DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61617#0152
THE BUILDING OF EUMACHIA
in
ing with the colonnade, and a third at the rear, entered from
the end of a passage leading up from Abbondanza Street (14),
the grade of which at this point is considerably below the pave-
ment of the building (Fig. 48).
An inscription appears in large letters on the entablature of
the portico, and again on a marble tablet over the side entrance
in Abbondanza Street: Eumachia L. f., sacerd\os~\ publ\ica\,
nomine suo et M. Numis tri Frontonis fill chalcidicum, cryptam,
portions Concordias Angus tae Pietati sua pequnia fecit eademqne
dedicavit, — ‘ Eumachia, daughter of Lucius Eumachius, a city
priestess, in her own name and that of her son, Marcus Numis-
trius Fronto, built at her own expense the portico, the corridor
(cryptam, covered passage), and the colonnade, dedicating them
to Concordia Augusta and Pietas.’
The word pietas, in such connections, has no English equiva-
lent, and is difficult to translate. It sums up in a single concept
the qualities of filial affection, conscientious devotion, and obe-
dience to duty which in the Roman view characterized the
proper conduct of children toward their parents and grand-
parents. Here mother and son united in dedicating the build-
ing to personifications, or deifications, of the perfect harmony
and the regard for elders that prevailed in the imperial family.
The reference of the dedication can only be to the relation
between the Emperor Tiberius and his mother Livia; it cannot
apply to Nero and Agrippina, for the reason that the walls of
the building were decorated in the third Pompeian style, which
in Nero’s time was no longer in vogue. In 22 a.d., when Livia
was very ill, the Senate voted to erect an altar to Pietas
Augusta. In the following year Drusus, the son of Tiberius,
gave expression to his regard for his grandmother by placing
her likeness upon his coins, with the word Pietas.
On the coins of colonies also —of Saragossa and another the
name of which is not known—-the Pietas Augusta appears, ap-
parently about the same time. Not long afterwards the har-
monious relations between Tiberius and his mother gave place
to mutual suspicion and hostility; the dedication therefore
points to the earlier part of the reign of Tiberius, and in this
period the building was no doubt erected. The statue of
in
ing with the colonnade, and a third at the rear, entered from
the end of a passage leading up from Abbondanza Street (14),
the grade of which at this point is considerably below the pave-
ment of the building (Fig. 48).
An inscription appears in large letters on the entablature of
the portico, and again on a marble tablet over the side entrance
in Abbondanza Street: Eumachia L. f., sacerd\os~\ publ\ica\,
nomine suo et M. Numis tri Frontonis fill chalcidicum, cryptam,
portions Concordias Angus tae Pietati sua pequnia fecit eademqne
dedicavit, — ‘ Eumachia, daughter of Lucius Eumachius, a city
priestess, in her own name and that of her son, Marcus Numis-
trius Fronto, built at her own expense the portico, the corridor
(cryptam, covered passage), and the colonnade, dedicating them
to Concordia Augusta and Pietas.’
The word pietas, in such connections, has no English equiva-
lent, and is difficult to translate. It sums up in a single concept
the qualities of filial affection, conscientious devotion, and obe-
dience to duty which in the Roman view characterized the
proper conduct of children toward their parents and grand-
parents. Here mother and son united in dedicating the build-
ing to personifications, or deifications, of the perfect harmony
and the regard for elders that prevailed in the imperial family.
The reference of the dedication can only be to the relation
between the Emperor Tiberius and his mother Livia; it cannot
apply to Nero and Agrippina, for the reason that the walls of
the building were decorated in the third Pompeian style, which
in Nero’s time was no longer in vogue. In 22 a.d., when Livia
was very ill, the Senate voted to erect an altar to Pietas
Augusta. In the following year Drusus, the son of Tiberius,
gave expression to his regard for his grandmother by placing
her likeness upon his coins, with the word Pietas.
On the coins of colonies also —of Saragossa and another the
name of which is not known—-the Pietas Augusta appears, ap-
parently about the same time. Not long afterwards the har-
monious relations between Tiberius and his mother gave place
to mutual suspicion and hostility; the dedication therefore
points to the earlier part of the reign of Tiberius, and in this
period the building was no doubt erected. The statue of