DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52594#0585
Roman Reliefs.
Thus this herm was the boundary stone of the country
estate of S. Valerius Nymphidianus and his sons, so that in
all probability the head represents Jupiter Terminalis. An-
nual festivals were celebrated at such stones, the socalled
Terminalia (Dionys. Halic. II 74).
The style suggests the beginning of the Roman Empire.
Billedtavler pl. LXX.
817. (I. N. 1465). Seat of honour, with sceptre. Relief. M.
H. 0.91, L. 1.09. The legs of the throne have been chiselled off. The
corners at the top left and bottom right new. Acquired 1895 from
Martinetti’s estate, formerly in Neapolitan ownership but of Roman
provenance, according to a letter from Helbig.
Uppermost, resting upon a cushion is a thick wreath with
a large jewel, and behind it an obliquely hung sceptre
crowned with the bust of a long-bearded man.
The cushion is lying upon a chair or bench of curious
form: In the centre a box-like seat decorated with moulding
and marine monsters and secured at the ends by a large and
a smaller cross-bolt. Originally the large cross-bolt continued
downwards into legs. Retween them are the torsoes of two
bound barbarians in Phrygian caps and with one leg bent
at the knee, whereas the other is not represented. They flank
a crude, rectangular block (stool?).
There are parallel scenes on reliefs from Rome (Arndt-
Amelung 2006; Sale catalogue of Sammlung Ruesch, Luzern
1936 No. 187 and pl. 48) and especially from Ptuj (Pettau)
in Yugoslavia (Abramic: Fiihrer durch Poetovio p. 142 seq.;
Conze: Sitzungsber. der Wiener Akad.: Romische Bildwerke
einheimischen Fundortes in Oesterreich II pl. XIV a; cf. pl.
XV. A. von Muchar: Geschichte des Herzogtums Steiermark I
pl. XIV 28).
The central features of the picture are the wreath and
sceptre, both symbols of the emperor cult; in this connection
S. Eitrem was the first (supported by 1’Orange) to recognize
that the bust crowning the sceptre must be an imperial bust.
Sceptres of this type with the bust of Vespasian make their
first appearance on coins of the Flavian period, carried by
that emperor’s sons, and on coins from the Bosporan depen-
dency of King Rhescuporis; on the Flavian reliefs from the
Palazzo della Cancelleria we see the sceptre with the imper-
581
Thus this herm was the boundary stone of the country
estate of S. Valerius Nymphidianus and his sons, so that in
all probability the head represents Jupiter Terminalis. An-
nual festivals were celebrated at such stones, the socalled
Terminalia (Dionys. Halic. II 74).
The style suggests the beginning of the Roman Empire.
Billedtavler pl. LXX.
817. (I. N. 1465). Seat of honour, with sceptre. Relief. M.
H. 0.91, L. 1.09. The legs of the throne have been chiselled off. The
corners at the top left and bottom right new. Acquired 1895 from
Martinetti’s estate, formerly in Neapolitan ownership but of Roman
provenance, according to a letter from Helbig.
Uppermost, resting upon a cushion is a thick wreath with
a large jewel, and behind it an obliquely hung sceptre
crowned with the bust of a long-bearded man.
The cushion is lying upon a chair or bench of curious
form: In the centre a box-like seat decorated with moulding
and marine monsters and secured at the ends by a large and
a smaller cross-bolt. Originally the large cross-bolt continued
downwards into legs. Retween them are the torsoes of two
bound barbarians in Phrygian caps and with one leg bent
at the knee, whereas the other is not represented. They flank
a crude, rectangular block (stool?).
There are parallel scenes on reliefs from Rome (Arndt-
Amelung 2006; Sale catalogue of Sammlung Ruesch, Luzern
1936 No. 187 and pl. 48) and especially from Ptuj (Pettau)
in Yugoslavia (Abramic: Fiihrer durch Poetovio p. 142 seq.;
Conze: Sitzungsber. der Wiener Akad.: Romische Bildwerke
einheimischen Fundortes in Oesterreich II pl. XIV a; cf. pl.
XV. A. von Muchar: Geschichte des Herzogtums Steiermark I
pl. XIV 28).
The central features of the picture are the wreath and
sceptre, both symbols of the emperor cult; in this connection
S. Eitrem was the first (supported by 1’Orange) to recognize
that the bust crowning the sceptre must be an imperial bust.
Sceptres of this type with the bust of Vespasian make their
first appearance on coins of the Flavian period, carried by
that emperor’s sons, and on coins from the Bosporan depen-
dency of King Rhescuporis; on the Flavian reliefs from the
Palazzo della Cancelleria we see the sceptre with the imper-
581