Roman Iconography

In the perspective of the publication of the festive issues minted under the reign of Emperor Probus in Rome (under press, Numismatische Zeitschrift 2019), the gold minted in 282 to celebrate in Rome Probus' triumph is presented here (aurei and "denarii" on aureus dies), with a study of its die-linkings, of its complex iconography, of the imperial gesture (esp. the "two-fingers" gesture) and of it probable recipients.

The funerary cippus of Alexander, a physician settled in Rome in 1st century AD, shows the text of the epitaph and the image of the deceased. In the former, engraved in Latin, both the name of the physician and the reference to a famous Greek doctor maybe are signs of a foreign origin. The latter presents Alexander in a dignified attitude not usual in the iconography of this kind of cippi: the doctor appears seated, dressed in a toga and holding a volumen in his hands. Moreover, another figure in the representation perhaps characterizes an Alexander disciple. Could the different elements of the picture confirm the Greek origin of the deceased?
In the Roman world, the sepulchral sphere became a suitable context for self-representation and own identity display: the funerary monument was the result of an intentional selection of details and information, that is, the consequence of a construction of memory. The death in a distant land could be a strong component for this construction. The aim of this paper is to delve into these questions by examining the funerary cippus of Alexander. We will separate the different elements of the image and we will analyze them by looking for signs of external allusions. The comparison with the archetypal Greek funerary iconography and with the representations of physicians in the same time will be crucial in this task. In this way, we will try to demonstrate that the representation allude to the foreign origin of the deceased.
Through the analysis of Alexander’s gravestone, we aim: a) to decode in comprehensive manner iconographic elements as “transmitters” of construction of memory and identity; b) and to observe what extent these elements denote the foreign origin of the doctor. With this methodological approach, we want to contribute to the knowledge and comprehension of funerary monuments as support of self-representation in the Roman world.

D. Fellague, Un "autel de la Paix" à Lugudunum créé de toutes pièces ?, RAE, 67, 2018 (parution début mars 2019), p. 213-226.


Des monnaies attribuées à l’atelier de Lyon et frappées entre 64 et 68 figurent l’enclos d’un autel avec la légende Ara Pacis. Récemment, un numismate a considéré que le monument représenté n’avait aucun rapport avec l’Ara Pacis de Rome, d’époque augustéenne, et qu’elles témoignaient de l’existence d’un Autel de la Paix élevé à Lugudunum sous Néron.
L’article présenté ici propose d’examiner le raisonnement utilisé pour exclure l’identification traditionnelle à l’Ara Pacis Augustae de Rome en mettant en lumière que la plupart des arguments développés pour cette hypothèse déjà ancienne peuvent être contestés (lieu et date de frappe, comparaison avec le monument). L’iconographie monétaire a servi à exclure l’identification à l’Ara Pacis Augustae : c’est au contraire un des arguments essentiels qui justifie le maintien de l’identification traditionnelle. La représentation d’un monument n’a pas vocation à documenter un édifice jusque dans les moindres détails ; il s’agit d’une simplification avec des détails bien choisis.

Coins attributed to the Lyon workshop and minted between 64 and 68 represent the enclosure of an autel labeled Ara Pacis. Recently, a numismatist considered that the monument depicted cannot be interpreted as the Roman Ara Pacis ericted by Augustus but rather as an Altar of Peace built in Lugudunum under Nero. This article examines the reasoning used to exclude the traditional identification with the Ara Pacis Augustae of Rome by highlighting that most of the arguments developed for this already ancient hypothesis can be challenged (place and date of minting, comparison with the monument). The monetary iconography has been used to exclude identification with the Ara Pacis Augustae whereas it is, on the contrary, one of the essential reasons which justifies the tradi- tional identification. We should keep in mind that the depiction of a monument is not intended to document the building in detail, but rather to simplify it with well-chosen details (trad. Aurore Hamm).

Auf zwischen 64 und 68 geprägten, der Münzstätte von Lugudunum zugeschriebenen Münzen ist ein Altar mit der Beschriftung Ara Pacis dargestellt. Unlängst hat ein Numismatiker in Erwägung gezogen, dass das dargestellte Bauwerk keinerlei Zusammenhang mit der augusteischen Ara Pacis in Rom aufweist, sondern von der Existenz eines solchen Friedenaltars in Lugudunum unter Nero zeugt. Der vorliegende Artikel schlägt vor, die Beweisführung zu überprüfen, mit der die traditionelle Identifizierung der römischen Ara Pacis ausgeschlossen wird, und darauf hinzuweisen, dass die meisten Argumente (Ort und Datum der Prägung, Vergleich mit dem Bauwerk), welche diese bereits seit langem existierende Hypothese untermauern sollen, anfechtbar sind. Die Identifizierung mit der Ara Pacis Augustae wurde aufgrund der Münzikonographie ausgeschlossen, es handelt sich hier jedoch im Gegenteil um ein wesentliches Argument, das die traditionelle Identifizierung stützt. Die Darstellung eines Denkmals dient nicht dazu das Bauwerk detailgetreu zu dokumentieren, sondern es vereinfacht und unter Betonung bestimmter Details darzustellen.

Die sog. Beißergruppe, die im späten 17. Jh. in einer römischen Villa bei Grottaferrata in Latium gefunden wurde und sich heute im British Museum in London befindet, gibt zwei Knaben wieder, die beim Knöchelspiel in Streit geraten sind. Ein Knabe beißt seinen Gegenspieler, von dem sich jedoch nur die Hand mit den Astragalen erhalten hat, in den Arm. Die auch in ihrem fragmentierten Zustand raffinierte Gruppe, die der hellenistischen Genreplastik zuzuordnen ist, ist einzigartig; zumindest sind bislang keine Repliken bekannt. Darstellungen von Kindern, die mit Astragalen oder Nüssen spielen, sowie von streitenden Knaben sind jedoch seit der Klassik bis in die römische Kaiserzeit weit verbreitet und oft auch verbunden: in der Vasenmalerei, auf Grabstelen, als Statuetten aus Stein oder Terrakotta, auf Weihreliefs und Sarkophagen. Was machte gerade diese Motive so beliebt? Und wie lässt sich die Beißergruppe in die Entwicklung der Motive einordnen? Diesen Fragen möchte der Vortrag nachgehen.

"Pella-Apamea in Syria and its founding heroes in the light of an unknown historical source: a mosaic from Apamea". An unknown mosaic floor, dated to the fourth century AD, was discovered during illicit excavations in Apamea of Syria in 2011. The figurative panels were detached from the mortar and sold to antique collectors by international dealers. Nowadays the Interpol is looking for the mosaic based on photographs taken during illegal excavations.
The mosaic shows three scenes identified by the authors as (1) the Hellenistic foundation of the Macedonian military colony (katoikia) of Pella; (2) its (re)foundation including the city status of Apamea (polis); and (3) the image of good, happy, rich and lucky life in Apamea and its region (Ghab). The mosaic is a new historical source which complements well-known historical and literary sources. The iconogrphic analysis suggests a new dating to the early years of the Hellenistic military camp of Pella. According to the new interpretation of the mosaic proposed by the authors, the foundation of Pella took place in 320 BC, at the initiative of Antipater and Cassander's inspiration. In view of this interpretation the authors disagree with the earlier hypothesis attributing the foundation date of Pella to Alexander the Great or to Antigonos I Monophtalmos. Apamea, founded by Seleucos I Nicator, benefited the generosity of his wife Apama; the couple’s role is manifested on the mosaic. The city is represented with its surrounding wall, its public buildings, its hippodrome/circus, and probably the temple of Zeus Belos. Several portraits of diadochs (Antipater, Cassander), Apama and Archippos appear for the first time in the Hellenistic and Roman art, and those of Seleucos and Antiochos had never been represented on mosaics; they appear here in a particular context. The images of the mosaic are arranged as an epidictic praise of Apamea, influenced by the praises of cities pronounced by rhetoricians of the period and known from manuels of rhetoric. We believe that certain scenes in the mosaic were probably influenced by a literary source, whose author might be Euphorion of Chalcis of the third century BC or maybe by an unknown Hellenistic painting to illustrate a written text describing the foundation of Hellenistic cities. The mosaic has an eclectic character and the Hellenistic model is evident in the scene of the foundation of Pella.
Contents:
Introduction
1. La mosaïque : description et interprétation
1.1. La zone supérieure : la fondation de Pella
1.2. La zone centrale: la fondation d’Apamée
1.3. La zone inférieure : la vie heureuse et fortunée à Apamée et dans sa région
2. La fondation de Pella : les sources littéraires
3. Quand Pella a t-elle été fondée ?
3.1. La date de la fondation de Pella : les hypothèses actuelles
3.2.  La date de la fondation de Pella : une nouvelle proposition
3.3. Qui était-il Archippos ?
4. La mosaïque comme une nouvelle source historique et iconographique sur la fondation de Pella
5. La fondation d’Apamée : les sources littéraires
6. La mosaïque comme une nouvelle source sur la fondation d’Apamée
7. Les éloges des villes chez les rhéteurs et l’éloge d’Apamée
8. Les dernières remarques
Conclusion

The large excavation carried out in Marseille, at Place Jules-Verne, during the nineties, revealed the presence of important ceramic contexts dated to the Roman period. The material studied provides significant information on the commercial activity of the Massilia port between the Early Roman Empire and the Late Antiquity. This paper focuses on an unpublished batch of pottery dated to the first half of the 4th century AD among which a group of twelve lamps, mostly of oriental origin, stand out as they are exceptional pieces for western Mediterranean contexts. Particular attention is given to three pieces showing an identical iconography of a naked woman who seems to give birth an amphora although it may also be a deliberated representation of onanism.

Аннотация: Статья посвящена реконструкции устройства и особенностям репрезентации киннора и невела, именуемых в библейской традиции инструментами царя Давида. Анализируются древнейшие упоминания киннора в письменных памятниках литературы; особенности перевода названия и использования лексической пары “киннор и невел” в Септуагинте; описание этих инструментов у Иосифа Флавия. Обсуждается устройство аналогичных струнных в соседних культурах и географических ареалах. В качестве особой группы выделяются угловые арфы, имеющие резонатор сверху (Вавилон, Ассирия, Египет). Проводится различие между симметричными и асимметричными (семитскими) лирами. Показано, что отправной точкой в дискуссиях о библейских струнных инструментах являются образцы позднеримского искусства. Делается вывод, что киннор достаточно точно реконструируется по египетским образцам, тогда как относительно невела утверждать что-либо определенное на основании данных, предоставляемых ранней традицией, не представляется возможным.

Ключевые слова: киннор, невел, царь Давид, Библия, угловые арфы, лиры, иконография.

Valery PETROFF. “Kinor and Nevel in the String Family of the Middle East, the Mediterranean and the Near East”, Conceptualization of Music in the Abrahamic Traditions – 2018: collective monograph / Ed. by G. B. Shamilli. Moscow: SIAS, 2018. P. 18-37. ISBN 978-5-98287-133-6.

Abstract: The article attempts to reconstruct the design and the details of the representation of the kinnor and nevel, which the biblical tradition calls the instruments of King David. The oldest references to the kinnor, the peculiarities of translation and use of the lexical pair “kinnor and nevel” in the Septuagint, the description of these instruments by Joseph Flavius are analyzed. The similar string instruments in neighboring cultures and geographical areas are discussed. As a special group, angular harps with the upper-placed resonator (Babylon, Assyria, Egypt) are distinguished. A distinction is made between symmetric and asymmetrical (Semitic) lyres. It is shown that the Jewish iconography of the beginning of a common era cannot serve as a reference point in discussions concerning biblical stringed instruments, since it depends on the late Roman patterns. It is concluded that the kinnor is reconstructed quite accurately after Egyptian artefacts, whereas it is not possible to assert anything certain concerning the nevel based on the data provided by the early tradition.

Keywords: kinnor, nevel, King David, Bible, angular harps, lyres, iconography.

La presente contribución presenta una aproximación iconológica acerca del conjunto del monetario, que con la referencia MAVRITANIA, la ceca de Roma acuñó durante el imperio de Adriano. Presentamos una completa inter- pretación acerca de la imagen que sobre las Mauretaniae fue divulgada en época romana. Para lograr este objetivo, hemos estudiado tres programas iconográfi- cos particulares, que responden a las tres diversas leyendas monetarias que apa- recen en las emisiones objeto de estudio. Especialmente significativo es, en este sentido, el icono que representa a un soldado, interpretado por nosotros como una imagen emblemática de la propia provincia, así como símbolos relaciona- dos con figuras animales tales como un caballo, un elefante o un toro.

Abstract of the proposal for the "IV JORNADAS DOCTORALES DE CIENCIAS DE LA ANTIGÜEDAD (JJDDCCA)"-  Resumen de la propuesta para la V JORNADAS DOCTORALES DE CIENCIAS DE LA ANTIGÜEDAD (JJDDCCA) de la Universidad de Zaragoza.
Fecha: 31 de enero - 1 de febrero
Lugar: Salòn de Actos de la Biblioteca de Humanidades María Moliner-Facultades de Filosofía y Letras y Derecho, Universidad de Zaragoza