BATTLE SCENE FROM THE GREAT TRAJANIC FRIEZE, 114-120 CE. ARCH OF CONSTANTINE This triumphal arch is a triumph of spolia, consisting as it does of many pieces of relief work from the reigns of Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius, intelligently chosen by Constantine in 315-316 to reflect a reassuring programme of pacification and an end to civil war. Four large panels from a Hadrianic relief 30 m long and 3 m high, of which this is one, were reused. This relief is known as the Great Trajanic Frieze, though its original location is unknown. It is often said to have come from Trajan's Forum, though that was intact until at least the reign of Theodoric, two centuries after the arch was built. This scene shows a mêlée between Roman cavalry and infantry and Dacians who are falling or already on the ground. In the background are three trumpeters blowing the curved horns called buccinæ, and the whole scene resembles the front of the Great Ludovisi Sarcophagus, from 250-260 CE.

#ReliefWednesday takes us to the #Arch of #Constantine in #Rome, where a piece of the so-called Great Trajanic #Frieze, probably from the reign of #Hadrian, shows a battle scene from the #Dacian wars which may have influenced the sculptor of the Great #Ludovisi #sarcophagus. #AncientBluesky 🏺

FUNERARY ALTAR OF THEODOTOS, C. 130-140 CE. CASINO DELL'AURORA LUDOVISI ΘΕΟΔΟΡΩ / ΗΡΩΙ / ΒΙΩΣΑΝΤΙ / ETE IH / ΕΜΕΡΑΣ / Ε / ΑΘΗΝΟΔΟΤΟΣ / ΠΑΤΗΡ "To Theodoros, / hero, / having lived / 18 years, five days. / [Dedicated by] Athenodotos, / [his] father." This Greek inscription is part of the remaining collection of Ludovisi family marbles still (for now) in the possession of the family. Its findspot is unknown but probably in Rome. The inscription has some orthographic errors that suggest the tombstone was carved by a non-Greek speaker. It describes the deceased youth as a "hero", which doesn't imply a heroic death in battle, but in fact was a term indicating that Theodoros was from a wealthy family. In some Greek cities the family could pay the city authorities to have their dead children designated as heroes, which could even involve the placing of a bust or inscription in a special hall called a Heroon. The rare name Athenodotos may refer to the Stoic philosopher who taught philosophy to M. Cornelius Fronto, the tutor of the future emperor Marcus Aurelius.

#EpigraphyTuesday leads us up the driveway of the #CasinodellAurora #Ludovisi in #Rome, where this C2 CE #inscription marks the beginning of the gardens. It celebrates the young deceased as a #hero, a term which had been degraded to a mere marker of social elevation. #ClassicsBluesky 🏺

RELIEF WITH MITHRAS, C. 160 CE. CASINO DELL'AURORA LUDOVISI This relief was first noted in the Ludovisi collection in 1623, when its location was given as "at the end of the Spiral Staircase". It stayed there until the inventory of 1749 and now is in the glassed-in rear porch of the Casino. It may have been part of the huge Cesi purchase of 1622. In any case it shows the tauroctony or bull-slaying of the god Mithras, who occupies most of the panel. He is recognisable by his Phrygian cap, his billowing cloak, and his bull-killing. His left leg is bent to kneel on the bull's back; his left hand pulls up the bull's head and he stabs the bull in the neck with his right hand. In his lethal act he is assisted by a dog and a snake, while a scorpion is using this particular moment to attack the bull's testicles. The cave in which this is all happening is suggested by the rocky floor of the scene. Most notable are the busts of the sun, at left, with his radiate crown, and the moon at right within her crescent.

#ReliefWednesday draws us back to the #CasinodellAurora #Ludovisi in #Rome, where the ancient art is also part of the #architecture. This #Mithraic scene is rich with symbolism: the bull's tail becomes a sheaf of wheat, suggesting the fruitfulness after the sacrifice of the bull.

FUNERARY ALTAR OF Q. VETIUS INGENUUS, 200-250 CE. CASINO DELL'AURORA LUDOVISI D(is) M(anibus) / Q(uinto) Vetio Ingenuo veterano / ex cho (cohorte) III pr(aetoria) ex provincia / Germania inferiore Felicius / Marcus Evokatus eres et / cives bene merenti fecit This monument was first recorded at Tivoli but was in Rome by the mid C16 and entered the collection of cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi by 1622. It dates from the first half of the tumultuous third century CE. The inscription says "To the departed shades. To Quintus Vetius Ingenuus of the third Praetorian cohort, from the province of Lesser Germany. Felicius Marcus, re-enlisted veteran, his heir, citizen, made this for the well-deserving [deceased]." This is interesting because it shows that a German recruit could serve in the urban Praetorian third cohort in Rome, and because his heir, Felicius, pointedly describes himself as a Roman citizen and an "evocatus" (here spelled "evokatus"), a veteran "recalled" ("called out" = "evocatus") to active service, a special status with more privileges than an ordinary soldier. The altar has a relief of Vetius, with a damaged bearded face, wearing a woolen cloak called a sagum over a long-sleeved tunic ending just above the knee, and holding a baton or scroll (perhaps a military diploma).

For #EpigraphyTuesday, a rarely-seen #funerary #altar in the grounds of the #CasinodellAurora #Ludovisi, with a dignified inscription and a proud proclamation of #citizenship of #Rome, even from the distant northern border of the empire.

Nov 30 [hybrid/Seminar room 5 CMB, 3.10pm UK] @EdinClassics Edinburgh research seminar: Corey Brennan: The Villa #Ludovisi in Rome: Display and Dispersion of its Collections (1621-2023). Online access - email jsoldo@ed.ac.uk www.ed.ac.uk/history-clas...