SARCOPHAGUS WITH DIONYSIAC SCENE, C2 CE. BATHS OF DIOCLETIAN This remarkably well-preserved sarcophagus was found in 1961 during an excavation along the via Prenestina at largo Praeneste, today a nightmare of on- and off-ramps for a raised highway. It must have vanished below ground at an early date. Its Dionysiac theme evokes the transportation of the self after death, a pale shadow of which is provided by the effects of wine. At centre is a very drunk Dionysus being held up by two satyrs with two others ready to step in and help. All five are nude except for the god, who has a cloak covering one thigh. To the left, a Maenad is holding a torch, now missing, and she's conversing with a liknos-bearer: a liknos was a sort of scoop used in winnowing wheat, a symbol of prosperity. A final group on the left corner has a fully-dressed Maenad sitting on a rock facing us, and a nude satyr with his back to us, embracing. At the left corner, a Maenad is holding a pedum or foot squeeze-box, and a tambourine. To the right, a callipygian Maenad with her back to us is holding a cithara and the attention of a satyr who has two theatrical masks at his feet, and at the right corner Ariadne, lying on the ground with her back to us, is being unveiled by an Eros while Pan and a final Maenad look on. The cover shows Erotes at work gathering in the grape harvest.

#SarcophagusSaturday this week brings us to the #BathsofDiocletian where, in Aula XI, we can admire this remarkable #Dionysiac #sarcophagus from a necropolis along the ancient via #Praenestina. Dionysus and his drunken revellers were a common theme in #funerary #relief work in #Rome.