DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15101#0094
PLATE XXIX.
BUST OF OLYMPIAS.
The bust of a Roman lady, draped over the shoulders and
breasts, and exhibiting a high and very ornate mode of arranging
the hair. It stands on a plinth, on which, and immediately
beneath the bust, is an inscription, from which it appears that it
was dedicated to the memory of Olympias by her freed-man,
Epithymetus.
The inscription is—
MEMORIAE
CL. TI. F. OLYMPIADIS.
EPITHYMETVS . LIB.
PATRONAE . PIENTISSIMAE
which may be translated—" To the memory of Claudia Olympias,
his most affectionate patron, the daughter of Tiberius [or Titus]
Epithymetus, her freed-man [dedicates this bust]."
There is no record from which it can be determined who this
lady was, or whether she was connected or not with the Imperial
family; but the style of head-dress, and the use of the word
" pientissimae"—a later form than the more usual " piissimae"_
suggests that the period of its execution was not earlier than the
commencement of the second century. Though evidently not in-
tended for one of them, there is a striking analogy between this
bust and those of Marciana, Matidia, and Julia Sabina. The
BUST OF OLYMPIAS.
The bust of a Roman lady, draped over the shoulders and
breasts, and exhibiting a high and very ornate mode of arranging
the hair. It stands on a plinth, on which, and immediately
beneath the bust, is an inscription, from which it appears that it
was dedicated to the memory of Olympias by her freed-man,
Epithymetus.
The inscription is—
MEMORIAE
CL. TI. F. OLYMPIADIS.
EPITHYMETVS . LIB.
PATRONAE . PIENTISSIMAE
which may be translated—" To the memory of Claudia Olympias,
his most affectionate patron, the daughter of Tiberius [or Titus]
Epithymetus, her freed-man [dedicates this bust]."
There is no record from which it can be determined who this
lady was, or whether she was connected or not with the Imperial
family; but the style of head-dress, and the use of the word
" pientissimae"—a later form than the more usual " piissimae"_
suggests that the period of its execution was not earlier than the
commencement of the second century. Though evidently not in-
tended for one of them, there is a striking analogy between this
bust and those of Marciana, Matidia, and Julia Sabina. The