David Meadows alerts us that MEFRA (Mélanges de l'Ecole française de Rome. Antiquité) is available online via http://www.persee.fr -- just select it from the drop-down menu. Unfortunately, many or most images are locked out in the free version.
Over at Current Epigraphy, Gabriel Bodard gives us the run-down on a lecture by Michael Crawford on "Language, geography, and economy in early Italy."
For those lucky enough to reside in the greater Philadelphia metro area, there are a couple of events this week pertaining to early Italy:
"Etruscan Treasures of the Vatican Museum"
Dr. Maurizio Sannibale & Dr. Carlo Aurisicchio,
Thursday, 21 February 2008 - 6:30 PM
Penn Museum Classroom 2, University of Pennsylvania
(for more info, see here)
(Updated 2/19: If you're in the DC area, see it here)
"Italic Identity in the Roman Republic and Italian Social War Propaganda"
Gary D. Farney, Rutgers University
Friday, 22 February 2008 - 4:30 PM
Rhys Carpenter Library B21, Bryn Mawr College
Quintus Ennius tria corda habere sese dicebat, quod loqui Graece et Osce et Latine sciret.
"Quintus Ennius said that he had three hearts, because he spoke Greek and Oscan and Latin."
-Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae 17.17
Monday, February 18, 2008
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Spolia update
I'm happy to report that the "Spolia" group on Flickr has grown to 39 members and 206 pictures since its inception on December 27 of last year. I don't anticipate maintaining such a rate of growth, though. I've searched most of the obvious tags (e.g. spolia, re-used, recycled) in as many of the languages as I felt I could do so profitably (English, Italian, French, Spanish, German). Future additions will be more dependent on self-submission by members than on invitations by me. Of course, there are many pictures out there showing spolia without saying so in their description, which makes it harder to find them.
The locations represented are concentrated in Mediterranean Europe, with a good showing from the British Isles, along with, thus far, one from China and one from Chicago. I've decided to keep Spolia broadly defined, including, for instance, the Lothar Cross with its Roman cameo of Augustus embedded in a 10th-century cross.
The Duomo in Pisa is particularly well-represented in the pool with 8 pictures, no doubt due to the frequency with which it is touristed. The Yerebatan Sarayı or Basilica Cistern in Istanbul is very well represented on flickr as a whole, but thus far only one picture has been added to the Spolia pool. Likewise, many pictures of a wall on Paros have been invited, but few have thus far accepted.
For purely epigraphic considerations, the best groups on Flickr that I've seen are "Visible Words - Visibile Parlare" for Latin and the Latin alphabet (1500 photos) and Greek (203 photos). There's also Inscriptiones, but it seems to have died with 19 photos.
The locations represented are concentrated in Mediterranean Europe, with a good showing from the British Isles, along with, thus far, one from China and one from Chicago. I've decided to keep Spolia broadly defined, including, for instance, the Lothar Cross with its Roman cameo of Augustus embedded in a 10th-century cross.
The Duomo in Pisa is particularly well-represented in the pool with 8 pictures, no doubt due to the frequency with which it is touristed. The Yerebatan Sarayı or Basilica Cistern in Istanbul is very well represented on flickr as a whole, but thus far only one picture has been added to the Spolia pool. Likewise, many pictures of a wall on Paros have been invited, but few have thus far accepted.
For purely epigraphic considerations, the best groups on Flickr that I've seen are "Visible Words - Visibile Parlare" for Latin and the Latin alphabet (1500 photos) and Greek (203 photos). There's also Inscriptiones, but it seems to have died with 19 photos.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Tria Corda goes (officially) Open Access
Sebastian Heath gave a quick run-down on Open Access licenses among the ancient blogging community over at the AWBG. His guess that "some bloggers haven't given this issue much thought" was spot on for me. Tria Corda has followed a wandering developmental road since its inception back on August 12, 2005. "Sporadic Italic blogging is all that can be expected," I said then, and it has indeed been sporadic -- nothing between January and December of 2006! I think I've also been charged with being "chatty" in the past, to which I can only plead guilty. With the spur from the AWBG, I've determined to focus more on Tria Corda, which includes giving issues more thought. As a result, I'm now publishing it with a Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution Unported license, which you'll see over in the right hand column o' stuff. This means (as per the license) you are free to 1. Share — to copy, distribute and transmit (the contents of the blog); 2. Remix — to adapt (the contents of the blog); but on the condition that you must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
I note also that Chuck Jones has since CC'd the PFAP blog and is presumably responsible for AWBG itself.
I note also that Chuck Jones has since CC'd the PFAP blog and is presumably responsible for AWBG itself.
AIA/APA Chicago Report no. 3
On Saturday I attended the excellent session on Magna Graecia (AIA 4D, January 5, 1:30-4:30 PM).
Opening up, Johanna Hobratschk put "Apulian Vase-painting in Context: A Reconsideration of Dramatic Scenes." Past scholarship (e.g. Trendall and Webster) has seen a direct representation of South Italian theater on Apulian volute-kraters. Hobratschk argues for the development of architecture in dramatic scenes on vases from naiskoi in funerary contexts. The Iliupersis Painter was the first to paint naiskoi in funerary scenes, and the first to make major use of the volute krater, with some fourteen attributed vases. The buildings in his later dramatic scenes show clear similarities with his earlier funerary naiskoi. By contrast, in Campanian fabric where funerary scenes are very uncommon, the conventions for representing dramatic architecture are different.
Camilla R. Norman presented "The Myth of the Ransom of Hector on the Daunian Stelai." These enigmatic objects (late 7th-mid 5th centuries BCE) were almost single-handedly saved -- and interpreted -- by Silvio Ferri during the 1950's and 60's, coinicident with the introduction of the deep plow in Apulian agriculture. Ferri's Classical training led him to describe many of
the figural scenes as illustrations of Greek myths or Homeric episodes rather than on their own terms. His interpretation of a recurring scene as the "Ransom of Hector," based on the identification of the central object as the Lyre of Achilles, required him to assert that the actual body of Hector was implied but not depicted, and that Achilles was painted in, rather than engraved like the rest of the figures! Achilles' lyre is not even described in connection with Priam's recovery of his son's body. Norman posits instead that the scene shows some aspect of women's life, perhaps connected with the production of textiles. The "lyre of Achilles" may in fact be a hand loom, a wool basket, or a hanging cloth, among other possibilities.
Unfortunately, Gianfranco Carollo was not present to give an update on "Burials and Reconstruction of Social and Cultural Contexts. The Unpublished Necropolis of Ripacandida (Potenza, Italy)," a particular shame since, as noted, the material is still unpublished.
After a break, Dante Bartoli read "Archaeology and Environment in the Sila Mountains (Calabria, Italy). Analysis of the Prehistoric Settlements" for Domenico Marino and Annalisa Zarattini. A lush prehistoric forest stretched across Calabria and there is evidence for occupation by both Homo erectus and Neandertal man. During the Neolithic, new areas were settled in the Sila mountains, based on short-distance transhumance and fishing, and the local obsidian quarries were first used at this time. Excavations between 2005 and 2007 have revealed Neolithic settlements submerged in the Lago di Cecita, dated 3800-3350 BCE, with subsistence based on agriculture, gathering, cattle and fish. Between the Neolithic and Bronze age there was a progressive exapansion of settlements in the hills as termini of transhumance. At Timpone del Gigante there are an Iron Age settlement, Hellenistic defensive walls, and a Roman quarry.
Finally, Sandra Lucore, director of the excavation of the North Baths at Morgantina, shared her thoughts on "Tradition and Innovation in Western Greek Baths." Despite the lack of full publication of any baths in the Western Greek world, Lucore identifies a clear typology of baths based on heated communal immersion bathing. The earliest evidence of such bathing in Sicily is at late 4th century Gela, including the individual bathing tubs and slightly later tholos-room which both remain standard features of western baths. The typical thermal complex including a double room and tholos adjoined by a hypocaust, as found at Syracuse, Morgantina, and Megara Hyblaea. The dome over the tholos and barrel-vaulted rooms at Morgantina were constructed with interlocking hollow terracotta tubes, which were then covered with a rough mortar compound. These tubular vaults are the earliest known, and the technique betrays a practical knowledge of statics, which may be connected with the work of Archimedes at Syracuse.
Opening up, Johanna Hobratschk put "Apulian Vase-painting in Context: A Reconsideration of Dramatic Scenes." Past scholarship (e.g. Trendall and Webster) has seen a direct representation of South Italian theater on Apulian volute-kraters. Hobratschk argues for the development of architecture in dramatic scenes on vases from naiskoi in funerary contexts. The Iliupersis Painter was the first to paint naiskoi in funerary scenes, and the first to make major use of the volute krater, with some fourteen attributed vases. The buildings in his later dramatic scenes show clear similarities with his earlier funerary naiskoi. By contrast, in Campanian fabric where funerary scenes are very uncommon, the conventions for representing dramatic architecture are different.
Camilla R. Norman presented "The Myth of the Ransom of Hector on the Daunian Stelai." These enigmatic objects (late 7th-mid 5th centuries BCE) were almost single-handedly saved -- and interpreted -- by Silvio Ferri during the 1950's and 60's, coinicident with the introduction of the deep plow in Apulian agriculture. Ferri's Classical training led him to describe many of
the figural scenes as illustrations of Greek myths or Homeric episodes rather than on their own terms. His interpretation of a recurring scene as the "Ransom of Hector," based on the identification of the central object as the Lyre of Achilles, required him to assert that the actual body of Hector was implied but not depicted, and that Achilles was painted in, rather than engraved like the rest of the figures! Achilles' lyre is not even described in connection with Priam's recovery of his son's body. Norman posits instead that the scene shows some aspect of women's life, perhaps connected with the production of textiles. The "lyre of Achilles" may in fact be a hand loom, a wool basket, or a hanging cloth, among other possibilities.Unfortunately, Gianfranco Carollo was not present to give an update on "Burials and Reconstruction of Social and Cultural Contexts. The Unpublished Necropolis of Ripacandida (Potenza, Italy)," a particular shame since, as noted, the material is still unpublished.
After a break, Dante Bartoli read "Archaeology and Environment in the Sila Mountains (Calabria, Italy). Analysis of the Prehistoric Settlements" for Domenico Marino and Annalisa Zarattini. A lush prehistoric forest stretched across Calabria and there is evidence for occupation by both Homo erectus and Neandertal man. During the Neolithic, new areas were settled in the Sila mountains, based on short-distance transhumance and fishing, and the local obsidian quarries were first used at this time. Excavations between 2005 and 2007 have revealed Neolithic settlements submerged in the Lago di Cecita, dated 3800-3350 BCE, with subsistence based on agriculture, gathering, cattle and fish. Between the Neolithic and Bronze age there was a progressive exapansion of settlements in the hills as termini of transhumance. At Timpone del Gigante there are an Iron Age settlement, Hellenistic defensive walls, and a Roman quarry.
Finally, Sandra Lucore, director of the excavation of the North Baths at Morgantina, shared her thoughts on "Tradition and Innovation in Western Greek Baths." Despite the lack of full publication of any baths in the Western Greek world, Lucore identifies a clear typology of baths based on heated communal immersion bathing. The earliest evidence of such bathing in Sicily is at late 4th century Gela, including the individual bathing tubs and slightly later tholos-room which both remain standard features of western baths. The typical thermal complex including a double room and tholos adjoined by a hypocaust, as found at Syracuse, Morgantina, and Megara Hyblaea. The dome over the tholos and barrel-vaulted rooms at Morgantina were constructed with interlocking hollow terracotta tubes, which were then covered with a rough mortar compound. These tubular vaults are the earliest known, and the technique betrays a practical knowledge of statics, which may be connected with the work of Archimedes at Syracuse.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
AIA/APA Chicago Report no. 2
Continuing with AIA Session 2E: Etruria and Samnium...
Elizabeth C. Robinson re-examined "Rural Settlement Patterns and Sanctuaries in the Middle Volturno Valley (Campania)" between the Archaic period and the 1st cent. BCE. The area has been discussed twice in recent memory, by P. Carafa in his 1997 dissertation "I Culti in Campania" (published in 2006) and by S.P. Oakley in his 1996 The Hill-Forts of the Samnites, but neither treatment is completely satisfactory. Robinson finds no evidence for city-state organization or border sanctuaries in the region, and Oakley's work (not surprisingly) focuses mostly on clearly identifiable fortified sites. Robinson reclassified the 16 identified sites into new categories: large oppida with a fortified acropolis and 1 or more wall circuits; small oppida with no separate acropolis, no more than one circuit, enclosing an area of less than 0.16m2; rural cult sites and necropoleis.
For instance, the site of La Rocca, with its three terraces and two circuits of polygonal masonry, becomes a large oppidum, which Carafa had identified as a boundary sanctuary purely on the basis of four terracotta heads, which may be antefixes. One of the difficulties that emerged from discussion was the lack of a real survey of the area, as well as the small quantities of material used to define a site -- do two bronze statuettes make Zappini a rural cult site? As some conclusions, the sanctuaries show little evidence of monumental architecture, the settlement pattern is very unlike that of poleis, and we should abandon the idea of boundary sanctuaries for Samnium.
Next, Rachel Van Dusen gave us "Saving Face: Samnite Elites in the Aftermath of the Samnite Wars." The families of Samnite generals identified in Livy's account of the Samnite Wars (Papius Brutulus, Statius Gellius, Gellius Egnatius, Min. Staius Minatius) continue to be attested as meddices tutici for several hundred years. For instance, the Staii produced at least 12 meddices for the period 296 - 90 BCE. The monumentalization of sanctuaries in Samnium, which coincides with a reduction in wealth of grave goods, provides further evidence for the continuing control of these families through inscriptional evidence. Four of the six Papii known as meddices tutici are attested in inscriptions from sanctuaries, e.g. G. Papius with the smaller temple at Schiavi D'Abruzzo, ca. 100-90 BCE. Likewise, two of three Statii, including G. Statius Clarus with Temple B at Pietrabbondante; one of three Egnatii, and a wopping 10 of 12 Staii, including six at Pietrabbondante, one at Campochiaro, plus an otherwise unattested Staius known from a bronze tablet at Vastogirardi. These families were clearly able to maintain their status despite a shift from positions of military power to civil posts.
Finally, Tesse Stek read a paper on "Sanctuaries and Society in Central-Southern Italy in the Republican Period." Stek investigated the sanctuaries' function in society; the oft-cited commercial profits made by Italic merchants of the period are not a sufficient reason in and of themselves, only a condition. None of the three commonly proposed explanations (transhumance road shrines, territorial markers, constituents of the Italic pattern of settlement) for sanctuary development are satisfactory. If they were road-shrines connected with transhumance, then why are so many perched on mountain tops unsuited for flocks or large markets? The idea of the of the border sanctuary originated with Polignac's work in Greece, but the Greek system does not map neatly onto the Italic world. This is not a polis-system, and the ethnic groups represented may not have been so rigidly territorially defined. Finally, the oft-discussed pagus-vicus system is based on problematic and disparate literary references, rather than on archaeology, although it wins points for its attempt at a purely Italic model.
Stek finds a problem in that the spatial context of most Samnite sanctuaries is largely unknown. He took as a test case the sanctuary at S. Giovanni in Galdo, loc. Colle Rimontato, based on 2004-2005 Leiden surveys and unpublished finds from the 1970's. They surveyed the 7km2 directly around the sanctuary with theoretical 20% coverage; concentrations of >5 artifacts/m2 were labeled as sites and resurveyed. For the Archaic Period Stek found a nucleated settlement around a spring, with cemetery some 500m north of the sanctuary. The Hellenistic Period saw a dispersion of smaller sites, nine contemporary with the sanctuary, while the prior nucleated settlement was extended into a hamlet of 8 ha. For the Roman Period, the total number of sites remained the same, but their locations changed, though the hamlet continued to be occupied as did a number of farmsteads. The sanctuary shows evidence of use into the late Imperial period.
Stek hypothesizes the sanctuary as perhaps a pole of attraction for the surrounding communities, or possibly vice versa, being constructed in a (relatively) densely-populated area. He finds no evidence for territorial marking or for a connection with transhumance, although neither possibility can be ruled out at this stage.
Thus concludes the session on Etruria and Samnium. Tune in next time for coverage of Magna Graecia; I have some reviews of a couple of new books on ancient Italy in the works as well.
Elizabeth C. Robinson re-examined "Rural Settlement Patterns and Sanctuaries in the Middle Volturno Valley (Campania)" between the Archaic period and the 1st cent. BCE. The area has been discussed twice in recent memory, by P. Carafa in his 1997 dissertation "I Culti in Campania" (published in 2006) and by S.P. Oakley in his 1996 The Hill-Forts of the Samnites, but neither treatment is completely satisfactory. Robinson finds no evidence for city-state organization or border sanctuaries in the region, and Oakley's work (not surprisingly) focuses mostly on clearly identifiable fortified sites. Robinson reclassified the 16 identified sites into new categories: large oppida with a fortified acropolis and 1 or more wall circuits; small oppida with no separate acropolis, no more than one circuit, enclosing an area of less than 0.16m2; rural cult sites and necropoleis.
For instance, the site of La Rocca, with its three terraces and two circuits of polygonal masonry, becomes a large oppidum, which Carafa had identified as a boundary sanctuary purely on the basis of four terracotta heads, which may be antefixes. One of the difficulties that emerged from discussion was the lack of a real survey of the area, as well as the small quantities of material used to define a site -- do two bronze statuettes make Zappini a rural cult site? As some conclusions, the sanctuaries show little evidence of monumental architecture, the settlement pattern is very unlike that of poleis, and we should abandon the idea of boundary sanctuaries for Samnium.
Next, Rachel Van Dusen gave us "Saving Face: Samnite Elites in the Aftermath of the Samnite Wars." The families of Samnite generals identified in Livy's account of the Samnite Wars (Papius Brutulus, Statius Gellius, Gellius Egnatius, Min. Staius Minatius) continue to be attested as meddices tutici for several hundred years. For instance, the Staii produced at least 12 meddices for the period 296 - 90 BCE. The monumentalization of sanctuaries in Samnium, which coincides with a reduction in wealth of grave goods, provides further evidence for the continuing control of these families through inscriptional evidence. Four of the six Papii known as meddices tutici are attested in inscriptions from sanctuaries, e.g. G. Papius with the smaller temple at Schiavi D'Abruzzo, ca. 100-90 BCE. Likewise, two of three Statii, including G. Statius Clarus with Temple B at Pietrabbondante; one of three Egnatii, and a wopping 10 of 12 Staii, including six at Pietrabbondante, one at Campochiaro, plus an otherwise unattested Staius known from a bronze tablet at Vastogirardi. These families were clearly able to maintain their status despite a shift from positions of military power to civil posts.
Finally, Tesse Stek read a paper on "Sanctuaries and Society in Central-Southern Italy in the Republican Period." Stek investigated the sanctuaries' function in society; the oft-cited commercial profits made by Italic merchants of the period are not a sufficient reason in and of themselves, only a condition. None of the three commonly proposed explanations (transhumance road shrines, territorial markers, constituents of the Italic pattern of settlement) for sanctuary development are satisfactory. If they were road-shrines connected with transhumance, then why are so many perched on mountain tops unsuited for flocks or large markets? The idea of the of the border sanctuary originated with Polignac's work in Greece, but the Greek system does not map neatly onto the Italic world. This is not a polis-system, and the ethnic groups represented may not have been so rigidly territorially defined. Finally, the oft-discussed pagus-vicus system is based on problematic and disparate literary references, rather than on archaeology, although it wins points for its attempt at a purely Italic model.
Stek finds a problem in that the spatial context of most Samnite sanctuaries is largely unknown. He took as a test case the sanctuary at S. Giovanni in Galdo, loc. Colle Rimontato, based on 2004-2005 Leiden surveys and unpublished finds from the 1970's. They surveyed the 7km2 directly around the sanctuary with theoretical 20% coverage; concentrations of >5 artifacts/m2 were labeled as sites and resurveyed. For the Archaic Period Stek found a nucleated settlement around a spring, with cemetery some 500m north of the sanctuary. The Hellenistic Period saw a dispersion of smaller sites, nine contemporary with the sanctuary, while the prior nucleated settlement was extended into a hamlet of 8 ha. For the Roman Period, the total number of sites remained the same, but their locations changed, though the hamlet continued to be occupied as did a number of farmsteads. The sanctuary shows evidence of use into the late Imperial period.
Stek hypothesizes the sanctuary as perhaps a pole of attraction for the surrounding communities, or possibly vice versa, being constructed in a (relatively) densely-populated area. He finds no evidence for territorial marking or for a connection with transhumance, although neither possibility can be ruled out at this stage.
Thus concludes the session on Etruria and Samnium. Tune in next time for coverage of Magna Graecia; I have some reviews of a couple of new books on ancient Italy in the works as well.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
AIA/APA Chicago Report no. 1
This will be the first in a planned series of posts summarizing some of the papers I heard at the Joint Annual Meeting in Chicago, though I certainly didn't make it to all that I would have liked to!
On Friday, I attended AIA Session 2E: Etruria and Samnium.
To kick it off, David Soren of the University of Arizona read "Horace's Healing Spring at Chianciano, Tuscany: The Final Report" on the U. of A.'s excavations at the Etrusco-Roman thermal complex at Chianciano in Tuscany. The site is identified as the ancient Fontes Clusinii, renowned especially in the early Principate for its healing waters, a reputation that endures to this day. The Emperor Augustus, by command of his physician, sought (and found) relief from his stomach ailments there. The site seems to have been maintained deliberately rustic and unembellished, despited repeated additions and repairs from the 2nd century BCE to the 5th century CE. This suggests to Professor Soren that the complex was run by a community of ascetics. Analysis of water from the still-bubbling spring revealed concentrations of calcium carbonate which, ingested in small quantities, would have flushed the digestive system.
Next, Walter McCall of UNC-Chapel Hill presented "The Falerii Novi Project 2004-2006: Our Preliminary Conclusions." Ground survey revealed several previously-unknown gates in the Roman wall circuit, immediately south of the theater as well as near the northeast corner of the city. McCall suggests that the Roman grid of 80-90 m x 60 m insulae was designed to take into account a previously existing Faliscan settlement or path system, as evidenced by the non-rectilinear path of the pomerium road. Additionally, the southern entrance of the Via Amerina was shifted eastward to enter directly into the theater complex after the construction of that edifice -- maybe, I wonder, to move dispersing crowds quickly out of the city?
I missed the beginning of Hilary Becker's paper on "Family identity and heraldic signs in Etruria;" I came in as Ms. Becker was discussing the Tagliatella oinochoe, which depicts a line of warriors with shields all bearing identical wild-boar devices, headed by a man identified by inscription as "Mamerce." Becker contrasted the unity of devices on this Etruscan vase with contemporary images such as the Chigi Vase, which show lines of hoplites each having unique shield-devices.
On the walls of the 4th cent. BCE "Giglioli Tomb" at Tarquinia are three painted shields, bearing the devices of a wild boar, an amphora and an 'A'. These emblems are also found on contemporary coins from Tarquinia and nearby areas, probably issued by local noble families. The images may therefore be emblems of particular families, employed heraldically on both coins and on shields. Such devices could also be punning; there is a shield painted with a half-moon on the wall of the Tius ("Moon") family of Chiusi.
Family-specific devices may have been warranted by a clan's independent military actions. Of such bella privata, the best known is the attack on Veii in 477 BCE by the 306 members of the Roman gens Fabia (Livy 2.48-50). Though none of these private wars is recorded as contemporary for the tombs discussed, they may have gone unrecorded. The votive deposit at Vetulonia of 125 bronze helmets, of which nineteen were inscribed with the name of a prominent family, "Haspnas," may be indicative of clan-based warfare.
Lastly before the break, in "Imported Bucchero from Poggio Civitate: Socio-Political Exchange," Jason P. Bauer found that of the thousands of bucchero fragments from the area of the Orientalizing builidng at Poggio Civitate (constructed ca. 650 BCE, with a burn layer ca. 620-600), only some 53 were imported. In contrast to the coarse local production, the imported bucchero is probably to be connected with a system of trade and contact between elites.
That's it for today; I'll cover the last three papers from this panel on Samnium in a future post, along with some from other sessions.
On Friday, I attended AIA Session 2E: Etruria and Samnium.
To kick it off, David Soren of the University of Arizona read "Horace's Healing Spring at Chianciano, Tuscany: The Final Report" on the U. of A.'s excavations at the Etrusco-Roman thermal complex at Chianciano in Tuscany. The site is identified as the ancient Fontes Clusinii, renowned especially in the early Principate for its healing waters, a reputation that endures to this day. The Emperor Augustus, by command of his physician, sought (and found) relief from his stomach ailments there. The site seems to have been maintained deliberately rustic and unembellished, despited repeated additions and repairs from the 2nd century BCE to the 5th century CE. This suggests to Professor Soren that the complex was run by a community of ascetics. Analysis of water from the still-bubbling spring revealed concentrations of calcium carbonate which, ingested in small quantities, would have flushed the digestive system.
Next, Walter McCall of UNC-Chapel Hill presented "The Falerii Novi Project 2004-2006: Our Preliminary Conclusions." Ground survey revealed several previously-unknown gates in the Roman wall circuit, immediately south of the theater as well as near the northeast corner of the city. McCall suggests that the Roman grid of 80-90 m x 60 m insulae was designed to take into account a previously existing Faliscan settlement or path system, as evidenced by the non-rectilinear path of the pomerium road. Additionally, the southern entrance of the Via Amerina was shifted eastward to enter directly into the theater complex after the construction of that edifice -- maybe, I wonder, to move dispersing crowds quickly out of the city?
I missed the beginning of Hilary Becker's paper on "Family identity and heraldic signs in Etruria;" I came in as Ms. Becker was discussing the Tagliatella oinochoe, which depicts a line of warriors with shields all bearing identical wild-boar devices, headed by a man identified by inscription as "Mamerce." Becker contrasted the unity of devices on this Etruscan vase with contemporary images such as the Chigi Vase, which show lines of hoplites each having unique shield-devices.
On the walls of the 4th cent. BCE "Giglioli Tomb" at Tarquinia are three painted shields, bearing the devices of a wild boar, an amphora and an 'A'. These emblems are also found on contemporary coins from Tarquinia and nearby areas, probably issued by local noble families. The images may therefore be emblems of particular families, employed heraldically on both coins and on shields. Such devices could also be punning; there is a shield painted with a half-moon on the wall of the Tius ("Moon") family of Chiusi.
Family-specific devices may have been warranted by a clan's independent military actions. Of such bella privata, the best known is the attack on Veii in 477 BCE by the 306 members of the Roman gens Fabia (Livy 2.48-50). Though none of these private wars is recorded as contemporary for the tombs discussed, they may have gone unrecorded. The votive deposit at Vetulonia of 125 bronze helmets, of which nineteen were inscribed with the name of a prominent family, "Haspnas," may be indicative of clan-based warfare.
Lastly before the break, in "Imported Bucchero from Poggio Civitate: Socio-Political Exchange," Jason P. Bauer found that of the thousands of bucchero fragments from the area of the Orientalizing builidng at Poggio Civitate (constructed ca. 650 BCE, with a burn layer ca. 620-600), only some 53 were imported. In contrast to the coarse local production, the imported bucchero is probably to be connected with a system of trade and contact between elites.
That's it for today; I'll cover the last three papers from this panel on Samnium in a future post, along with some from other sessions.
New Journal: Rasenna
The good folks over at the Center for Etruscan Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently launched a new project, namely, Rasenna: Journal of the Center for Etruscan Studies. According to the website,
"The primary function of Rasenna is to publish peer reviewed articles and book reviews, but we expect to take advantage of the speed and flexibility of digital publication to provide timely information on excavation opportunities in the region, announcements and reviews of museum shows, and other similar kinds of information. On‑line publication is the norm in the physical sciences and we hope that this journal will help speed its acceptance in the humanities as well. To our knowledge, there is no other on‑line academic resource in Etruscan Studies for the publication of scholarly research. We are delighted to be the first, but we certainly hope to be one of many in the coming years."Editors Rex Wallace and Anthony Tuck are to be congratulated for continuing to advance the study of Ancient Italy through the timely and appropriate use of digital technology. Rasenna follows in the footsteps of their earlier (and vibrantly continuing) projects, the Etruscan Texts Project (with Michael Shamgochian and James Patterson) and the Poggio Civitate Archive.
Volume I, Issue 1 is now available with an article from Carlo de Simone, on "Alcuni termini chiave della Tabula Cortonensis." The digital format of the journal means that articles will be accepted on a rolling basis and published as soon as they clear the review and editorial process; each issue will consist of all the articles published in a given year.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Spolia on Flickr
Just a quick note here to say that I've joined flickr. I was inspired to create a group called "Spolia," which does just what it says on the tin. Thus far it's mostly my own photos from Central and South Italy, but I'd welcome contributions from far and wide.
Spoliation is much easier these days. Texts, images and other such fragments can be embedded in new creations with a few clicks of the mouse; you don't even have to wait for the original to crumble into pieces.
Spoliation is much easier these days. Texts, images and other such fragments can be embedded in new creations with a few clicks of the mouse; you don't even have to wait for the original to crumble into pieces.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Italic Matters in Chicago
Has it been a year already? The recent construction of the Ancient World Bloggers Group in a day has spurred (or rather goaded, in this pre-spur age) me into thinking about a return to blogging. With the annual joint meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America and the American Philological Association coming up January 3-6, 2008, and in the interests of taking it slow and minimizing the risk of injury, I'm starting out with some simple synthesis, a list of papers that may be of interest to the student of pre-Roman and Roman Italy, arranged chronologically by session, the AIA and the APA commingled in a model of harmonious coexistence. Before jumping into the list, I'll note in passing that the AIA/APA Annual Meeting Scheduling Tool is now online.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 4:
* AIA Session: 1J: Poster Session (Friday, January 4, 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM)
3. William Colsher, "The Topography of Prostitution in Pompeii"
12. Martin J. Goalen, From Raw Data to Graphic Analysis: Computer Modelling as a Tool in Site Conservation and Presentation at Insula VI.1, Pompeii.
14. Jeffrey A. Becker and Nicola Terrenato, The Gabii Excavation Project: A Report on the First Season
*APA Session : Polis Religion in Greece and Rome (Friday, January 4, 11:15 AM – 1:15 PM)
Section 10 Crystal Ballroom C
-Amanda Coles, Worshipping Diana: Religion and Colonization in Northern Italy
-Susan Satterfield, Alien Insiders: Etruscan Haruspices in Rome
* APA Session 11: Aeneid (Friday, January 4, 11:15 AM – 1:15 PM)
Columbus Hall KL
-Jennifer Ferriss, Virgil Polyglottos: Sabellic Etymologizing in Aeneid 7
*APA Session 12: Latin Historiography (Friday, January 4, 11:15 AM – 1:15 PM)
Columbus Hall AB
-Jackie Elliott, Ennius’ Fabius Maximus Cunctator and the history of an ablative gerund in the Roman historiographical tradition
* APA Session 13: Linguistics (Friday, January 4, 11:15 AM – 1:15 PM)
Grand Suite 5
-Jay Fisher, Bridgemaker or Pathfinder?: the Origin of Latin Pontifex Revisited
* AIA Session: 2E: Etruria and Samnium (Friday, January 4, 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM)
1. David Soren, Horace's Healing Spring at Chianciano, Tuscany: The Final Report
2. Walter McCall, The Falerii Novi Project 2004-2006: Our Preliminary Conclusions
3. Hilary Becker, Family identity and heraldic signs in Etruria
4. Jason P. Bauer, Imported Bucchero from Poggio Civitate: Socio-Political Exchange
5. Elizabeth C. Robinson, Rural Settlement Patterns and Sanctuaries in the Middle Volturno Valley (Campania)
6. Rachel Van Dusen, Saving Face: Samnite Elites in the Aftermath of the Roman Samnite Wars
7. Tesse D. Stek, Sanctuaries and Society in Central-Southern Italy in the Republican Period
* AIA Session: 2G: Embodiment and Remembrance in a Mortuary Context (Friday, January 4, 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM)
5. David Soren, Malaria, Magic, and Infant Burials at Lugnano in Teverina, Umbria
6.Mauro Rubini, Disfiguring Diseases and Society in the Fourth - Fifth Century A.D.:The Case of Palombara Sabina (Rome, Central Italy)
SATURDAY, JANUARY 5:
Though most unrelated to the Italic world, you'll surely find me at:
* AIA Session: 3F: Greek Sanctuaries (Saturday, January 5, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM)
3. Excavations and Research at the Sanctuary of Zeus on Mt. Lykaion in the Peloponnesos, 2004-2007,
an interim report on the site I worked at last summer in the field, and continue to help out with here in the lab.
* APA Session 35: Italian Epigraphy (Saturday, January 5, 11:15 AM - 1:15 PM)
Columbus Hall IJ
1. Christer Bruun, Property Ownership by Women in Rome and Roman Italy (15 mins.)
2. Cynthia J. Bannon, Fish Farming and Fraud: Rational Economic Strategies for Roman Landowners? (15 mins.)
3. Rebecca Benefiel, Advertising for Sex in Ancient Pompeii (15 mins.)
4. Megan Nutzman, Faith or Family? Jewish Epitaphs from Rome (15 mins.)
* AIA Session: 4C: Pompeii and Ostia (Saturday, January 5, 3:15 PM - 4:30 PM)
1. Gary Devore and Steven J.R. Ellis, Plebs versus the City: The Competition for Space between Public and Private Interests at Pompeii
2. J. Clayton Fant, Bars with Marble Surfaces; Evidence for the Mediterranean Marble Trade and for Pompeii’s Innkeepers
3. Genevieve Gessert, Excavation of the Domus del Tempio Rotondo, Ostia Antica 2003-2007
4. Douglas Boin, The Temple of Vulcan at Ostia and the Late Antique "Pagan Revival"
* AIA Session: 4D: Magna Graecia (Saturday, January 5, 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM)
1. Johanna Hobratschk, Apulian Vase-painting in Context: A Reconsideration of Dramatic Scenes
2. Camilla R. Norman, The Myth of the Ransom of Hector on the Daunian Stelai
3. Gianfranco Carollo, Burials and Reconstruction of Social and Cultural Contexts. The Unpublished Necropolis of Ripacandida (Potenza, Italy)
4. Domenico Marino and Annalisa Zarattini, Archaeology and Environment in the Sila Mountains (Calabria, Italy). Analysis of the Prehistoric Settlements.
5. Sandra K. Lucore, Tradition and Innovation in Western Greek Baths
* Session: 4H: Cultural Identity and the Peoples of the Ancient Mediterranean, Joint AIA/APA Colloquium (Saturday, January 5, 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM)
3. Maria Swetnam-Burland, Aegyptus Capta: The Appropriation and Assimilation of Egypt in Roman Italy
SUNDAY, JANUARY 6:
*APA Session 53: Greek and Latin Linguistics (Sunday, January 6, 8:30 AM - 11:00 AM)
Grand Suite 5
3. Angelo O. Mercado, Poetry and Phonology of the Paelignians (25 mins.)
5. Michael Weiss, New Paradigms for Old in the Interpretation of the Iguvine Tables (25 mins.)
* AIA Session: 5B: The Archaeology of Sanctuaries and Ritual in Etruria (Sunday, January 6, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM)
1. Katherine Rask, The Elusive Cult Statue of Etruria
2. Simonetta Stopponi, The Excavation of Campo della Fiera in Orvieto
3. Giovanna Bagnasco Gianni, Tarquinia: Excavations by the University of Milano at the Ara della Regina Sanctuary
4. Helen Nagy, Etruscan Votive Deposits and Their Archaeological Context
5. Nancy T. de Grummond, The Sacred Area at Cetamura del Chianti
6. Lisa Pieraccini, The Wonders of Wine and Ritual in Etruria
7. P. Gregory Warden, New Evidence for Ritual Activity at Poggio Colla
* APA Session 55: The Nature of the Roman Republic (Sunday, January 6. 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM)
Grand Suite 5
1. Catherine Tracy, Who Were the Quirites? The Composition of Contio Audiences (15 mins.)
2. Ayelet Haimson Lushkov, Constitutional Debate in Republican Rome and the
Elections of 184 B.C. (15 mins.)
3. Robert Morstein-Marx, The Struggle Over Italian Voting-Rights in 88-87 B.C. and Its Implications for the Debate about Political Participation in the Late Roman Republic (15 mins.)
* AIA Session: 6B: Villas and Villa Life (Sunday, January 6, 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM)
1. Elizabeth Fentress, Excavations at Villa Magna
2. Diane Atnally Conlin, Anne Haeckl, and Gianni Ponti, Excavations at the Villa of Maxentius: Report on the 2006 and 2007 Seasons
3. John W. Stephenson, Textile Hangings and Elite Self-Presentation in Late Roman Villas
4. Nicholas Hudson, Dining in Late Antiquity: An Analysis of Roman Dining Assemblages
*APA Session 61: Roman History (Sunday, January 6, 1:45 PM - 4:15 PM)
Columbus Hall KL
-Jessica Homan Clark, The Paradox of Ransom in the Roman Middle Republic
*APA Session 63: Plautus (Sunday, January 6, 1:45 PM - 4:15 PM)
Columbus Hall CD
1. Dorota Dutsch, A "Pythagorizing Girl" in the Plautine Poenulus? (15 mins.)
FRIDAY, JANUARY 4:
* AIA Session: 1J: Poster Session (Friday, January 4, 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM)
3. William Colsher, "The Topography of Prostitution in Pompeii"
12. Martin J. Goalen, From Raw Data to Graphic Analysis: Computer Modelling as a Tool in Site Conservation and Presentation at Insula VI.1, Pompeii.
14. Jeffrey A. Becker and Nicola Terrenato, The Gabii Excavation Project: A Report on the First Season
*APA Session : Polis Religion in Greece and Rome (Friday, January 4, 11:15 AM – 1:15 PM)
Section 10 Crystal Ballroom C
-Amanda Coles, Worshipping Diana: Religion and Colonization in Northern Italy
-Susan Satterfield, Alien Insiders: Etruscan Haruspices in Rome
* APA Session 11: Aeneid (Friday, January 4, 11:15 AM – 1:15 PM)
Columbus Hall KL
-Jennifer Ferriss, Virgil Polyglottos: Sabellic Etymologizing in Aeneid 7
*APA Session 12: Latin Historiography (Friday, January 4, 11:15 AM – 1:15 PM)
Columbus Hall AB
-Jackie Elliott, Ennius’ Fabius Maximus Cunctator and the history of an ablative gerund in the Roman historiographical tradition
* APA Session 13: Linguistics (Friday, January 4, 11:15 AM – 1:15 PM)
Grand Suite 5
-Jay Fisher, Bridgemaker or Pathfinder?: the Origin of Latin Pontifex Revisited
* AIA Session: 2E: Etruria and Samnium (Friday, January 4, 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM)
1. David Soren, Horace's Healing Spring at Chianciano, Tuscany: The Final Report
2. Walter McCall, The Falerii Novi Project 2004-2006: Our Preliminary Conclusions
3. Hilary Becker, Family identity and heraldic signs in Etruria
4. Jason P. Bauer, Imported Bucchero from Poggio Civitate: Socio-Political Exchange
5. Elizabeth C. Robinson, Rural Settlement Patterns and Sanctuaries in the Middle Volturno Valley (Campania)
6. Rachel Van Dusen, Saving Face: Samnite Elites in the Aftermath of the Roman Samnite Wars
7. Tesse D. Stek, Sanctuaries and Society in Central-Southern Italy in the Republican Period
* AIA Session: 2G: Embodiment and Remembrance in a Mortuary Context (Friday, January 4, 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM)
5. David Soren, Malaria, Magic, and Infant Burials at Lugnano in Teverina, Umbria
6.Mauro Rubini, Disfiguring Diseases and Society in the Fourth - Fifth Century A.D.:The Case of Palombara Sabina (Rome, Central Italy)
SATURDAY, JANUARY 5:
Though most unrelated to the Italic world, you'll surely find me at:
* AIA Session: 3F: Greek Sanctuaries (Saturday, January 5, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM)
3. Excavations and Research at the Sanctuary of Zeus on Mt. Lykaion in the Peloponnesos, 2004-2007,
an interim report on the site I worked at last summer in the field, and continue to help out with here in the lab.
* APA Session 35: Italian Epigraphy (Saturday, January 5, 11:15 AM - 1:15 PM)
Columbus Hall IJ
1. Christer Bruun, Property Ownership by Women in Rome and Roman Italy (15 mins.)
2. Cynthia J. Bannon, Fish Farming and Fraud: Rational Economic Strategies for Roman Landowners? (15 mins.)
3. Rebecca Benefiel, Advertising for Sex in Ancient Pompeii (15 mins.)
4. Megan Nutzman, Faith or Family? Jewish Epitaphs from Rome (15 mins.)
* AIA Session: 4C: Pompeii and Ostia (Saturday, January 5, 3:15 PM - 4:30 PM)
1. Gary Devore and Steven J.R. Ellis, Plebs versus the City: The Competition for Space between Public and Private Interests at Pompeii
2. J. Clayton Fant, Bars with Marble Surfaces; Evidence for the Mediterranean Marble Trade and for Pompeii’s Innkeepers
3. Genevieve Gessert, Excavation of the Domus del Tempio Rotondo, Ostia Antica 2003-2007
4. Douglas Boin, The Temple of Vulcan at Ostia and the Late Antique "Pagan Revival"
* AIA Session: 4D: Magna Graecia (Saturday, January 5, 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM)
1. Johanna Hobratschk, Apulian Vase-painting in Context: A Reconsideration of Dramatic Scenes
2. Camilla R. Norman, The Myth of the Ransom of Hector on the Daunian Stelai
3. Gianfranco Carollo, Burials and Reconstruction of Social and Cultural Contexts. The Unpublished Necropolis of Ripacandida (Potenza, Italy)
4. Domenico Marino and Annalisa Zarattini, Archaeology and Environment in the Sila Mountains (Calabria, Italy). Analysis of the Prehistoric Settlements.
5. Sandra K. Lucore, Tradition and Innovation in Western Greek Baths
* Session: 4H: Cultural Identity and the Peoples of the Ancient Mediterranean, Joint AIA/APA Colloquium (Saturday, January 5, 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM)
3. Maria Swetnam-Burland, Aegyptus Capta: The Appropriation and Assimilation of Egypt in Roman Italy
SUNDAY, JANUARY 6:
*APA Session 53: Greek and Latin Linguistics (Sunday, January 6, 8:30 AM - 11:00 AM)
Grand Suite 5
3. Angelo O. Mercado, Poetry and Phonology of the Paelignians (25 mins.)
5. Michael Weiss, New Paradigms for Old in the Interpretation of the Iguvine Tables (25 mins.)
* AIA Session: 5B: The Archaeology of Sanctuaries and Ritual in Etruria (Sunday, January 6, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM)
1. Katherine Rask, The Elusive Cult Statue of Etruria
2. Simonetta Stopponi, The Excavation of Campo della Fiera in Orvieto
3. Giovanna Bagnasco Gianni, Tarquinia: Excavations by the University of Milano at the Ara della Regina Sanctuary
4. Helen Nagy, Etruscan Votive Deposits and Their Archaeological Context
5. Nancy T. de Grummond, The Sacred Area at Cetamura del Chianti
6. Lisa Pieraccini, The Wonders of Wine and Ritual in Etruria
7. P. Gregory Warden, New Evidence for Ritual Activity at Poggio Colla
* APA Session 55: The Nature of the Roman Republic (Sunday, January 6. 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM)
Grand Suite 5
1. Catherine Tracy, Who Were the Quirites? The Composition of Contio Audiences (15 mins.)
2. Ayelet Haimson Lushkov, Constitutional Debate in Republican Rome and the
Elections of 184 B.C. (15 mins.)
3. Robert Morstein-Marx, The Struggle Over Italian Voting-Rights in 88-87 B.C. and Its Implications for the Debate about Political Participation in the Late Roman Republic (15 mins.)
* AIA Session: 6B: Villas and Villa Life (Sunday, January 6, 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM)
1. Elizabeth Fentress, Excavations at Villa Magna
2. Diane Atnally Conlin, Anne Haeckl, and Gianni Ponti, Excavations at the Villa of Maxentius: Report on the 2006 and 2007 Seasons
3. John W. Stephenson, Textile Hangings and Elite Self-Presentation in Late Roman Villas
4. Nicholas Hudson, Dining in Late Antiquity: An Analysis of Roman Dining Assemblages
*APA Session 61: Roman History (Sunday, January 6, 1:45 PM - 4:15 PM)
Columbus Hall KL
-Jessica Homan Clark, The Paradox of Ransom in the Roman Middle Republic
*APA Session 63: Plautus (Sunday, January 6, 1:45 PM - 4:15 PM)
Columbus Hall CD
1. Dorota Dutsch, A "Pythagorizing Girl" in the Plautine Poenulus? (15 mins.)
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Shepherds, Shake Off Your Drowsy Sleep...
After an unplanned, rather lengthy, and otherwise unremarkable hiatus (*yawn*...), postings will continue until morale improves. In the interim I've begun working at the University Museum in Philadelphia once more.
I recently discovered LibraryThing, an easy and addictive online book-cataloguing site, whose developer's interests, incidentally, "run to ancient history, Greek and Latin." It's easy to lose oneself in, and I spent quite a bit of time cataloguing while home for Thanksgiving, though the task is still far from complete. I also set up a widget in the sidebar below the links that shows random books from my library for amusement.
I'd also like to offer belated congratulations to Dr. Mercado! As I consider setting foot on that path in the not-too-distant future, it's encouraging to see such successes emerging from the end of the trail.
For whatever reason I just now recalled a sign I saw from the window of a bus from Assisi to Perugia, early in September 2005, for a bar called "Pantarei," which I thought was amusing at the time (Heraclitus' famous dictum, panta rei, means "everything flows"), but I see now is not so uncommon.
I recently discovered LibraryThing, an easy and addictive online book-cataloguing site, whose developer's interests, incidentally, "run to ancient history, Greek and Latin." It's easy to lose oneself in, and I spent quite a bit of time cataloguing while home for Thanksgiving, though the task is still far from complete. I also set up a widget in the sidebar below the links that shows random books from my library for amusement.
I'd also like to offer belated congratulations to Dr. Mercado! As I consider setting foot on that path in the not-too-distant future, it's encouraging to see such successes emerging from the end of the trail.
For whatever reason I just now recalled a sign I saw from the window of a bus from Assisi to Perugia, early in September 2005, for a bar called "Pantarei," which I thought was amusing at the time (Heraclitus' famous dictum, panta rei, means "everything flows"), but I see now is not so uncommon.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Catapult from Casalbordino
I was inspired by Angelo's post on Oscan abecedaria to dust off the old keyboard; for the future remain many exciting episodes from Italy and some brief things about the APA/AIA convention. The inscription that concerns me here is the following (format snagged from Sauvage Noble):
"Rix Fr 13
The letters that accompany what were originally ten holes evenly-spaced around the cylinder therefore indicate intervals of 36 degrees up to 324 (360 and 0 being of course the same). This division would give the artillerist a chance to adjust the tension with some degree of regularity, based on prior experience (probably the previous shot!). The cylinder probably dates to the period of the Social Wars, ca. 90 BCE, when many of the Italic tribes took arms against Roman hegemony.
"Rix Fr 13
Bronze cylinder, Casalbordino:
a b g d v z ḥ [i] k
Aside from 〈a〉, all the letters are/can be consonantal, without regard for voicing."
It's a bronze cylinder, found at Casalbordino in Abruzzo, now in the Museo Nazionale in Chieti.
The letters that accompany what were originally ten holes evenly-spaced around the cylinder therefore indicate intervals of 36 degrees up to 324 (360 and 0 being of course the same). This division would give the artillerist a chance to adjust the tension with some degree of regularity, based on prior experience (probably the previous shot!). The cylinder probably dates to the period of the Social Wars, ca. 90 BCE, when many of the Italic tribes took arms against Roman hegemony.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Trebula Mutuesca
Faithful readers may remember that I was on a dig in Italy way back in August. Now that I'm home and starting to get my act together, I can offer some photographs from my travels. The site is Trebula Mutuesca, site of a Sabine sanctuary to the goddess Feronia, near the modern village of Monteleone Sabino, some ways north of Rome in the Sabine Hills. The excavation is in the area directly below the assumed site of the temple. A terrace wall (seen clearly in the first picture below) separates the temple area from a colonnaded approach (seen in the second picture).
Interior designer by profession, archaeologist by passion, Leo uncovers a cache of five Roman Republican-era bronze coins:
Lindsay, our site director Giulio, and Pierangelo take a break in the shade:
The apparatus of digging:
A single worked tufa block from a workshop at Falerii Veteres (modern Civita Castellana). Apparently used as fill during construction of the terrace and colonnade.
Giulio and Stefania inspect the site:
The terrace wall in the near foreground, the colonnade stretching away in the center, bordered on the left by a drain and the right by a wall.
Interior designer by profession, archaeologist by passion, Leo uncovers a cache of five Roman Republican-era bronze coins:
Lindsay, our site director Giulio, and Pierangelo take a break in the shade:
The apparatus of digging:
A single worked tufa block from a workshop at Falerii Veteres (modern Civita Castellana). Apparently used as fill during construction of the terrace and colonnade.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Pilgrimage to Pietrabbondante
After spending the whole morning in Agnone, I caught a bus to Pietrabbondante around 2 pm. There are two big rocks that loom over the town (hence the name -- "abundant rocks"), and many smaller ones that do more lurking than looming. I descended from the bus in the main square, where a brazen Samnite warrior glared down upon me from his commemorative pedestal. The ancient site is a bit of a walk from the town, but it gives a good panoramic view:
By happy coincidence, the Samnites built their theater-temple complex on Mommsen Street:
It's generally agreed that Pietrabbondante, whatever its ancient name, was the foremost sanctuary and meeting place of the Samnites, regardless of tribe. It's likely that the legio linteata ("Linen Legion"), the crème de la crème of the Samnite fighting forces, was mustered here before its defeat at Aquilonia in 293 BCE.
This, the signs all say, is the greatest monument left by the Samnites:
It's called "Temple B," and it dates to the end of the 2nd century BCE. The section of standing wall was reconstructed by archaeologists from fallen blocks. Below Temple B and on the same axis is a theater...
Idle thoughts
I'd like to visit Egypt -- the past few months I've been thinking a lot about Alexandria. But this is not the time.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Agnone Adventures
The day after Capua, Mario was going to Rome, so I had him drop me off in Isernia with the intention of catching a bus to Pietrabbondante. As it happened, there was no direct connection, so I went to Agnone first, which is a bit northwest of Pietrabbondante. I had about an hour to kill, and I knew there was a replica of the Oscan 'Table of Agnone' floating around (the original is in the British Museum), so I decided to investigate. At the first bar, I learned that a copy was housed in the church of , and thence I went. The church, however, was closed and locked; since it was only 9:30, I figured I'd try back after 10. In the meantime, I hoofed it to the centro storico looking for picturesque alleyways and maybe some spolia. I was passing the Municipio (town hall) and happened to glance through the open doorway. I spied a courtyard, and since antiquities are often to be found in such places, I stepped in. Two gentlemen strolling under the modest collonade asked my business, and I said I was looking for the reproduction of the Oscan tablet. It seemed I was in luck: there was one in the library upstairs. Upon arrival, however, it was not to be found. I was led down the hall to the office of some petty magistrate whose closet, as it happened, contained a replica in plastic. Just after getting the thing in my greasy little fingers, another man entered and informed us that the more true-to-life copy in bronze was being used for a class, and would I like to sit in? Shortly thereafter I was introduced to a class of about twenty ten-year olds as an "archaeologist from the United States very interested in the Oscan tablet" and shown a seat. The man teaching the class (who incidentally looked a bit like Rex Wallace) then turned to me, raised an eyebrow and said, "I know you." It turned out he was a journalist I'd been introduced to while helping Mario sell cheese at the Truffle Fair in S. Pietro Avellana a week prior... In any case, I got a 45-minute refresher course on Samnite history (in Italian, naturally). After the kids were dismissed, I got to take a look at the replica tablet and talked with Nicolà for quite some time.
His three great loves, it turns out, are the Samnites, tratturi, and horses. After picking up his kids from school, he drove me to the outskirts of town to show me the remains of the massive Samnite fortification walls:
We don't know the ancient name of Agnone; Nicolà suggested Aquilonia, site of the decisive Roman victory against the Samnite legio linteata in 293 BCE, but that seems to me to be more wishful thinking on his part. Whatever the case, he kept stressing the fact that the site has never been excavated and hinted that it might be a good place for my future work... I think it pained him to live so close to such a site and know so little about it. But it was time for me to catch another bus to Pietrabbondante, as the first one had departed hours before.
His three great loves, it turns out, are the Samnites, tratturi, and horses. After picking up his kids from school, he drove me to the outskirts of town to show me the remains of the massive Samnite fortification walls:
We don't know the ancient name of Agnone; Nicolà suggested Aquilonia, site of the decisive Roman victory against the Samnite legio linteata in 293 BCE, but that seems to me to be more wishful thinking on his part. Whatever the case, he kept stressing the fact that the site has never been excavated and hinted that it might be a good place for my future work... I think it pained him to live so close to such a site and know so little about it. But it was time for me to catch another bus to Pietrabbondante, as the first one had departed hours before.
Monday, November 14, 2005
Capua Recap
On the 8th of November I had the opportunity to visit Capua for several hours. The modern city is located on the site of ancient Casilinum, the river port of (pre-)Roman Capua, which is today Santa Maria Capua Vetere. As I was only tagging along while Mario went to Caserta a bit further on, I got there later than I'd hoped. Consequently I had only an hour to zoom through the rich and fabulous Museo Provinciale Campano before it closed for the afternoon and the day. When that's the case, I usually photograph everything and sort through it later; unfortunately, almost the entirety of the indoor galleries were No Foto Zones. Since I was the only person daft enough to be visiting at 12:30 in the middle of the week in the middle of November, I had my own personal "tour guide" -- read camera monitor. Be that as it may, it was still a great museum and I did take a few pictures:
A Roman mosaic full of young 'uns. Actually, a so-called "sacred choir" (makes me think of the Carmen Saecvlare) from the temple of Diana Tifatina. This was the picture that prompted the admonition "Vietato fare foto." Now, all those kids gotta come from somewhere...
...and that's where Mater Matuta comes in (though these date between the 6th and 2nd centuries BCE -- well before the mosaic). There are several galleries filled with statues of this sort -- I don't remember, but I believe there are over a hundred in the collection. They come from an Italic sanctuary nearby, and were probably ex voto dedications: an expecting mother would vow to set up a statue to the goddess if childbirth went easily. Numbers of children held range from one to twelve (seen here). Jumping forward again to Roman imperial times...
This is a detail of the left half of a relief, showing a man-powered crane lifting a column into place, the goddess Minerva in attendance. The inscription reads:
Lucceius Speculiaris redemptor prosceni fecit ex biso
"Lucceius Speculiaris the theater contractor made (this) after a vision."
I didn't have time to see the iuvilas-inscriptions (in Oscan), which are by request only. In any case, I plan to come back and spend at least a day, maybe a week. I spent the rest of the day wandering up and down practically every street in the center of Capua. It's rich in spolia, that is, ancient inscriptions and architectural bits reused in later buildings. For example:
The church of S. Angelo in Audoaldis, which dates from the 11th c (CE). At the base of the tower you can see three or four reused Roman funerary stones.
The church of the Annunziata. Those familiar-looking blocks that form the base (and not only in front -- they stretch around the entirety of the rather long structure) come from the Roman amphitheater in S. Maria Capua Vetere. In fact, the entire modern city of Capua was built from the remains of that amphitheater. Indeed, no one in Europe has cut building stone since the fall of the Roman Empire. It's more efficient to go down to your friendly neighborhood Roman ruins and take what you need, plus it saves the environment by reducing the need for ugly quarries. Everybody's happy...
There are at least five pieces of spolia in this picture. Can you find them all? As the sun sets, farewell to Capua for now. Watch this space for exciting updates over the next several days.
A Roman mosaic full of young 'uns. Actually, a so-called "sacred choir" (makes me think of the Carmen Saecvlare) from the temple of Diana Tifatina. This was the picture that prompted the admonition "Vietato fare foto." Now, all those kids gotta come from somewhere...
...and that's where Mater Matuta comes in (though these date between the 6th and 2nd centuries BCE -- well before the mosaic). There are several galleries filled with statues of this sort -- I don't remember, but I believe there are over a hundred in the collection. They come from an Italic sanctuary nearby, and were probably ex voto dedications: an expecting mother would vow to set up a statue to the goddess if childbirth went easily. Numbers of children held range from one to twelve (seen here). Jumping forward again to Roman imperial times...
This is a detail of the left half of a relief, showing a man-powered crane lifting a column into place, the goddess Minerva in attendance. The inscription reads:
Lucceius Speculiaris redemptor prosceni fecit ex biso
"Lucceius Speculiaris the theater contractor made (this) after a vision."
I didn't have time to see the iuvilas-inscriptions (in Oscan), which are by request only. In any case, I plan to come back and spend at least a day, maybe a week. I spent the rest of the day wandering up and down practically every street in the center of Capua. It's rich in spolia, that is, ancient inscriptions and architectural bits reused in later buildings. For example:
The church of S. Angelo in Audoaldis, which dates from the 11th c (CE). At the base of the tower you can see three or four reused Roman funerary stones.
The church of the Annunziata. Those familiar-looking blocks that form the base (and not only in front -- they stretch around the entirety of the rather long structure) come from the Roman amphitheater in S. Maria Capua Vetere. In fact, the entire modern city of Capua was built from the remains of that amphitheater. Indeed, no one in Europe has cut building stone since the fall of the Roman Empire. It's more efficient to go down to your friendly neighborhood Roman ruins and take what you need, plus it saves the environment by reducing the need for ugly quarries. Everybody's happy...
There are at least five pieces of spolia in this picture. Can you find them all? As the sun sets, farewell to Capua for now. Watch this space for exciting updates over the next several days.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
What's in your saddlebag?
When you ride off to put the sheep out to pasture, what do you carry at your side? You're looking at two to six hours of ovine overseeing in the remotest meadows of darkest Molise.
Water: 1.5 Liters of it. On a hot sunny day you need it all.
Lunch: Always delicious. Sometimes even better, like today, when I had two egg-and-cheese sandwiches, two apples and a janiform kiwi. The cheese is home-made (with milk from the farm down the road) scamorza --think dry mozzarella; actually, it's a bit too dry for my tastes, but excellent fried inside of an egg! Homemade sausages, bread from the wood-fired oven and my god, the ricotta is to die for (and I met a man who did, too). I don't even think it could be stuffed into manicotti shells: they would burst from the overwhelming goodness.
Reading materials: T.S. Eliot, Poesie. It's a Not-Quite-Complete Works (how could they omit the Four Quartets ?!) with facing-page Italian translation that I bought at the street fair in Larino many weeks ago. Sometimes Crime and Punishment, for the second time. I first read it at the last farm, in the archaic and unsigned Penguin Classics translation.
Instruments of composition: Notebook, stylish black LAMY (note that if you click on 'My LAMY', you get an error page: the correct address is this) fountain pen, utilitarian ballpoint in case of rain.
Instruments of melody: Pennywhistle in the key of D by Feadóg. I've been picking out some new songs, but I can't quite remember how 'Blackberry Blossom' goes.
Instruments of communication: cell phone -- so much for the romantic isolation of the shepherd in the mountains. Used to call for backup in case there are more than twenty-three sheep rustlers. I can handle any number less than that, with the three-to-five large and ferocious fluffy white Maremma sheepdogs and the yellow plastic shepherd's cane of righteousness that draws down lightning from Heaven.
Instruments of torture: Fuses to scare off menacing canines.
What's in your saddlebag, or would be, if you had one?
Water: 1.5 Liters of it. On a hot sunny day you need it all.
Lunch: Always delicious. Sometimes even better, like today, when I had two egg-and-cheese sandwiches, two apples and a janiform kiwi. The cheese is home-made (with milk from the farm down the road) scamorza --think dry mozzarella; actually, it's a bit too dry for my tastes, but excellent fried inside of an egg! Homemade sausages, bread from the wood-fired oven and my god, the ricotta is to die for (and I met a man who did, too). I don't even think it could be stuffed into manicotti shells: they would burst from the overwhelming goodness.
Reading materials: T.S. Eliot, Poesie. It's a Not-Quite-Complete Works (how could they omit the Four Quartets ?!) with facing-page Italian translation that I bought at the street fair in Larino many weeks ago. Sometimes Crime and Punishment, for the second time. I first read it at the last farm, in the archaic and unsigned Penguin Classics translation.
Instruments of composition: Notebook, stylish black LAMY (note that if you click on 'My LAMY', you get an error page: the correct address is this) fountain pen, utilitarian ballpoint in case of rain.
Instruments of melody: Pennywhistle in the key of D by Feadóg. I've been picking out some new songs, but I can't quite remember how 'Blackberry Blossom' goes.
Instruments of communication: cell phone -- so much for the romantic isolation of the shepherd in the mountains. Used to call for backup in case there are more than twenty-three sheep rustlers. I can handle any number less than that, with the three-to-five large and ferocious fluffy white Maremma sheepdogs and the yellow plastic shepherd's cane of righteousness that draws down lightning from Heaven.
Instruments of torture: Fuses to scare off menacing canines.
What's in your saddlebag, or would be, if you had one?
Friday, September 16, 2005
et ego in Samnio sum
I'm here, I'm alive, I'm loving it! (and I'm on dial-up). The country is beautiful, the people are nice, there's a bunch of ancient stuff around, the address I posted below works (takes about 5 days - thanks for the letters!). So far I've dug postholes, dug a ditch, mended a wheelbarrow, raked, hoed, picked tomatoes and zucchini... a fabulous land where the four major food groups are wine, pasta, tomatoes and olive oil! I feed the animals every evening - pigs, sheep, chickens, geese, dogs, and one horse -- and the barnyard cats get something, too. That's all for now, time for dinner!
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Today, Todi
Rain threatened early, but it held off. All the museums in Italy close for lunch, so when I arrived I had to do some wandering -- not that I minded much. I followed the "Via Mura Etrusche" in hopes of something, but something failed to materialize. I'm sure half the stones in the houses were first cut about 2500 years ago. Which reminds me of a slogan I thought of a couple of days ago... The Roman Empire®: Providing well-cut stone, lime, and architectural details to Italy and the rest of Europe for over 2000 years. I also saw walked the "Via del Teatro Antico," the only trace of said theater being the curving route of the street. Likewise at the end of the "Via del Anfiteatro Romano," although there was a section of wall more or less preserved.
The Museo in the Palazzo del Capitano was modest but respectable. No military equipment, alas, aside from some of the ubiquitous spear- and javelin- points. Their claim-to-fame seems to be a coin collection, which is mounted in rotating frames that must have seemed like a good idea at the time, but are a few degrees short of perfection. The coins end up facing down, which, with the way the lights are set up, leaves them shrouded in shadow.
I realize now that Angelo already blogged the Iguvian "battle hymn" I included a couple of posts ago... and he was more scholarly responsible to boot, including references that I utterly failed to note, plus his has nicer formatting.
The Museo in the Palazzo del Capitano was modest but respectable. No military equipment, alas, aside from some of the ubiquitous spear- and javelin- points. Their claim-to-fame seems to be a coin collection, which is mounted in rotating frames that must have seemed like a good idea at the time, but are a few degrees short of perfection. The coins end up facing down, which, with the way the lights are set up, leaves them shrouded in shadow.
I realize now that Angelo already blogged the Iguvian "battle hymn" I included a couple of posts ago... and he was more scholarly responsible to boot, including references that I utterly failed to note, plus his has nicer formatting.
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