pictorial evidence, it is possible to describe for which sequences of rituals musicians
and dancers are mentioned. The analysis of the specific qualities of media like texts
and images could give an insight into the function, importance, and relevance of
music and dance for specific rituals. In the end, we know all rituals only through
the mirror of their contemporary representation.
Thus, this chapter will concentrate on the analysis of the transformation of ele-
ments of Roman ritual practice into written and pictorial representations. The func-
tion and importance of music and dance in the depiction of specific ritual sequences
can thereby be reconstructed. The inclusion and omission of certain elements of the
ritual in these different media are an expressive testimony to the specific perception
of the ritual and thereby also of music and dance as part of the ritual.250 Friederike Fless and Katja MoedeFigure 18.1 Marble relief of a triumphal arch after the triumph of Marcus Aurelius in
ad176. Rome, Musei Capitolini, Palazzo dei Conservatori (photo: Anderson, Fotothek des
Archäologischen Institutes der Freien Universität Berlin).