Volume 98, 2023

Pages 1-10.

In Naxos, news excavations revealed the existence of two different types of roofs: one of the Sicilian type with antefixes and the other Corinthian. The first relates to the most ancient phase dating back to the end of the 6th century BC and the first decades of the following century; the other from the second half of the fifth century BC. For the Sicilian-type roof, the findings made in trench 3 in the area of the neoria or naval arsenal of ancient Naxos are of particular importance.

Pages 11-30.

This paper historically contextualizes the new mass grave(s) excavated by the Ephorate of Antiquities of Piraeus and the Islands at Phaleron in 2016 and dated to the 7th century BCE. It briefly introduces and evaluates this find, critically evaluates the tradition of Kylon’s coup, and arrives at the conclusion that both cannot be directly associated. Nevertheless, they ultimately point into the same direction: the tradition and the mass grave(s) attest to an increase in violent elite competition. This is finally set into the larger context of socio-cultural developments in Geometric and Early Archaic Athens. Even though we cannot connect the new mass grave(s) to a specific event, the find marks a crucial point in the history of early Athens.

Pages 31-59.

Monumental substructures represent an important development in Roman villa architecture. Although at first functional, they soon took on scenographic functions. It is this visual impact that has been the focus of study to-date, with the aesthetic development of these lower, interior spaces often overlooked in favour of the upper residential areas. These substructures have mainly been seen as purely utilitarian spaces. This article aims to reassess villa architecture by examining decorative elements found in the lowest level of villa substructures in Italy from the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD in order to examine the aesthetic principles at play in these ‘functional’ spatial contexts. This paper – which is based on new archaeological data as well as previous studies – argues that, at least in certain instances, the lowest level of substructures featured decorative elements and assumed a double function of structural and recreational space.

Pages 61-73.

Despite the frequent documentation of water supply and drainage facilities in macella – Roman meat and fish markets – research has generally paid little attention to them, ignoring their descriptions and failing to analyse their function. This study attempts to systematise the water-related structures cited in the literature, in addition to some reflections on the management and uses of water in those commercial areas.

Pages 75-99.

Most scholars regard Trajan’s Column and in particular its spiral relief as a medium of imperial self-representation. My article analyses the Column, moreover, as an honorific monument that had been decreed by the senate and that should be seen, thus, also as an expression of aristocratic ideas. It will be established that its architecture and décor as well as the sepulchre in the pedestal draw upon republican traditions and relate Trajan to renowned figures of the past. These ideas find several parallels in the senatorial literature of Trajan’s reign and fit at best into the emperor’s representation as a restorer of republican ideals and of the senate’s liberty after recent dark ages.

Pages 101-124.

The study deals with the monumental entrances of the stadium and the relative façades. These monuments, mostly dating from the 2nd and 4th centuries AD, were built together with the stadium, or in addition to the older buildings. The topic has not received an exhaustive discussion in the history of the studies and may be useful for understanding the role that the stadium played in the urban and ceremonial landscape of the Roman imperial cities of Greece, Italy, and Asia Minor.

Pages 125-146.

As is well known, in the first half of the Seventeenth century, in Perugia the learned Archdeacon Giacomo Oddi (1598-1675) founded the Galleria, a valuable collection of curiosities, paintings and archaeological finds, whose wide range of objects stirred great interest among European amateurs and scholars over the following two centuries. Despite its fame, however, an unbroken narrative of the whole story for the city’s largest collection between 1600 and 1800 is still to be considered a work in progress. This paper focuses on the role of a small sculpture of Artemis Ephesia, as a starting point for re-examining the collecting context of Antiquities in Baroque Rome and shedding new light on some key relationships between scholars, merchants and patrons of the Saeculum Barberinum. Hopefully, this will allow us to outline in more detail both the beginnings of the Museum Oddianum and the cultural stature of its creator.

Pages 147-169.

The interior decor of Roman tombs has always been the object of archeological research. For centuries it had lamentably been allowed to go to rack and ruin these complexes. A prominent example is the so called Sepolcro Corsini. It was found in 1639 at the south western slope of Monte Celio, in the vegetable garden of the Camaldolense monks, next to the church S. Gregorio. The tomb we are dealing with here, most probably was a tempietto monument of early Severan times, positioned close to the Servian city wall outside of the Pomerium, the sacred city boundary. At the same level intra muros residential buildings were to be found as well as shops enlivening shopping streets. The monument can only be deduced from partly coloured drawings in codices of the 17th and 18th centuries. The hypothetical reconstruction is an experiment, justified by their great artistic variety. Sketches and drawings are of high value as they document excavation results for the first time and constitute an early attempt at documentation, a task which was taken on in the 19th century by photography.

Pages 171-183.

In 1826 Caspar J.C. Reuvens purchased the first Etruscan collection of Northwestern Europe for his Cabinet of Antiquities, the predecessor of the current Dutch National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden. The Etruscan collection of primarily bronze figurines was brought together by Galeotto Ridolfini Corazzi, a patrician who lived in Cortona between 1690 and 1768. Much has been written about the sale of this collection to the Dutch museum in the 19th century, but little is known about the context in which these objects were collected in 18th century Italy. Through the examination of the letters of correspondence that Corazzi sent to Antonio Francesco Gori and Alessandro Gregorio Capponi, this study investigates the history of the collection in Italy, and the motives for its purchase by Reuvens.

Pages 185-189.

Review article of Tyler Jo Smith, Religion in the art of archaic and classical Greece, Philadelphia, 2022.