Römische Mitteilungen

Staffe e calessi nell’Orientalizzante etrusco

Luca Cappuccini — 2024-04-18

During the first half of the 7^th century BC, two pairs of U-shaped bronze brackets, both decorated, have been documented in Etruria, at Vetulonia and Roselle. The brackets have been found in two rich graves in which the presence of a cart can be reconstructed. The appearance and technical characteristics of these exemplars lead one to doubt their function as a support for the rotating axle of a vehicle. Considerations on the possible use of the brackets and some comparisons allow one to hypothesise a use as a support of bars; they would thus be elements referable to a single-pull cart equipped with side bars. The absence of iconographic evidence in Etruria leaves the question open, relegating the possible presence of this vehicle to an episodic attempt, later abandoned in favour of the more solid and representative double-pulling system.

Monumental Timber Temples and Cultic Development at Timpone della Motta (Francavilla Marittima, Calabria)

Marianne Kleibrink — 2024-04-18

Archaeological excavations have revealed that enterprising aristocracies were part and parcel of the early Iron Age Italic-Oinotrian population of the foothills behind the coastal plains on the Ionian Sea. This article discusses evidence from local architecture and material culture that the cult site at Timpone della Motta was promoted by such an indigenous aristocracy to attract a commercial and craft elite from overseas. Evidence suggests the presence of Greek practices by the first half of the 8^th century BC It would be a mistake to underestimate the intellectual capacity of the Italic Oinotrians, who in the coastal areas were also referred to as Chones or Chonians. These Chonians used nostoi foundation legends to forge crucial ties with a seafaring elite from overseas, while earlier wood-working traditions enabled them to adopt Epeios as their founder and Athena [H]Eilenia as their patron goddess. Three monumental timber-frame temples testify to the success of these attempts to attract entrepreneurs and immigrants. With their huge quantities of pottery, these buildings are evidence of the sanctuary’s supra-regional function.

Das Marmordach des Tempels A in Selinunt

Miriam Knechtel — 2024-04-18

The high architectural quality of Temple A, built around the middle of the 5^th century BC on the southern acropolis of Selinunte, is also made evident by its marble roof of which numerous fragments are still preserved. These finds, largely kept in the Museo Archeologico Regionale Antonino Salinas in Palermo, include blocks of the sima embellished with lion-head waterspouts, pieces of flat and cover tiles, as well as fragments of the figural decoration for the building. Based on a detailed documentation of the material, the reconstruction suggested by Gabrici could be corroborated more exactly in places, so that the roof can now be visualized almost completely. This restoration contributes to the research into construction details and the conceptual background of the roof and its related temple, but also facilitates a better understanding of the emergence and development of marble roofs in the Greek West and their relationship to designs, constructions and also craftsmen from the Greek mainland.

Eine neue Löwenkopfsima aus Marmor des 5. Jhs. v. Chr. aus Selinunt

Jon Albers — 2024-04-18

During the ongoing excavations in the area of the eastern harbour of Selinunte, a block of a sima with a lion's head made of marble was found in mid-August 2023. What makes this finding remarkable is on the one hand, that it is significantly larger than the other known marble sime in this region and that there has been no other comparison so far, which is why the question of the associated temple arises. Possibly the sima belongs to Temple E or an unknown building of classical times. Another striking feature is that the object is unfinished, i.e., it was never attached, and in this state, it will allow valuable conclusions to be drawn about the ancient building process. In the final consequence, the condition of the object therefore also allows very concrete indications of the trade and work contacts to Paros.

L'arco dei foschi di berta, l'architettura die foro di traiano a nord della basilica ulpia e l'iscrizione CIL VI, 966 (=31215)

Roberto Meneghini — 2024-04-18

For scholars dealing with the area around Trajan's Column, one of the most elusive elements has always been the so-called Arco dei Foschi di Berta. The monument, whose precise position and appearance are unknown, appears in some notarial documents of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. From these, it is possible to place it in the medieval and modern topography of the area and verify its relationship with the architecture of the Forum of Trajan. The Arch turns out to be one of two architectural elements of this type through which one accessed the pair of monumental staircases positioned against the northern side of the so-called Libraries. Through these staircases one could reach the upper floor of the arcades of the courtyard of Trajan's Column and the Basilica Ulpia. The double inscription CIL VI, 966 = 31215 probably decorated the attics of the two arches.

Das Amphitheater in Dyrrachium. Urbanes Umfeld, Rekonstruktion und Bedeutung

Heinz Jürgen Beste — 2024-04-18

In today's city of Durrës (Epidamnos / Dyrrachium), the amphitheatre is the most important monument that has survived from antiquity. It has been systematically cleared of modern buildings since 1966 and its essential elements are recognizable today. So far, however, it has not been considered in its suburban setting at the city's harbour. Moreover, a detailed reconstruction based on a meticulous building survey is lacking, which is necessary for a presentation in a modern context. The reconstruction will certainly pose particular problems. In contrast to most of the other existing amphitheatres, around two thirds of the slope was built into the substructural formation, so that only one third needed to be raised up. As a result, from the largely preserved north-west part, the structural formation of the south-east area can only be understood to a very limited extent. The challenge for the architect was to create an equally consistent and logical development to suit the audience in every area. The amphitheatre accords well with the concepts behind eastern representatives of this building type: efforts were made to keep the structural work required low by means of careful positioning in the slope.

Die procuratores marmorum Numidicorum als kaiserliche Funktionäre und Euergeten

Dennis Mario Beck — 2024-04-18

This paper focuses on the evidence concerning the imperial marble procurators at Simitthus/Chimtou in Tunisia. After a reform in Hadrianic times, imperial freedmen in the office of procurator marmorum Numidicorum appear at Simitthus until the Severan period. Currently, thirteen procuratores m. N. can be deduced from the combination of inscriptions and archaeological evidence in Simitthus. This evidence throws light on the tasks of the procurators in the administration of the quarries. Unlike their fellows in Asia Minor, Greek, and Egyptian quarries, the spatial proximity and interaction with the Roman colony here allows analysis of their representational behaviour and comparison with their "colleagues" from other quarries. Simitthus therefore offers a unique situation, where the donor activities of these procurators are embedded in the workings of a prosperous city. Through numerous dedications and the use of marmor Numidicum for the monumentalization of sanctuaries, the procurators competed with the urban elite and were thus a component both of urban life and of imperial domain administration.

Die Rekonstruktion der 'Beißergruppe' und das Motiv der knöchelspielenden Kinder

Katharina Meinecke — 2024-04-18

The fragmentary ‘Biter Group’ in the British Museum in London, which shows a boy sitting on the ground and biting another person’s arm, has long been identified as a Hellenistic genre sculpture of two boys quarreling over a game of knucklebones. Based on a personal visual inspection of the original sculpture and an iconographical survey of the motif of children playing with knucklebones, this article proposes a new digital 3D reconstruction for the missing figure of the bitten boy. After producing a photogrammetric image of the sculpture using image-based modeling (IbM), a simplified base mesh of a juvenile male figure was used to reconstruct the bitten boy. This method allows one to easily test different postures for the missing figure and to try out different viewing perspectives and so formulate a possible composition for the whole group.

Testimoni dell’agonia? La storia movimentata di un gruppo di sculture dalla cd. Sede degli Augustali (Ostia)

Elisa Bazzechi — 2024-04-18

This paper deals with an ensemble of eleven sculptures – mostly portrait statues – found in the so-called Sede degli Augustali at Ostia. The date and interpretation of these objects as well as their relation to the building have been discussed several times. A thorough investigation into the sculptures – which has been published alongside this paper in the database Arachne –, into their findspot, and into the excavation reports helps to establish the ‘biography’ of this ensemble: In the Imperial period, the sculptures were set up in different places such as sepulchres, houses and squares. In late antiquity, they were collected in the ‘Sede’, which was, by this time, one of the largest domus of Ostia. Finally, the sculptures were deposited and partly processed to lime in a recycling-workshop installed in the ‘Sede’.

The Constantinian Frieze on Constantine's Arch

Michael Koortbojian — 2024-04-18

This article reassesses recent efforts to redate the frieze on the Arch of Constantine to the end of the reign of Diocletian. It offers a series of arguments to demonstrate that these reliefs are, as has been long thought, Constantinian. These focus on iconography (the use of known Constantinian imagery), narrative (allusions to events in Constantine’s military and political career known from written sources), historiography (the interpretation of the source tradition, especially for the arch’s “River Battle” scene), and technical matters (the fact that the frieze reliefs were carved in situ and the likelihood that the arch’s sculptors fashioned inset portrait heads of the emperor). Numismatic material and early modern prints provide new iconographic parallels that reinforce a conclusion that the frieze cycle was produced in the Constantinian era.

Biografie di vasi. Il Vaso di Archemoros nella documentazione dell’Archivio Storico e della Fototeca dell’Instituto Archeologico Germanico

Federica Giacobello — 2024-04-18

Since its foundation in 1829, the Institute of Archaeological Correspondence has played a fundamental role in scientific research, publishing news and studies of archaeological finds in its journals. To this end, the Institute relied on members and correspondents - antiquities scholars, collectors, excavators and art dealers - who provided prompt news and descriptions of finds from all over the Italian peninsula. The DAI Rome Historical Archive preserves valuable documentation of the letters sent by correspondents and the drawings produced to document the artefacts, as well as the plates published in Monumenti Inediti, that show a particular interest for the figured pottery. This documentation has made an important contribution in tracing the modern biography of the 'Vaso di Archemoros', apulian crater discovered in Ruvo di Puglia in 1834, that became part of the collection of the Real Museo Borbonico di Napoli.