- Two adjacent details from the mosaic depicting the Circus Maximus in
the fourth-century AD fl oor of the Roman villa at Piazza Armerina in
Sicily. The images demonstrate the ideological signifi cance of the Circus
in Rome as worthy of reference in private decoration in far- away Sicily,
as well as the remarkable multiculturalism of monuments signalling
Egypt and Asia Minor in a major public display context in Rome.
Photos: R.J.A. Wilson.
a. The central obelisk of the spina.
b. The larger- than-lifesize statue- group of Cybele riding a lion. - A prime example of Augustan Classicism. One of the Caryatids from
the colonnade of the Forum of Augustus, which are copied to scale
from those of the Erechtheum in Athens (made about 415 BC ). End of
the fi rst century BC , marble. Now in the Markets of Trajan, Rome.
Photo: J. Elsner. - Fortunes of a Roman icon. The group of Aeneas carrying his father
Anchises and leading his son Iulus, set up in the Forum of Augustus
around 2 BC , no longer survives. However, it was copied and replicated
in numerous forms, some monumental and some miniature, some
expensive and some very cheap, across the empire.
a. Remains of the monumental marble version from the Forum of
Merida in Spain, fi rst century AD. Now in Merida Museum. Photo:
Superstock.
b. Miniature terracotta version from Pompeii, fi rst century AD. Now in
Naples Museum. Photo: M. Squire.
c. The group as a relief on a funerary altar from Carthage, fi rst
century AD. Now in Bardo Museum. Photo: DAI 1961.
(Koppermann).
d. The group as a relief on the marble tombstone of Petronia Grata,
fi rst century AD. Archaeological Museum, Turin. Photograph: DAI
Rome, Inst. Neg. 30.232 (Franck).
e. The group as a painted burlesque in the form of dog- headed apes
with large phalli, from the Masseria di Cuomo in Pompeii. Now in
Naples Museum. Photo: M. Squire.
NOTES ON THE
ILLUSTRATIONS
ix