DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0147
96 The Column of Mayence
Castor and Pollux, all three being sons of Iupiter who in various
ways inherited their father's light-giving prerogative. The shaft of
the column is covered with five zones of deities arranged as in the
following table :
U
o
H
<:
X
0! X
W H
IVNO
Regitia
Luna
Sol
Genius Neronis
Lar
Bacchus
Lar
Pax
Iuno Sancta
VESTA
VENVS
CERES
Honos
VOLCANVS
Virtus
Victoria
MARS
DIANA
NEPTVNVS
Inscription
Castor
APOLLO
Pollux
IVPITER
MERCVRIVS
and
Maia(?)
Hercules
MINERVA
and
Fortuna
FRONT
LEFT SIDE
BACK
RIGHT SIDE
Immediately below the bronze statue of Iupiter Best and
Greatest is his consort Iuno the Queen1, standing sceptre in hand
between the chariots of Sol and Luna. Next in order of dignity
comes Nero, to whom the second drum is devoted. As a Genius'2
with portrait features, veiled and sacrificing, he is flanked by the
imperial Lares. He is further brought into connexion with Bacchus,
possibly as being himself a Neos Didnysos3. To interpret the three
1 Supra p. 87 n. 3. Numerous inscriptions found at Mayence associate Iupiter Optimus
Maximus with Iuno Regina {Corp. inscr. Lat. xiii nos. 6713—6728).
2 Local inscriptions repeatedly link the names of Iupiter Optimus Maximus or Iuno
Regina or both with that of the Genius {Corp. inscr. Lat. xiii nos. 6696 Iunoni Reg.
et I Genio loci, 6710 I. o. m. et Genio, 6711 I. o. m. | et Genio | benemejrenti, 6712
I. o. m. I et Genio loci, 6726 I. o. m. [Iun. Reg.] | et Ge[nio], 6730 I. o. m. | Sucaelo
et I Gen. loci), whose cult survived in the Gallo-Germanic region till the seventh century
(see E. Maass in the Jahrcsh. d. oest. arch. Inst. 1907 x. 109 f.).
3 So Mrs Strong in the Rev. Arch. 1913 ii- 327 : ' Nor does it seem fanciful to suppose
that Liber appears on the same drum as Nero, in compliment to the Emperor not averse
doubtless to seeing himself alluded to as the veos Aiovvcros.' This title was actually assumed
by Mithradates vi Eupator, king of Pontos 120—63 B.C. (Poseidonios frag. 41 {Frag. hist.
Gr. iii. 266ff. Mttller) ap. Athen. 212 D, cp. Cic. pro Flacco 60, Dittenberger Orient.
Gr. inscr. set. no. 370, 1, W. Wroth in the Brit. Mus. Cat. Coins Pontus, etc. p. xxv,
G. F. Hill Historical Greek Coins London 1906 p. 162 f.), Ptolemy xiii Auletes, king of
Egypt 80—51 B.C. (Dittenberger Orient. Gr. inscr. set. no. 186, 8f., no. 187, 2, no. 191,
1 f., no. 193, 9, no. 741, 1 f. with notes on no. 182, 1, B. P. Grenfell and A. S. Hunt
■The Oxyrhynchus Papyri London 1899 ii. 139 f. no. 236/', 1, B. P. Grenfell—A. S. Plunt
—D. G. Hogarth Faytim Towns and their Papyri London 1900 p. 304 no. 236, Porphyrios
Castor and Pollux, all three being sons of Iupiter who in various
ways inherited their father's light-giving prerogative. The shaft of
the column is covered with five zones of deities arranged as in the
following table :
U
o
H
<:
X
0! X
W H
IVNO
Regitia
Luna
Sol
Genius Neronis
Lar
Bacchus
Lar
Pax
Iuno Sancta
VESTA
VENVS
CERES
Honos
VOLCANVS
Virtus
Victoria
MARS
DIANA
NEPTVNVS
Inscription
Castor
APOLLO
Pollux
IVPITER
MERCVRIVS
and
Maia(?)
Hercules
MINERVA
and
Fortuna
FRONT
LEFT SIDE
BACK
RIGHT SIDE
Immediately below the bronze statue of Iupiter Best and
Greatest is his consort Iuno the Queen1, standing sceptre in hand
between the chariots of Sol and Luna. Next in order of dignity
comes Nero, to whom the second drum is devoted. As a Genius'2
with portrait features, veiled and sacrificing, he is flanked by the
imperial Lares. He is further brought into connexion with Bacchus,
possibly as being himself a Neos Didnysos3. To interpret the three
1 Supra p. 87 n. 3. Numerous inscriptions found at Mayence associate Iupiter Optimus
Maximus with Iuno Regina {Corp. inscr. Lat. xiii nos. 6713—6728).
2 Local inscriptions repeatedly link the names of Iupiter Optimus Maximus or Iuno
Regina or both with that of the Genius {Corp. inscr. Lat. xiii nos. 6696 Iunoni Reg.
et I Genio loci, 6710 I. o. m. et Genio, 6711 I. o. m. | et Genio | benemejrenti, 6712
I. o. m. I et Genio loci, 6726 I. o. m. [Iun. Reg.] | et Ge[nio], 6730 I. o. m. | Sucaelo
et I Gen. loci), whose cult survived in the Gallo-Germanic region till the seventh century
(see E. Maass in the Jahrcsh. d. oest. arch. Inst. 1907 x. 109 f.).
3 So Mrs Strong in the Rev. Arch. 1913 ii- 327 : ' Nor does it seem fanciful to suppose
that Liber appears on the same drum as Nero, in compliment to the Emperor not averse
doubtless to seeing himself alluded to as the veos Aiovvcros.' This title was actually assumed
by Mithradates vi Eupator, king of Pontos 120—63 B.C. (Poseidonios frag. 41 {Frag. hist.
Gr. iii. 266ff. Mttller) ap. Athen. 212 D, cp. Cic. pro Flacco 60, Dittenberger Orient.
Gr. inscr. set. no. 370, 1, W. Wroth in the Brit. Mus. Cat. Coins Pontus, etc. p. xxv,
G. F. Hill Historical Greek Coins London 1906 p. 162 f.), Ptolemy xiii Auletes, king of
Egypt 80—51 B.C. (Dittenberger Orient. Gr. inscr. set. no. 186, 8f., no. 187, 2, no. 191,
1 f., no. 193, 9, no. 741, 1 f. with notes on no. 182, 1, B. P. Grenfell and A. S. Hunt
■The Oxyrhynchus Papyri London 1899 ii. 139 f. no. 236/', 1, B. P. Grenfell—A. S. Plunt
—D. G. Hogarth Faytim Towns and their Papyri London 1900 p. 304 no. 236, Porphyrios