Roman imperial history

The South Frieze contains forty-two fragmentary or intact figures, of which about a dozen are recognized as members of the imperial family. Accordingly, they have commanded the lion's share of attention from scholars. The identifications of half of them are secure and in nowise disputed, namely Augustus, Agrippa, Tiberius, Drusus the Elder, Antonia Tertia, and Germanicus. Domaszewski and Moretti are responsible for a great number of them, and other scholars have accepted their views without considering certain anachronisms or conflicts that cast other of their identifications into doubt. These will be considered one at a time.

The discovery of an antoninianus of Tetricus I with a hitherto unknown reverse type was of great interest to the author when it was shown to him some twenty years ago. The recent appearance of another such coin, struck from the same dies, has encouraged him to revisit the original discovery and to offer some suggestions as to the significance of these two coins and another group of three unpublished antoniniani of Tetricus I very closely related to them. This paper was published in a festschrift volume in honour of Professor Petolescu on the occasion of his 80th birthday.

Das literarische Echo Neros Bautätigkeit wurde in diesem Vortrag aus einer kulturgeschichtlichen Perspektive untersucht.
Zuerst wurden Neros große Bauvorhaben betrachtet und ergründet, welche langfristige Wirkung diese Projekte entfalteten. Groß, größer, Nero. Seine Bauwut war bereits in der Antike legendär: „Nirgends aber war er verschwenderischer als beim Bauen.“ (Suet. Nero 31). In seinen ersten Regierungsjahren baute er in Rom ein großdimensioniertes Amphitheater, einen Thermenkomplex, das macellum magnum und verband mit der domus transistoria die kaiserlichen Besitztümer. Nach dem Großen Brand reformierte er Roms Stadtplan: Breite Straßen und regelmäßige Häuserzeilen ersetzten das alte, beengte Durcheinander. Im Stadtzentrum errichtete er sich eine weitläufige und prachtvolle Palastanlage, die domus aurea. Zudem wollte er die Stadtmauern bis Ostia erweitern lassen, mehrere schiffbare Kanäle graben und den Isthmos bei Korinth durchstechen. Viele dieser Projekte waren kurzlebig oder blieben unrealisiert.
Als Zweites wurde beleuchtet, wie Neros Bautätigkeit im literarischen Diskurs dargestellt und bewertet wurde. Die schriftliche Überlieferung kann diesen Großbauprojekten nur wenig abgewinnen: Sie zeichnet das Bild eines vom Bauen besessenen, tyrannischen Kaisers, der skrupellos größenwahnsinnige Vorhaben in die Tat umzusetzen versuchte. Eine vergleichende Analyse hinterfragte die retrospektiven Narrative, zeigte Topoi auf und entlarvte Neros größenwahnsinnige Bauwut als Zerrbild einer nerofeindlichen Nachwelt.
Drittens wurde herausgearbeitet, welche große Bedeutung vorgestellte Architektur in diesen Diskursen rund um Neros Bautätigkeit einnahm.
Abschließend wurde erörtert, inwiefern Neros Verhalten als Bauherr mit seiner Rolle als Princeps vereinbar war. Offensichtlich störten sich die Autoren daran, dass Nero in Eigenregie seine kaiserlichen Kompetenzen ausschöpfte, um sich architektonisch zu verwirklichen. Indem er baute wie der Monarch, der er faktisch war, und nicht wie ein primus inter pares, der er vorgeben sollte zu sein, legte er die tatsächlichen Machtverhältnisse des Principats bloß und machte dessen grundlegende Paradoxie sichtbar.
Das Beispiel entstammt meinem Dissertationsprojekt „Unsichtbare Bauten“, welches die architektonischen Zeitschichten und Stadtbilder jenseits des gegenwärtig Gebauten untersucht.

During Nero’s reign, a monstrous fire ravaged Rome. As part of the reconstruction the city plan was reformed: wide streets and regular rows of houses replaced the old, narrow disorder. In the centre, Nero built himself a spacious palace complex, the domus aurea. Allegedly, he even planned to refound Rome and rename it Neropolis. Only the fire had made such extensive construction projects possible. That is why – according to the literary tradition – Nero had burned the city. The sources depict him as a tyrannical emperor obsessed with building who ruthlessly realised megalomaniac projects and monopolised the urban space. But many authors wrote decades later in a different political climate, knowing neither Rome’s appearance before the fire nor the Neronian cityscape. In awareness of the course of history, they looked back on currently invisible architecture.
This paper aims to explore Nero’s urban projects after the Great Fire and their literary echo from a cultural-historical perspective. First, it will trace how the fire and subsequent construction measures transformed Rome. Then, the representation of Nero’s building activity in literary discourses will be examined. A comparative analysis will question the retrospective narratives, point to topoi, and reveal Nero’s vision of an urbs nova as the distorted construct of a hostile posterity. Finally, the significant role envisioned architecture played in this context will be shown.
This case study is part of my dissertation project “Invisible Buildings” which examines the architectural time layers and cityscapes beyond the present built environment. It asks how people imagined disappeared, projected, and unrealised buildings in ancient Rome and what impact this envisioned architecture had on socio-political discourses. To visualise and interpret this phenomenon, a diagram was designed which can be applied to other urban settings as well.

Abstract: This paper lists and illustrates all the recorded examples of the rare bronze issues of the usurpers Macrianus II and Quietus, conventionally described as Asses. Some suggestions are put forward as to when and where these items were struck, and what their intended function may have been.

The paper publishes a list of original papal letters concerning the Friars Minor preserved in Venice, covering the period up to the pontificate of Alexander IV. Most of the letters were sent during the pontificate of Alexander IV. Of particular interest are the letters sent to the inquisitors of the Marca Trevigiana province and the letters of indulgence for the benefactors of the church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. The convent in Venice, residence of the provincial minister, was the place where the papal letters were kept, but also the centre where the necessary copies were made. In addition, the data collected leads one to assume that the archives of the inquisition were kept separately, with their own distinct arrangement. Finally, it is interesting to make a comparison with the "Liber privilegiorum conventus Padue", a juridical collection produced in the first decades of the fourteenth century for the convent of St. Anthony, contained in ms. 49 of the Pontificia Biblioteca Antoniana.

Agrippa was elevated in 13 BC to a status of unofficial co-emperor with Augustus and enjoyed nearly all of the same legal rights (without the religious powers Augustus had to fill openings in the religious colleges).  Agrippa was surely made a Pontifex and probably an Augur.  We know from Dio 54 he was already a Quindecimvir back in 17 BC.  Velleius says he and Statilius Taurus had multiple priesthoods.  The elevation of Agrippa was necessary to make him the full partner in power, so that in case anything happened to Augustus, Agrippa could ensure the stability of the state.  Chapter 3 documents Agrippa's rise, the reasons behind it, an the political and religious honors he received.  Coinage is the biggest testimony to Agrippa's jump in status in 13.  Had he lived longer to enjoy those honors, we might have seen much more redundant evidence of it in 12-10 BC.

A través del análisis del registro arqueológico y epigráfico proveniente de un nutrido grupo de ciudades hispanas, realizamos una aproximación general al proceso de evolución y transformación de estos núcleos urbanos en el siglo II d. C. Dicho examen ha permitido establecer que la mayor parte de estas ciudades vivió un periodo de expansión en época trajano-adrianea. ENGLISH: <em>Continuity and Transformation in the Hispano-Roman Cities of the Second Century AD: The Trajanic and Hadrianic Phase (98–138 AD)</em>. Through the analysis of the archaeological and epigraphic record from a large group of Hispanic cities, we conducted a comprehensive examination of the evolution and transformation of urban centers in the second century AD. This review has allowed us to establish most of these cities lived a period of expansion under the rule of Trajan and Hadrian.

El presente artículo aborda el estudio de la identidad romana republicano-imperial desde los principales análisis inspirados por la teoría de la romanización y la discusión conceptual que esta ha generado. Específicamente, se analiza el problema del rol de los itálicos en la construcción de la identidad romana en el período imperial de Augusto. En primer lugar, se ofrece una explicación de los paradigmas que analizan la identidad romana. En segundo lugar, se examina el problema de la identidad y de los itálicos en la primera década de Ab Urbe Condita de Tito Livio. Finalmente, considerando a Livio como un caso de estudio, se concluye que el paradigma de la “romanización renovada” se condice mejor con la información que se interpreta desde la fuente.

Class: An Album of Examples 122-276 CE album intro The first three (no.1-3) pre-date the governorship of Petronius Mamertinus, when this style of writing became prominent. Its origin seems to have been in cursive writing (no. 3 >50%, less so no.1 <25%). Replacing internal pen lifts with loops improved writing speed, so there is a functional component to the more obvious stylistic ones. No. 2 is non-cursive, but uses looped features, though inconsistently. No.4 (PSI V 446, 133-37), a decree from the prefect, is a refined, stylized version of this script (or this subset of stylistic features) written with great regularity. No.5 (BGU 20.2863), a copy of a letter from a judge to the prefect, is in a very similar hand, without the calligraphic refinements.

Italy cannot be studied in isolation from the wider late Roman Imperial world. This chapter briefly sketches the inter-regional context of its history during the second quarter of the first millennium. It also considers its position in the wider debate on studies of Late Antiquity. The late Fergus Millar once claimed that ‘Italy has no history under the empire’. With that he meant that it had no narrative history, at least for the period he examined from Augustus to Constantine I. This volume will show that there are countless histories still to be told, from rustic to ruler, woven
against the tableau of the late Roman Italian peninsula and its islands.

This brief article in an abridged form will be displayed in Academia beginning from January 1, 2025, as it can be filed on freely accessible online archives no earlier than one year after the release of its journal. Please e-mail me for obtaining this brief article before 2025: elafli@yahoo.ca

In this brief paper, we focus on the monument of C. Memmius and its inscription in Ephesus in western Turkey. C. Memmius was the grandson of Sulla and was mentioned in the inscription of this Ephesian monument as the epigraph of the dedicatee. After discussing the monument's function, dating and inscription from different perspectives, in the concluding part, we refer to the positive memory of Sulla in Asia Minor, especially in Ephesus.
A progressed and detailed text will be published in a book dedicated exclusively to Sulla which is edited by Borja Antela and Isaias Arrayas and will appear in 2025.

Keywords: C. Memmius, the monument of C. Memmius, Ephesus, Asia Minor, first century BC, Late Republican period, Roman East, Latin epigraphy, Roman history.

The transformation from 'Empire' to 'Kingdoms' was one of the most fundamental developments in the late Roman world. This research volume reassesses this transition in Italy c. 250-500. During the first quarter of the first millennium, Italy was still the heart of the Roman Empire - the only political superstructure ever to encompass the entire Mediterranean world and its European hinterland. Yet during the second quarter of the millennium, it underwent dramatic evolutions, from a demoted provincialised region (c. 285–395), to a new imperial hub kept afloat by cannibalising other provinces' resources (c. 395-475), to an autonomous regnum governed by non-Roman rulers as part of an Eastern Roman 'Commonwealth' (c. 476-535). Across the book's seventeen chapters, a team of scholars explores the major political, social, economic, religious and cultural changes impacting what was once the most important region of the Roman world. Presenting a balanced range of topics, from gender and environmental history to political transformation and violence, it offers new insights on the various domains affected by this evolution in what was once the heart of the empire.

This chapter re-evaluates the relationships among elite women and the triumph in the Republic and early Empire (509 BCE–47 CE), demonstrating that during the Republic female relatives of triumphal generals were associated with and integrated into the triumph via the triumphal chariot, ancestor masks, funerals, and names, and that these associations continued and grew in the early Empire to encompass imperial innovations.

We show that during the Republic and Empire some unmarried elite daughters accompanied their fathers in the triumphal chariot itself, that triumphal ancestor masks and painted images celebrated both patrilineal and matrilineal triumphal ancestry in elite houses, that triumphal ancestor masks were also present at public funerals for elite women and some of these funerals contained further triumphal themes, that some elite women were connected through their nomenclature to the triumph, and that in the Empire imperial women were increasingly integrated into and associated with the triumph, and some hosted triumphal banquets.

We argue that through these associations elite women were invested and involved in the triumph, accruing status for themselves and their families. We conclude that female relatives of triumphal generals were beneficiaries of the triumph and that the triumph itself was fundamentally a family affair.

N.B. Preview attached. Please contact me for a copy of the full chapter.

Plus de quarante ans après la dernière monographie sur Crassus, ce livre revient, avec une analyse renouvelée et minutieuse des sources antiques, sur l’expérience politique de ce protagoniste de la République. Le résultat est un portrait inédit, où sa conception et son activité politiques sont replacées dans le cadre familial et dans le contexte historique de son temps. L’objectif de cette étude est loin d’être une réhabilitation de Crassus ; il s’agit plutôt de soumettre les stéréotypes à une critique sévère, afin de mieux cerner les mécanismes du pouvoir et du système institutionnel romain.

This multiauthor volume presents thirteen case studies that showcase the scientific, analytical, and often archaeological study of historic buildings that is known in German as Bauforschung. Written by established and emerging experts in this field, the chapters focus on the architecture of the Classical world and cover a wide variety of topics, such as construction processes, design principles, building traditions, and historical contexts. Despite this diversity, there is a common thread, since all contributors perceive architecture not as piles of dead matter, or as mere bearers of decoration and sculpture, but as dynamic organisms--bodies full of inner tension to defy gravity. Thus, they pursue the common goal to situate architecture in its historical contexts by documenting, reconstructing, and visualizing the structures as well as their spatial settings, technical underpinnings, and ideological symbolism.

Throughout this volume, ancient buildings are considered historic documents in their own right, reflecting both the efforts of their designers and builders, as well as the aspirations of their patrons and communities. The collection represents a wide cross-section of approaches brought to bear on ancient Greek and Roman architecture and, thus, serves as an English-language introduction to the technical and historical questions, and the methodologies inherent in Bauforschung.

HISTORY IS LITTERED with great and wise rulers who fathered heirs who were monsters or idiots: sons who just plain turned out wrong. The coins of these rulers illustrate these stories, perhaps offering us some insight into how such good fathers raised such bad sons.

A tale of lockdown: cataloguing the coinage of Gordian III. This paper describes some of the issues encountered during the writing of "The coinage of Gordian III from the mints of Antioch and Caesarea". It is to be published in a forthcoming volume.

This book presents a detailed die-study of the issues of the mints of Antioch in Syria and Caesarea in Cappadocia from the reign of Gordian III (AD 238-44). The coinage of Antioch consisted of two series of radiates with Roman legends and four series of tetradrachms and 3,818 coins of Antioch and 1,312 silver and bronze coins of Caesarea are included in the die-study. All the dies are illustrated in 100 plates.
      The study shows how to distinguish the radiates of Antioch from those of Rome and examines the relationship between radiates and tetradrachms of Antioch. The former coins have traditionally been classed as `Roman imperial' and the latter as `Roman provincial'. The dies for the coinage of Caesarea were also produced by Antiochene engravers, which had not been noticed before.
      Further chapters examine chronological problems, the metal content of the silver coins of Gordian's reign (over a hundred analyses are published here for the first time), the evidence for their circulation in hoards and site finds and the historical events of Gordian's reign. These findings are summarized in the conclusion, which sets the coinages of Antioch and Caesarea in their historical context.
Royal Numismatic Society Special Publication 60, 2023, distributed by Spink and Son, £80
The full volume will be available for free download from the RNS website in 2025. Please contact the author if you would like to see it in advance.