DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26205#0052
50
the image of Neptun is here in question, though few scholars think that this
is the personification of the Tiber falling into the sea (and henceforth this
animal).
In the same epoch, under Claudius and Nero, the busts of the Nile appear
on a mass scale, which are placed on the coins and last until the times of
Vespasian 108. It is difficult to judge into which of the said divisions the image
under consideration should be ascribed, yet it seems that the accentuation
was meant here of the economic role of Egypt, conditioned by the inundations
of the river and therefore these personifications can be defined as propaganda
ones 109 110 111.
The events taking place under the Flavii brought forth a broader use of
personifications, intended to emphasize symbolically their importance. On
the occasion of the subjugation of Judaea numerous coins were struck bearing
the personifications of that province no, and the arch of Titus in Rome was
erected m. Apart from the famous reliefs situated in its passage, it also had
minor friezes over it (and the scene of the apotheosis of Titus in the intrados).
Among the figures visible in a small frieze of the eastern facade there is the
stereotyped personification of the Jordan borne during the triumph on ferculum
(Figs. 49—49 a). It is an unique image in ancient art, comparable only with
the depiction of captives on the ferculum represented on a frieze of the temple
of Apollo Sosianus and on a relief in Rome’s Museo Nazionale delle Terme
from the times of Septimius Severus112 113. These three objects provide an excellent
illustration of triumphal ceremonial, confirming literary mentions.
108 Imhoof-Blumer, No. 500; RIC, I, passim; Toynbee, p. 31, PI. 10, 4; Skowronek,
Alexandria, pp. 29 and 32—33 notes moreover the personifications of the Nile on the dioboloi and
oboloi struck under Augustus, whereas on pp. 34—37 he lists Alexandrian coins with the image
of the dates of their issue.
109 It is worth mentioning that the head of Aegyptus on the mosaic in Ostia had a similar
meaning of economic propaganda, also dated to the times of Claudius, so it can be surmised that
the heads of the Nile are associated with propaganda function as well. On the mosaic, cf. G. Calza,
Reppresentazione di provincie e di venti in un mosaico di Ostia, Bull. Comm., 1912, pp. 105—112;
Toynbee, PI. 26, 4; G. Becatti, Mosaici e pavimenti marmorei. Scavi di Ostia IV, 2, Roma 1961,
PI. 122—123, Fig. 14; Ostrowski, Prowincje, p. 73 and 122 (AEGYPTUS 4); Ostrowski, Pro-
vinces, AEGYPTUS 3 and ANNEXE I, 1.
110 Cf. Toynbee, pp. 117—119; Ostrowski, Prowincje, pp. 74—75 and p. 152 (IUDAEA
2—13); Ostrowski, Provinces, IUDAEA 2—13.
111 Strong, Scultura, I, p. 102 ff.; K. Lehmann-Hartleben, L’Arco di Titto, Bull. Comm.,
62, 1934, pp. 89—122; M. Pfanner, Der Titusbogen, Mainz 1983, p. 84, PI. 86, 4—7; Hannestad,
pp. 124—132.
113 A frieze from the temple of Apollo from 33 or 20 B. C. is kept in Palazzo dei Conervatori,
Braccio Nuovo. Cf. Nash, I, p. 28, Fig. 18; Kraus, No. 178c; Helbig4, No. 1670; Ostrowski,
Prowincje, p. 69 and 159 (NIEZIDENTYFIKOWANE - UNIDETIFIED 1); Zanker, Augustus,
p. 76 (the triumph of Augustus), Fig. 55; A. Viscogliosi, Die Architektur-Dekoration der Celia
des Apollo-Sosianus Tempel, [in:] Kaiser Augustus, pp. 136—148, Cat. No. 41; E. Kiinzl, Der
romische Triumph, Miinchen 1988, p. 73, Fig. 42. A frieze in Museo Nazionale (from the former
Buoncompagni-Ludovisi collection), was dated by G. Ch. Picard, Les trophies Romains, Paris
the image of Neptun is here in question, though few scholars think that this
is the personification of the Tiber falling into the sea (and henceforth this
animal).
In the same epoch, under Claudius and Nero, the busts of the Nile appear
on a mass scale, which are placed on the coins and last until the times of
Vespasian 108. It is difficult to judge into which of the said divisions the image
under consideration should be ascribed, yet it seems that the accentuation
was meant here of the economic role of Egypt, conditioned by the inundations
of the river and therefore these personifications can be defined as propaganda
ones 109 110 111.
The events taking place under the Flavii brought forth a broader use of
personifications, intended to emphasize symbolically their importance. On
the occasion of the subjugation of Judaea numerous coins were struck bearing
the personifications of that province no, and the arch of Titus in Rome was
erected m. Apart from the famous reliefs situated in its passage, it also had
minor friezes over it (and the scene of the apotheosis of Titus in the intrados).
Among the figures visible in a small frieze of the eastern facade there is the
stereotyped personification of the Jordan borne during the triumph on ferculum
(Figs. 49—49 a). It is an unique image in ancient art, comparable only with
the depiction of captives on the ferculum represented on a frieze of the temple
of Apollo Sosianus and on a relief in Rome’s Museo Nazionale delle Terme
from the times of Septimius Severus112 113. These three objects provide an excellent
illustration of triumphal ceremonial, confirming literary mentions.
108 Imhoof-Blumer, No. 500; RIC, I, passim; Toynbee, p. 31, PI. 10, 4; Skowronek,
Alexandria, pp. 29 and 32—33 notes moreover the personifications of the Nile on the dioboloi and
oboloi struck under Augustus, whereas on pp. 34—37 he lists Alexandrian coins with the image
of the dates of their issue.
109 It is worth mentioning that the head of Aegyptus on the mosaic in Ostia had a similar
meaning of economic propaganda, also dated to the times of Claudius, so it can be surmised that
the heads of the Nile are associated with propaganda function as well. On the mosaic, cf. G. Calza,
Reppresentazione di provincie e di venti in un mosaico di Ostia, Bull. Comm., 1912, pp. 105—112;
Toynbee, PI. 26, 4; G. Becatti, Mosaici e pavimenti marmorei. Scavi di Ostia IV, 2, Roma 1961,
PI. 122—123, Fig. 14; Ostrowski, Prowincje, p. 73 and 122 (AEGYPTUS 4); Ostrowski, Pro-
vinces, AEGYPTUS 3 and ANNEXE I, 1.
110 Cf. Toynbee, pp. 117—119; Ostrowski, Prowincje, pp. 74—75 and p. 152 (IUDAEA
2—13); Ostrowski, Provinces, IUDAEA 2—13.
111 Strong, Scultura, I, p. 102 ff.; K. Lehmann-Hartleben, L’Arco di Titto, Bull. Comm.,
62, 1934, pp. 89—122; M. Pfanner, Der Titusbogen, Mainz 1983, p. 84, PI. 86, 4—7; Hannestad,
pp. 124—132.
113 A frieze from the temple of Apollo from 33 or 20 B. C. is kept in Palazzo dei Conervatori,
Braccio Nuovo. Cf. Nash, I, p. 28, Fig. 18; Kraus, No. 178c; Helbig4, No. 1670; Ostrowski,
Prowincje, p. 69 and 159 (NIEZIDENTYFIKOWANE - UNIDETIFIED 1); Zanker, Augustus,
p. 76 (the triumph of Augustus), Fig. 55; A. Viscogliosi, Die Architektur-Dekoration der Celia
des Apollo-Sosianus Tempel, [in:] Kaiser Augustus, pp. 136—148, Cat. No. 41; E. Kiinzl, Der
romische Triumph, Miinchen 1988, p. 73, Fig. 42. A frieze in Museo Nazionale (from the former
Buoncompagni-Ludovisi collection), was dated by G. Ch. Picard, Les trophies Romains, Paris