This paper examines case studies from Roman Burgundy involving suspected symbolic recarving during Late Antiquity. Is it possible that religious desecration took place before the Theodosian Codex, and if so, why? Can we differentiate them from cases of wanton violence? The ambiguous cases found at the “Sources de la Seine” sanctuary (Côte-d'Or) and Entrains-sur-Nohain (Nièvre) help demonstrate the methodological difficulties involved in understanding the destruction of ancient sculptures. Through an investigation of selected examples from Sainte-Pallaye, Escolives-Saintes-Camille, and Sens (Yonne), we see that while desecration was a reality, the variety of methods employed were linked to the destination of the mutilated sculpture, as well as local customs and legal contexts. On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images). E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686 ISSN (print version) 0065-0900
{"title":"Pagan iconoclasts? Some case studies from Roman Burgundy during Late Antiquity","authors":"Pierre-Antoine Lamy","doi":"10.5617/acta.10436","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5617/acta.10436","url":null,"abstract":" \u0000This paper examines case studies from Roman Burgundy involving suspected symbolic recarving during Late Antiquity. Is it possible that religious desecration took place before the Theodosian Codex, and if so, why? Can we differentiate them from cases of wanton violence? The ambiguous cases found at the “Sources de la Seine” sanctuary (Côte-d'Or) and Entrains-sur-Nohain (Nièvre) help demonstrate the methodological difficulties involved in understanding the destruction of ancient sculptures. Through an investigation of selected examples from Sainte-Pallaye, Escolives-Saintes-Camille, and Sens (Yonne), we see that while desecration was a reality, the variety of methods employed were linked to the destination of the mutilated sculpture, as well as local customs and legal contexts.\u0000 \u0000On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images).\u0000E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686\u0000ISSN (print version) 0065-0900","PeriodicalId":426742,"journal":{"name":"Acta ad archaeologiam et artium historiam pertinentia","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122049233","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study defines and characterises the ‘Baldock’ group of copper-alloy penannular torcs, which were worn in south-eastern Britain during the 1st century AD. Torcs had an important local pre-Roman pedigree, but this new regional style of dress seems to have emerged around the time of the Claudian invasion and was worn in the heart of the new Roman province of Britannia. The significance of these torcs is explored, focusing on the new social contexts in which they circulated, their connections to new kinds of provincial identities, and the ways in which torcs were reimagined and transformed within Romano-British society. On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images). E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686 ISSN (print version) 0065-0900
{"title":"Baldock torcs: penannular neck rings from south-eastern Roman Britain and their significance for the development of provincial identities","authors":"Michael Marshall","doi":"10.5617/acta.10449","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5617/acta.10449","url":null,"abstract":"This study defines and characterises the ‘Baldock’ group of copper-alloy penannular torcs, which were worn in south-eastern Britain during the 1st century AD. Torcs had an important local pre-Roman pedigree, but this new regional style of dress seems to have emerged around the time of the Claudian invasion and was worn in the heart of the new Roman province of Britannia. The significance of these torcs is explored, focusing on the new social contexts in which they circulated, their connections to new kinds of provincial identities, and the ways in which torcs were reimagined and transformed within Romano-British society.\u0000On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images).\u0000E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686\u0000ISSN (print version) 0065-0900\u0000 ","PeriodicalId":426742,"journal":{"name":"Acta ad archaeologiam et artium historiam pertinentia","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129835747","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Between 1934 and 1936, the archaeologist Antonio Floriano directed excavations in the city of Mérida, the ancient colony Augusta Emerita. Some years later, once the Civil War had ended, he published a good deal of the finds. These included the explorations conducted in the Oriental Necropolis of the city, an area whose extent he established and considered as a whole for the first time. Grave-goods from this cemetery were recorded, including the so-called Grave 10 of Pontezuelas. The grave is pinpointed on the published excavation plan and the grave-goods listed, but no mention is made of the context of their find. This highly interesting assemblage is particularly opulent due to the gold jewellery it contains. Especially noteworthy is a bracelet combining pairs of gold hemispheres—in the style of well-known examples from Pompeii but technically very dissimilar—with jet beads, some of which follow the model of the gold pieces. Other pieces consist of a ring with a highly original sandal-shaped bezel whose closest reference is to sandal-shaped fibulae known in the provinces of the limes, from Britannia to Pannonia; several hollow pieces; an earring; and a brooch. Various considerations point to the broad timespan of the types of jewellery in the assemblage and could indicate that they represent family heirlooms, brought together over a lengthy period of time (perhaps spanning over a century), passed on from generation to generation. On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images). E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686 ISSN (print version) 0065-0900
{"title":"jewellery from grave 10 of Pontezuelas in Colonia Augusta Emerita (Mérida, Spain): family heirlooms?","authors":"Nova Barrero Martín","doi":"10.5617/acta.10446","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5617/acta.10446","url":null,"abstract":"Between 1934 and 1936, the archaeologist Antonio Floriano directed excavations in the city of Mérida, the ancient colony Augusta Emerita. Some years later, once the Civil War had ended, he published a good deal of the finds. These included the explorations conducted in the Oriental Necropolis of the city, an area whose extent he established and considered as a whole for the first time. Grave-goods from this cemetery were recorded, including the so-called Grave 10 of Pontezuelas. The grave is pinpointed on the published excavation plan and the grave-goods listed, but no mention is made of the context of their find. This highly interesting assemblage is particularly opulent due to the gold jewellery it contains. Especially noteworthy is a bracelet combining pairs of gold hemispheres—in the style of well-known examples from Pompeii but technically very dissimilar—with jet beads, some of which follow the model of the gold pieces. Other pieces consist of a ring with a highly original sandal-shaped bezel whose closest reference is to sandal-shaped fibulae known in the provinces of the limes, from Britannia to Pannonia; several hollow pieces; an earring; and a brooch. Various considerations point to the broad timespan of the types of jewellery in the assemblage and could indicate that they represent family heirlooms, brought together over a lengthy period of time (perhaps spanning over a century), passed on from generation to generation.\u0000 \u0000On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images).\u0000E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686\u0000ISSN (print version) 0065-0900","PeriodicalId":426742,"journal":{"name":"Acta ad archaeologiam et artium historiam pertinentia","volume":"26 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124558154","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article focuses on two variations from the Muslim patriarchal binary system of females and males: mukhannathūn (those who display female behaviour and appearance while having male sex organs) and khuntha (those with a lack of or confused sex organs). These two categories were tolerated and represent an extension of the normative expected sex-gender spectrum of Islam. Personal appearance, in its broad meaning, is used as a tool for analysing the social-religious existence of mukhannathūn and khuntha within the community. The article concludes that jurists imposed a whole set of regulations, mixing male and female appearance, for the purpose of defining and differentiating these groups. These laws also enabled the religious and social existence of mukhannathūn and khuntha within Muslim communities. The patriarchal system preserved its power and protected itself while widening the binary male-female spectrum to include variations such as medial sex. On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images). E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686 ISSN (print version) 0065-0900
{"title":"construction of other genders by means of personal appearance in medieval Islam: the case of mukhannathūn (effeminates) and kuntha (hermaphrodites)","authors":"Hadas Hirsch","doi":"10.5617/acta.10451","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5617/acta.10451","url":null,"abstract":"This article focuses on two variations from the Muslim patriarchal binary system of females and males: mukhannathūn (those who display female behaviour and appearance while having male sex organs) and khuntha (those with a lack of or confused sex organs). These two categories were tolerated and represent an extension of the normative expected sex-gender spectrum of Islam. Personal appearance, in its broad meaning, is used as a tool for analysing the social-religious existence of mukhannathūn and khuntha within the community. The article concludes that jurists imposed a whole set of regulations, mixing male and female appearance, for the purpose of defining and differentiating these groups. These laws also enabled the religious and social existence of mukhannathūn and khuntha within Muslim communities. The patriarchal system preserved its power and protected itself while widening the binary male-female spectrum to include variations such as medial sex.\u0000 \u0000On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images).\u0000E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686\u0000ISSN (print version) 0065-0900","PeriodicalId":426742,"journal":{"name":"Acta ad archaeologiam et artium historiam pertinentia","volume":"34 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124271908","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
From the bars and inns (thermopolia, cauponae, and hospitia) of Roman Pompeii, destroyed in the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, a variety of different types of jewellery has been found. The bars have been excavated both inside the perimeter of the ancient city and in its harbour suburb. In particular, the complete gold parure found in a river-side caupona at Moregine (building B), featuring body-chains, bracelets, and anklets, gives rise to the hypothesis that this kind of outfit of abundant gold jewellery, plausibly worn on the nude body, may have been less typically owned by elite matrons and more distinctive of sub-elite women working in bars, perhaps even connect-ed with sex work. This hypothesis is tested by questioning the multiple multi-sensorial ways in which jewellery could attract attention to the wearer’s body and signal non-elite status. Among the more ephemeral and rarely considered features are the visibility of the jewellery, based on its dimensions, material, placement on intimate areas of the body, its mobility, and perhaps also the tinkling sounds produced by its movement. As a conclusion, there seems to be a connection between the abundant use of jewellery of high visual impact, acoustic qualities referring to dance and the hospitality business in the inns of Pompeii. On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images). E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686 ISSN (print version) 0065-0900
{"title":"harbour of Venus? Sub-elite identities, multisensorial adornment, and Pompeian bars","authors":"R. Berg","doi":"10.5617/acta.10441","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5617/acta.10441","url":null,"abstract":"From the bars and inns (thermopolia, cauponae, and hospitia) of Roman Pompeii, destroyed in the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, a variety of different types of jewellery has been found. The bars have been excavated both inside the perimeter of the ancient city and in its harbour suburb. In particular, the complete gold parure found in a river-side caupona at Moregine (building B), featuring body-chains, bracelets, and anklets, gives rise to the hypothesis that this kind of outfit of abundant gold jewellery, plausibly worn on the nude body, may have been less typically owned by elite matrons and more distinctive of sub-elite women working in bars, perhaps even connect-ed with sex work. This hypothesis is tested by questioning the multiple multi-sensorial ways in which jewellery could attract attention to the wearer’s body and signal non-elite status. Among the more ephemeral and rarely considered features are the visibility of the jewellery, based on its dimensions, material, placement on intimate areas of the body, its mobility, and perhaps also the tinkling sounds produced by its movement. As a conclusion, there seems to be a connection between the abundant use of jewellery of high visual impact, acoustic qualities referring to dance and the hospitality business in the inns of Pompeii.\u0000 \u0000On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images).\u0000E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686\u0000ISSN (print version) 0065-0900","PeriodicalId":426742,"journal":{"name":"Acta ad archaeologiam et artium historiam pertinentia","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125398134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The replication of conventionalised motifs on engraved gemstones of the Roman imperial period has often prompted their dismissal by scholars who deem them too frivolous, too plentiful, and too small to be taken seriously as image-bearing objects, or else prioritise their workaday capacity as seals. Foregrounding gems’ function as personal adornment, this paper uses examples excavated from Herculaneum to argue that the repetition of certain images was, in fact, central to their agency as markers of identity, signalling the gender, age, and in some cases, social status of their wearer through the propagation of easily recognisable visual paradigms. Where other studies have emphasised the ways in which Roman jewellery communicated identity publicly, this paper also brings the material properties of gemstones into play to consider alternative, more intimate modes of viewing and suggest how engraved gems enabled the private self-bolstering and imaginative negotiation of identity as much as – or perhaps even instead of – its outward expression. On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images). E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686 ISSN (print version) 0065-0900
{"title":"Signum and self: engraved gemstones and the expression of identity at Herculaneum","authors":"R. Allen","doi":"10.5617/acta.10450","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5617/acta.10450","url":null,"abstract":"The replication of conventionalised motifs on engraved gemstones of the Roman imperial period has often prompted their dismissal by scholars who deem them too frivolous, too plentiful, and too small to be taken seriously as image-bearing objects, or else prioritise their workaday capacity as seals. Foregrounding gems’ function as personal adornment, this paper uses examples excavated from Herculaneum to argue that the repetition of certain images was, in fact, central to their agency as markers of identity, signalling the gender, age, and in some cases, social status of their wearer through the propagation of easily recognisable visual paradigms. Where other studies have emphasised the ways in which Roman jewellery communicated identity publicly, this paper also brings the material properties of gemstones into play to consider alternative, more intimate modes of viewing and suggest how engraved gems enabled the private self-bolstering and imaginative negotiation of identity as much as – or perhaps even instead of – its outward expression.\u0000 \u0000On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images).\u0000E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686\u0000ISSN (print version) 0065-0900","PeriodicalId":426742,"journal":{"name":"Acta ad archaeologiam et artium historiam pertinentia","volume":"53 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132057461","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article considers the Roman body chain (catena), which comprises two long lengths of woven gold chain worn crisscrossing the torso. Roman illustrations of women wearing catenae demonstrate that the form carried strongly erotic connotations relating to the goddess Venus and female sensuality. A small corpus of preserved body chains from the Vesuvian region testifies to their actual use by women in the first centuries BC and AD. This study examines the status of the women who wore such jewellery, which combined clear economic expense with erotic messaging. In opposition to claims that the sexual nature of body chains signals their association with prostitutes, it is argued here that visual and textual sources contemporaneous with the Vesuvian chains point to women of “respectable” social categories having both the freedom and incentive to express a confident sexual identity. Important archaeological evidence offers further indications for the ownership and use of catenae by Roman women of varying status. The potential meanings and motivations underlying the shared use of this symbolic form of adornment are also addressed. On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images). E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686 ISSN (print version) 0065-0900
{"title":"Chains of gold: female status and the Roman 'catena' in the early Imperial period","authors":"Meredith P. Nelson","doi":"10.5617/acta.10442","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5617/acta.10442","url":null,"abstract":"This article considers the Roman body chain (catena), which comprises two long lengths of woven gold chain worn crisscrossing the torso. Roman illustrations of women wearing catenae demonstrate that the form carried strongly erotic connotations relating to the goddess Venus and female sensuality. A small corpus of preserved body chains from the Vesuvian region testifies to their actual use by women in the first centuries BC and AD. This study examines the status of the women who wore such jewellery, which combined clear economic expense with erotic messaging. In opposition to claims that the sexual nature of body chains signals their association with prostitutes, it is argued here that visual and textual sources contemporaneous with the Vesuvian chains point to women of “respectable” social categories having both the freedom and incentive to express a confident sexual identity. Important archaeological evidence offers further indications for the ownership and use of catenae by Roman women of varying status. The potential meanings and motivations underlying the shared use of this symbolic form of adornment are also addressed.\u0000 \u0000On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images).\u0000E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686\u0000ISSN (print version) 0065-0900","PeriodicalId":426742,"journal":{"name":"Acta ad archaeologiam et artium historiam pertinentia","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130144612","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
T. Ismaelli, G. Scardozzi, S. Bozza, Rosangela Ungaro
The study concerns the city walls of Hierapolis in Phrygia (Denizli, Turkey), which were built in the second half of the 4th century AD or at the beginning of the 5th century AD, by systematically recycling architectural blocks from Imperial-era public monuments and funerary edifices. The preserved remains of the fortifications enclose the city along its northern, eastern and southern sides, leaving out large sectors of the urban area. Within the research activities of the Italian Archaeological Mission, topographical DGPS surveys of the remains were performed, and a geodatabase of the reemployed blocks was implemented with three main aims: i) the reconstruction of the building site of the city walls; ii) the identification of the demolished monuments of the Imperial-era used as “quarries” and the study of the procurement strategies of stone materials in the early-Byzantine Hierapolis; iii) the analysis of the relationship between the large building site of the fortifications and the other coeval construction sites and their impact on the socio-economic life of the city. The research allowed us to trace the development of the building site of the city walls, which, starting from the north, mainly reemployed blocks from the necropolises, North Theatre, North Agora and the shops along the plateia not-included into the early Byzantine Hierapolis. Moreover, numerous materials from the Gymnasium and other monuments located in the central part of the city but not yet identified on the ground were especially reused in the eastern and southern sectors of the walls. Lastly, the location of the recycled blocks made it possible even to reconstruct the various transportation routes linking the demolished monuments to the different sectors of the city walls. On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images). E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686 ISSN (print version) 0065-0900
{"title":"early Byzantine city walls of Hierapolis in Phrygia: demolishing and recycling the Imperial era monuments","authors":"T. Ismaelli, G. Scardozzi, S. Bozza, Rosangela Ungaro","doi":"10.5617/acta.10432","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5617/acta.10432","url":null,"abstract":"The study concerns the city walls of Hierapolis in Phrygia (Denizli, Turkey), which were built in the second half of the 4th century AD or at the beginning of the 5th century AD, by systematically recycling architectural blocks from Imperial-era public monuments and funerary edifices. The preserved remains of the fortifications enclose the city along its northern, eastern and southern sides, leaving out large sectors of the urban area. Within the research activities of the Italian Archaeological Mission, topographical DGPS surveys of the remains were performed, and a geodatabase of the reemployed blocks was implemented with three main aims: i) the reconstruction of the building site of the city walls; ii) the identification of the demolished monuments of the Imperial-era used as “quarries” and the study of the procurement strategies of stone materials in the early-Byzantine Hierapolis; iii) the analysis of the relationship between the large building site of the fortifications and the other coeval construction sites and their impact on the socio-economic life of the city. The research allowed us to trace the development of the building site of the city walls, which, starting from the north, mainly reemployed blocks from the necropolises, North Theatre, North Agora and the shops along the plateia not-included into the early Byzantine Hierapolis. Moreover, numerous materials from the Gymnasium and other monuments located in the central part of the city but not yet identified on the ground were especially reused in the eastern and southern sectors of the walls. Lastly, the location of the recycled blocks made it possible even to reconstruct the various transportation routes linking the demolished monuments to the different sectors of the city walls.\u0000 \u0000On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images).\u0000E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686\u0000ISSN (print version) 0065-0900","PeriodicalId":426742,"journal":{"name":"Acta ad archaeologiam et artium historiam pertinentia","volume":"191 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123004662","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Roman jewellery is often seen as a clear marker of wealth and luxury. While it is often classified and analysed as a single class and with an emphasis on pieces composed of gold and other precious materials, it is only when we start to look at the differences between individual objects that we can get a more nuanced understanding of this material culture and its role in Roman society and culture. Undoubtedly there was a market for comparable forms of jewellery for women from different socio-economic backgrounds to display similar aspects of their identities but within their own budgets (e.g., young, (presumably) married mothers-to-be). It is only by considering the spectrum of luxury that we can highlight how differences in quality and design reveal important choices behind the use of particular items of jewellery or packages of personal adornment. In other words, we should be cautious of grouping all jewellery together and under the simple label of ‘luxury.’ Not all gold jewellery, for example, was created equal. On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images). E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686 ISSN (print version) 0065-0900
{"title":"Rethinking the 'Spetctrum of Luxury': Roman jewellery from the Bay of Naples","authors":"C. Ward","doi":"10.5617/acta.10448","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5617/acta.10448","url":null,"abstract":"Roman jewellery is often seen as a clear marker of wealth and luxury. While it is often classified and analysed as a single class and with an emphasis on pieces composed of gold and other precious materials, it is only when we start to look at the differences between individual objects that we can get a more nuanced understanding of this material culture and its role in Roman society and culture. Undoubtedly there was a market for comparable forms of jewellery for women from different socio-economic backgrounds to display similar aspects of their identities but within their own budgets (e.g., young, (presumably) married mothers-to-be). It is only by considering the spectrum of luxury that we can highlight how differences in quality and design reveal important choices behind the use of particular items of jewellery or packages of personal adornment. In other words, we should be cautious of grouping all jewellery together and under the simple label of ‘luxury.’ Not all gold jewellery, for example, was created equal.\u0000 \u0000On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images).\u0000E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686\u0000ISSN (print version) 0065-0900","PeriodicalId":426742,"journal":{"name":"Acta ad archaeologiam et artium historiam pertinentia","volume":"67 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127583804","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The honorific monuments erected in late antiquity in the city of Aphrodisias are striking in their preservation and in their appearance. Two scholars, Charlotte Roueché and R.R.R. Smith, have provided full and ground-breaking publications of these monuments and have extracted important information from careful study of the epigraphic and sculptural elements. Further study conducted under the aegis of Smith and B. Ward-Perkins in the Last Statues of Antiquity Project, has grounded these monuments in the larger, empire-wide context of late antiquity. These fine academic studies have made these late Aphrodisian honours points of reference. Without the work of these distinguished scholars, this paper would not be possible or relevant. This paper seeks merely to focus attention on small details of structure, technique, and iconography in an attempt to sharpen our vision of the very last of these monuments. It endeavours to distinguish tendencies specific to the sixth-century honorific statuary habit at Aphrodisias and to understand the concept of re-use and recycling in that last moment of the statue culture in this conservative city, by looking at three monuments dedicated to the same man in the last moments of the habit. These are three statues monuments to one Rhodopaios of the second quarter of the sixth century, preserved in different states. The paper is divided into three parts; an introduction that considers the main trends of honorific statuary, the presentation of the three monuments of Rhodopaios, and a conclusion. On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images). E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686 ISSN (print version) 0065-0900
{"title":"Three monuments to Rhodopaios: a case study of re-use and continuity at Aphrodisias in the sixth century","authors":"Julia Lenaghan","doi":"10.5617/acta.10433","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5617/acta.10433","url":null,"abstract":"The honorific monuments erected in late antiquity in the city of Aphrodisias are striking in their preservation and in their appearance. Two scholars, Charlotte Roueché and R.R.R. Smith, have provided full and ground-breaking publications of these monuments and have extracted important information from careful study of the epigraphic and sculptural elements. Further study conducted under the aegis of Smith and B. Ward-Perkins in the Last Statues of Antiquity Project, has grounded these monuments in the larger, empire-wide context of late antiquity. These fine academic studies have made these late Aphrodisian honours points of reference. Without the work of these distinguished scholars, this paper would not be possible or relevant. This paper seeks merely to focus attention on small details of structure, technique, and iconography in an attempt to sharpen our vision of the very last of these monuments. It endeavours to distinguish tendencies specific to the sixth-century honorific statuary habit at Aphrodisias and to understand the concept of re-use and recycling in that last moment of the statue culture in this conservative city, by looking at three monuments dedicated to the same man in the last moments of the habit. These are three statues monuments to one Rhodopaios of the second quarter of the sixth century, preserved in different states. The paper is divided into three parts; an introduction that considers the main trends of honorific statuary, the presentation of the three monuments of Rhodopaios, and a conclusion.\u0000On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images).\u0000E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686\u0000ISSN (print version) 0065-0900\u0000 ","PeriodicalId":426742,"journal":{"name":"Acta ad archaeologiam et artium historiam pertinentia","volume":"44 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121357363","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}