A Roman Vessel for Cosmetics: Form, Decoration, and Subjectivity in the Muse Casket

Vessels ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaś Elsner
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Surface Decoration ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
Made In ◽  
Spiritual State

In 1793, laborers digging a well at the foot of the Esquiline hill in Rome came upon the ruins of an ancient house and buried therein what proved to be the largest and most spectacular silver treasure from antiquity discovered up to that time. The known surviving items of the so-called Esquiline Treasure—probably made in the second half of the fourth century CE and concealed by its last owners sometime in late antiquity to protect it from marauders or invading barbarians, but surely intended to have been recovered and reused by them—include some very famous pieces: the Projecta Casket, the Tyche statuettes of Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, and Alexandria, a number of dishes, spoons, and ewers (Figure 2.1). Among these is the Muse Casket, a circular vessel, just under 33 cm in diameter and a little less than 27 cm high when covered with its lid. It is made of sheet silver, shaped and decorated with repoussé and engraving. Its lid is a silver dome recessed from the edge of a flat rim and attached to the base by a soldered hinge, with a narrow tab opposite the hinge for raising and lowering the cover (Figure 2.2). Inside it has five smaller vessels for toiletries and cosmetics, so that the casket as a whole was made to be used as a container for unguents. The art of the toiletry box—as a vessel that contains other vessels—casts light onto a problem that is faced across cultures, namely, improving or elevating a person’s physical or spiritual state by operating a complex device—a container of containers—and using the contents stored therein. Different cultures may seek different symbolisms to structure the generation of meaning, based on their own specific traditions and ideologies. In the case of the Muse Casket, the artifactual logic—structured through the material invitation to open, close, and use a box, and to open, close, and use the containers within it—operates alongside an iconographic rhetoric of surface decoration that alludes to the divine, that is in this case, to the Muses and the Dionysiac sphere.

scholarly journals Numizmatički nalazi iz dijela antičkog kompleksa u Caskoj - katastarska čestica 1941/24

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mato Ilkić
Keyword(s):  
Roman Republic ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Front Side ◽  
Roman Emperor ◽  
Roman Coins ◽  
Constantius Ii ◽  
Archaeological Excavations ◽  
Made In

Northern part of the island of Pag has been a challenge for archaeological science as several important and rich sites are situated in this region. One of them is about 3 km east of Novalja, in the Bay of Caska. In the last ten years in the series of archaeological explorations significant remains of Roman settlement and necropolis were discovered. Abundant numismatic material was found in these excavations, among other finds. On this occasion I would like to present Roman coins which were unearthed in 2005 and 2006 during archaeological excavations on the plot of Juraj Palčić (cadastral plot 1941/24) in Caska where remains of a complex Roman residential object were explored under the leadership of Goran Skelac. Thirteen pieces of the Roman currency were discovered in trenches. A half of a split coin probably belongs to the period of the Roman Republic (cat. no. 1). Due to poor state of preservation it cannot be dated with certainty. A well preserved bronze coin belongs to the final period of the Roman Republic (cat. no. 2). Two busts are depicted on its front side: Caesar with a wreath on his head and bare-headed Octavian. This dupondius was made in the Lugdunum (Lyon) mint. To my best knowledge, this Gallic provincial coin from approximately 36 BC is the first such find from the territory of ancient Liburnia. Then, there was also an August's as from the mint in Rome (cat. no. 3). Sex. Nonius Quinctilianus, a monetary official from the year 6 BC is mentioned in the legend at the reverse. As with a depiction of the first Roman emperor and mention of C. Marcius Censorinus was also discovered at this site in Caska (cat. no. 4). Since Censorinus was a monetary official in 18 BC who supervised minting of sesterces and dupondii only, according to the standard catalogue Roman Imperial Coinage, as with his name is probably an early imperial forgery. Following numismatic finds belong to the beginning of the second half of the 3rd century: two antoniniani from the mint in Rome with depictions of the Emperor Gallienus (cat. no. 5) and his wife Salonina (cat. no. 6). Seven coins belong to the Late Antiquity. One of them is from the period of Constantine the Great (cat. no. 7). Coin with a depiction of Caesar Constantine II, his son, is dated to the last two years of his father's reign (cat. no. 9). A coin with posthumous depiction of Constantine the Great belongs to the first decade of independent reign of his sons (cat. no. 8). Four coins belong to the period around mid-fourth century. One of them was minted in Siscia, under the Emperor Constans. Phoenix, a firebird symbolizing immortality i.e. resurrection is on the reverse (cat. no. 10). The last three coins were minted during the Emperor Constantius II. A distinctly military theme is depicted on their reverses: a Roman soldier strikes enemy on a horse with a spear (cat. no. 11-13). As a whole this numismatic assemblage contributes to a more precise chronological determination of this complex Roman residential object in Caska. It is also important for better understanding of money circulation in the region of ancient Liburnia. I would like to dedicate this article with best wishes to a dear friend and colleague, Professor Janko Belošević.

The Fate of Small Towns, Hilltop Settlements, and Elite Residences in Merovingian-Period Gaul

2020 ◽  
pp. 610-640
Author(s):  
Luc Bourgeois
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Small Towns ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Power Networks ◽  
Early Middle Ages ◽  
The Many

The study of places of power in the Merovingian realm has long been focused on cities, monasteries, and royal palaces. Recent archaeological research has led to the emergence of other categories. Four of them are addressed in this chapter. These include the capitals of fallen cities, which continue to mark the landscape in one way or another. Similarly, the fate of small Roman towns during the early Middle Ages shows that most of them continued to host a variety of secular and ecclesiastical powers. In addition, from the fourth century onward, large hilltop fortified settlements multiplied anew. They complemented earlier networks of authority, whether elite residences, artisan communities, or real towns. Finally, from the seventh century onward, the great aristocratic villas of late antiquity were transformed into settlements organized around one or more courtyards and supplemented by funerary and religious structures. The evolution of political spaces and lifestyles explains both the ruptures in power networks that occurred during the Merovingian epoch and the many continuities that can be seen in the four kinds of places studied in this chapter that were marked by these developments.

Amphilochius of Iconium and Lycaonian Asceticism

2011 ◽  
Vol 101 ◽  
pp. 185-205
Author(s):  
Peter Thonemann
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Orthodox Christian ◽  
Ascetic Communities ◽  
Formed Part ◽  
First Time

AbstractNon-orthodox Christian asceticism in Late Antiquity is known to us largely through the distorting lens of orthodox heresiology. This paper aims to reassess the character of the ascetic communities of rural Lycaonia in the fourth century a.d. in the light of the surviving funerary and ecclesiastical epigraphy, including three inscriptions published here for the first time. We are fortunate to be able to read these texts in the light of a neglected work of orthodox polemic, Amphilochius’ Against False Asceticism, the work of an embattled orthodox bishop at Iconium in the late 370s a.d. This treatise formed part of a successful campaign to stigmatize the Lycaonian ascetics as heretics, a position which was enshrined in Theodosius’ anti-heretical legislation of a.d. 381–3.

scholarly journals THE DROMOS BURIAL OF THE FOURTH CENTURY BCFROM KURGAN 12 AT THE PEREVOLOCHAN I CEMETERYIN THE SOUTH URALSREGION

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
С.В. Сиротин
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Century ◽  
South Urals ◽  
The South ◽  
Gold Plates ◽  
Made In

В статье представлен погребальный комплекс эпохи ранних кочевников IV в. до н. э. из некрополя Переволочан I на Южном Урале. Рассматриваемое погребение было устроено в центре подкурганной площадки кургана 12. Погребение относится к сооружениям дромосного типа. Обращает на себя внимание найденный инвентарь: предметы вооружения, элементы конской сбруи, ювелирные украшения, золотые обкладки деревянных чаш. Конструктивные особенности курганной насыпи, дромосное устройство могильной ямы, богатый сопроводительный материал позволяют отнести данный комплекс к погребениям кочевой элиты. В публикации дается анализ погребального обряда, инвентаря, а также хронология погребения. The paper reports on a burial assemblage dating to the period of the early nomads of the 4th century BC from Perevolochan I, which is a cemetery located in the South Urals region. The grave in question was made in the center of the area under kurgan 12. The kurgan is attributed to the dromos type of constructions. The discovered funerary offerings, including weaponry, elements of horse trappings, jewelry pieces, gold plates of wooden cups, are worth mentioning. The construction features of the kurgan mound, the dromos type of the burial pit structure, rich offerings suggest that this is a grave of the nomadic elite. The paper analyzes the funerary rite, the funerary offerings and the grave chronology.

Euboean floral black-figured vases

1960 ◽  
Vol 55 ◽  
pp. 211-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. Ure
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Century ◽  
Extended View ◽  
Made In

In the Museum at Chalcis there are more than a dozen black-figured vases decorated with palmettes, lotus flowers, leaves, and other plant motives. I drew attention to some of these in BSA xli. 27 f., associating with them similar vases in Athens, Berlin, Bonn, Reading, and Thebes, and suggesting that they were probably made in Euboea. It is possible now to go farther and take a more extended view of what was undoubtedly a vigorous local industry in either Chalcis or Eretria or both in the fourth century B.C.For convenience the material is here divided into groups according to the shapes of the palmettes and lotuses and the character of the patterns. The order may not be strictly chronological and the vases grouped together do not necessarily come from the same workshop, but certain lines of development can be traced and the groups link together to form a coherent whole.

IDEOLOGIES AND AGENDAS IN LATE ANTIQUE STUDIES

2003 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Averil Cameron
Keyword(s):  
Economic History ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Recent Article ◽  
Present Form ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Continuity And Change ◽  
Made In

This paper sets a framework by discussing the trends and approaches observable in the study of Late Antiquity over the last few decades. It takes up the points made in a recent article by A. Giardina and considers the models of continuity and change adopted in several recent collective publications. It questions whether the current enthusiasm for the ‘long Late Antiquity’, and the privileging of cultural over social and economic history are likely to continue in their present form. It draws attention to differences of emphasis between historians and archaeologists, and between analyses of the Eastern and Western parts of the empire, and stresses the complementarity of historical and archaeological approaches.

The Rhetoric of Heresiological Prefaces

2020 ◽  
pp. 180-197
Author(s):  
Richard Flower
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Technical Literature ◽  
Augustine Of Hippo ◽  
Close Analysis ◽  
Textual Authority ◽  
Literary Phenomenon ◽  
Ancient Texts

The genre of heresiology—catalogues of heretics and their supposed beliefs—flourished in late antiquity, especially from the late fourth century. This chapter forms part of a reappraisal of this underappreciated literary phenomenon by considering the rhetorical aspects of a number of heresiologies within the context of classical technical literature. Drawing on parallels from a range of ancient texts, especially medical and encyclopaedic writings, this chapter focuses on the prefaces of heresiologies by Epiphanius of Salamis, Filastrius of Brescia and Augustine of Hippo to illuminate how they employed recognized techniques for the construction of textual authority. Through such close analysis, it is possible to trace the development of heresiology as technē, with each author drawing on both established classical tropes and also the writings of their predecessors in the genre to create their own distinctive rhetoric that advertised the reliable orthodoxy and intellectual supremacy of both writer and text.

The Christianisation of Rural Palestine during Late Antiquity

2003 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
DORON BAR
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Traditional View ◽  
Archaeological Research

Focusing on the rural zones of Palestine and exploiting extensive archaeological research permits a re-examination of the traditional view that much of Palestine had been Christianised by the late fourth century. This article suggests that the process of adopting Christianity in the countryside was far more gradual than previously believed. While the map of holy sites in Palestine had largely taken shape by the end of the fourth century, the conversion of the population only achieved real momentum during the fifth and sixth centuries. Research on the community churches of Palestine, in particular on their location in the villages, reveals that Christian penetration into the countryside stemmed from internal social developments and was not institutional in inspiration.

The Bishop's Two Bodies: Ambrose and the Basilicas of Milan

2010 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 531-555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine M. Chin
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
The Body ◽  
Human Organism ◽  
History Of Christianity ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
History Of ◽  
Human Embodiment ◽  
Two Bodies

The late ancient body is a historiographical problem. In the combined lights of feminist, Foucaultian, and post-Foucaultian methodologies, much recent scholarship on bodies in late antiquity has focused on bodies as sites on which power relations are enacted and as discourses through which ideologies are materialized. Contemporary concern with definitions and representations of the posthuman, however—for example, in medical technologies that expand the capacities of particular human bodies, in speculative pursuit of the limits of avatars, or in the technological pursuit of artificial intelligence or artificial life—seem both to underline the fundamental lability of the body, and to require a broadening of scholarly focus beyond the traditional visible boundaries of the human organism. At the same time, scholarship on the posthuman emphasizes contemporaneity and futurity to an extent that may seem to preclude engagement with the premodern. I would like to suggest here that doubt about the boundaries of human embodiment is a useful lens through which to reconsider some very traditional questions in the history of Christianity, and that we may begin to think of bodies in Christian premodernity in terms of what we might call their pre-humanity, that is, as fundamentally open to extension, transformation, and multiple instantiation. The figure on whom I focus is Ambrose, the fourth-century bishop of Milan, who, I argue, defined his own body in such a way that he was able to instantiate physically in dozens of living human bodies, at least two dead human bodies, thousands of angelic bodies, and four church buildings. Ambrose's dynamic conception of his episcopal body was formed within a complex political and theological situation, so questions concerning the political ideology of bodies remain very much at issue. I add to these questions a concern for premodern uncertainty about how to recognize a body, both when it is visible and, perhaps more importantly, when it is not.

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