Aqueducts for the Urbis Clarissimus Locus: The Palatine’s Water Supply from Republican to Imperial Times

By Andrea Schmölder-Veit

Aquae Urbis Romae: the Waters of the City of Rome, No.7 (2011)

Introduction: The Palatine hill, where Rome began, was already an important center of power long before Imperial palaces were built there. As early as the Republican period, elite residents had constructed monumental architecture on this hill above the Roman Forum that publicly advertised their claims to leadership. Also at this time, the greatness of the res publica was demonstrated through monumental building projects, which correlated with the gloria of families who dedicated temples in Rome’s honor. As nothing is known about the domus of this period, it can only be assumed that the Palatine was a residential area populated by elite Romans in the fourth and third century BC. For example, Livy (8: 19. 4) tells us that Vitruvius Vaccus, a very rich Fundanian, had a property on the Palatine before 330 BC. Evidence for the domus on this “most splendid place in the city” (urbis clarissimus locus) exists from the second century BC onwards. Cicero, for example, informs us that a domus on the Palatine was a requirement for ambitious citizens who aspired to the most powerful position in the res publica.

Unfortunately, the only archaeological evidence that confirms habitation during this time, are underground cisterns that were cut into the bedrock to capture rainwater. Most of the cisterns can be dated to the late sixth or early fifth century through their revetment with cappellaccio. It seems possible that some of them were built to serve residences. Residential water management on the Palatine underwent significant changes once the Aqua Marcia brought water to the hill in 140 BC, a fact, which we know from Frontinus (7:1-8). In this article that evidence is compared with the archaeological remains of pipes and fountains along with evidence concerning the purposes for which water was brought to the hill. While the main arguments deal with the aqueducts that delivered water to the Imperial palaces, the article also offers a more general view of the hydraulic situation on the hill.

Click here to read this article from Aquae Urbis Romae: the Waters of the City of Rome

Death in Motion: Funeral Processions in the Roman Forum

By Diane Favro and Christopher Johanson

Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 69, no. 1 (2010)

Introduction: The calendars of republican and imperial Rome were overflowing with a plethora of religious and state events, many of which were marked by animated parades that wound through the city. Interspersed among these were melancholy processions that carried the deceased from home to a final resting place outside the walls of the capital. For members of the elite, the route and activities of the Roman funeral offered a valuable opportunity to display and increase their symbolic importance. Previous studies have considered the long history of funerals in antiquity, commemorative activities such as the burning of the pyre outside the city limits, or specific features such as the carrying of death masks. Few have contextualized the funerary procession (pompa funebris) with specific spaces or in relation to the intricately constructed Roman experience of a funeral. Rome’s most illustrious and ambitious citizens choreographed their funerals with memorable activities in the Forum Romanum, yet the effect of this symbol-laden public venue on the honorific imperial funeral parades and activities has not been critically evaluated.

Click here to read this article from UCLA

See also the Visualizing Statues in the Late Antique Roman Forum website

Roman Imperialism and Runic Literacy : The Westernization of Northern Europe (150-800 AD)

By Svante Fischer

PhD Dissertation, Uppsala University, 2005

Abstract: This dissertation discusses Roman imperialism and runic literacy. It employs an interdisciplinary terminology. By means of terms new to archaeology, the growth of a specialized language, a technolect, is traced until it enters the realm of literacy. The author argues that there is more than one way for literacy to appear in prehistoric cultures. The ’normal’ perception is that literacy grows out of a need to keep records of a growing economic surplus. The ’other’ way for a culture to become literate is that someone else forces literacy upon it. This has been the case in many parts of the world subject to Western imperialism.

The onslaught of Roman imperialism caused the invention of runic literacy in Northern Europe during the Early Roman Iron Age. The invention of the runic script should thus be seen as a preemptive reaction to the threat of Westernization. A comparison is made with a number of Early Modern Period cases of newly invented scripts caused by the arrival of literate Westerners in West Africa. The invention and introduction of the runes may well have been a dictated shift in literacy, seeking to break away from Latin. A number of dictated shifts in literacy from Early Modern Period America and Modern Period Asia are studied in comparison. The interaction between Germanic and Roman affinities was accentuated by the Roman army’s recruitment of Germanic men. These came to dominate the Roman army. This gave rise to a Germanic kleptocracy, a criminal rule in the post-Roman world.

The role of runic literacy changed in the post-Roman aftermath of the Migration and Vendel Periods as the kleptocratic elite found it increasingly difficult to support a lavish lifestyle that included runic literacy. As a result, there was a decline in runic literacy in Northern Europe until the economic revival of the Viking Period. By then, it was clear that the North was soon to be integrated into the Christian West.

Click here to read this thesis from Uppsala University

Hoplite Revolution or Evolution?

By Robert Porter

Corvus Classics Journal (2010)

Introduction: The study of Homeric and Archaic Age warfare has undergone significant change in modern scholarship that make these styles of battle appear very different than the traditional representations. While these two styles of warfare have traditionally been seen as near opposites, modern scholarship has changed these traditional interpretations and the result is two forms of warfare that seem quite similar. First, it is important that these traditional views are examined to understand the changes that have been made to them. These traditional views on the Homeric style of warfare as described in the Iliad focus almost completely on a series of duels between the wealthy and heavily armed aristocrats. In contrast to this, the traditional view of warfare in Archaic Greece focuses on the Greek phalanx where two opposing armies get involved in a ‘pushing match’. However, after examining these traditional views, one is required to look at how these ideas have changed in modern scholarship as well. The interpretation of Homeric warfare has been broadened to examine the majority of the forces at Troy. The Archaic phalanx has been altered and turned into the ‘protophalanx’ which is essentially a traditional phalanx but with a more flexible formation of soldiers. Based on these modern ideas, the distinction between these seemingly opposite styles of warfare has been reduced to the point that there are in fact more similarities than differences between them. Representations of warfare in art from the Archaic Age should also be examined as they provide insights into the ways in which war was fought. Thus, in order to fully appreciate the changes that have been made in modern scholarship, one must examine the various interpretations ranging from the Homeric epics through to the representations in modern scholarship.

Click here to read this article from Corvus Classics Journal

Anthropologists working in southern France have determined that a 1.5 metric ton block of engraved limestone constitutes the earliest evidence of wall art. Their research, reported in the most recent edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows the piece to be approximately 37,000 years old and offers rich evidence of the role art played in the daily lives of Early Aurignacian humans.

The research team, comprised of more than a dozen scientists from American and European universities and research institutions, has been excavating at the site of the discovery—Abri Castanet—for the past 15 years. Abri Castanet and its sister site Abri Blanchard have long been recognized as being among the oldest sites in Eurasia bearing artifacts of human symbolism. Hundreds of personal ornaments have been discovered, including pierced animal teeth, pierced shells, ivory and soapstone beads, engravings, and paintings on limestone slabs.

Aurignacian culture existed until approximately 28,000 years ago. “Early Aurignacian humans functioned, more or less, like humans today,” explained New York University anthropology professor Randall White, one of the study’s co-authors. “They had relatively complex social identities communicated through personal ornamentation, and they practiced sculpture and graphic arts.”

In 2007, the team discovered an engraved block of limestone in what had been a rock shelter occupied by a group of Aurignacian reindeer hunters. Subsequent geological analysis revealed the ceiling had been about two meters above the floor on which the Aurignacians lived—within arms’ reach.

Using carbon dating, the researchers determined that both the engraved ceiling, which includes depictions of animals and geometric forms, and the other artifacts found on the living surface below were approximately 37,000 years old.

“This art appears to be slightly older than the famous paintings from the Grotte Chauvet in southeastern France,” explained White, referring to the cave paintings discovered in 1994. “But unlike the Chauvet paintings and engravings, which are deep underground and away from living areas, the engravings and paintings at Castanet are directly associated with everyday life, given their proximity to tools, fireplaces, bone and antler tool production, and ornament workshops.”

He added that this discovery, combined with others of approximately the same time period in southern Germany, northern Italy, and southeastern France, raises new questions about the evolutionary and adaptive significance of art and other forms of graphic representation in the lives of modern human populations.

Click here to access the article Context and dating of Aurignacian vulvar representations from Abri Castanet, France

Source: New York University

Jamasp, an Ancient Persian Pharmacist

By Arman Zargaran and Abdolali Mohagheghzadeh

Journal of Research on History of Medicine, Vol.1:1 (2012)

Abstract: Although Iran has a deep history about 10000 years, its role in development of science in general and medicine in particular is yet to be known. There are several factors responsible for this, namely the destruction of a good number of ancient Persian manuscripts and books. Furthermore, lack of interest found among contemporary researchers seems to add to this anonymity. One way to compensate for this is to introduce scientific figures of the time. In this regard, Jamasp, as the great Persian scientist who lived about 500 BC, is introduced in this article. He was the minister of king Vishtasb and contemporary with Zoroaster. Though Jamasp is known as a great astronomer, physician, pharmacist, chemist and botanist by historians, he is a good candidate for the title “the father of Persian pharmacy”.

Click here to read this article from the Journal of Research on History of Medicine

The Roman Calendar as an Expression of Augustan Culture: An Examination of the Fasti Praenestini

By Julia C. Hernández

Chrestomathy: Annual Review of Undergraduate Research, Volume 4 (2005)

Introduction: Around the year 6 AD, the Roman grammarian Marcus Verrius Flaccus erected a calendar in the forum of his hometown of Praeneste. The fragments which remain of his work are unique among extant examples of Roman fasti, or calendars. They are remarkable not only because of their indication that Verrius Flaccus’ Fasti Praenestini was considerably larger in physical size than the average Roman fasti, but also because of the richly detailed entries for various days on the calendar, which are substantially longer and more informative than those found on any extant calendar inscriptions. The frequent mentions of Augutus in the entries of the Fasti Praenestini, in addition to Verrius Flaccus’ personal relationship with Augustus as related by Suetonius (Suet. Gram. 17), have led some scholars, most notably Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, to interpret the creation of the Fasti Praenestini as an act of propaganda supporting the new Augustan regime. However, this limited interpretation fails to take into account the implications of this calendar’s unique form and content. A careful examination of the Fasti Praenestini reveals that its unusual character reflects the creative experimentation of Marcus Verrius Flaccus, the individual who created it, and the broad interests of the Roman public, by whom it was to be viewed.

Click here to read this article from the College of Charleston

Rome Becoming Athens, Athens Becoming Rome: Building Cultural Reciprocity in the Augustan Period

By Melissa Huber

Chrestomathy: Annual Review of Undergraduate Research, Volume 10 (2011)

Introduction: Inscribed on Augustus’ mausoleum after his death in AD 14, the Res Gestae Divi Augusti, the Achievements of the Divine Augustus, includes an extensive description of Augustus’ monumental building in the city of Rome. Monumental building provided a means of converting economic capital into a symbolic reminder of one’s success. Augustus fully understood this correlation between building and self-promotion and this conversion of capital was not limited to building in the city of Rome. Diana Kleiner argues that Augustus built “smaller Romes” throughout the empire (92). Yet the story of cultural influence in the Augustan period is more complex than Kleiner suggests. In some provincial towns, Roman buildings were simply replicated, while in other provinces, particularly those with a long history, local traditions continued to influence the design and configuration of new buildings and monuments. Athens, as a provincial city with its own distinguished history, falls into the latter category. Through an examination of new buildings and reconstructions in Athens during the Augustan period (31 BC – AD 14) I will demonstrate the influence of Rome on the provincial urban landscape.

Click here to read this article from the College of Charleston

The Domus Augusti and Imperial Art

By Lisa Lawlis

Bon à Tirer: The Undergraduate Journal of Art History and Visual Culture at Western University Vol.5 (2012)

Introduction: The Golden Age brought forth by Rome’s first Emperor, Augustus, not only changed the political regime of the Republic it also transformed Roman culture. Augustus was able to revive the city of Rome by returning to the old Roman religion and enforcing laws that eliminated the greed and decadence that had plagued the previous decades of the Roman Republic. The Domus Augusti (the house of Augusti) built on the Palatine Hill, is the best surviving example of Early Augustan painting and art and is a testament to the Emperor himself. Augustus commissioned many public building programs which transformed the city to symbolize a new era. Augustus compared himself with the youthful and heroic god Apollo and built a temple to the god beside his house on the Palatine hill to show his personal connection with the deity. Not only was Augustus able to maintain peace within the Empire for over forty-five years, his impact on the visual arts has endured for centuries.

Click here to read this article from the University of Western Ontario

A Gleaming Ray: Blessed Afterlife in the Mysteries

By Frederick E. Brenk

Illinois Classical Studies, Vol. 18 (1993)

Introduction: Recently, looking at the “mysteries” with eschatological spectacles has come in for something of a beating. Rather, stress has been on the cults’ concern to satisfy the less romantic and spectacular needs of mundane life. The devil’s advocate will now attempt to demonstrate that behind apparently innocent iconography may lie preoccupations about a blessed afterlife.

The Egyptians anticipated Plato in arriving at the true purpose of eros, the vision of the Form of the Beautiful. At least that appears to be Plutarch’s opinion in his Erotikos, the dialogue on love. Fine, faint effluvia (djioppoai) of the truth lie scattered about in Egyptian mythology, but it takes a keen nose to track them down (762a). The Egyptians have three Eros’s, Pandemos (earthly), Ouranios (Heavenly), and a third Eros which is the Sun (Helios). As the solar radiance gives nourishment, light, and growth to all things, so the gleaming ray and warmth of love nourish and enlighten the soul (764c). Plutarch apparently is speaking of the archaic Egyptian religion and not of the Hellenistic and Roman mysteries of Isis. Still, it is difficult to believe that, like a recent scholar, he did not keep glancing over his shoulder at more contemporary religion.

Click here to read this article from Illinois Classical Studies