Archive for the 'Archaeology' Category
Laser scans to confirm Nero’s return
3D scans of Fishbourne sculpture could reveal that the head of a boy is the Roman emperor Nero.
21st century scan could reveal rare sculpture of 1st century Roman emperor Nero
Experts from Bournemouth University and the Fishbourne Roman Palace near Chichester in the UK are preparing to scan the damaged statue of a boy’s head to reveal if it is a rare depiction of Roman Emperor Nero as a youngster.
Dr Rob Symmons, Curator of Archaeology at the Palace site in southern England, and Dr Miles Russell, senior lecturer from Bournemouth University, will run 3D scans on the head to recreate the damaged parts of the face. If their theories are correct, the marble head would be the third surviving piece of its kind in the world and particularly rare in Britain where all images of Nero were believed to have been completely destroyed following his suicide in AD68.
Dr Symmons said: “This is very exciting as the scan will allow us to see for the first time what the boy really looked like and may also reveal his identity. We have always assumed he was related to the royal family who lived here at Fishbourne but it may be that it is even more special and is a rare depiction of Nero.”
The collaboration between the Fishbourne Palace and Bournemouth University came about after Dr Russell, an expert in Roman archaeology, scanned a similar Roman stone head, currently in Chichester District Museum, and discovered it bore an uncanny resemblance to the emperor.
Dr Russell said: “The Chichester head, though damaged, appeared to have been a depiction of Nero as an older man, a rare survival, as most portraits of the man were destroyed after his suicide following his declaration as an enemy of the State. I wondered whether the famous “head of a youth” in Fishbourne Palace museum might also be of the disgraced emperor.”
Two of the best-known examples of the teenage Nero are preserved in the Museo Nazionale d’Antichita in Parma and the Musee du Louvre in Paris. Both representations are thought to have been created as part of the official recognition that Nero was on his way to becoming chief heir of Claudius.
A possible third representation of the teenage Nero may be the “Fishbourne head”. The rounded cheeks and full, curving lips of the piece almost exactly match the features of the young Nero on display in Parma and Paris, as do the rounded lower face, slightly protruding ears, curling locks of hair and almond-shaped eyes.
The Fishbourne head has been forcibly removed from the body whilst substantial and violent blows have fragmented the image, further damage being inflicted upon the nose and chin. This seems to follow very closely the process of damnatio memoriae, a post mortem mutilation inflicted upon Nero and everything he was associated with, following his death in AD 68.
The damage caused to the Fishbourne portrait would be totally in line with such an empire-wide practice. Furthermore, the dumping of the smashed fragments of sculpture into the foundations of the main palace, which swept away all trace of the Nero-inspired earlier phase, would probably have been seen as an entirely appropriate fate for the disgraced emperor.
Massive hoard of 65-million-years old dinosaur eggs found in India
Hundreds of fossilized dinosaur eggs found in India
by Vlad Jecan, Astigan Editor
Indian scientists investigating an ancient riverbed in the state of Tamil Nadu in Southern India have discovered, by chance, hundreds of dinosaur eggs. Scientists describe the find to be “very exiting” as it may offer more clues on the extinction of dinosaurs. Continue Reading »
Death circumstances and their pointing out on funerary inscriptions of the Roman Dacia
Raluca Chendea
As secondary information the cause of death may also be recorded. In this matter one may take into consideration three inscriptions of people killed by brigands, these being the only documents of this type existing in Dacia.[1] The inscriptions were discovered on the territory of Drobeta, a fact which may suggest the possibility that the mentioned brigands be the same in all three cases. In what concerns their identity, D. Tudor considers that it is the case of the fight of those oppressed against the Roman exploiters,[2] dissatisfied in relationship with this authority of the natives who took action along the great roads and in the timbered lands.
With reference to the contents of the epitaphs, the first two refer to men who are Roman citizens (as opposed to the case of the girl who had illirian reminiscences) and are both part of the order of the decurions, occupying important positions: L. Iulius Bassus was ‘quaestor’ and was assigned with the finances of the municipality,[3] and P. Aelius Ariortus quattorvir, was one of the four magistrates (two own the judging power and two function as ‘aedile’) assigned with the city administration.[4]
In the case of these two persons it is credible the idea that they would have been attacked due to the insatisfactions of the natives [5] but, the location where the inscriptions were discovered suggests that they were robbed out of sheer bad luck, hypothesis acceptable also in the case of the young girl [6]. She was not a Roman citizen, therefore the object of the crime would not be explained in the case in which these latrones would have been as it was specified, some individuals who compromised the Roman power. They are some brigands who will be punished for their deed, at least in the case of L. Iulius Bassus and of the young girl, their epitaphs specifying the fact that their death was avenged [7].
Other information is available also with reference to the specification of the cause of death, like: defunctus in militia [8] , sua manu cecidit [9] , bello interfectus [10] , parto primo post diem XVI relicto filio decessit [11] , information which, correlated with other details of the inscription may help in its more exact dating.
References:
1. C. Wolf, in Funeraria, p.208.
2. D.Tudor, in SCIV, 4, 1953, p.595
3. CIL, III, 1579 ; IDR, III/1, 71.
4. CIL, III, 1559 ; IDR, III/1, 118.
5. Idem, OltRom, p.156-157.
6. C.Wolf, op.cit., p.212
7. this formula can also be founded in others areas of the Empire: CIL,
III, 8242; CIL, XIII, 2282 ; CIL, XIII, 6429.
8. IDR, II, 205.
9. CIL, III, 1578; IDR, III/1, 85.
10. ILS, 2312.
11. ILS, 1914.
Abbreviation:
CIL = Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, Berlin.
ILS = Herm. Dessau, Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae, Berlin, I-III, 1892-1916.
IDR = Inscriptions of the Roman Dacia, Bucharest.
SCIV (A) = Sudies and researches of ancient history.
D.Tudor, OltRom = Dumitru Tudor, Oltenia romana , Bucharest, 1978.