Volume 96, 2021

Pages 1-44.

A significant contribution to the knowledge of the indigenous peoples of Apulia is offered by the archaeological research carried out in Rutigliano, a settlement of the sub-coastal area of Peucetia where, between 1976 and 1980, at “contrada” Purgatorio, 367 burials of different types were identified, datable between the 7th and the 4th century BC. Particularly interesting were the discoveries in the northern sector of the necropolis (excavated in 1976-1977) with the finding of 133 burials, still substantially unpublished, which have yielded an impressive amount of pottery and valuable objects. In all likelihood, this is an area reserved for the dominant aristocratic group. In the analysis of the funerary assemblages – many of which are composed of hundreds finds – the presence of a large quantity of metal, ceramic, glass paste, bone and amber objects, both locally produced and imported from the most varied geographical and cultural areas, such as Etruria, Magna Grecia, Greece and Near East, is particularly striking. The remarkable variety of Attic and Italiote vases is surprising: to these specimens a “key role” was probably entrusted, comparable only with that played by precious bronze vases and weapons, those objects inserted since the Archaic Age in burials of the Peucetian aristocracies of central Apulia as a sign of prestige and an expression of high status.

Pages 45-54.

This short paper deals with the iconographic theme of the horses facing a manger or a tripod, as it has been recently reconsidered regarding to its diffusion in Greece and in Magna Graecia between the 8th and 7th century BC. In Etruria this subject appears almost at the same time on the local pottery and is represented till the mid-7th century BC. Starting from the analysis of the Ludwig krater, one of the most relevant artefacts, this contribution provides some remarks on the possible meaning of this iconography in the central Tyrrhenian Italy during the Orientalizing period.

Pages 55-70.

This paper, extracted from a thesis on Etruscology produced by the writer, intends to make new observations about the interpretation of the paintings of the Tomba delle Iscrizioni, located at the necropolis of Monterozzi in Tarquinia and dating back to the last quarter of the 6th century BC. A survey based on the analysis and comparison between the apograph and the antigraphs of the tomb frescoes and on an anthropological study applied to the images has in fact made it possible to provide an alternative interpretation of the entire pictorial program.

Pages 71-82.

The epic battle between the heroes Memnon and Achilles before the walls of Troy has been the subject of various literary works, of which only a few complete texts survive. All the stories have in common that the outcome of the battle is decided in heaven, by weighing the souls (kères or psychai) of the warriors on a pair of scales. This article is concerned with depictions of King Memnon on Attic and South-Italian vases of the 5th and 4th centuries BC. As king of the Ethiopians he is, in Greek eyes, an outsider (‘barbaros’), although on black figure vases and quite a number of red figure vases he is not recognizable as a foreigner. It will be argued that after the Persian Wars his otherness is in specific cases emphasised by portraying him as a Persian (Attic pottery, 5th century BC) and during the Samnite Wars as a Samnite (South-Italian pottery, 4th century BC).

Pages 83-100.

The Adriatic held a high number of vineyards and during the Roman times wine was one of the most produced and demanded rural commodities. Adriatic wines were shipped and traded across the Roman Mediterranean, and the role of the NW Adriatic ports was of distributor of commodities and interface within the Mediterranean. Using archival, archaeological and pre-industrial comparative data on agricultural production, this paper assesses the NW Adriatic ports’ relationships with their farming hinterlands, and their connections within the Mediterranean and the rest of the empire. The first section introduces the Adriatic port cities, hinterland and countryside, and population; the second section explores the wines and crus produced in the NW Adriatic; the third section examines the modelling of Adriatic wine production, consumption and export; the fourth sectio assesses the shipping of Adriatic wines, by examining aspects on seasonality, cargoes and markets.

Pages 101-110.

Domitian’s urbanistic policy led to the construction of buildings, whose multiple meanings and symbolism enriched the political and religious landscape of Rome. The series of altars, built by Domitian in fulfillment of a forgotten vow from Nero’s reign to commemorate the AD 64 fire, is part of this fruitful season of urban renewal. This paper will discuss the three major pieces of evidence currently available: the inscription recorded by the Renaissance antiquarian Giacomo Mazzocchi, regarding the altar found in the Vatican area, literary evidence concerning the Circus Maximus altar on the slopes of the Aventine, and the travertine-paved square with the altar found under the Church of S. Andrea al Quirinale.

Pages 111-138.

Houses and private spaces have always reflected the social and cultural status of their owners: locations, dimensions, paintings and inner decorations – either in wood or marble – help to discover who the residents were and their personality. In this respect, Pompeii and Herculaneum give us the most representative case studies, thanks to the entirety of the archaeological contexts, while for other cities a complete archaeological evidence is hard to find and reliable contexts must be reconstructed through scattered finds and partial documentation. This is precisely the case of Brixia, a Roman colony in northern Italy, where the long life of the settlement caused the dismantling of Roman houses, buried under medieval and modern buildings. Thanks to an accurate study of many architectural elements, marble furniture and sculptures, aim of this paper is trying to understand taste and style of the ancient inhabitants of Brixia, modern Brescia, their aesthetic and decorative choices and also their wealth, often emphasized by precious materials.

Pages 139-150.

In 1850, a marble statue of a Roman emperor was found on the estuary of the river Albegna, in the area of Forte delle Saline, nearby the village of Albinia (Orbetello, Tuscany). After its discovery, the statue was transferred to the villa of the Grand Duke of Tuscany in Alberese, nearby Grosseto, where it is still conserved today. A study of the statue was first published in the 1980s by Giulio Ciampoltrini. Although the statue has been sporadically mentioned in archaeological and historical publications, it is still relatively unknown. In this article, we present a detailed description of the statue accompanied by new photographical documentation, as well as a biography of the object’s modern history. Our aim is not to offer a new interpretation on the identity of the subject, but to draw attention to some aspects that have hitherto gone unnoticed in archaeological publications.

Pages 151-176.

Between the first and fourth centuries CE, the motif of deities approaching sleeping mortals features heavily in visual representations. Prominent among these are Dionysus Approaching Ariadne, Selene Visiting Endymion, and Mars Approaching Rhea Silvia. The mortal typically appears with an arm crooked over the head, a gesture signaling erotic readiness. In Pompeian houses, interpretation of this scene depends on conventions of picture-explanation, or ekphrasis. On sarcophagi, meaning shifts to the mortal as a representation of the deceased. In translation to an early Christian context, meaning shifts again. Endymion, rendered as Jonah, reflects a love relationship between the deceased and Christ.

Pages 177-208.

Within the framework of the study of J.W. Salomonson’s survey collection of late Roman African Red Slip Ware, new evidence from the North Tunisian workshop of Henchir el Biar prospected by Salomonson in 1968 is presented here. Typo-chronological evaluations and standardized fabric description have been combined and cross-referenced with already studied finds to establish a coherent classification of Henchir el Biar’s late Roman tableware production. The long-lasting assumption of an end of production in the mid-6th century AD is thereby revised.

Pages 209-232.

As is well known, the figure of Alessandro Castellani stands out in the panorama of the antiquarian trade of the second half of the 19th century. Son of Fortunato Pio Castellani and devoted Mazzinian, starting from the Parisian exile (1860-1862) he dealt with the sale of numerous finds from the excavations carried out in Etruria, both to Napoleon III who bought them for the Musée Napoléon III (later transferred to the Louvre) and to Charles Thomas Newton for the British Museum. The correspondence between Alessandro Castellani and the British Museum dated to those years, preserved in the Department of Greece and Rome of the British Museum, allows us to better focus on the Castellani’s activity as a skilled merchant of antiquity and to shed light on the contacts between the European scholars of antiquity. The study is focused on the main archaeological finds, sold by Castellani to the British Museum, coming from Cerveteri, Vulci, Palestrina and Capua and some special finds such as the fake Sarcophagus made by the Pennelli brothers and the Sarcophagus of the Spouses from Cerveteri preserved in Rome, in the Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia.

Pages 233-240.

This important book proposes a diversified series of studies on the history, topography, architecture and on the material and symbolic image of the Palatine, integrating sources, methods and research perspectives of different nature, tradition and orientation. The picture that emerges brings relevant news for the knowledge of the ‘hill of power’ of Rome. At the same time, it highlights, sometimes in a striking way, the divergences in the documentation and in the reconstruction of the urban context and the consequent difficulties of the integration of this dossier in the historical reconstruction. The Palatine, from this point of view, constitutes an exceptional and very problematic case study that requires a serious reflection on the potentialities and the limits of the current historical research on ancient Rome.