on pre-booked tours). I will be writing a blog post for each of these wonderful places. Today, we start with the House of Augustus.

The peristyle of the House of Augustus, Palatine Hill, Rome
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The home of Rome’s first emperor is located on the most sacred area of the Palatine next to the Temple of Apollo. In fact, the house must have stood above the Lupercal, the sacred cave where, according to legend, the twin founders of Rome were suckled by the she-wolf. Augustus’ domus, comprising two levels, served as his primary residence during his reign. Despite its relatively small size, the House of Augustus is celebrated for its lavish second-style Pompeian frescoes which rank among the best in the Roman world. The Second Pompeian style, or “Architectural Style”, began in Rome in the early years of the first century BC and evolved during the reign of Augustus. This period saw a focus on architectural features and trompe-l’oeil compositions.

Illusionistic painted coffering on the vault in the “Ramp Room”
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Augustus originally obtained the property from the orator Quintus Hortensius. He expanded the layout after his victory at Actium. Some of the rooms containing the most spectacular wall paintings are known by their recurring motifs: the “Pine Room” (room 6), the “Room of the Masks” (room 5), the “Room of the Perspective Paintings” (room 11). The first two rooms were domestic cubiculae (bedrooms). They occupied the western section of the house. The third room, identified as an ala (wing) flanking the tablinum (of which nothing of its decoration is preserved), served a more overtly public function and was located around the northern peristyle courtyard. But the most refined and elegant decoration can be seen in the so-called “Emperor’s Study” (room 15) which has no equal anywhere else in Rome.

Plan of the House of Augustus

The tour begins with the two cubiculae in the domestic section of the house (rooms 6 and 5). The “Pine Room” has a simple architectural scheme with pine festoons over the top of which are porticoes with Doric columns.

The Pine Room: decoration with pilastered portico and pine festoons
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The Pine cone was the symbol of Cybele (or Magna Mater) whose temple was located on the Palatine next to Augustus’ house. The temple burned on two occasions in the early Imperial era and was restored each time by Augustus.

The Pine Room: decoration with pilastered portico and pine festoons
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The “Room of the Masks”, located just behind the “Pine Room” and slightly larger in size, is one of the finest in Augutus’ house. It has more elaborate perspectival Second Style paintings incorporating tragic and comic theatre masks.

South wall of the Room of the Masks, 2nd Pompeian style
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The architecture depicted is a one-storey structure with a central recess and narrow side-doors on each side, probably evoking a scaenae frons, a wooden theatre stage building.

Detail of South wall of the Room of the Masks, 2nd Pompeian style
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Next to the two cubiculae is a series of five rooms of various sizes arranged along the north side of the western court. The rooms include two libraries (or maybe rooms to display art works), and a tablinum (where Augustus would receive guests) flanked by two alae (wings) on either side.

North side of the western court with a series of five rooms including two libraries and a tablinum flanked by two alae
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The tablinum of the House of Augustus of which only slight traces of decorations have survived
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

One of the two alae, dubbed “Room of the Perspective Paintings”, has vividly-coloured frescoes on its north wall depicting a two-storey architectural facade in blue, white, yellow and red.

The Room of the Perspective Paintings: architectural composition with perspective rendition of colonnades
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The Room of the Perspective Paintings: architectural composition with perspective rendition of colonnades
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The path continues with the visit of the eastern section of the house, where rooms are preserved on two storeys. The upper room was originally joined by a corridor ramp (room 12). The most striking feature of the so-called “Ramp Room” is the painted vaulting in imitation of real coffering.

Illusionistic painted coffering on the vault of the “Ramp Room”, the painter emphasized the depth effect by using appropriate shading
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The ceiling is decorated with a painted pattern of rhomboidal and square coffers containing rosettes, whose relief was suggested by the use of shading as well as by means of perspective. The frames were rendered in shades of red, yellow and white, the inner moulding in orange, yellow, blue and green, and ornaments of the coffers in purple, black, white and yellow.

Illusionistic painted coffering on the vault in the “Ramp Room”
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The next room is the so-called “Large Oecus” (room 13) with architectural wall paintings with four pedestals for columns of piers (oecus tetrastilus – supported by four columns). Among other functions, the room served as a salon where elaborate dinner parties were staged.

Tetrastyle oescus supported by four columns and walls decorated with frescoes in Second Pompeian Style
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The fresco located on the south wall has a monumental Corinthian tetrastyle structure resting on a podium topped with an elegant frieze. The theatrical inspiration is underlined by the presence of a mask crowned with vine leaves.

South wall of the “Large oecus” with architectural wall painting of the Second Pompeian Style
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

North wall of the “Large oecus” with wall painting imitating marble wall-facing
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The frescoes located at the top of the south and north walls depict a simple single-level, stage-like structure with human figures in different poses. Underneath are painted bands with acanthus stem and floral design. One of the female figure wears a clock as well as a rich diadem and necklace while others are carrying votive offerings.

North wall of the “Large oecus” depicting a stage-like structure with various human figures carrying offerings
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

South wall of the “Large oecus” depicting a stage-like structure with human figures standing inside the central recess
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The adjacent room is the lower cubiculum whose wall paintings follow the usual design adopted within the house with a clear theatrical inspiration.

North-east corner of the Lower cubiculum with architectural decoration
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

East wall of the Lower cubiculum with architectural decoration
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The final room, a cubiculum known as “The Emperor’s Study”, where the Emperor used to retire when he did not want to be disturbed. It is located on the highest level of the house. Today, it is accessed by climbing a modern steel staircase and can be viewed by peering through a protective glass. The exceptional decorative elements were inspired by Egyptian-Alexandrine models, typical of the art of the Augustan period after the recent conquest of Egypt. The walls are beautifully decorated with stylized winged obelisks, gryphons, sophisticated interweaving of floral elements (lotus leaves, flowers and aquatic plants) and objects such as vases and candelabra in powerful contrasts of red, black, green and yellow. Many of these elements were the key components of the Third Pompeian Style.

Suetonius, lawyer and secretary of the imperial palace under Hadrian, wrote of this room:

“If ever he planned to do anything in private or without interruption, he had a retired place at the top of the house, which he called “Syracuse” and “technyphion.”

Technyphion means ‘little workshop’ while Syracuse may be a reference to the study of Archimedes in that city.

The upper cubiculum so-called “Emperor’s Study”
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The upper cubiculum so-called “Emperor’s Study”: south wall with central panel depicting a scene of worship with a sacred landscape
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The ceiling decoration in this cubiculum also reveals the influence of Alexandria with lighter colours. It is moulded in white stucco with coloured insets. The dominant tones are pink and white with a range of shades of indigo, porphyry, violet, ochre and gold.

The upper cubiculum so-called “Emperor’s Study”: central section of the ceiling with decorative divisisions in stucco and painting, in the centre a panel with plant corollas
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The upper cubiculum so-called “Emperor’s Study”: painted frieze on the ceiling with winged female figure, satyr’s head and plant-shaped motifs
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The House of Augustus: Wall Paintings by Irene Iacopi

Visitors to these residences of ancient Rome can only be astonished by their grand architecture and enchanting wall paintings.

Unfortunately, the exquisite beauty of these frescoes could not be perfectly rendered through my photographs due to the artificial lighting in the rooms and the protective glass. If you want to see magnificent illustrations of the highest quality, I strongly recommend that you buy the magnificently illustrated book “The House of Augustus: Wall Paintings”. The book features all the wonderful fresco cycles covering the walls, from the general composition to the smallest detail.

You can buy the book on amazon.com or amazon.co.uk.

Following the expensive conservation effort, a visit to the House of Augustus can now be booked with Coopculture.it or at the Arch of Titus entrance to the Forum. Tighter restrictions on the number of visitors who can access the site at any one time have been put in place since September 2014 and you will need to book to join the 2pm English tour which runs on Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays. The guided tour lasts 75 minutes and accommodates a maximum of 20 people. However, if you call the Coopculture call center (+39 06 399 67 700), you may join a smaller group albeit without a guide (in our case 8 people). A member of staff will  escort you to the site and will remain with you for the duration of the visit (about one hour for both Augustus and Livia’s houses). Combined ticket for the Palatine-Roman Forum / Colosseum (valid for one entrance in the two sites for 2 consecutive days) or the Archaeologia Card (valid 7 days) have to be bought to get access to both Imperial houses.

I recently wrote on the series of special events that took place in Rome last year in celebration of the 2000th anniversary of Emperor Augustus’ death. My last post focussed on the ‘House of Augustus’ (see here) and today I will concentrate on the ‘House of Livia’ in this follow-up piece.

The House of Livia, Palatine Hill, Rome
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

First excavated in 1839, the house has been attributed to Livia on the basis of the name IVLIA AVG[VSTA] stamped on a lead pipe on display on the left-hand wall of the tablinum. The two-storey house, built around a central atrium, was decorated with advanced “Second Pompeian Style” wall paintings, reflecting the sophisticated taste of wealthy Romans. The remains of the house are reached by a sloping hallway whose floor is covered with a black and white geometric mosaic leading into a rectangular atrium.

Plan of the House of Livia

The best preserved section of Livia’s House consists of a rectangular atrium and three relatively large adjoining rooms (a tablinum and two side rooms). Each room was painted with a mythological subject and its floor decorated in black and white geometric mosaic.

The tablinum of the House of Livia, also known as the “Room of Polyphemus”
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The central room (the tablinum), also known as the “Room of Polyphemus”, was the most richly decorated. Each of its walls had a large mythological picture in the middle, set in a large columnar frame. The mythological picture on the back wall, now totally illegible, showed one of the earliest representation of the story of the monster Polyphemus and the sea nymph Galatea. It depicted Polyphemus immersed in the water with a young Cupid riding on its shoulders pursuing the nymph Galatea as she rides a sea-horse (hippocampus).

Detail of wall painting on the back wall of the tablinum
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Around the central panel are backdrops of illusionistic architecture and small panels with ritual scenes.

The mythological scene on the right-hand wall of the tablinum is still partly visible. Here Mercury is depicted rescuing the mortal woman Io, who had been changed into a white heifer by Zeus in order to disguise his affair with her. Io is facing her guardian Argus while Mercury, arriving from the left, is about to free her.

The tablinum with the mythological scenes in the center of both walls
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Detail of fresco on the right-hand wall of the tablinum
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The decoration on the right-hand room is characterized by luxuriant festoons and garlands of fruits, flowers, branches and leaves. A yellow frieze running along the top the frescoes was filled with scenes of everyday life in Egypt (camels, sphinxes and a statue of Isis can be seen).

The right-hand room of the House of Livia, characterized by luxuriant festoons of fruit and flowers
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The decorations on the left-hand room show winged fantasy figures, human and animal, ending in elegant plant tendrils.

The left-hand room of the House of Livia
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

The triclinium (dining room) is remarkable for its delicate decoration. Each wall was given an elaborate design of illusionistic architecture featuring a large picture of a sacred and rural landscape in the centre.

A relatively simpler architectural scheme with imitation veneer adorned the walls of the atrium and the vestibulum.

The vestibulum with imitation veneer adorning the walls
Carole Raddato CC BY-SA

Following the expensive conservation effort, a visit to the House of Liva and Augustus can now be booked with Coopculture.it or at the Arch of Titus entrance to the Forum. Tighter restrictions on the number of visitors who can access the site at any one time have been put in place since September 2014 and you will need to book to join the 2pm English tour which runs on Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays. The guided tour lasts 75 minutes and accommodates a maximum of 20 people. However, if you call the Coopculture call center (+39 06 399 67 700), you may join a smaller group albeit without a guide (in our case 8 people). A member of staff will  escort you to the site and will remain with you for the duration of the visit (about one hour for both Augustus and Livia’s houses). Combined ticket for the Palatine-Roman Forum / Colosseum (valid for one entrance in the two sites for 2 consecutive days) or the Archaeologia Card (valid 7 days) have to be bought to get access to both Imperial houses.

Related post: When in Rome… visiting the House of Livia on the Palatine Hill

This week’s sculpture from Hadrian’s Villa is a red-marble statue of a satyr, the so-called “Fauno rosso” (red faun).

The so-called Fauno rosso, a statue in red-marble depicting a drunken satyr, Hadrianic copy of a Greek original from the late Hellenistic, from Hadrian’s Villa, Palazzo Nuovo, Capitoline Museums

The Fauno rosso depicts a satyr, follower of Dionysus, the god of wine. He is depicted entirely nude apart from a nebris (faun skin) knotted on the right shoulder and hanging down over his left shoulder. The satyr raises his right arm and holds a cluster of grapes, symbols of harvest. He also carries a large pedum (shepherd’s crook) in his left hand, another common piece of iconography associated with satyrs. The empty eye sockets were probably filled with glass or hard stones.

The so-called Fauno rosso, a statue in red-marble depicting a drunken satyr, Hadrianic copy of a Greek original from the late Hellenistic, from Hadrian’s Villa, Palazzo Nuovo, Capitoline Museums

To the left of the satyr is a goat that looks up at him and rests one leg on a wicker basket.

To the satyr’s right is a supporting trunk with a shepherd’s pipe hanging from it.

Detail of the “Fauno rosso”, a red-marble statue depicting a drunken satyr, Hadrianic copy of a Greek original from the late Hellenistic, from Hadrian’s Villa, Palazzo Nuovo, Capitoline Museums

The statue is believed to be a Roman copy of a late Hellenistic Greek original, probably in bronze. It was commissioned by Hadrian himself and was most likely sculpted by Aristeas and Papias of Aphrodisias in Asia Minor (they signed two other sculptures found at the Villa, the “Furietti Centaurs“). The figure is made of an ancient red marble from Laconia, a region in the Peloponnese in Greece, suggesting that the satyr is so drunk that his skin has turned into the color of the grapes.

This statue was found in fragments in 1736 in an area of the Villa called the Academy by Giuseppe Furietti, an antiquarian who obtained rights to excavate at the Villa. Pope Benedict XIV Lambertini gave the sculpture to the Capitoline Museum in 1746 where it has been on public display ever since. The fragmentary statue was restored in 1751 by the Italian sculptors Bartolomeo Cavaceppi and Clemente Bianchi. They added many pieces of rosso granato marble (arms, legs, the base, the trunk with the shepherd’s pipe, the goat and the basket), characterized by greyish veins.

Source: http://capitolini.info/scu00657/?lang=en

Almost two years ago I was asked to contribute to the Ancient History Encyclopedia website. Needless to say I was very honored to join this team of ancient history experts. I have mainly contributed with photographs but I also wrote a few pieces for their et cetera blog that did not appear on my Following Hadrian blog. So if you are unfamiliar with Ancient History Encyclopedia I invite you to follow the links below:

10 Must-See Ancient Sites in Provence, France

10 Hidden Ancient Treasures in Caria, Turkey

Traveling in Israel on a Budget

During a recent trip to Rome, I paid a long overdue visit to the Centrale Montemartini, an annexe of the Capitoline Museums located on the Via Ostiense just beyond Porta San Paolo.

Centrale Montemartini was Rome’s first electrical power station when it opened in 1912, and was later converted into a museum of ancient Roman art in the late 1990s. Like the Tate Modern in London, Centrale Montemartini places art in an industrial setting but, unlike the Tate, the imposing machinery has not been moved out. The engines’ grey mass provides a stark contrast to the white marble and offers a unique backdrop for classical art.

The Engine Room, Centrale Montemartini, Rome

Centrale Montemartini has a collection of about four hundred sculptures, reliefs and mosaics dating from the Republican to the late Imperial era. The works of art, exhibited in chronological order, are part of an outstanding collection of classical sculptures from the excavations carried out in Rome between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. The masterpieces were moved here during the reorganisation of the Capitoline Museums in 1997 to create space in the Palazzo dei Conservatori and the Museo Nuovo. The Montemartini power plant’s outstanding space made it possible to display monumental sculptures and reconstructions of architectural structures, such as the pediement of the Temple of Apollo Sosianus and the huge mosaic of hunting scenes from Santa Bibiana.

The Engine Room, Centrale Montemartini, Rome

The museum is divided into four areas. The atrium on the ground floor has information panels that illustrate the history of the building. They also examine the characteristics of the main machines used inside the plant.

The next room is the Column Room which displays a rich collection from Republican era. Exhibited here are architectural decorations, a group of sculptures in Peperino marble (a grey volcanic stone from the Albani Hills) beautiful mosaics with seascape and a series of portraits dating to the 1st century BC.

Pediment with Triton, 1st century BC, from a funerary building on the Via Salaria
Centrale Montemartini, Rome

Pediment with Triton, 1st century BC, from a funerary building on the Via Salaria
Centrale Montemartini, Rome

Statue of Orpheus charming the animals in Peperino marble, 2nd century BC, from the Via Tiburtina
Centrale Montemartini, Rome

The so-called Togatus Barberini group, a funerary statue depicting a Roman senator holding the imagines (effigies) of deceased ancestors, late 1st century BC, head (not belonging) middle 1st century BC
Centrale Montemartini, Rome

On the second floor, the Engine Room is the largest and most impressive room. Here, a series of exquisite marble statues and rare Greek originals are arranged around two huge diesel engines and a steam turbine.

The Engine Room, Centrale Montemartini, Rome

The Engine Room, Centrale Montemartini, Rome

The Engine Room also houses two sculptures of exceptional artistic quality that were found in 1885 on the Caelian Hill during excavations. The two fragmented pieces were found inside a late-antique wall where they were reused as material construction. The restorers of the 19th century reassembled the two statues. The first one is a statue in basanite of Agrippina the Younger represented in the act of praying. The head is a moulded copy of the statue on display in the Ny Carsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen (see image here). The second statue, made in dark grey marble (bigio antico), is known as the Victory of the Symmachi (an aristocratic family of the late Roman Empire). It is considered to be a work dating to the late Republican, most probably representing a dancing woman like the one from Perge in the Antalya Museum (see image here).

A whole gallery of Imperial portraits as well as splendid Roman copies of Greek originals come from a private residence of the 1st century AD and restored in the 2nd and 3rd century AD. The house was brought to light during excavations for the creation of the Via dei Fori Imperiali.

Part of a statue of Antinous depicted as Apollo, 130-138 AD, from the Via dei Fori Imperiali
Centrale Montemartini, Rome

Occupying the other end of the room is a reconstruction of the pediment of the Temple of Apollo Sosiano, a temple dedicated to Apollo in the Campus Martius, next to the Theatre of Marcellus. The marble sculptures are rare Greek originals (dated to c. 450 – 425 BC), brought to Rome in the Augustan period to decorate the temple whose remains are still visible today (see images here). The temple’s main pediment was decorated with sculptures narrating the battle between the Greeks and the Amazon (Amazonomachy) in which the figures of Herakles, Theseus, Athena and Nike take centre stage.

The reconstructed pediment of the Temple of Apollo Sosianus with sculptures narrating the battle between the Greeks and the Amazons
Centrale Montemartini, Rome

The reconstructed pediment of the Temple of Apollo Sosianus with sculptures narrating the battle between the Greeks and the Amazons
Centrale Montemartini, Rome

The cella’s interior walls were decorated with a frieze representing a triumphal procession interpreted as the representation of Octavian’s triple triumph held in 29 BC and celebrating the Dalmatians wars, the Battle of Actium and the victory over Egypt.

The Boiler Room, named after the huge steam boiler dominating the room, is home to a number of beautiful statues and decorative sculptures that once adorned the gardens of sumptuous imperial residences (Horti Sallustiani, Horti Liciniani, Horti Lamiani, Horti Caesaris). Funerary monuments from the Ostiense Necropolis are also on display in this room.

The Boiler Room, Centrale Montemartini, Rome

The Boiler Room, Centrale Montemartini, Rome

Among the highlights here are a sculpture group depicting a Satyr and a Nymph, a head of Priapus, a wounded Niobid, a statue of a seated girl and another one of the muse Polyhymnia as well as an exquisite statue in red marble of Marsyas and a large mosaic of a hunting scene.

Statue of one of Niobe’s sons who were killed by Artemis and Apollo, Roman copy after an early Hellenistic statue belonging to a sculptural group, from the Horti of Caesar in Trastevere
Centrale Montemartini, Rome

Mosaic with hunting scenes, from the Horti Liciniani, early 4th century AD
Centrale Montemartini, Rome

Centrale Montemartini is definitely one of Rome’s most striking exhibition spaces. It offers a unique museum experience and it is often so empty that you will likely have the place to yourself.

The museum is located on the Via Ostiense, 106. Take the Metro to Garbatella, cross over the tracks and walk through a parking to the Via Ostiense. You will see the museum across the Via on your left. You can also walk from the Pyramid Metro Station down the Via Ostiense.

—-

The Engine Room, Centrale Montemartini, Rome

Opening hours:
Tuesday-Sunday: 9.00 – 19.00;
24 and 31 December: 9.00 – 14.00;
Last admission 1/2 hour before closing time.

Regular Fees:
Adults € 7,50
Concessions € 6,50
Roman Citizens only (by showing a valid ID):
Adults € 6,50
Concessions € 5,50

Capitolini Card (Capitoline Museums + Centrale Montemartini – valid 7 days): 
Adults € 16,00
Concessions € 14,00
Roman Citizens only (by showing a valid ID): 
Adults € 15,00
Concessions € 13,00

Website: http://en.centralemontemartini.org/

Once a thriving port city on the island of Cyprus, the legendary birthplace of Aphrodite, Salamis offers a tantalizing glimpse into the vast history of the island. The ruins of the ancient city occupy an extensive area (one square mile) extending along the sea shore against the backdrop of sand dunes and a forest of acacias. 

According to ancient Greek tradition, Salamis was founded after the Trojan War by the archer Teukros, son of King Telamon, who came from the island of Salamis. Teukros could not return home after the Trojan war because he had failed to avenge his brother Ajax. After its legendary beginnings, it became one of the most important cities on the island and the seat of a powerful kingdom. Archaeologists believe that Salamis was first established by newcomers from the nearby site of Enkomi following the earthquake of 1075 BC. The city was subsequently controlled by the Persians until the arrival of Alexander the Great into Asia Minor. Following the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC Salamis came under the control of the Ptolemaic dynasty until its incorporation into the Roman Empire in 58 BC. The importance of the city is reflected in archaeological findings dating back to the Late Geometric periods (8th century BC) to Byzantine times (6th century AD).

Salamis was affected by destructive earthquakes. The earthquake of 76-77 AD was among the most destructive, with a magnitude between 9 and 10. Salamis took the brunt of this earthquake, and fell into ruin. The Jewish insurrection of Artemion in 116 AD further devastated the city. Salamis was rebuilt by the emperors Trajan and Hadrian who embellished it with lavish public buildings.

Map of Salamis

The site has been excavated intermittently from the 1880’s until 1974 and large areas have been opened up. The most impressive monuments of the city date to the Roman period, such as the Theatre (see images here), the Temple of Zeus (Teukros established the cult of Zeus Salaminios at Salamis), the Baths. But the ancient town’s most striking feature is the gymnasium where the young citizens would exercise their bodies and minds. Its remains, with colonnaded courtyard and adjacent pools, allude to Salamis’ original grandeur.

The Gymnasium with its columned palaestra, Salamis

The vast exercise ground was discovered in 1882 and finally excavated in 1952 when the marble columns were re-erected. The Gymnasium was originally laid down during the Hellenistic period, as testified by epigraphic and archaeological evidence, but it was destroyed by an earthquake and rebuilt during the reign of Augustus. The Gymnasium was destroyed once again under the reign of Vespasian following the earthquake of 76 AD. It was restored by Trajan and Hadrian after the Jewish insurrection of 116 AD with a roofed colonnade along all four sides and bathing facilities.

An inscription embedded in the pavement dating from the Early Christian period refers to the construction by Trajan of the roof of a swimming pool of the Gymnasium. Hadrian also contributed to the embellishment of the building, and several honorific decrees have been found which mention him as a “benefactor and saviour of the city”.

The Gymnasium with its columned palaestra, Salamis

In the 4th century AD two more earthquakes struck the area. The building was partly restored by the Byzantine emperor Constantius II who remained the city Constantia. The marble columns crowned by Corinthian capitals of various types were taken from the stage building of the nearby theatre as well as other buildings. They replaced the stone pillars of the Roman gymnasium. This explains the mismatching of some of the columns and bases and why they differ in size. The visible remains date from these two late restorations.

The Gymnasium with its columned palaestra, Salamis

The Gymnasium with its columned palaestra, Salamis

During the Hellenistic period, the palaestra had a small circular pool in its centre while during the reign of Augustus a statue of the Emperor stood there.

The centre of the Gymnasium’s palaestra where a statue of Augustus was erected, Salamis

Two marble pools occupied the two ends of the eastern colonnade of  the Gymnasium. The pools originally had a small roofed portico and were surrounded by nude statues of the gymnasiarchs but these were later smashed by Christians. They have now been replaced by a collection of headless statues found at the site. They were probably defaced by Christians zealots who considered them as symbols of pagan idolatry.

Marble pool at NE corner of the Gymnasium’s portico surrounded by headless statues dating back to the 2nd century AD (Trajanic/Hadrianic), Salamis

The headless statues date back to the 2nd century AD, from the Trajanic and Hadrianic periods.

Marble pool at NE corner of the Gymnasium’s portico surrounded by headless statues dating back to the 2nd century AD (Trajanic/Hadrianic), Salamis

Statue of a female figure in grey marble, its face, hands and feet were white marble insets and are now missing, this type is usually identified with Persephone, Salamis

Marble pool at SE corner of the Gymnasium’s portico dating back to the 2nd century AD (Trajanic/Hadrianic), Salamis

At the south-west corner of the palaestra lie the gymnasium’s latrines, a semicircular colonnaded structure in which there was seating was 44 persons. They are the largest ever found in Cyprus.

The gymnasium’s latrines, Salamis

During excavations, several marble statues were discovered which adorned the spacious stoas of the Gymnasium. Many that had survived numerous raids have disappeared since 1974. Fortunately, some made it to Nicosias’ Cyprus Museum and are now prized exhibits.

Sculptures from the Gymnasium of Salamis, 2nd century AD, Cyprus Museum, Nicosia

The statues date from the Hadrianic period and are all of remarkably good quality. Sadly, few statues were found with their heads on and among these are two over life-size statue of Hera and of Apollo Citharoedus (the lyre-player).

Some of the statues, such as those of Asklepios and Nemesis, were re-used, while others that were reminiscent of the ancient pagan worship, such as Isis, Zeus, Apollo and Aphrodite were used as building material or were thrown into pits and water tanks of the Baths of the Gymnasium.

Sculptures from the Gymnasium of Salamis, 2nd century AD, Cyprus Museum, Nicosia

Salamis was destroyed by repeated earthquakes in the middle of the 4th century AD, but was quickly rebuilt as a Christian city by the Byzantine emperor Constantius II who renamed the city Constantia. Salamis was finally abandoned during the Arab invasions of the 7th century after its destruction by Muawiyah I. The inhabitants moved to Arsinoë (modern-day Famagusta).

For anyone interested in ancient history, Salamis is a treasure-trove of ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine remains where visitors can explore crumbling basilicas, royal tombs and wander along classical colonnades.

The Gymnasium with its columned palaestra, Salamis

Sources and references:

• Vassos Karageorghis, Salamis in Cyprus, Homeric, Hellenistic and Roman (1969)
• Mitford & Nicolaou, The Greek and Latin Inscriptions from Salamis (1974)
  

This month’s sculpture from Hadrian’s Villa is a marble statue of a dancing female figure, thought to be a portrait of Praxilla of Sikyon.

Dancing female figure, thought to be a portrait of Praxilla of Sikyon
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome

Praxilla was a female poet writing in the mid-fifth century BC. She came from Sikyon, a city situated on a fertile coastal plain beside the Corinthian Gulf in the northeast Peloponnese (see images of the archaeological site here). She wrote, dithyrambs, hymns to the Greek gods as well as drinking songs (skolia). Her skolia were among the most celebrated of her time and were sung at banquets and festivals for over three hundred years.

Dancing female figure, thought to be a portrait of Praxilla of Sikyon
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome

The statue, made of white Pentelic marble, depicts the Greek lyric poetess in the dynamic act of dancing, probably to the rhythm of a double flute (aulos) held between her hands. She wears a loosely belted chiton which falls away, revealing her body as she moves. It is thought to be a copy of an original Greek bronze made in the 4th century BC by the famous Greek sculptor Lysippos (also from Sikyon).

Dancing female figure, thought to be a portrait of Praxilla of Sikyon
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome

The statue was found in the remains of the portico of the pecile at Hadrian’s Villa, a quadriporticus-garden with a long covered walkways delimiting a garden with a large pool in its centre.

The long wall of the porticus of the Pecile, Hadrian’s Villa, Tivoli

Model of Hadrian’s Villa showing the Pecile

In addition to the statue from Hadrian’s Villa, another Roman copy remains. It is known as the Berlin Dancer and is currently in the Staatliche Museum in Berlin. A smaller version (39,4cm) was sold at an auction at the Royal-Athena Galleries in 2006.

“Berliner Tänzerin” (Berlin Dancer) © Foto: Antikensammlung der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz

Only eight fragments of Praxilla’s work have survived. The longest of them is an Hymn to Adonis. In this hymn, Adonis, who is confined in Hades, is being asked by those below what he misses most from the world above. He answers:

Finest of all the things I have left is the light of the sun,
Next to that the brilliant stars and the face of the moon,
Cucumbers in their season, too, and apples and pears.
(translated by Bernard Knox)

Praxilla by John William Godward (1921)

Sources:

• Jane McIntosh Snyder, The Woman and the Lyre: Women Writers in Classical Greece and Rome. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1989
• Praxilla – William Smith. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology
• Important Roman Marble Statue of Praxilla of Sicyon – Royal Athena Galleries (link)

Exactly 1900 years ago today¹, Hadrian survived a violent and devastating earthquake while wintering in Antioch during Trajan’s campaign in the east. Hadrian had been in Syria since January 114 AD as imperial legate (envoy to the emperor), and as such, had taken up residence in Antiochia ad Orontem (Antioch on the Orontes). The city served as headquarters for the Parthian wars. Trajan had returned from a campaign in Armenia when disaster struck in the morning of December 13th of 115 AD.

The earthquake in the Orontes valley, of an estimated magnitude of 7.5 on the Moment Magnitude scale (MMS), almost totally destroyed Antioch, Daphne and four other ancient cities including Apamea. It was felt all over the near East and the Eastern Mediterranean up to Rhodos and triggered a tsunami that hit the harbour city of Caesarea Maritima in Judea.

The 115 AD Antioch earthquake

Antioch on the Orontes was one of the most important cities of the Graeco-roman period. It was founded in 300 BC by Seleucus I, one of Alexander the Great’s generals, and became the Seleucids’ capital city. The ancient city stood on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is currently partly covered by the modern city of Antakya (Turkey). Its location destined Antioch to be a mixture of diverse cultures as well as a trading centre. Caravans from Asia Minor, Persia, India traveled through the city where exchanges on a large scale were conducted. After Rome conquered Syria in 64 BC, the city became a Roman stronghold. Roman culture added to the city’s luxury with a forum, an amphitheatre, baths, a hippodrome, a theatre, a great colonnaded street (Via Triumphalis) and an aqueduct carrying water to fountains, public buildings and villas. The city was thriving and was known as the “Queen of the East.” At the time of the earthquake of 115 AD Antioch had a population of about 500,000.

Map of Antioch in Roman and early Byzantine times
Author: Cristiano64 (Wikipedia)

The most vivid description of the catastrophe came from the Roman historian Cassius Dio. In his Roman History (Book LXVIII), he described how Antioch was crowded at the time of the earthquake due to the emperor Trajan overwintering within the city.

While the emperor was tarrying in Antioch a terrible earthquake occurred; many cities suffered injury, but Antioch was the most unfortunate of all. Since Trajan was passing the winter there and many soldiers and many civilians had flocked thither from all sides in connexion with law-suits, embassies, business or sightseeing, there was no nation of people that went unscathed; and thus in Antioch the whole world under Roman sway suffered disaster.

He then painted a dramatic picture of the destruction witnessed by the population.

First there came, on a sudden, a great bellowing roar, and this was followed by a tremendous quaking. The whole earth was upheaved, and buildings leaped into the air; some were carried aloft only to collapse and be broken in pieces, while others were tossed this way and that as if by the surge of the sea, and overturned, and the wreckage spread out over a great extent even of the open country.

Soldiers and civilians were killed by falling debris while many others were trapped. The aftershocks that followed the earthquake for several days killed some of the survivors, while others, trapped in collapsed buildings, died of starvation.

And as Heaven continued the earthquake for several days and nights, the people were in dire straits and helpless, some of them crushed and perishing under the weight of the buildings pressing upon them, and others dying of hunger.

Trajan survived and escaped with only minor injuries but was forced to take shelter in the circus as the aftershocks continued for several days (see an aerial photo of circus of Antioch here).

Trajan made his way out through a window of the room in which he was staying. Some being, of greater than human stature, had come to him and led him forth, so that he escaped with only a few slight injuries; and as the shocks extended over several days, he lived out of doors in the hippodrome.

Unfortunately nothing is reported on how Plotina, Trajan’s wife, or Hadrian managed but they obviously survived unscathed. Many soldiers, including members of the imperial entourage perished. One of the most prominent victim was the consul ordinarius Marcus Pedo Vergilianus. In total 260,000 are said to have died during or in the aftermath of this event. The population of Antioch was reduced to less than 400,000 inhabitants and many sections of the city were abandoned.

Mosaic of the Judgment of Paris, 115 – 150 AD. It was discovered in 1932 in Antioch in the Atrium House. This panel was placed in the floor of a dining room which was redone shortly after the earthquake of 115 AD. Now in the Louvre, Paris.

Soon after the disaster Trajan started to restore the city. Since the 6km long aqueduct running between Daphne’s springs and Antioch was seriously damaged, Trajan began the construction of a new aqueduct or repaired an existing one he had built earlier (see an image showing the masonry on the aqueduct of Trajan here). As Trajan did not live to finish the project, work on the aqueduct was completed by Hadrian.

According to the 6th century AD chronicler John Malalas, a native from Antioch, Trajan commemorated the rebuilding of the city by erecting a gilded copy of the Tyche of Eutychides in the theatre. Tyche was the patron deity of Antioch. She was a goddess who presided over the prosperity of the city, bringing hope and good fortune to its citizens. The most renowned sculpture of Tyche was a bronze statue by the Greek sculptor Eutychides, a pupil of Lysippos, created for the city of Antioch in the early 3rd century BC, the best extant version of which is in the Vatican Museum (see below). It shows the goddess, crowned with towers, seated on a rock, symbolic of Mount Silpius, with her feet resting on the river Orontes, depicted as a swimming youth.

The Tyche of Antioch. Marble, Roman copy after a Greek bronze original by Eutychides of the 3rd century BC.
By Jastrow (2006) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

One year and eight months after the earthquake, on August 11 of 117 AD, Hadrian was proclaimed emperor by the army in Antioch. He remained  in the city until September 117 when he set out to reach Rome.

Antioch will be the start of my Hadrian1900 project. Unfortunately, not much is left to see of ancient Antioch. However I will make sure to visit the archaeological museum, which has one of the best collections of ancient mosaics in the world (see loads of beautiful images here).

Antiochia ad Orontem on the Tabula Peutingeriana

¹ The date of December 115 AD appears to be established by John Malalas as well as in the Fasti Ostienses as restored by Vidman – [ID(ibus) Dec(embres) terrae m]otus fuit. However the date is subject to debate among scholars. Anthony R. Birley believes the earthquake took place in January 115 AD.

Sources:

• Cassius Dio, Roman History, 68.24.1-25.6 (link)
• Birley, Anthony R. (1997). Hadrian. The restless emperor. London: Routledge. p. 71
• Boatwright, Mary Taliaferro. (2002). Hadrian and the Cities of the Roman Empire. Priceton: Princeton University Press. p. 136-139
• Chowen, Richard H. “The Nature of Hadrian’s Theatron at Daphne”. American Journal of Archaeology 60.3 (1956): p. 275–277
• Glanville Downey. — A History of Antioch in Syria from Seleucus to the Arab Conquest. p. 221-223
• National Geophysical Data Center. “Comments for the Significant Earthquake”
  
• Reinhardt, E.G.; Goodman B.N., Boyce J.I., Lopez G., van Hengstum P., Rinnk W.J., Mart Y. & Raban A. (2006). “The tsunami of 13 December A.D. 115 and the destruction of Herod the Great’s harbor at Caeserea Maritima, Israel”
• Blog: Antiochepedia (Musings Upon Ancient Antioch) by Christopher Ecclestone (link)

Happy Saturnalia to all!

Today, December 17, marks the beginning of the Saturnalia, a festival held in honour of Saturn that lasted for between 3 and 7 days. It was celebrated in Rome for the first time in 497 BC when the Temple of Saturn in the Roman Forum was dedicated. The poet Catullus called it “the best of days” – Saturnalibus, optimo dierum!.

The Temple of Saturn in the Roman Forum, Rome

The holiday began with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn. After the rituals, the celebrants shouted ‘Io, Saturnalia’ (Macrobius I.10.18). It was followed by several days of feasting and fun.

“It is now the month of December, when the greatest part of the city is in a bustle. Loose reins are given to public dissipation; everywhere you may hear the sound of great preparations, as if there were some real difference between the days devoted to Saturn and those for transacting business. … Were you here, I would willingly confer with you as to the plan of our conduct; whether we should eve in our usual way, or, to avoid singularity, both take a better supper and throw off the toga“ (Seneca, “Letters“)

To celebrate the festive season in style, I made my own Saturnalia shrine.

My homemade Saturnalia shrine

Hadrian is wearing the pileus, as was the tradition during the festival. These pointy hats were traditionally worn by freedmen but during Saturnalia, all men, regardless of status, wore the pileus. Hadrian is set among foliage, ivy, holly (sacred to Saturn), images of the god Saturn, candles and terracotta figurines (sigillaria). Romans also decorated their houses with greenery. Garlands and wreaths of ivy and holly were hung over doorways and windows. Images of the god Saturn were placed around the altar, candles were lit and a suckling pig was sacrificed to the god.

The image of the god Saturn I placed on my Saturnalia shrine is a fresco from the House of the Dioscuri in Pompeii.

Saturnus with head protected by winter cloak, holding a scythe in his right hand, fresco from the House of the Dioscuri at Pompeii
Naples Archaeological Museum

In addition to the large-scale public feasts at the Temple of Saturn, there was lots of eating and drinking at home, and slaves were allowed to join in. There was a tradition of role-reversal as slaves became masters for at least one banquet.

Gambling and dice-playing, normally prohibited or at best frowned upon, were permitted for all but children usually used nuts as as gambling tokens.

Dice players fresco from the Osteria della Via di Mercurio (VI 10,1.19, room b), in situ wall fresco, Pompeii

On the first day of Saturnalia, a Lord of Misrule was appointed by throwing the dice. The King of the Saturnalia presided over and could command people to do things like to prepare a banquet or sing a song. The young Nero played that role and mockingly commanded his younger step-brother Britannicus to sing (Tacitus, Annals, 13.15). The last day of Saturnalia was a day of gift-giving when candles, writing tablets, knucklebones as well as small terracotta or wax figurines (sigillaria) were exchanged as gifts (Macrobius, Saturnalia, I.10.24).

Replicas of terracotta figurines in the form of animals

On Saturday I will be cooking a Saturnalia feast. During this banquet, the best of Roman food and Roman wine will be served!

My Saturnalia feast menu

Io, Saturnalia!

To learn more about Saturnalia here are some interesting links:

• A Roman Christmas by Caroline Lawrence
• Saturnalia Practices of Nova Romans
• On the Feast of Saturnalia, my master gave to me…
• Saturnalia
• Wikipedia

The WordPress.com Team prepared a 2015 annual report. 2015 was another great year for my Following Hadrian blog. Let’s revisit some of the most important moments of the year.

‘The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 140,000 times in 2015. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 6 days for that many people to see it.’

These year’s posts that got the most views were.

1. Exquisite marble bust of Hadrian found in Spain
2. Exploring Verulamium, the Roman city of St Albans (UK)
3. When in Rome… visiting the House of Augustus on the Palatine Hill
4. When in Rome… visiting the House of Livia on the Palatine Hill
5. A taste of Ancient Rome – Pullum Numidicum (Numidian Chicken) and Conchicla Cum faba (Beans with Cumin)

Click here to see the complete report.

On this day (10th January) in 49 BC, Julius Caesar and his troops famously crossed the Rubicon, the river marking the boundary between the province of Cisalpine Gaul and Italy. Taking the 13th Legion over this forbidden frontier constituted an act of treason and triggered civil war in Rome. According to the historian Suetonius, Caesar uttered the famous phrase ālea iacta est (“the die is cast”).

The Green Caesar, Greywacke from Egypt, 1 – 50 AD, Altes Museum Berlin

Last June, I travelled along the Via Aemilia in the footsteps of Julius Caesar, crossing the river and following the soon to be dictator’s path towards Rome.

The Rubicon has been one of the world’s most famous rivers ever since Julius Caesar crossed it. Three rivers in north-east Italy were successively thought to be the historical Rubicon; the Pisciatello, Fiumicino and Uso rivers. It was not until 1933 that the Fiumicino, which crossed the town of Savignano di Romagna (renamed Rubicone by Mussolini), was identified as the former Rubicon. This theory was not proven until some 58 years later in 1991 when three Italian scholars, using the Tabula Peutingeriana – a medieval copy of a Roman road map – and various ancient sources, were able to prove the location of the original Rubicon. The distance given in the Tabula of 12 miles from Ariminum (modern-day Rimini), coincides exactly with the distance of the Fiumicino from that city. However the location is still contested.

Today, if you want to cross the Rubicon, you need to go to Italy in the Region of Emilia-Romagna, in Savignano sul Rubicone which is located halfway between Cesena and Rimini, along the Via Emilia and the Bologna-Rimini railway. The most famous monument of the city is of course the three-arched Roman bridge (26 m long and 6 m wide) which recalls this historical event.

Roman bridge over the Rubicon river, Savignano sul Rubicone, Italy

However the bridge does not date to Caesar’s time. In his De Vita Caesarum (1.31.6), Suetonius, who served briefly as secretary to Hadrian, reports the following Julius Caesar’s words: “Even yet we may draw back; but once cross yon little bridge, and the whole issue is with the sword.” The small bridge (ponticulum) of Caesar was most likely made of wood. The exact date of construction of the current bridge is unknown but probably dates from the era of Augustus or Tiberius.

Roman bridge over the Rubicon river, Savignano sul Rubicone, Italy

Over the past centuries the old bridge underwent various modifications and alterations but the worst damages were made by the German army in 1944, when they mined the pillars of the bridge. The reconstruction of the bridged started in the 1960s and was completed in 2005.

Roman bridge over the Rubicon river on the Via Aemilia, Savignano sul Rubicone, Italy

A modern statue of Caesar stands next to the bridge. It is a copy of the statue placed by Benito Mussolini on the Via dei Fori Imperiali in Rome.

Modern statue of Julius Caesar next to the Roman bridge over the Rubicon river on the Via Aemilia, Savignano sul Rubicone, Italy

During Caesar’s time, the river Rubicon marked the boundary between the Roman province of Cisalpine Gaul to the north-east and Italy proper. After Caesar’s crossing, the Rubicon remained a geographical feature of note until about 42 BC, when Octavian merged the Province of Cisalpine Gaul into Italia and the river ceased to be the extreme northern border of Italy.

After crossing the Rubicon, Caesar advanced to Ariminum (modern-day Rimini), the first city outside his province. Tradition dictates that Ariminum’s forum was the scene for Julius Caesar’s famous speech to his soldiers when he uttered the words “alea jacta est”. In Rimini, a monument in Piazza Tre Martiri marks the place where Caesar allegedly harangued his troops.

The inscription reads: Gaius Caesar, dictator, after crossing the Rubicon during the civil war, addressed his fellow soldiers here in the forum of Ariminum.

Stone pillar from the 1500s commemorating the speech said to have been made by Julius Caesar to his troops after his famous crossing of the Rubicon, Rimini, Italy

The square, once named Piazza Giulio Cesare in Caeasar’s honour, also has a bronze statue. Mussolini donated a statue of Caesar to the town of Rimini in 1933 (not the one which currently stands), similar to that shown in Rome along the Fori Imperiali. The statue was placed at the foot of Rimini’s tower clock and each year on the Ides of March local fascist organisations would parade.

At some stage before the liberation of Rimini, the local authorities took the statue away and buried it in a ditch on the Northern outskirts of the town. The original statue was re-discovered from its hiding place in the 1950s but was immediately taken into the custody of the military authorities who placed it in the Giulio Cesare barracks, where it still remains. Finally a copy of the statue was made and placed in the corner of the square.

Statue of Julius Caesar in Piazza Tre Martiri, Rimini, Italy

The name of the Piazza was changed from Piazza Giulio Cesare to its current name Piazza Tre Martiri, in honour of the three young partisans who were hanged publicly in the square on August 16 1944 (Luigi Nicolò, Adelio Pagliarani, and Mario Capelli).

The current Piazza partly follows the plan of the forum of Ariminum, the Roman colony founded in 268 BC. Situated at the intersection of the city’s two main streets, the cardo maximus and decumanus maximus, the original square was paved with large stone slabs, as seen in the section now exposed.

Exposed section of the Forum of Ariminum, Rimini, Italy

Today Piazza Tre Martiri remains at the heart of Rimini’s commercial and cultural life. It is the perfect starting point for touring the city’s magnificent ancient ruins: the Bridge of Tiberius, the Arch of Augustus, the Hadrianic amphitheatre and the Surgeon’s Domus.

As mentioned in a previous post (see here), I organised a small banquet at home on the occasion of the Saturnalia festival. I absolutely love ancient Roman food and for this banquet I tried a few more ancient recipes. Once again, everything was delicious!

My Saturnalia feast menu

For the appetizer (gustatio) I chose to bake Mustacei, must (grape juice) cakes from Cato The Elder’s De Agricultura. The recipe I used is taken from Mark Grant’s Roman Cookery as well as Sally Grainger’s The Classical Cookbook with some slight modifications. The recipe is slightly adapted using modern ingredients like yeast as the must of the Romans would have fermented. Sally Grainger believes that Cato’s cook experts would have expected the cakes to rise.

Mustacei recipe in Latin:

Cato’s De Agricultura 121: Mustaceos sic facito. Farinae siligineae modium unum musto conspargito. Anesum, cuminum, adipis P. II, casei libram, et de virga lauri deradito, eodem addito, et ubi definxeris, lauri folia subtus addito, cum coques.

Translation:

Moisten 1 modius of wheat flour with must; add anise, cumin, 2 pounds of lard, 1 pound of cheese, and the bark of a laurel twig. When you have made them into cakes, put bay leaves under them, and bake.

Ingredients: Mustacei (Must rolls), Cato, De Agricultura 121

Ingredients:

• 400g plain flour
• 200ml red or white grape juice (I used red grape juice)
• 1/2 tsp dried yeast
• 60g cheddar or pecorino cheese, grated  (I used pecorino)
• 2 tsp ground aniseed
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 60g pastry lard (cooken) or hard vegetable fat (I used cooken)
• olive oil
• bay leaves

Method:

Pour the grape juice into a pan and warm it to body temperature. Dissolve the yeast in the grape juice and leave to froth a few minutes. Grate the cheese. Put the flour into a missing bowl and stir in the ground cumin and aniseed. Add the grated cheese and lard/vegetable fat and work them into the flour until it has the consistency of bread crumbs. Pour on the grape juice and yeast mixture. Knead for 5 minutes until you have a supple dough and roll into a ball. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel. Now brush a baking tray with olive oil and position the bay leaves on it at 5 cm intervals. Flour a board. Place the ball of dough on the board and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough until it is 1 cm thick. A pastry cutter about 5 cm in diameter can be used to make the individual cakes. Place each cake on a bay leaf and bake them at 180°C for 30-40 minutes.

Mustacei (Must rolls), Cato, De Agricultura 121

Serve warm with a spoonful of date paste (Mark Grant recommends vegetable purée). 

Mustacei (Must rolls), Cato, De Agricultura 121

Mustacei (Must rolls), served with date paste and Mulsum

These sweet cakes should be accompanied with mulsum. Mulsum was a freshly made mixture of wine and honey with and a certain number of plants and spices (pepper, bay leaf, saffron) which was often served with the gustatio or before the meal as an aperitif. You can purchase mulsum online from the roman-shop site here.

Conditum Paradoxum and Mulsum

Because I love chicken, for the main course (primae mensae) I chose to cook pullum (chicken) with Apicius’ hazelnuts sauce Aliter Ius in Avibus (Another Sauce for Fowl) from De Re Coquinaria. As Sally Grainger says, this recipe has a modern Christmassy feel. I decided to accompany this dish with Cucurbitas more Alexandrino (Alexandrine Squash), again from Apicius’ De Re Coquinaria.

Aliter Ius in Avibus recipe in Latin:

Apicius 6,5,2: Piper, petroselinum, ligusticum, mentam siccam, cneci flos, uino suffundis, adicies ponticam uel amygdala tosta, mel modicum, uino et aceto, liquamen temperabis. Oleum in pultarium super ius mittis, calefacies, ius agitabis apio uiridi et nepeta. Incaraxas et perfundis.

Translation: Pepper, lovage, parsley, dry mint, fennel blossoms moistened with wine; add roasted nuts from Pontus or almonds, a little honey, wine, vinegar, and broth to taste. Put oil in a pot, and heat and stir the sauce, adding green celery seed, cat-mint; carve the fowl and cover with the sauce.

Ingredients: Aliter Ius in Avibus

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken or other bird
• 170g hazelnuts
• 4 tsp chopped fresh mint
• 2 tsp chopped fresh lovage or celery leaf
• 2 tsp chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tbsp clear honey
• 280ml red wine
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• pinch saffron powder
• salt

Method:

Roast the hazelnuts for 10 minutes in the oven at 180°C. Pound or process them to a fine crumb. Add them to a saucepan with all the other ingredients for the sauce and bring slowly to the boil. Place the chicken in a roasting pan and season with salt and pepper. Cut into the breast and leg and open the incisions before pouring the sauce over the bird. Roast in a pre-heated over at 200°C for about 1 1/2 hours. While cooking, repeatedly baste the bird to ensure that the skin is well covered in the nut mixture.

Aliter Ius in Avibus (Poultry with Hazelnuts Sauce)

Conditum paradoxum, a delicate red wine with an exquisite blend of spices and honey (similar to today’s mulled wine) was served to accompany this dish. I have said it before but Conditum paradoxum is a true delicacy! You can purchase Conditum paradoxum online from the roman-shop site here.

Conditum paradoxum – Ancient red wine from Apicius

The Cucurbitas more Alexandrino (Alexandrine Squash) recipe comes from Apicius’ De Re Coquinaria.

Cucurbitas more Alexandrino recipe in Latin:

Apicius 3,4,3: Elixatas cucurbitas exprimis, sale asparges, in patina compones. Teres piper, cuminum, coriandri semen, mentam viridem, laseris radicem, suffundes acetum. Addicies cariotam, nucleum, teres melle, aceto, liquamine, defrito et oleo temperabis, et cucurbitas perfundes. Cum ferbuerint, piper asparges et inferes.

Translation: Press the water out of the boiled pumpkin, place in a baking dish, sprinkle with salt, ground pepper, cumin, coriander seed, green mint and a little laser root; season with vinegar. Now add date wine and pignolia nuts ground with honey, vinegar and broth, measure out condensed wine and oil, pour this over the pumpkin and finish in this liquor and serve, sprinkle with pepper before serving.

Ingredients: Cucurbitas more Alexandrino (Alexandrine Squash), Apicius, De Re Coquinaria 3,4,3

Ingredients:

• 1 gourd (small pumpkin or squash)
• peppercorns
• cumin
• coriander seeds
• 3 – 4 mint leaves, shredded
• 1 garlic
• 3 tbsp vinegar
• 50 g dates, finely chopped
• 50 g blanched almonds, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp clear honey
• 4 tbsp Defritum (or Wine or Grape Juice reduced by two thirds)
• 20 ml olive oil
• Sea salt to taste

Method:

Cut the gourd, courgette or squash into chunks. Place these into a steamer and cook until done. Squeeze out the excess water. Transfer the remaining pulp to a saucepan. Whilst the squash is cooking, put the dried spices in a pestle and mortar and grind. Next add the mint and garlic, grinding to a smooth paste. Spoon this from the mortar and add to the cooked squash. Next add the dates, almonds and the honey. Finally add the oil and mix with the squash. Place the resulting mixture back on the heat and simmer gently for a few minutes for the flavours to combine. Serve immediately sprinkled with salt and black pepper.

Cucurbitas more Alexandrino (Alexandrine Squash), Apicius, De Re Coquinaria 3,4,3

Aliter Ius in Avibus (Poultry with Hazelnuts Sauce), & Cucurbitas more Alexandrino (Alexandrine Squash)

The different species of gourd available today in Europe are the ones imported from the New Worlds. The squash used by the Romans would have been the bitter gourd native to North Africa. The bitter gourd differs substantially in shape and bitterness.

For the Secondae Mensae (dessert), I chose to try Apicius’ Dulcia Piperata, a peppered honey cake topped with chopped hazelnuts.

Dulcia Piperata recipe in Latin:

Apicius 7,11,4: mittis mel, merum, passum, rutam. Eo mittis nucleos, nuces, alicam elixatam. Concisas nuces Avellanas tostas adicies et inferes.

Ingredients:

• 140 gr plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs
• ½ tsp ground rosemary
• 70 gr ground almonds
• 50 ml white grape juice
• 50 ml passum (or other 50ml white grape juice)
• 2 tbsp honey
• Milk
• Chopped hazelnuts

Method:

Mix the flour in a bowl with the baking powder. Add the rosemary and the ground almonds to the bowl. In a measuring jug beat the two eggs, add the wine, grape juice, honey and mix well. Add enough milk to the jug to make the liquid up to 200 ml. Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and mix well. Pour the mixture into a well greased 22cm round tin. Bake at 190ºC for about 30 minutes. When the cake is still warm, spread liquid honey over the top and sprinkle it with chopped hazelnuts.

Dulcia Piperata (Peppered Honey Cake), Apicius, De Re Coquinaria 7,11,4

If you are looking for some ancient eating inspiration why not give one of these recipes a go.

Bonum appetitionem!

Buy the cookbooks mentioned here:

Mark Grant, Roman Cookery: Ancient Recipes for Modern Kitchens
amazon.co.uk / amazon.com

Sally Grainger, The Classical Cookbook amazon.co.uk / amazon.com