Go to Images Part I; Images Part II; Images Part III; Images Part IV; Images Part V; Images Part VI; Images Part VII; Images Part VIII; Images Part IX; Images Part X; Images Part XII
Myrex shell
This small snail shell from the Mediterranean was the source of precious Phoenician purple. The color was associated with royalty because it was more costly than gold; it required 8-10 thousand shells to produce 1 gram of dye. It took 12 thousand shells in the 1st century CE to dye a Roman Senator's cloak.
Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Credits: Ann Raia, 2008
Keywords: class, empire, clothing, economy
Poppy pods
The juice and seeds of the opium poppy, especially from Cyprus, were used medically to calm patients and in religious ecstatic ceremonies.
Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Credits: Ann Raia, 2008
Keywords: medicine, plants, religion
Incense
Top: Solidified sap from African bush plants (dark). Bottom: myrrh and balsam from Arabia (white). The incense was placed on burning charcoal during rituals. It was also used for medicines and perfumes.
Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Credits: Ann Raia, 2008
Keywords: medicine, religion, cosmetics
Spices
Top: coriander, marjoram, mint, cumin. Middle: cinnamon sticks. Bottom: salt from the sea and mines. Variously used in medicines, perfumes, and food.
Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Credits: Ann Raia, 2008
Keywords: medicine, food, cosmetics
Metals
Top: Lead: soft and easy to handle, it had low esteem. Used for curse tablets, scales, ships, pipes, sling bullets because of its weight. Bottom: Copper (1 part) and Tin (10 parts) were the components of bronze, from which weapons, tools, and vessels were made; Cyprus supplied the copper, the tin was found in East Turkey, central Europe, England, central Asia.
Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Credits: Ann Raia, 2008
Keywords: weapons, tools, armor
Sarcophagus relief marble
1 of the 3 original scenes, separated by columns, is lost; the left panel contained a muse who was witness to the central scene of iunctio dextrarum, while a Greek philosopher served as a witness to the ceremony in the right panel. Two half-figures of boys are at ground level, one in each panel, holding symbols of fertility and prosperity. Roman. Mid 3rd century CE
Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Credits: Ann Raia, 2008
Keywords: death, marriage, clothing
Female Portrait bust marble
Older woman with severe expression wearing turban hairstyle of waves, ringlets and circled braids (side view). Roman. 98-117 CE
Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Credits: Ann Raia, 2008
Keywords: empire, fashion
Faustina Maior marble
Head of the empress Annia Galeria Faustina (105-141 CE), wife of Antoninus Pius, with her hair parted in the center, gathered in waves into a braid and brought to the top of her head (side view). Roman. 140 CE
Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Credits: Ann Raia, 2008
Keywords: class, empire, woman, hair
Faustina Minor marble
Head of the empress, wife of Marcus Aurelius, with her hair parted in the center, gathered in waves into a bun on her neck (side view). Roman. 162 CE
Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Credits: Ann Raia, 2008
Keywords: class, empire, woman, hair
Portrait Bust marble
This head with its strong featured was found at the site of the Haterii family tomb on the Via Labicana; the woman was probably a family member. Her hair is parted in the center, gathered in waves to the back of her neck, where it was formed into thin braids and wound around the her head (side view). Roman. Flavian
Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Credits: Ann Raia, 2008
Keywords: class, empire, woman, hair, death
Flavia Domitilla minor marble
Daughter of the Emperor Vespasion and Domitilla maior, she was the sister of Titus and Domitian. Deified upon her death (before 69 CE). Found in Rome near the Colosseum. Vespasianic era
Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Credits: Ann Raia, 2008
Keywords: class, empire, woman
Julia Titi marble
Head of the daughter of the Emperor Titus and Marcia Furnilla (angle). Roman. 90 CE
Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Credits: Ann Raia, 2008
Keywords: empire, woman, hair
Female marble
Colossal idealized head with topknot of hair resembling that of the goddess Venus (side). Possibly a portrait of the empress Faustina Minor. From Tarsos in Asia Minor. mid-2nd century CE
Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Credits: Ann Raia, 2008
Keywords: empire, woman
Maenad and Satyr, frescoes
She is clothed, holding a thyrsus over her shoulder; he holds aloft a shepherd's crook in one hand and an offering of fruit in the other. From a Roman villa near the Porta Latina. 1-2nd century CE
Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Credits: Ann Raia, 2008
Keywords: empire, Dionysus, hair
Eumachia marble
Heavily draped with her palla veiling her head (note the traces of red coloring in her hair), the statue of the public priestess, daughter of Lucius, once stood inside the building she built on the east side of the Forum, dedicated to Concordia Augusta and Pietas on behalf of herself and her son, Murcus Numistrius Fronto, and gave to the city. The statue was dedicated to her by the fullers guild (see Eumachia). Pompeii, early-1st century CE
Naples, Archaeological Museum. Credits: Ann O. Koloski-Ostrow, 1980-81.
Keywords: religion, women, class, business, benefactor, Augustan
Macellum
The marketplace complex containing shops, a colonade, a rotunda (set on tufa column bases in the courtyard), and a sacellum dedicated to the imperial family, was built on the northeast corner of the Forum (see macellum). Pompeii, early-1st century CE
Credits: Ann Raia, 2009
Keywords: religion, imperial, civic architecture, shops
Sanctuary of the Genius of Augustus
This narrow cult area on the east side of the Forum is situated between the Sanctuary of the Lares Publici and the Building of Eumachia. Against the back wall is the so-called Temple of Vespasian, which was under repair after the earthquake in 62 CE. In the center of the courtyard is an altar decorated on 4 sides (sacrifice to the genius of Augustus). Pompeii, late Augustan period.
Credits: Ann Raia, 2009
Keywords: religion, imperial, architecture
Tomb of Mamia, stone
Called a schola or exedra, this semicircular bench (detail of side) was built on a podium beside the Street of Tombs, just outside the Herculaneum Gate of Pompeii (the circular aedicula in the rear is the family tomb of the gens Istacidia). Carved onto the entire back of the bench was an inscription dedicating this distinctive tomb to Mamia: Mamiae P[ubli] f[ilia] sacerdoti publicae locus sepultur[ae] datus decurionum decreto. Pompeii, early-1st century CE
Pompeii. Credits: Ann O. Koloski-Ostrow, 2005
Keywords: funeral, women, class, local government, Augustan
Tomb of the Istacidii, tufa, brick, marble overlay
The family tomb of the gens Istacidia, an important Pompeian family thought to be the last owners of the Villa of the Mysteries, is built like a circular temple on a square base (see reconstruction) on the terrace above the schola tomb of Mamia outside the Herculaneum gate. Inside is a burial chamber with niches for statues or cinerary urns.
Pompeii, from early 1st century CE-79 CE.
Credits: Ann Raia, 2009
Keywords: funeral, Augustan, class, architecture
Priestess presiding over a sacrifice
Relief on a marble altar containing images on the back and one side relating to the goddess Diana; the 4th side contains a ritual pitcher (urceus). An attendant brings the bull to the altar while another stands behind the altar holding ritual objects for the ceremony. The veiled priestess probably held a patera in her left hand, about to ritually purify the sacrificial bull with a libation (see another altar relief). Roman, from near the Diana Sanctuary at Nemi, 200 CE
Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Credits: Ann Raia, 2008
Keywords: empire, religion, sacrifice, women
Marble Tomb
Dedicated by Alleia M(arci) f(ilia) Decimilla, public priestess of Ceres, to her husband, M. Alleius Luccius Libella, and their 17-year old son, M. Alleius Libella, on ground given by the city (locus monumenti publice datus est). The monument is c. 15 feet high and bears inscription plaques on the two sides facing the street (East and South). CIL X. 1036 (see Tomb 37). Early 1st century CE
Street of the Tombs, Herculaneum Gate, Pompeii. Credits: Ann O. Koloski-Ostrow
Keywords: funeral, religion, class, local government, Augustan
Lararium
Temple style with triangular pediment. Painted, with niche in base. West wall, garden of the House of the Prince of Naples. Pompeii, mid-1st century CE
Credits: Ann Raia, 2009
Keywords: religion, altar, house, architecture
Summer Triclinium 4th style fresco
West wall window looks into garden. Nude female (Venus?) faces nude male (Dionysus?) on South wall. House of the Prince of Naples. Pompeii, mid-1st century CE
Credits: Ann Raia, 2009
Keywords: women, house, dining
Oecus 4th style fresco
North wall with central panel of Perseus, holding head of Medusa above Andromeda. Decoration on the east wall. Good fortune decoration. House of the Prince of Naples. Pompeii, mid-1st century CE
Credits: Ann Raia, 2009
Keywords: myth, house, painting
Lararium, 4th style wall freso
Painted scene of a Genius, assisted by a Camillus, sacrificing at an altar as a muscian plays the tibia and a slave approaches driving a sacrificial pig, the proper offering to the Lares. In the foreground on either side stand the Lares. Below a pair of snakes approach a small shrine on top of which eggs have been placed as an offering. The images are all symbols of good fortune. Pompeii, House VII.6.3 (excavated 29 March, 1749), mid-1st century CE
Naples, National Archaeological Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2010
Keywords: religion, house
Ritual of Isis, wall freso
Priests and priestesses (detail) jointly perform a bloodless rite: the priests carry a bucket (situa) and sprinkler (aspergillum); the priestess carry distinctive jugs with long spouts. From Stabiae, mid-1st century CE
Naples, National Archaeological Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2010
Keywords: religion, house
Workshop for Metal Housewares, marble relief
In the background are a balance, a furnace and finished products on the wall. A child clings to the garment of the man on the left. Pompeii, 1st century CE.
Naples, National Archaeological Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2010
Keywords: work, class, domestic
Praedia (Estate) of Julia Felix, frescoes
Segments of a long horizontal frieze from the Atrium wall of the house, depicting scenes from daily life in the forum, perhaps during a festival (note the garlanded columns). This business transaction in a baker's shop, found elsewhere in the house, its precise site unknown. Pompeii, 1st century CE.
Naples, National Archaeological Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2010
Keywords: municipal, public, entertainment, commerce
Carpenters in Procession, fresco
Part of a building sign (see source: workers in short green tunics carry a statue, perhaps of their patron Daedalus, on a canopied litter on which appear other figures performing building tasks. Pompeii, 1st century CE.
Naples, National Archaeological Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2010
Keywords: municipal, business, commerce
Venus & Mars, painted terracotta mould antefix
The bare-shouldered goddess of love lifts her veil to the helmeted god of war. Rome, Augustan period (late 1 BCE-early 1CE).
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Credits: Ann Raia, 2012
Keywords: religion, relief, architecture, marriage
Lovers, painted terracotta mould figurine
The pair recline on a couch, about to kiss: wearing a garland, he removes the woman's clothing, probably a courtesan. Greek Asia Minor, Myrina. c. late 2-1 century BCE).
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Credits: Ann Raia, 2012
Keywords: decorative sculpture, Hellenistic
Contest on the front of a marble sarcophagus
The Muses (wearing feathered headdresses), who bring delight to humankind, compete with the Sirens (half woman-half bird), who bring destruction to humans through music and song. It is being judged by the Capitoline triad (Minerva, Juppiter, Juno). Roman, 3rd century CE.
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Credits: Ann Raia, 2012
Keywords: death, funeral, sculpture, myth, religion, gods
Nurse, terracotta mould statuette
Seated nurse holds infant on her lap. Greek, Boeotian, 4-3 century BCE.
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Credits: Ann Raia, 2012
Keywords: slave, work, childhood, domestic
Aphrodite/Venus, bronze statue
The goddess is nude, after the Praxitiles Aphrodite of Knidos. Greek, 150-100 BCE.
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Credits: Ann Raia, 2012
Keywords: sculpture, religion, gods, myth
Aphrodite with a goose,
Painted terracotta mold statuette. Greek, 4th century BCE.
Copenhagen, Glyptotek, Ny Carlsberg. Credits: Ann Raia, 2008
Keywords: sculpture, religion, goddess
Triple-bodied Hekate, bronze statuette
Goddess of the crossroads, holding torches and wearing a high crown (side view). 50-200 CE.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts. Credits: Allegra DeVita, 2012
Keywords: sculpture, magic, goddess, myth
Nike, tiny bronze statuette
The winged goddess in Greek dress holds a wreath and a palm branch. 2/1 century BCE.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts. Credits: Allegra DeVita, 2012
Keywords: sculpture, goddess, victory
Nike, bronze statuette
The winged goddess in Greek dress stands on a globe. 1 century BCE/CE.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts. Credits: Allegra DeVita, 2012
Keywords: sculpture, goddess, victory
Isis, bronze statuette
The goddess wears a plumed Egyptian headdress and her characteristic dress. 1 century BCE -2nd century CE.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts. Credits: Allegra DeVita, 2012
Keywords: sculpture, goddess, religion
Head of a woman, marble
Side; Front. Hellenistic, 3/2 century BCE.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts. Credits: Allegra DeVita, 2012
Keywords: sculpture, Greek
Funerary Roundel, marble
Relief busts: husband in his citizen's toga holding a scroll (marriage document?); wife gazing at him with one hand on his chest and her arm around his shoulders, her gown slipped off one shoulder (a pose reminiscent of Venus). 250-270 CE.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts. Credits: Allegra DeVita, 2012
Keywords: sculpture, death, marriage,
Head of a woman, marble
Side. 31 BCE-14 CE.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts. Credits: Allegra DeVita, 2012
Keywords: sculpture, Augustan
Head of Augustus, marble
Idealized portrait of the young Augustus (with 18th century restorations); these portraits were commissioned by later emperors to link themselves to his line (side). 1-2nd centuries CE.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts. Credits: Allegra DeVita, 2012
Keywords: sculpture, imperial, government
Tombstone of the Gessii, marble
The tombstone bears a labeled family portrait of Fausta, freedwoman of Publius, presumably his wife; Publius Gessius, in military dress, son of Publius, of the rural voting tribe Romilia (an early tribe of the 5th century BCE located across the Tiber); and a togaed Primus, presumably their son, freed by Publius. The inscription appears on either side of the relief as well, indicating that the monument was constructed according to the will of Primus and executed by Fausta, who outlived them both. Found near Viterbo. 50-20 BCE. ILLRP 503.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts. Credits: Allegra DeVita, 2012
Keywords: sculpture, funeral, army, class, Republic, family
Three Graces, marble statue
Thorvaldson, 19th century
Copenhagen, Thorvaldsons Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2008
Keywords: sculpture, myth, goddess
Concordia, bronze statuette
The goddess, who might be Fortuna, is seated on an elaborate throne holding a cornucopia on her left arm and in her right hand once probably a patera. She is veiled and wears a stola which is belted with a Herakles knot. From Pompeii, before 79 CE.
Naples, Archaeological Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2012
Keywords: sculpture, religion, women
Livia, bronze statue
She stands, over lifesize, draped with her hands upraised, perhaps in prayer. From Herculaneum theater, before 79 CE.
Naples, Archaeological Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2012
Keywords: sculpture, religion, empress, empire
Funerary altar, marble
A sculptor works on a funerary monument of a woman while a well-dressed matron with a Flavian hairstyle stands by. Late 1st century CE.
Vatican: Candelabra corridor. Credits: Ann Raia, 2012
Keywords: sculpture, funeral, women, dress
Young girl, marble
She reclines on a sarcophagus lid as though asleep in bed; it is installed among other antiquities on the balustrade in the courtyard of the Palazzo Mattei.
Rome. Credits: Ann Raia, 2012
Keywords: sculpture, death, funeral
front of the sarcophagus of a couple, Roman, 222-235 CE;
smaller version.
The elaborate, deeply carved iconography of this sarcophagus draws upon the foundation myth of Rome, depicting
Mars descending from the sky to
impregnate the recumbent Vestal Rhea Silvia with the twins Romulus and Remus. Apparently the couple had this
sarcophagus pre-carved to accommodate both of them, since both
Mars and
Rhea Silvia have portrait faces.
The densely populated scene is framed by cosmic imagery, with
Helios driving the chariot of the sun on the left and
Vulcan and a goddess, variously identified as Venus Genetrix or Vesta, seated on either side
of a temple on the right.
Rome, Palazzo Mattei di Giove (staircase). Credits: Ann Raia, Barbara McManus, 2012
Keywords: funerary; legend
Seated Woman, fresco
A domestic scene of a fashionably dressed woman wrapped in a palla sitting reflectively with legs crossed. From Stabiae.
Naples, Archaeological Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2012
Keywords: painting, social, dress
Drinking Cups, silver
A pair of embossed cups containing similar images on the front, except for the herm portraits: Mark Antony (detail) and Octavian (detail) (museum tag: "a young astrologer holding an Egyptian celestial sphere in his right hand. To his right is a gushing fountain, presumably with water from the Nile. To his left are a palm branch and a portrait herm"). Both cups have the same image on the back (museum tag:"a priestess of Isis proffering a bunch of grapes toward a cock on an altar, behond which hangs a cysta mystica (ritual box). To her left is a table with silverware and a sacred idol of the Egyptian deity Osiris"). They possibly commemorate Antony's & Octavian's Treaty of Brundisium of 40 BCE and were made perhaps in Alexandria. They are part of the Moregine Silver Treasure, buried by Vesuvius in 79 CE.
Longterm Loan from Italy at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Credits: Ann Raia, 2013
Keywords: Civil War, decorative arts, religion, dining
Quadrigatus coin: a silver coin produced by the Roman Republic before the introduction of the denarius (c. 214-211 BCE). Worth 2 drachms and weighing about 6.7g (size 20-26mm), it was meant mainly for trade with the Greeks of South Italy that used the drachm system.
On the obverse is a young wreathed janiform bust of the Dioscuri (Janus is always pictured with a beard), the celestial twins, protectors of Rome and symbol of alliance with the Italian Socii. The coin is named for the 4-horse chariot reproduced on the reverse: Victory drives Jupiter who holds a scepter and hurls a thunderbolt. Below is inscribed "ROMA." Minted between 225-212 BCE during the period of the 2nd Punic War, it was discontinued by the introduction of the denarius.
Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2006.
Keywords: money, gods, war
Vestal, marble statue
Close-up with details of characteristic headdress with infula and vittae, stola straps, holes for necklace. Side view; detail of head. 3rd century CE
Rome, Forum, Courtyard of the House of the Vestals. Credits: Ann Raia, 2012
Keywords: sculpture, religion, priestess, goddess
Vestal, marble statue
Side view; detail..3rd century CE
Rome, Forum, Courtyard of the House of the Vestals. Credits: Ann Raia, 2012
Keywords: sculpture, religion, priestess, goddess
Vestal, marble statue
Only torso remains, showing details of looped vittae and Hercules knot belt. Angle.3rd century CE
Rome, Forum, Courtyard of the House of the Vestals. Credits: Ann Raia, 2012
Keywords: sculpture, religion, priestess, goddess
Temple of Vesta, marble
View from the Sacra Via
Rome, Forum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2012
Keywords: architecture, religion, priestess, goddess
Seal ring, bronze
Seal of the master of the Villa at Boscoreale, whose ownership LHERFLO (Lucius Herennius Florus) is imprinted on the ring plate. The back has another seal in intaglio, in the shape of a winged caduceus, the staff of the god Mercury. Found in a room of the villa. Roman, 1st century CE.
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Credits: Ann Raia, 2013
Keywords: commerce, business, religion, class, domestic
Sarcophagus Relief, marble fragment
Medea assists Jason, leader of the Argonauts, by putting the serpent to sleep so he can take the Golden Fleece. Late 2nd century CE.
Rome, Palazzo Altemps. Credits: Ann Raia, 2009
Keywords: death, myth, epic, tragedy
Sarcophagus Relief, marble fragment
Medea, veiled as a bride, clasps right hands in Roman marriage (dextrarum iunctio) with Jason, leader of the Argonauts. Late 2nd century CE.
Rome, Palazzo Altemps. Credits: Ann Raia, 2009
Keywords: death, myth, epic, tragedy, wedding
Funerary Tablet, marble
The monument was set up by Quintus Cornelius Philomusus, a sagarius (dealer in cloaks) near the Theater of Marcellus, for himself, his fellow freedwoman Cornelia Daphne, and named members of his "family." Rome, c. 150 CE. CIL 6.9868.
Rome, Capitoline Museum: Palazzo Nuovo. Credits: Ann Raia, 2012.
Keywords: death, class, work
Lucilla, luna marble
Portrait head of the young daughter of the emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Found in the Tetrastyle Temple, Ostia. 2nd century CE.
Museum at Ostia. Credits: Ann Raia, 2007.
Keywords: Antonine, women, children, family
Flavian Woman, marble
Portrait bust of a young upper class woman, draped, with Flavian hairstyle, possibly Julia Titi, daughter of Titus. Rome, Isola Tiberina, 2nd century CE.
Special exhibit on Vespasian. Rome: Colosseum.
Credits: Ann Raia, 2009.
Keywords: Empire, women, family
Flavian Woman, marble
Portrait bust of a mature upper class woman with a Flavian hairstyle, possibly Domitia, the wife of Vespasian. Rome, 2nd century CE.
Special exhibit on Vespasian. Rome: Colosseum.
Credits: Ann Raia, 2009.
Keywords: Empire, women, family
Antonine Woman, luna marble
Portrait head of a mature elite woman with an elegant hairstyle, possibly Domitia Lucilla, mother of Marcus Aurelius (right side, left side).
Found in the Theater, Ostia. 2nd century CE.
Ostia Museum. Credits: Ann Raia, 2007.
Keywords: Empire, women, family
Priestess marble (Small)
A voluminous palla cloaks the priestess's body and covers her hair which still retains its original color. A vegetal corona rests on her head, tied with hanging beaded infulae that frame her face The straps of her matronal stola, modestly covering her sleeved tunica, can be seen on her shoulders. In the act of performing the sacra publica, she extends a libation patera in one hand and a box [acerra] with incense beads in the other. Found in a shrine dedicated to the imperial cult at the back of the Macellum, off the Forum in Pompeii, early-1st century CE. Naples, Archaeological Museum.
Photos taken at Rome's exhibit on Vespasian in the Colosseum by Ann R. Raia, 2010; processed by Barbara McManus.
Keywords: religion, women, class, Augustan
Go to Images Part I; Images Part II; Images Part III; Images Part IV; Images Part V; Images Part VI; Images Part VII; Images Part VIII; Images Part IX; Images Part X; Images Part XII
November 2011
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