University of Florida Thesis Or Dissertation Formatting

THE PROMOTION OF PERGE AS A STABLE POLITICAL FORCE: TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE ICONIZATION OF ARTEMIS PERGAEA

KYRA RIETVELD

A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

2017

2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank my committee chair Dr. Ashley Jones for her new insights, advice and encouragement she provided throughout this project. My fascination with Artemis Pergaea was brought back to life during a paper I wrote for Dr. Jones’s Roman art class, and her knowledge of coins allowed me to take my research in a completely new direction. I am grateful to my committee member, Dr. Mary Ann Eaverly, whose vast knowledge of Greek archeology, gender roles, and helpful sources, shaped my new understanding of the mixture of Greek and Roman cultures. This thesis would not have been possible without Dr. Susan Wood who introduced me to the cult of Artemis Pergaea and started this endless fascination. Finally, I am thankful for my family and friends who supported me throughout this entire journey and who believed in me from the start.

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS

page

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...... 3

ABSTRACT ...... 5

CHAPTER

1 INTRODUCTION ...... 6

History of the City of Perge ...... 7 History of Greek and Anatolian Cult Practices ...... 9 Worship of Artemis ...... 12 Artemis as a City Goddess ...... 14

2 ICONIZATION OF THE CULT STATUE ...... 19

Syncretism ...... 20 Function of the Cult statue ...... 22 Representations of the Cult Statue on Coins ...... 27 Representation of the Cult Statue on Public Monuments ...... 28 Effects of the Iconization of the Cult Statue ...... 30

3 ICONIZATION THROUGH THE COINAGE FROM PERGE ...... 32

The Iconization of Artemis Pergaea through Roman Coins ...... 33 The Romanization of Perge and the Mix of Traditions Represented on Coins ...... 34 Greek Writing on the Coins ...... 36 Perge compared to Ephesus ...... 38 The Greek Artemis compared to the Roman Diana ...... 40

4 THE ICONIZATION OF ARTEMIS PERGAEA THROUGH PUBLIC MONUMENTS ...44

The Statue of the Dancer ...... 44 Social status through Donations ...... 48 The Statue of Artemis Pergaea in the Well ...... 50 The Artemis Column ...... 51

5 CONCLUSION...... 54

APPENDIX: FIGURES ...... 57

LIST OF REFERENCES ...... 59

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ...... 62

4 Abstract of Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts

THE PROMOTION OF PERGE AS A STABLE POLITICAL FORCE: TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE ICONIZATION OF ARTEMIS PERGAEA

Kyra Rietveld May 2017

Chair: Ashley Jones Major: Art History

A cult dedicated to the goddess Artemis Pergaea was active in the city of Perge in Asia

Minor. The cult came into existence after Greek immigrants merged the local Anatolian goddess

Wanassas Prei with the Greek goddess Artemis. Followers believed that the goddess threw a rock with an image of her face out of the sky onto the city. During the rule of the Greeks and later on the Romans, Perge was able to establish itself as a dominant force, spreading the importance of Artemis Pergaea and the city all over the Mediterranean.

This thesis examines the iconization of Artemis Pergaea that was used to promote the city. Starting with the cult statue, imagery of the goddess grew and took on different forms which contributed to the iconization of the goddess. All these different images had one overall goal: promoting the city of Perge as a stable political force. I argue that this promotion was done through three types of images, the cult statue, depictions of the goddess on coins, and public monuments. The project discusses how these depictions showcased the roots of the cult when

Anatolian traditions merged with Greek traditions, throughout Greek and Roman times. By keeping the origins of the goddess at the core of the cult, Perge was able to present itself as an unchanging force.

5 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

A cult dedicated to the goddess Artemis Pergaea was active in the city of Perge in Asia

Minor. Followers of the cult believed that the goddess threw a rock with an image of her face out of the sky onto the city. The cult made the miraculous aniconic image their cult statue and built a temple around it.

Perge established itself as a dominant force during the rule of the Greeks and later the

Romans. The city spread the cult of Artemis Pergaea and the importance of Perge over the

Mediterranean area, including Rhodes, Thera, and Halikarnassos, making Perge “the most important religious center of Pamphylia.”1 As the power of the city expanded so did the influence of the cult of Artemis Pergaea. The image of the goddess was exploited to promote the city, making the aniconic rock an icon.

The term iconization suggests the formation and use of the imagery of Artemis Pergaea.

Iconization of the goddess led to many representations of the deity in Perge. These representations differed greatly from each other because of their different functions in society.

However, all of them were used to promote the power and prosperity of Perge, making the goddess and the city inseparable from each other.

Besides Perge, many cults in Asia Minor worshipped the goddess Artemis. Because of the different cultures and traditions that were in Asia Minor before Asia Minor was taken over by the Greeks, each cult of Artemis took on a unique form, combining Anatolian roots and belief systems with the new Greek regime. This paper will explore how Artemis Pergaea, through iconization of the aniconic, represented much more than a deity: she represented Perge itself and the political stability of the city, always referring back to the roots of the cult.

1 J. S. Balzat and R. W.V Catling, ed., A Lexicon of Greek Personal Names: coastal Asia Minor: Caria to Cilicia volume 2, (Gloucestershire: Clarendon press, 2014), introduction XV.

6 History of the City of Perge

Achaean colonists founded Perge after the Trojan War. Under the leadership of Mopsus and Calchas, they named the region Pamphylia, meaning ‘the land of all tribes.’2 Seven statues in the courtyard of the Hellenistic gateway confirmed this name.3 However, the first settlements date as far back as the “2nd or possibly 3rd millennium B.C.”4 The name of the city was also established during the early settlements and was native Anatolian, as was the name of the patron goddess of the city, Wanassas Prei. Perge became the capital of the province Pamphylia and one of its leading cities, along with Attaleia (modern Antalya), Magydus, Sillyon, Aspendos, Side, and Lybre (later called Seleucia.)5. This prosperous area was in southwest Asia Minor. The city was well protected by surrounding mountains, the distance to the coast and its location on a flat hill.6.

Groups of Greek-speaking people arrived in Pamphylia after the fall of the Hittite empire.

The Greeks were not aggressive enough to relocate or absorb the existing Luwian-speaking population, but neither were the Luwians able to do the same to the Greeks. The two civilizations were politically and socially organized in clans and tribes and lived in rural settlements. They continued to live next to one another for several centuries.7

Perge adapted Greek traditions and transformed itself during this time. One of the transformations was the goddess. The Greeks also took over the native Anatolian goddess,

2 Halûk Abbasoğlu and David Parrish, “Urbanism in western asia minor: New studies on aphrodisias, ephesos, hierapolis, pergamon, perge, and xanthos,” Journal of Roman Archealology, no. 45. (2001): 176.

3 Sahin (supra n5) 134-45, nos. 101-99. (in Haluk)

4 Idem, 176

5 Idem, 175.

6 Idem.

7 John Grainger, The Cities of Pamphylia, (Oxford: Oxbow books, 2009), 7.

7 Wanassas Prei and merged her with the Greek Artemis, forming Artemis Pergaea. Another transformation was the layout of the city. “The subsequent division of the eastern part of the acropolis into regular city blocks and the decline in local pottery production show that Perge was

‘Hellenized’ during the fifth c. B.C. Although there are traces of walls from the Archaic and

Classical periods, their exact course cannot be reconstructed.”8 The city kept expanding itself and eventually covered the nearby slopes and the plains. The city developed a Hellenistic city grid plan, also known as the “Hippodamus of Militus plan” (Hippodamus was considered the father of rational city planning.)9 This plan regularized the layout of the city. In the grid plan, streets were mostly aligned in relation to cardinal points and were adapted to the natural landscape, taking advantage of mountains or valleys (hence the slight curve in the main road).

City blocks were standardized and private spaces were more defined because of this way of planning a city.

Greek-style structures, such as a wall with three gates: one to the south, one to the east, and one to the west, were added to the city. The citizens of Perge adopted the Greek language and customs and the cult of Artemis Pergaea grew significantly during this time, extending from

Asia Minor to Egypt.10

The layout of Perge changed slightly when Romans took over the city and added buildings to the outskirts. A Roman tower, baths, triumphal arch, theater, and a stadium were

8 Halûk Abbasoğlu and David Parrish, “Urbanism in western Asia minor: New studies on aphrodisias, ephesos, hierapolis, pergamon, perge, and xanthos,” Journal of Roman Archaeology, no. 45. (2001): 177.

9 “Urban Planning in the Greek High Classical Period,” Boundless, accessed November 17, 2016,https://www.boundless.com/art-history/textbooks/boundless-art-history-textbook/ancient-greece-6/the-high- classical-period-66/urban-planning-in-the-greek-high-classical-period-344-10749/

10 C. P. Jones, “The Plancii of Perge and Diana Planciana,” HSCP, 80 (1976), 236.

8 built. A full colonnade was added to the main streets decumanus maximus (east to west road) and cardo maximus (south to north road), as well as a canal.11

History of Greek and Anatolian Cult Practices

The changing political situation in Perge influenced the cult of Artemis Pergaea. The cult moved from being solely based on Anatolian religion, to Greek, and eventually to Roman religion. Successive cultures adjusted the cult to their practices and standards.

The word cult originates in the Latin language and stems from “cultus, colere: cultivate,

“tending” to both soil, education and, as in Cicero, the Gods (cultus deorum, De senectute 56).”12

The word itself is not specifically associated with gods. However, it cannot be understood today without a religious context.13

Cults were common in ancient Greek society. Caring for the gods, the houses of the gods, and shrines was at the center of the Greek belief system. As defined by Antonaccio:

The term cult identifies a pattern of ritual behavior in connection with specific objects, within a framework of spatial and temporal coordinates. Rituals would include (but not necessarily be limited to) prayer, sacrifice, votive offerings, competitions, processions and construction of monuments. Some degree of recurrence in place and repetition over time of ritual action is necessary for a cult to be enacted, to be practiced.14

The most famous ancient Greek cults were mostly centered around the twelve main gods, but cults of minor gods could be found as well, such as the worship of Asklepios in Athens. A

Greek cult often came into existence because it was believed that the god had a connection to

11 Idem, 179. The influence of the Romans on Perge is explained in detail in Chapter 3.

12 Jesper Tae Jensen et al., Aspects of Ancient Greek Cult: Context, Ritual and Iconography, (Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 2009), 16.

13 Idem.

14 Antonaccio, "Contesting the Past: Hero Cult, Tomb Cult, and Epic in Early Greece," American Journal of Archaeology 98.3 (July 1994: 389-410), 398.

9 that certain city or land. The religious practices of Greece extended beyond the main land and were found all over the Mediterranean.

Ancient Anatolian religion was practiced in Asia Minor before the Greeks colonized the area. These ancient religions of Anatolia are only known through the works of classical writers.

Greeks and Romans often associated the area with the goddess Cybele, whose cult was centered in Phrygian Pessinus.15 In the cult of Cybele, a statue was worshipped, representing the mother goddess who was usually shown pregnant and seated. It was believed she had given birth on her throne, which has two feline-headed hand rests.16 She was seen as the protector of cities and mediator between the wild and the civilized. Cybele was guardian of the dead and goddess of fertility and wild life.17 Even though she was at the core of Anatolian religion, worship did not end with her. When Perge was taken over by the Hittites, Hattians, and later on Hurrians, the religion changed and a different pantheon of gods was worshipped in Anatolian cults. According to Oliver Gurney:

Each [of these] nations had its own pantheon, and individual cult centers had their own names for deities. The result is a bewildering number of divine names, and even when a deity is denoted not by a name but by a logogram (sign or signs standing for a word) to indicate weather god, sun god, moon god, and so forth, it seems that the deity of each city was regarded by the Hittite theologians as a distinct personality.18

All these aspects and different gods make the Anatolian religion appear overwhelming.

However, some patterns are found in the chaos. Even though all the cities had different gods, it

15 “Anatolian Religion,” Oliver Robert Gurney, Encyclopaedia Britannica, accessed December 9, 2016, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Anatolian-religion

16 See the figure of Seated Woman of Catalhoyuk, c 6000 BCE

17 Anne Baring and Jules Cashford, The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image, (London: Penguin Group, 1993), 393.

18 “Anatolian Religion,” Oliver Robert Gurney, Encyclopaedia Britannica, accessed December 9, 2016, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Anatolian-religion

10 was commonly believed that although the gods had their own lives they needed the service of their worshippers. The worshippers needed the gods for their well being. The temple was the house of the deity and the worshippers had to maintain this place, feeding, washing, and entertaining the statue of the god.19

In this aspect there is no significant difference between Greek worship and ancient

Anatolian worship. Greeks and Anatolians believed that the temple was the house of a deity and should be treated with respect. They also believed that pleasing the god was necessary for their own well being.

Kings and leaders made decisions about the cult in regards to their immediate political, military, or economic interest when the Asia Minor cults fell under Hellenistic rule.20 Deities that were being worshipped merged with Greek gods. In some cases the local deity was completely taken over, sometimes a mix of two deities occurred, and now and then the two gods would be worshipped side by side.

Greek and Anatolian gods were still allowed to be worshipped when Romans ruled.

“Apart from Greek gods, so-called oriental gods from Anatolia and the Near East were incorporated into the Roman pantheon.”21 Greek traditions about the functions of the cult as a benefactor for the economical, political, and military aspects of the city were carried over as well. The reciprocal relation between ‘benefaction’ and ‘gratitude’ had its equivalent in the

19 Idem.

20 Baete Dignas, Economy of the Sacred in Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 36.

21 Idem, 111.

11 beneficia and officia in Rome.22 Overall this changed the function of the Anatolian cult from being exclusively religious to being an active and important part of society.

Worship of Artemis

Artemis’s cults extended all over the Mediterranean, becoming one of the most popular deities in Ancient Greek religion. She had the most widespread cults of all Greek female deities and was second only to the god Apollo who had more shrines and temples.23 The most enduring cults dedicated to Artemis were in Delos, Phokis, and in Kalapodi (Artemis was worshipped here as Artemis Elaphebolos). The worship itself ranged from small terracotta offerings to big statues depicting the goddess resting her hands on lion heads and from images showing Artemis appreciating deer to shooting them.24 She received bloody sacrifices of various animals thrown onto fires.25 During Bronze Age Minoan, Artemis had already established her roots while being worshipped as “Potnia Theron,” meaning Mistress of Wild Animals. Her name comes from the

Linear B script of Pylos as one of the gods to whom a unit of oregano was donated.26 Her influence on daily Greek life was also impressive. Besides controlling the hunt and wilderness,

Artemis was also responsible for helping women in labor and helping children become adults.

She marked borders between different regions and boundaries between periods of war and peace.

The deity could bring plague and cure it, while also bringing light and manumitting slaves.27

22 Idem.

23 Ivana Petrovic “Transforming Artemis: from the Goddess of the Outdoors to City Goddess,” in The Gods of Ancient Greece: Identities and Transformations, edited by Jan N. Bremmer and Andrew Erskine, (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2010), 215.

24 Idem.

25 Anne Baring and Jules Cashford, The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image, (London: Penguin Group, 1993), 327.

26 Stephanie Budin, Artemis: Gods and Heroes of the Ancient World, (New York: Routlegde, 2016), 14.

27 Idem, 1.

12 Besides these daily qualities, Artemis was also part of the Graeco-Roman literary tradition. The goddess only has a single scene in Homer’s Iliad and although referred to in the

Odyssey she makes no personal appearance.28 In other books, such as Theogony written by

Hesiod, Artemis is mentioned once. In literature and poetry, the deity is mentioned more often but fades away next to Aphrodite.

Artemis “according to the Homeric account and Hesiod [she] was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, whence Aeschylus (Sept. 148) calls her lêtôgeneia. She was the sister of Apollo, and born with him at the same time in the island of Delos.”29 It was believed that Artemis was born first and after her birth helped her mother deliver Apollo. But the relationship between Apollo and Artemis was not as simple as brother and sister. There were different points of view concerning how the Greeks saw her and worshipped her as a divinity and her relation to Apollo.

One was as the sister of Apollo, almost representing her as a female Apollo, and sometimes representing her as his wife. “In the character of sister of Apollo, Artemis is like her brother armed with a bow, quiver, and arrows, and sends plague and death among men and animals: she is a thea apollousa. Sudden deaths, but more especially those of women, are described as the effect of her arrows.” 30 However, sometimes there is no resemblance between the two gods. For example, Artemis has no connection with music or art nor any association with oracles.

Other forms of Artemis were often associated with local divinities, slightly altering her mythologies. Examples are the Arcadian Artemis, the Taurian Artemis, or, as mentioned above, the Ephesian Artemis. Her long enduring cults also contributed to this aspect. There was no clear

28 Idem, 2.

29 “Artemis,” Theoi, accessed on December 1, 2016 http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Artemis.html http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Artemis.html

30 Idem.

13 form of the classical Artemis early on in the Bronze Age, when she was seen more as a local

Aegean nature Goddess; therefore, different local forms helped establish the image of the goddess we know now.31 This phenomenon of different local forms merging with the Greek goddess Artemis also occurred in Perge when the Greek Artemis merged with a local Anatolian deity. 32

Artemis as a City Goddess

Artemis’ function as a city goddess must be discussed in order to understand the connection between the city of Perge and the goddess. In Asia Minor Artemis had a different role than in mainland Greece and was very prominent as a city goddess.33 Through poems and literature this role of Artemis as a city goddess grew in the Hellenistic period and became an important part of society. One poem describing her as a city goddess is the Homeric Hymn to

Aphrodite. The poet claims that Artemis loves a variety of things, such as dancing and hunting, and, surprisingly, ‘a city of just men’ (dikaion te ptolis andron).34 Another poem that captures this phenomenon, comes from the sixth century and is written by Anakreon to Artemis of

Magnesia.

31 Stephanie Budin, Artemis: Gods and Heroes of the Ancient World, (New York: Routlegde, 2016), 11.

32 See Chapter two “Syncretism” for a detailed explanation of this phenomenon in Perge. This is essential in understanding the promotion of the city as a stable political force through the roots of the cult.

33 Ivana Petrovic “Transforming Artemis: from the Goddess of the Outdoors to City Goddess,” in The Gods of Ancient Greece: Identities and Transformations, edited by Jan N. Bremmer and Andrew Erskine (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2010), 218.

34 Stephanie Budin, Artemis: Gods and Heroes of the Ancient World, (New York: Routlegde, 2016), 143.

14 35

I supplicate you, Elephebolos (“Deer-Shooter”), Shining-haired daughter of Zeus, mistress Of wild animals, Artemis. And now how upon the city Of brave-hearted men by whirling Lethaios You look rejoicing For the citizens (you see) are not Savage flocks.36

This poem describes a perfect combination of Artemis as a huntress and Artemis as a city goddess, addressing her as mistress of the wild animals and referring to the citizens as her flocks.37 As a city goddess Artemis had a variety of roles, as these poems show. Most of all she protected the city, representing the city and the people of the city, while also being the main deity in the city. This is unique to Asia Minor and does not occur in Greek cities. Artemis

Pergaea was also seen as the leader of the colonization that played an important role in Asia

Minor and brought more political meaning to Artemis as a city goddess in these regions rather

35 Ivana Petrovic “Transforming Artemis: from the Goddess of the Outdoors to City Goddess,” in The Gods of Ancient Greece: Identities and Transformations, edited by Jan N. Bremmer and Andrew Erskine (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2010), 220.

36 Stephanie Budin, Artemis: Gods and Heroes of the Ancient World, (New York: Routlegde, 2016), 143-144

37 Idem,144.

15 than the mainland, especially during Doric and Ionic times.38 This role of Artemis as a city goddess also occurred very strongly in Perge.

According to the poet Kallimachos, Artemis favored the city of Perge in her role as city goddess.39 The poet also points out the city of Perge in another hymne, Hymnos auf Artemis.

τίς δέ νύ τοι νήσων, ποῖον δ᾽ ὄρος εὔαδε πλεῖστον, τίς δὲ λιμήν, ποίη δὲ πόλις ; τίνα δ᾽ ἔξοχα νυμφέων φίλαο, καὶ ποίας ἡρωίδας ἔσχες ἑταίρας ; εἰπέ, θεή, σὺ μὲν ἄμμιν, ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἑτέροισιν ἀείσω. νήσων μὲν Δολίχη, πολίων δέ τοι εὔαδε Πέργη, Τηύγετον δ᾽ ὀρέων λιμένες γε μὲν Εὐρίποιο40

Which now of islands, what hill finds most favour with thee? What haven? What city? Which of the nymphs dost thou love above the rest, and what heroines hast thou taken for thy companions? Say, goddess, thou to me, and I will sing thy saying to others. Of islands, Doliche hath found favour with thee, of cities Perge, of hills Taygeton, the havens of Euripus.41

This poem and others written by Kallimachos describe the close connection with the role of Artemis as the city goddess and Perge. Artemis Pergaea becomes linked to the city and becomes Perge’s main protection.

All these aspects - the history of Perge, the worship of Wanassas Prei, the combination of this goddess with Artemis forming Artemis Pergaea, and the worship of Artemis Pergaea as a city goddess - contributed to the cult in Perge. When the Greeks iconized the aniconic cult statue, the imagery of this goddess came into existence. Perge used the iconization of Artemis Pergaea to not only support the cult of the goddess and worship her, but also to promote themselves as a

38 Ivana Petrovic, Von den Toren des Hades zu den Hallen des Olymp: Artemiskult bei Theokrit und Kallimachos, (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 206.

39 Idem, 203.

40 Idem, 202.

41 “Callimachus Hymnes 1-3”, Theoi, accessed November 6, 2016, http://www.theoi.com/Text/CallimachusHymns1.html#3

16 stable, political force, linking themselves to the roots of the cult throughout time. This can especially be found in the imagery of the cult statue, coins, and votive statues of the goddess.

These images barely changed over time, only adapting to their time period but keeping the connection to the roots of the cult.

This thesis will discuss the cult statue and the imagery of the cult statue of Artemis

Pergaea and how these representations functioned in society and were used to spread and promote political stability. In Chapter Two, I argue that the iconization of the deity started when the Greek goddess Artemis was syncretized with the local Anatolian deity Wanassas Prei. By doing this, aspects and already established features of the Greek goddess were given to Artemis

Pergaea, which shaped her into an icon. By placing the imagery of the cult statue onto coins and public monuments, the image became wide spread and an icon for Perge, promoting the city through the original image of the goddess.

I will also examine coins from the city of Perge from the Roman period in Chapter Three.

Imagery of Artemis Pergaea appears on these coins to promote the city. The imagery consists of the head of Artemis, the temple and cult statue, and some attributes that were associated with the deity such as bow and quiver. This variety of images on coins contributed to the iconization of

Artemis Pergaea. Rather than just being associated with the cult statue, the goddess now has other imagery connected to her that represents her, her power, and her connection to the city.

This imagery established Artemis Pergaea as an icon. Hand in hand with this goes the promotion of Perge as a stable political force. The coins kept the name Artemis Pergaea on them in Greek, promoting the Greek language, the Greek roots of the cult, and the connection of the goddess to the Greek tradition rather than the Roman tradition. All this allowed Perge to maintain its

17 traditions over time and create a stable, unchanging image on their coins that promoted the roots of the cult.

The last chapter of my thesis discusses the imagery of Artemis Pergaea on public monuments. In this chapter I argue that statues and a relief of the goddess on a column continue the iconization of the goddess. Two statues represent the entire goddess, giving her a body and distinct features. By adding these features to the goddess, Artemis Pergaea could be recognized as an entire being, rather than just a head. The relief on the column has this same effect but adds attributes of the goddess to this, allowing Artemis Pergaea’s presence to be recognized just through the symbol of a bow or torch. I also argue that these statues promote Perge as an unchanging power by placing the imagery of Artemis Pergaea on Roman public monuments, allowing depictions of the roots of the cult to be part of every day Roman life.

The goal of my thesis is to demonstrate that the city of Perge was able to stay close to its roots through different time periods. Even though the control over the city altered, Perge used the merging of the Greek deity Artemis and the Anatolian Wanassas Prei as the basis of its cult. By iconizing Artemis Pergaea, Perge was able to use her imagery to promote the city and establish itself as a stable and powerful political force.

CHAPTER 2 ICONIZATION OF THE CULT STATUE

The cult statue, according to the citizens of Perge a rock thrown out of the skies with the image of Artemis Pergaea was the most important image of the cult of Artemis Pergaea. Now long lost, there is no clear image of the cult statue, but examinations of coins allow us to determine an image. Scholar Susan Wood describes the image in the following passage:

Based on evidence of these coins and sculptures, the goddess took the form of a baetile with only partially human features – specifically, the goddess’s face, surmounted by a polos. In every replica the face appears in flat relief, roughly semicircular background. Whether a natural formation of the stone accidentally produced this “face” or whether human hands carved it we have no way of knowing.1

The worship of this form of statue was not uncommon and was already practiced during the time Perge was under control of the Hittites. The Hittite society made cult statues the central focus of a temple and the main concern for the priests and priestesses.2 The staff would dress the statues, feed them, entertain them, and clean them. The statues were believed to contain human attributes such as thoughts or beauty, but did not have to represent a human body. The statues were just one of the many manifestations of the divine who would travel between them and therefore the statues did not have to conform to a very specific form or representation.3 Forms that were less closely connected to a human body can be understood as aniconic. This term describes the presence of a deity without a figural image.4 This phenomenon occurred all over the world and was therefore not uncommon for Anatolia or the ancient Greeks. In Greece,

1 Susan Wood, "Women in Action: A Statue of Matidia Minor and Its Contexts,” American Journal of Archaeology,119, no 2 (2015): 31.

2 Billie Jean Collins “‘A Statue for the Deity’: Cult Images in Hittite Anatolia,” in Cult Image and Divine Representation in the Ancient Near East, edited by Neal H. Walls, (Boston: American Schools od Oriental Research, 2005), 13.

3 Idem.

4 Milette Gaifman, Aniconism in Greek Antiquity, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 1.

aniconism was usually connected to the worship of stones or poles but could also be applied to, for example, the cult statue of Perge, which was a hybrid monument in the form of a rock. Both cultures, Anatolia and Greece, were mostly imageless in the beginning and “gradually evolved from rough stones into fully-fledged anthropomorphic images of Gods.”5 The non-figural forms were therefore part of a long tradition, often seen as objects connected to the deep-past, a part of the legacy of the culture.6

The Greeks adopted the cult image when Perge came under Greek control because the image was in line with their religious images. In fact, it was even thought impossible to give human form to the divine, and therefore the cult statue of Perge was ideal.7 The only thing non-

Greek about the form was the materiality of the object. Wood was the preferred material in ancient Greece because it was naturally found within the landscape and connected to the invisible deities. The veneration of stones was a tradition that came from the Near East and was new to the Greeks.8

Syncretism

By taking over the cult statue, the Greeks also adopted the local goddess, a native

Anatolian deity whose qualities were similar to Artemis. Halûk Abbasoğlu and David Parrish describe this goddess and her connection to the city in the following passage:

An inscription re-used in the Roman nymphaeum throws valuable light upon this question. The inscription, dated to the 5th c. B.C., is written in archaic Pamphylian dialect. It can be translated as follows: Klemutas, son of lvramus, dedicated this to Pergaen Mistress (as result of a dream). Preiias (seen in the first line before ‘Klemutas’) must be an old form of the name Perge, and Wanassas Preia became

5 Idem, 19.

6 Idem, 21.

7 Idem, 20.

8 Idem, 20-21.

later Artemis Pergaea. Since names with the suffix –assa- do not occur in the Classical period, we should consider Wanassas Preia to be the forerunner of Artemis Pergaea, an Anatolian nature goddess. This view is also supported by numismatic evidence. On some coins of Perge, which depict Artemis pergaea, the inscription refers to Wanassas Prei in the local dialect.9

Wanassas Prei, as Artemis Pergaea was first called, descends from the Mycenaen title

Wanax, meaning king. Prei comes from Hittish word patha, which changes into prei and later

Perge.10 The titles together create the goddess’s name “Queen of Perge.” She was an old

Anatolian mother goddess, later Hellenized by Greek immigrants. Anatolian mother goddesses were, like Cybele, seen as symbols of fertility, protectors of the earth, and mediators between the boundaries of the known and unknown; the civilized and the wild. The Greek immigrants adapted the Anatolian goddess and shaped her into what they knew as the goddess Artemis. This altered the function of the goddess slightly, but kept her main principles intact. She controlled the wild, so she was still the mediator between the civilized and the wild; she was the goddess of childbirth and therefore stood for fertility.

The process of merging the two goddess is called syncretism. It was not uncommon for the goddess Artemis in the ancient Greek world to merge with local deities, because of her range in time, space, and functions.11 Syncretism with the goddess Artemis happened locally in Greece when the Olympian goddess Artemis came into contact with similar Greek or pre-Greek goddesses.12 The deity could also merge with foreign deities, often worshipped separately and linked to each other, as happened to Artemis Pergaea. However, rather than also being

9 Halûk Abbasoğlu and David Parrish, “Urbanism in western Asia Minor: New studies on aphrodisias, ephesos, hierapolis, pergamon, perge, and xanthos,” Journal of Roman Archaeology, no. 45. (2001): 176.

10 John Grainger, The Cities of Pamphylia, (Oxford: Oxbow books, 2009), 12.

11 Stephanie Budin, Artemis: Gods and Heroes of the Ancient World, (New York: Routlegde, 2016), kindle edition, 3.

12 Idem.

worshipped separate from each other, Artemis and Wanassas Prei became worshipped as one and the same being.

Syncretism occurred when different cultures came into contact with each other and the effect of the phenomenon differed “from a general notion of ‘relationship’ to an equation of deities equivalent to henotheism.”13 To allow syncretism to happen, a connection had to be made between two religious cults or groups. If this connection was long term, amalgamation could occur, which allowed an entire new god to come into existence, or, as with Artemis Pergaea, the known deity could alter its function to meet both religions.

The representation of Artemis Pergaea helped with the worship of one joined deity.

Wanassas Prei’s cult statue was a hybrid monument, sitting in between figurative and non- figurative images.14 The image on the aniconic rock was scarcely recognizable as a human, leaving to the Greeks the task of giving her a human form and so iconizing the aniconic rock.15

By shaping her into their deity Artemis, the Greeks gave more meaning to the representation on the rock. This form of Artemis was an alteration of the original Greek one and rooted deep in the

Pergean society, and it became the central icon of the city. It is therefore not surprising that

Perge took over the name of Artemis and kept this name over time, even when the Romans took over. It is also not surprising that the image was used to promote the political stability of the city of Perge because of its connection to the roots of the cult.

Function of the Cult statue

The role of the cult statue of Perge was unique because of the mix of Anatolian and

Greek traditions. The cult was a very important aspect of everyday Greek life and was central to

13 Idem.

14 Milette Gaifman, Aniconism in Greek Antiquity, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 131.

15 Idem.

the worship of the gods. The cults and their particular way of honoring a god only revealed certain aspects of the god, rather than giving a complete impression.16 Pergeian cult worship was designed to meet Anatolian traditions and Greek traditions. An examination of both traditions provides an overall image of Artemis Pergaea’s worship.

Most Greek cults practiced rituals that were particularly related to specific gods. These rituals came into existence over time and manifested themselves in the roots of the cult. There are two aspects of ritual to keep in mind: thought and action.17 Even though there is no ancient

Greek word for ritual, the basic parts of it consisted of sacrifice, libation, offerings to the Gods

(more about this in Chapter 4), poetry, dances, festivals, divination, purifications, and processions.18 When these rituals took place was determined by a lunar calendar, which determined the time and location of the festival based on the God’s will. The procession in which the sanctuary of the God was honored was one of the most important aspects of the cult. One of the most famous of these processions is thought to be represented on the frieze of the Parthenon, showcasing the Athenians’ processions.19 In the processions animals were often carried for sacrifice and gifts were brought to the cult statue. Sometimes the cult statue itself was carried along the way and brought to the temple.

Individuals also had an important role regarding cult ritual. This relationship to the statue was often established through initiation, which can refer to two types of personal ritual. The first

“describes the rites by which an individual gained access to the secret knowledge and

16 Jennifer Larson, Ancient Greek Cults: A guide, (New York: Routlegde, 2007), 1-2.

17 Idem, 4.

18 Idem, 5.

19 However, it is not certain that this frieze indeed depicts a procession.

experiences offered by such cults as the Eleusinian or Samothracian Mysteries.”20 The individual therefore becomes personally connected to the cult, a connection that the ancient Greeks called nuesis or telete. The second type of initiation involves “rituals performed to mark the transition from childhood or adolescence to adult status, which is to be distinguished from sexual maturity.”21 Through these two types of initiation, it becomes clear that a connection between the individual and the cult is often based on death and rebirth.

Greek traditions did not differ much from Anatolian traditions. Even though not much is known about Anatolian traditions, it is believed that Anatolian rites were closely related to rites from Greece and Mesopotamia. The cult statues were washed, clothed, fed, and entertained, and also a specific calendar was used by leaders of the cult for festivals and other rites.22 The celebration of non-anthropomorphic forms was very common and often took place in open air cult places outside of town. During the Hittite empire, these aniconic cult statues were referred to as siuniyatar and were given the same attention as iconic cult statues.23 The temple, or house of the God, was given a special role in many rites. All the elements of the temple, such as walls, doors, throne, and altar, were seen as cult objects. They had a divine association because of their

20 Idem, 9.

21 Idem.

22 Billie Jean Collins “‘A Statue for the Deity’: Cult Images in Hittite Anatolia,” in Cult Image and Divine Representation in the Ancient Near East, edited by Neal H. Walls, (Boston: American Schools od Oriental Research, 2005), 13.

23 Billie Jean Collins “‘A Statue for the Deity’: Cult Images in Hittite Anatolia,” in Cult Image and Divine Representation in the Ancient Near East, edited by Neal H. Walls, (Boston: American Schools od Oriental Research, 2005), 22.

close connection with the deity. These cult objects played an active role in rites from time to time and in some cases could even replace the cult statue.24

By combining both Greek and Anatolian/ Hittite traditions, the rituals of the cult of Perge became very distinctive. The hybrid cult statue of Artemis Pergaea required certain rituals that incorporated the specific worship of Artemis and Wanassas Preii discussed in the previous chapter. Worship of the goddess also came with a certain risk. The cult statue of Artemis possessed the deity’s normal features and powers, such as control of the wild and childbirth, but also had additional powers. She was known to be vicious and to have a degree of anger, menis, which was far beyond that of a human.25 Cult followers would be punished when the goddess was not honored correctly or if she did not receive the right rituals. One of the punishments inflicted on the city was plague. As did Apollo, Artemis controlled the plague and she would manifest it on the fertility of the city. Crops would die, and women would have miscarriages.26

The plague could also come when part of the community did not behave appropriately. The plague would torment the city until Artemis was satisfied in some way.27 The bringing of catastrophes to the city out of anger was part of a standard pattern: transgression, disaster brought by a deity, oracular consultation, foundation of a new rite.28 Not only Artemis herself but

24 Billie Jean Collins “‘A Statue for the Deity’: Cult Images in Hittite Anatolia”, in Cult Image and Divine Representation in the Ancient Near East, edited by Neal H. Walls, (Boston: American Schools od Oriental Research, 2005), 22-23.

25 Stephanie Budin, Artemis: Gods and Heroes of the Ancient World, (New York: Routlegde, 2016), kindle edition, 114.

26 Idem, 115.

27 When the children of Kondylea called the Goddess “Hanged”, Artemis plagued the city until a hero cult was set up by the children to Artemis and the Pythia. Stephanie Budin, Artemis: Gods and Heroes of the Ancient World, (New York: Routlegde, 2016), kindle edition, 116.

28 Idem, 117.

also the cult statues possessed the power to cause plague and madness. This is shown in a story of Pausanias:

And here is my proof that Lakedaimonian Orthia is a xoanon from Barbarian lands: For Astrabakos and Alopekos, sons of Irbos, son of Amphisthenes, son of Amphikles, son of Agis, having found the statue immediately went mad. Additionally, the Spartan Limnatians and the Kynosoures and those from Mesoa and Pitane when sacrificing to Artemis, had a dispute, from which they became murderously angry, and while many were killed at the altar a plague destroyed the rest.29

Thus, worshipping the goddess properly and showing the right behavior in Perge society was necessary to avoid punishment by the goddess and to achieve prosperity. The exact rites at

Perge are not known because the temple and the cult statue are long lost and no documentation is found describing the rituals. However, from the function of the cult in Greece, Anatolia, and the specific power of the cult statues of Artemis, an overall image can be created.

One aspect of the rites can be confirmed: the dressing of the statue. The representation of the statue on coins shows in some cases the cult statue elaborately decorated, as in image A.1.

On one side the coin from 247-249 BCE shows Phillip II with a lauretae, and a draped and cuirassed bust. On the other side it displays the cult statue with a distyle temple. There is an eagle in the pediment and the statue is flanked by a star (left) and a crescent (right). The cult statue is seen as a baetile seated in a larger rock30. The baetile wears a crown while the rock is draped with a garment. Even though the image is not very clear, it can be determined that the statue was dressed according to certain customs and rites, confirming ancient Greek and Hittite traditions.

29 Idem, 117.

30 A baetile, or Baetylus, describes sacred stones that were endowed with life. The stones were often meteorites dedicated to the Gods or seen as a symbol of the Gods. Perge believed Artemis threw the rocks from the skies to the city.

Representations of the Cult Statue on Coins

Not only is the ritual of dressing up the Goddess confirmed by her representations on coins, but much more can be learned about the imagery of the cult statue. Coins showcase the iconization of Artemis Pergaea to not only support the cult of the goddess and worship her, but also to promote themselves as an unchanging power, linking themselves to the roots of the cult.

This thesis examines coins to produce an overall image of appearance of the monument.

The representation of the cult statue starts as early as the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE. Image

A.2 shows the cult statue within a distyle temple on one side and Artemis Pergaea’s quiver with strap on the other. The cult statue is in an ionic temple with an eagle in the pediment. The statue itself is represented as a block with a baetile on top. The baetile seems to be floating, only barely connected to the rest of the rock. The base itself is large, wide, and appears heavy, occupying a large amount of the temple.

A coin from 50-30 BCE also shows the block shape of the base of the statue (Image A.3).

However, the shape appears more as a figure of a human and the baetile appears as a head. The unstable connection between the two parts is gone and the two pieces seem to be connected as body parts. The cult statue is placed within a distyle temple.

Lastly, another coin from before the Roman empire depicts decoration within the base, clearly showing three different registers (Image A.4). The baetile is not as firmly connected anymore as in the coin from 50-30 BCE. Between the monument and the temple is an extra layer which perhaps represented the room the statue was housed in. The temple is shown as a distyle temple with an eagle in the pediment.

Coins from the Roman Empire depict the unstable connection as well. For example, a coin from 177-192 CE (figure A.5), the time of Commodus, shows a laureate head on one side and the temple of Perge on the other. Again, an eagle is placed within the pediment and the cult

statue is shown in the middle of the temple. The monument appears narrower and almost appears as a stylized human form; however, it is still very tall and occupies most of the space within the temple. It also consistently appears as two parts: the base and the baetile.

Not all Roman Empire coins confirm this, however. Image A.6 showcases a coin from

193-211 CE, the time of Septimius Severus. This coin has a laureate portrayed on one side and the temple with a cult statue on the other. Now the two parts appear as one. The base, oval shaped with a horizontal bottom, almost swallows the baetile, making it appear as an extension of the base. This can also be seen on the coin of Diadumenian (Image A.7) where the baetile clearly emerges out of the center of the base, making the statue appear as a more connected piece. However, by having a clear boarder around the bottom of the baetile, a distinction can be discovered and it can be seen that the statue actually out of a base and an attached part.

In most coins the face of the statue cannot be seen. However, the coin that showcased the dressing ritual of the statue also shows some features of the face. According to this coin, the face was on the top part of the baetile, turned towards the right side. It appears very stylized, only showing one eye and a simple line for the mouth. If the features were not immediately attributed to Artemis, the features of the face could belong to any deity.

Comparing these coins established a couple aspects of the statue. The statue was of monumental size with a large wide base and a baetile on top. This baetile was set in the base to appear as one large monument. A face could be found on the top part of the baetile but it is unclear whether this face was carved, or had any other source of origin.

Representation of the Cult Statue on Public Monuments

During the rule of the Romans, the cult statue was used as a representation in a public monument, the theater. This allows for another examination of the work besides its appearance on coins.

The Roman theater of Perge was constructed in 120 CE and was a very elaborate building. Located outside of the city, the theater had carved pillars, at least 17 statues, and panels depicting the battle between the gods and the giants. The building was one of the finest theaters in the Mediterranean world and was particularly important during the reigns of Trajan and

Hadrian. It combined artistic aspects of the Roman world with the cult of Artemis Pergaea, allowing the roots of the culture to be visible through time.

The cult of Artemis Pergaea was represented through a depiction on the central frieze and on a pillar. On the central frieze of the work, the goddess Tyche holds in one hand a cornucopia and in her other the cult statue of Perge. As can be seen in image A.8, the cult statue has a rectangular shape with a round top. In the upper register a larger circular shape appears to be wearing a crown. Underneath this, two additional registries are filled in with decoration. Another relief on the side of the theater shows the cult statue as well (Image A.9). The work has the same overall shape but has more registers and detail. The upper register consists of a centered shape that appears to be a female head wearing a large headdress. This headdress is heavily decorated and the female appears to be wearing a necklace. On this side of the head decoration is added.

The three registers underneath show people taking part in a procession or ritual sacrifice.31 The entire cult statue is surrounded by acanthus leaves.

The representations of the cult statue in the theater confirm some of the details of the coins, such as the monument consisting of a main base and a head on the top. These different representations also confirm the effect of the iconization of the statue of Artemis Pergaea.

31“The Gallery of the Perge Theatre,” Antalya Muzesi, accessed November 14, 2016, http://www.antalyamuzesi.gov.tr/en/the-gallery-of-the-perge-theatre

Effects of the Iconization of the Cult Statue

The iconization of the cult statue had two effects on Perge. The first one is related to the roots of the cult. After syncretism of the two deities occurred, the Greeks used the imagery from the Greek Artemis to help establish the appearance and power of this Goddess. Using this imagery, made Artemis Pergaea visually related to the Greek Artemis, sharing features and attributes. The hybrid monument experienced this effect as well; however, her attributes were not only of Artemis, but also of Wanassas Preii. The cult statue was the original image and a gift from Artemis Pergaea herself and therefore most important for the cult. With the visual connection to the Greek Artemis, iconization could occur. Rather than just being an imprint of a face, the rock represented a goddess with known features, such as a certain style eyes, a structure of the face, and specific hairstyles.

Iconization was taken further when the image of the rock was placed on coins and public monuments. By placing the cult statue on coins, the mergence of the two cultures and the original image of the cult became replicated and a symbol for and of the city. Copies allowed the monument, and thus the cult, to be recognized all over the Mediterranean. The image of the cult statue became associated with the city of Perge and therefore the city and image became inseparable. The statue gained status and was the leading image of the cult. Seeing the image reminded the viewer of the icon itself and its importance in Perge. It showcased the beginning of the cult of Artemis Pergaea, displaying the roots of the cult to every person who saw the coins.

Therefore, imagery of the miraculous image served as promotion of the city, connecting Perge to its roots. Through the coins a specific site in the city was promoted as well: the temple in Perge.

It also established Perge as a stable force, not changing its imagery over time and staying in touch with the original icons.

The promotion of Perge as a stable political force also occurred by placing reliefs of the cult statue on the theater during the Roman period. This emphasized the importance of the monument to the Romans. The cult statue becomes a part of everyday life and reflects the

Roman traditions of the city while still honoring the old values. Thus, by iconizing the aniconic cult statue, Perge was able to shape the monument into the ideal promotional image of their city throughout the Greek and Roman periods.

CHAPTER 3 ICONIZATION THROUGH THE COINAGE FROM PERGE

The previous chapter discussed the iconization of the cult statue, as well as the use of images of the cult statue to promote the city of Perge. Coins played an essential role in the spread of the the icon throughout the Mediterranean. The role of coins grew when Perge became part of the Roman Empire; they promoted the city and extended the iconization of the Goddess.

Roman traditions merged with local traditions when Asia Minor became a Roman province. The Romans were known for producing coins faced with emperors, creating unity in their empire and promoting the emperor as their leader. Perge changed its coinage during this time to meet these new standards of images on coins. One side presented an image of the Roman emperor, while the other showed Artemis Pergaea.

The religious system and the main language changed during this time as well. Greek gods were transformed into Roman counterparts and the leading language became Latin rather than

Greek. These changes in religion and language influenced the cults of Asia Minor and popular cults such as the cult of Ephesus. The cult of Ephesus dedicated to Artemis changed into the cult of Diana. This change did not occur in Perge; Artemis Pergaea remained Artemis Pergaea, even though this was not a Roman name. It was acceptable to maintain these traditions because Perge was part of the Roman provinces that were seen as neither Greek nor Roman.

Keeping the original name made Perge appear as a static power. The mix of Anatolian,

Greek, and Roman traditions on the coins, as well as Greek writing, contributed to the static appearance. Additionally, the cult did not alter the image and name of Artemis Pergaea during the rule of the Roman Empire because the characteristics of the goddess were more closely associated with the Greek Artemis than with the Roman Diana. The mix of values on coins, the

Greek language, and the worship of the Greek-based goddess were kept intact to keep Perge closely connected to its ancient roots rather than with the newer traditions.

The Iconization of Artemis Pergaea through Roman Coins

The Roman coins contributed to the iconization of Artemis Pergaea by depicting her with a full figure and specific attributes. For example, Figure B.1 is a coin produced during the rule of

Domitian. The obverse shows the emperor wearing a laureate. On the reverse, Artemis Pergaea is shown with a Greek inscription stating her name. She is represented running toward the right, holding a bow in her outstretched right hand while a torch is resting on her left shoulder. Above her is depicted a half-crescent moon. This representation continues the iconization of the goddess by giving her a full figure rather than merely growing out of an imprint of her face from the cult statue. The deity has a body, attributes, and a presence, completing her as an entire being.

Figure B.2, from the time of Hadrian, depicts the emperor on the obverse side with a laureate. Artemis Pergaea is shown on the reverse side as a fully dressed figure. She is facing forward with bow and arrow in her right hand and a torch in her left hand.

Both coins showcase the wide variety of depictions of Artemis Pergaea, which contributed to her iconization. The coins allowed the deity to be recognized through such features as a full figure and attributes such as bow and arrow which helped establish her dominance in the city. Her features and attributes were already part of the mainland Greek

Artemis, and by being applied to Artemis Pergaea the images become connected to the Greek traditions of the city when the Greek goddess Artemis and the Anatolian deity Wanassas Prei merged. Most importantly, these aspects (features and attributes) were connected to a goddess, thus elevating their status and making them into icons.

The Romanization of Perge and the Mix of Traditions Represented on Coins

Coins were also used to promote the city of Perge as a stable polity. Having the image of

Artemis Pergaea on the reverse side kept the traditions of Perge alive.

When Perge became part of the Roman world, the layout of the city changed slightly as buildings were added to the outskirts. As discussed in the introduction, a Roman tower, baths, triumphal arch, theater, and a stadium were built. These new buildings were often inscribed with names such as Plancii and Iulli or expressions such as ci(ves) R(omani) et ordo et res publica

Pergesium.1A full colonnade was added to the main streets decumanus maximus (east to west road) and cardo maximus (south to north road), as well as a canal.2

Most of Perge’s culture remained intact because the city was in Pamphylia, a senatorial province governed by a proconsul. Rome did not want to be too involved with Asia Minor, as it was a small part of its empire, and delegations would rarely be sent out. Under the rule of

Augustus, most cities became self-governing and each was responsible for its own economics, taxes, and laws. Augustus also promoted urbanization of the east, establishing public buildings and Roman landmarks.

The imperial cult was introduced to Perge when the city became part of the Roman

Empire and was “both product and catalyst of this ongoing cultural dialogue. Anatolian elites worked together with Roman administration to develop a shared set of cultural codes (i.e., art, architecture, and rituals), which they could use to articulate and negotiate the new, social realities of Roman imperial rule.”3 Imperial cults in Asia Minor were often seen as a response to Roman

1 Halûk Abbasoğlu and David Parrish, “Urbanism in western Asia Minor: New studies on aphrodisias, ephesos, hierapolis, pergamon, perge, and xanthos,” Journal of Roman Archaeology, no. 45. (2001): 178

2 Idem,179

3 Idem, 22- 23.

power and were generated by political and religious needs of the Greek polis. Roman culture and local Asia Minor cultures melded and developed their own practices and religious needs in places in which the imperial cults were introduced. Therefore, societies were a mix of Anatolian values, Greek values, and Roman values.

The mixture of Anatolian, Greek, and Roman values is evident on the coins. Roman provincial coins did not follow a standardized Roman Imperial pattern and were based on already established traditions. A passage written by Kevin Butcher describes this in the following way:

The tradition of coinage was well established long before the Romans became a force to be reckoned with in the Mediterranean. It began partly as a means of transferring wealth in Asia Minor in the seventh century BC and quickly spread to Greek city states bordering the Aegean Sea. The initiative to strike coins was usually undertaken at this stage to pay for state expenditure, building projects and wars. The coins of a particular city bore its name or a type of specific to it and were identified with its citizens and government.4

During the time of Alexander the Great, empires were formed in Asia Minor and coins were used as “transferrable wealth to pay for everything.”5 Cities created distinctive emblems to promote the city, such as the temple of Artemis Pergaea for Perge. When Asia Minor became part of the Roman Empire, coin production became limited to certain cities due to die sharing.6

The reverse of the coin was still available for promotion of the city. Perge was one of the cities that produced its own coins. Doing this had two advantages: “firstly, that the people should be able to use coins bearing the type of their city, and secondly, that profit would accrue to the public treasury as a result.”7 Coins were therefore used for promotion, civic pride, and for

4 Kevin Butcher, Roman provincial coins: an introduction to the "Greek Imperials". (London: Seaby, 1988): 14. 5 Idem

6 The new Roman coins all had the emperor struck on one side. This die could be shared with many cities or could be produced in one central production place. Idem, 19.

7 Kevin Butcher, Roman provincial coins: an introduction to the "Greek Imperials". (London: Seaby, 1988): 25.

income for the city.8 Colonial coins often had Latin legends on the obverse side, though a few cities used Greek legends, as Perge, showing a variety of Greek gods or even pre-Greek deities.9

These Greek influences distinguished provincial coins from ‘standard’ Roman imperial coins and also differed per city.

The coins played a key role in promoting the city of Perge as a stable political force. By showing the mix of traditions, coins displayed the roots of the cult rather than the new Roman customs.

Greek Writing on the Coins

The first coins that were made in Perge focused solely on Artemis Pergaea. As can be seen in Figure B.3, the head of the goddess would be portrayed on one side, while the other side showed the full figure of the goddess with bow and arrow. From the figure, the attributes, and the

Greek text, it was clear to the viewer that the goddess was Artemis Pergaea, who was linked to

Perge. Other coins showed the temple of the goddess with the cult statue in it, as discussed in

Chapter 2.

The tradition of portraying the cult statue was continued during Roman times but mixed with representations of the full figure of the goddess and her main attributes. On the obverse side, the Roman emperor of that time was shown. Most of these coins were still written in Greek, even though the main language of the Roman Empire was Latin. The use of Greek language can be seen in Figure B.4. This coin is from 197- 217 CE and was minted during the rule of

Caracalla, who is depicted on one side. The other side shows Artemis in full figure, standing

8 Idem, 26.

9 Idem, 47.

while holding a torch and a bow. The text on the coin is in Greek and reads ΠEΡΓAIΩN, meaning Pergaea.

Keeping the coins Greek kept the tradition around the coins of Perge unchanged.

Therefore, civilizations around the Mediterranean, such as Egypt, could recognize the name of the city immediately and connect it to the wealth of the city and the cult of Artemis Pergaea. The name Artemis, being Greek, was essential to promotion of the city. Keeping the name Greek was not uncommon in the Roman provinces as Greek was accepted as a second language.

Manuscripts were sometimes even translated into Greek. However, what makes the coins of

Perge interesting is that most cults with influence on a bigger region, such as the cult of Artemis as Ephesus, chose to adopt the Latin language, the main language of the Roman Empire, yet

Perge remained the same.

In the middle of the third century, Roman imperial coinage began to change quickly.

Standard coins developed and were soon available in large numbers, making provincial coinage unnecessary. This led to economic difficulties in these areas. However, “the area that proved most resistant to change outside of Egypt and the distant client kingdom of Bosporus was in southern Asia Minor, in the provinces of Pisidia and Pamphylia, which minted coins as late as the reigns of Aurelian and Tacitus.”10 As Figures B.5 and B.6 show, the Roman emperor was still depicted on the obverse side, while the reverse side showed the temple of Artemis Pergaea. The temple was accompanied by the Greek words “Pargaian Newkor-wn” and, in Figure B.6,

“Pargaian metropole,” naming Perge a metropolis and referring back to its fame.

Depictions of Artemis Pergaea on coins were simplified to make her easily recognizable, shaping the iconography of the goddess. The images of the goddess on coins traveled all over the

10 Kevin Butcher, Roman provincial coins: an introduction to the "Greek Imperials". (London: Seaby, 1988): 21.

Mediterranean, such as to Adada and Caesareia in Cappadocia. “Either these cities had very much the same cult image as Perge or else they must have chosen to honor the Pergaean Artemis rather than a divinity of their own.”11 Thus, the image gained importance over time and promoted Perge through its main cult. By keeping the language Greek, Perge spread the message to other cities that the roots of the cult were still honored and at the heart of society.

Perge compared to Ephesus

Not all cults in Asia Minor remained Greek. For example, the cult of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the most famous cults in Asia Minor, changed into a Latin version and worshipped Diana.

Ephesus was a city near the sea in the province Asia in Asia Minor and was taken over in the 8th century B.C by the Greeks. “The goddess was originally, before her cult was taken over by the

Greeks, called ‘Artemius,’ and her temple – one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World – received gifts from the Lydian king Croesus.”12 Artemis of Ephesus was related to Anatolian mother goddesses, similarly to Artemis Pergaea. The citizens of Ephesus believed that the goddess originated in Ephesus, rather than in Delos, and she was often seen as a completely different deity than the Greek Artemis. “She seems to have been the personification of the fructifying and all nourishing powers of nature.”13 Because she was seen as a different goddess, her representations differed as well. The cult statue for example, depicts the goddess with one hundred breasts.14 According to the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology:

The whole figure of the goddess resembled a mummy: her head was surmounted with a mural crown (corona muralis), and the lower part of her body, which

11 Mary B. Comstock, “Greek Imperial Coins,” Boston Museum Bulletin, 65 (1967): 162.

12 “Artemis of Ephesus,” Livius, last modified on July 30, 2015, http://www.livius.org/articles/religion/artemis-of- ephesus/.

13 “Artemis,” Theoi, accessed on December 3, 2015 http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Artemis.html

14 There has been much discussion why the statue had so many breasts. Scholars have argued that they could represent bull testicles or teardrop beads of amber.

ended in a point, like a pyramid upside down, was covered with figures of mystical animals.15

Her main symbol was a bee or a stack, which were found on many coins coming from Ephesus.

In 129 BC, Ephesus became part of the Roman republic, growing to become one of the three biggest cities in Asia Minor. As was the rest of Asia Minor, Ephesus was ruled indirectly by the Romans and maintained most of its traditions; however, the city chose to take over Roman customs. One of those new customs was the coinage. Coins first had Greek language on them, which changed into Latin during the rule of Romans, addressing the goddess as Diana. “The

Romans identified their goddess Diana with the Greek Artemis, and at a comparatively early time they transferred to their own goddess all the peculiar features of the Greek Artemis.”16

Ephesus chose to change the name and the image of the goddess to the customs of the Roman

Empire. This change allowed them to maintain their global reputation and to connect them to the most prominent power at that time, Rome. Figure B.7 shows the goddess on the reverse side of the coin. The cult statue is depicted with two animals flanking her sides. Above her is the Latin description Diana Ephesia. The obverse side depicts Emperor Hadrian.

The city of Ephesus is a good example of cults in Asia Minor adapting to Roman customs. Ephesus changed its cult to form a closer connection with the Roman Diana than with the Greek Artemis. Changing their customs to those of the largest and most powerful empire created a better fit for the city’s global image. Ephesus demonstrated that it was not common to keep the Greek name of the goddess and to promote cities by emphasizing their non-Roman past and local ancestral roots, such as Perge.

15 Idem.

16 Idem.

The Greek Artemis compared to the Roman Diana

The mythology of Artemis helped promote Perge as an unchanging power. Instead of being called Diana, the Roman counterpart of Artemis, the goddess remained known as Artemis

Pergaea. The Greek goddess was a better fit for the image of Artemis Pergaea than her Roman form.

The Roman goddess Diana is seen as the counterpart of Artemis with minor differences.

The mythologies and legends, such as the birth in Delos, are almost identical. Other famous myths are the legend of Actaeon, the legend of Niobe, the legend of Orion, and the legend of the

Kalydonian boar, which are also very similar for both forms.

The first myth of Artemis described the unfortunate fate of the young hunter Acteon.

While out hunting, Acteon accidently found the bathing place of the goddess Artemis. The virgin goddess turned the boy immediately into a stag as result of her anger and had the animal devoured by Acteon’s own dogs.

The second myth described the story of Niobe, who insulted the mother of the goddess, stating that she was better than Leto because she had many children and Leto only two. Artemis or Diana avenged her mother with Apollo, her brother, by killing most or all of Niobe’s children, leaving her with endless grief, which turned her into stone. This story originated in Greece and was taken over by the Romans without alteration, who often used it on sarcophagi.

The third myth says that the god Apollo thought that Artemis was spending too much time with Orion and wanted to end this relationship. Apollo sent a scorpion to Orion, who swam out to sea to escape from it. The god then visited his sister and told the goddess that an evil man,

Candaon, had tried to rape one of her priestesses and was now swimming in the sea. The goddess, filled with anger, shot at the figure swimming away and accidently killed her friend.

After realizing her mistake, she placed Orion’s body amongst the stars. This story also comes from Greek mythology and was not altered for Roman use.

The last myth described the story of Artemis and her ravaging the region of Kaldyon. The king of Kaldyon failed to honor the goddess in his offerings to the gods and, as revenge, Artemis sent a boar to destroy the land. One of the best hunters in the region, Meleager, and his female companion Atalanta, killed the boar. This myth was also often shown on Roman sarcophagi depicting a later event in the myth, when Meleager kills all the hunters after they disrespected

Atalanta.

These mythologies did not alter in Roman mythology and therefore the differences between Artemis and Diana were found in their function in society and their origins. Diana was known as the goddess of the hunt, wild animals, the moon, and childbirth. These aspects are similar to Artemis, only Diana’s connection with the moon was stressed in Roman society. This connection to the moon was much stronger than in Greek religion. Another difference was that

Diana was believed to have her roots in Italy and was already worshipped in an ancient Roman religion. Her name was a connection to the ancient word of light, or sometimes moonlight. As described by Linda Alchin:

Of all the various characters of this goddess, there is no one more known than that of her presiding over woods, and delighting in hunting. The Diana Venatrix, or goddess of the chase, is frequently represented as running on, with her vest flying back with the wind, notwithstanding its being shortened, and girt about her for expedition. She is tall of stature, and her face, though so very handsome, is something manly.17

Diana’s personality was as diverse as her associations. In the role of controlling forests and hunting, she was seen as pure and virginal, even though she could be vengeful and arrogant.

17“Myths about the Roman Goddess Diana,” accessed November 30, 2015 http://www.tribunesandtriumphs.org/roman-gods/myths-about-the-roman-goddess-diana.htm

In the role of goddess of the moon she was unpredictable and often changed her nature. A final difference, in the role of controlling the dark world of the dead, Diana was unforgiving and bloodthirsty.18 The goddess was part of a triad with two other Roman deities: Egeria, a water nymph who was Diana’s servant, and Virbius, a woodland god. Occasionally, Diana herself was seen as trifold, a mix of Diana, Hecate, and Luna, who were sometimes represented as one and sometimes as three.

The personality of Diana did not fit with the worship of Artemis Pergaea in Perge. In this city Artemis Pergaea was seen as one goddess and never associated with other gods. She was the mediator between the wild and the civilized; she did not depend on other deities to do this.

Artemis Pergaea also originated in Anatolian culture, which interferes with the Roman Italian origins. The characteristics of the Greek Artemis remained a better fit for Artemis Pergaea, being a mix of the Greek deity and the local Anatolian goddess Wanassas Prei. Together, they formed one being and became inseparable. This constant reminder of the roots of the society promoted

Perge’s static appearance to the members of the cult and the city.

Even though Perge was taken over by the Romans in the first century B.C.E., the city kept in touch with its ancestral roots and made changes in its tradition to keep honoring this. The reference to the roots of the cult can be found back on the coins from this period. Coins helped continue the iconization of Artemis Pergaea by depicting her in different forms, which continued her iconization. The goddess became recognized through different features and attributes as her importance grew. Also, because the attributes were part of the goddess, they were worshipped and honored, becoming part of the icon that represented Artemis Pergaea. Being a city in Asia

18 "Diana," Myths and Legends of the World. 2001. Encyclopedia.com, Accessed December 5, 2015, http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3490900161.html

Minor, rather than part of the actual Roman Empire, it could create its own laws. Because of this,

Perge did not change the name of its patron goddess from Artemis Pergaea to Diana Pergaea, as most other cities in Asia Minor did. The city was seen as neither Greek nor Roman, but was a society based on a mix of Anatolian, Greek, and Roman traditions. Coins showcased this mix of traditions by depicting Artemis Pergaea which promoted the roots of the cult.

The promotion of Perge as a stable political force was also reinforced through the use of the Greek language on coins rather than on the use Latin. The transition to Latin was not mandatory; Greek was accepted as a language. However, by keeping the Greek language, Perge kept promoting itself the in the same manner, maintaining their static appearance. Other cults in

Asia Minor, such as the cult of Artemis of Ephesus, did change when they became Roman to fit the global image Rome represented and took over the name Diana. Ephesus’s transition from

Greek to Roman traditions shows that it was not common for cults to maintain their Greek traditions and stay in touch with their local ancestral roots. Artemis Pergaea kept her Greek name because the characteristics of the Greek form were more in line with the goddess than with the characteristics of Diana. All of this allowed Perge to promote itself as an unchanging power by using the iconization of Artemis Pergaea on coins.

CHAPTER 4 THE ICONIZATION OF ARTEMIS PERGAEA THROUGH PUBLIC MONUMENTS

The iconization of Artemis Pergaea did not occur only through the cult statue and coins, but also through public monuments. Throughout the reign of the Greeks and the Romans, many offerings were made to the goddess in the form of public monuments. These offerings often used the imagery of Artemis Pergaea, mixing Perge’s cult statue with images of Artemis from mainland Greece. This gradual process of combining characteristics helped to establish the appearance of the deity. It was in this way that the citizens of Perge iconized the aniconic cult statue over time. This process went hand in hand with the promotion of Perge as a static political force. Perge’s stability was established by referring back to the roots of the cult in each art work and linking the icons to the past. The three most significant works in the city that show this iconization of Artemis Pergaea and create a link to the origins of the cult were created during the

Roman rule of this era. The three works were a dedicatory statue representing a dancing Artemis, a statue of Artemis Pergaea found in a well, and a relief on a column by the main road of the city,

The Statue of the Dancer

One of the most prominent works from the Roman period in Perge was a dedicatory statue named “the dancer,” from the first half of the second century (Image C.1). This work represents Artemis in the middle of a dance. She is twirling her dress while exposing her left shoulder and looking over her right shoulder, a composition favored by Hellenistic and classical sculptors.1 The weight of the deity rests on her left foot while appearing to switch to her right foot because she is extending her right foot. She is caught in the middle of her dance, inviting the

1 Susan Wood, "Women in Action: A Statue of Matidia Minor and Its Contexts,” American Journal of Archaeology,119, no 2 (2015), 28.

viewer to join her while at the same time she is completely absorbed in her own world and thoughts. The hair and drapery are made out of bigio morato,2 while the rest of the work is made out of fine-grained white stone.3 Even though the work has no inscription on it, it’s over life-size scale and its purely ideal face suggest that it is Artemis.4 Also contributing to the identification as Artemis is the specific hairstyle. The statue’s hair is divided into two sections that from each side form twisted ropes that are tied back into a square knot over the deity’s forehead. This hairstyle allowed a longhaired man or woman to wear their hair up without a hairdresser and is therefore popular in statues representing movement and action.5

The work was found in the South Baths of Perge that were built during the reign of the

Romans. It was part of a larger group of white marble statues, depicting heroes and gods, which were dedicated by Klaudios Peison.6 The dancer stands out from the other statues because of the use of different materials as well as the use of composite techniques. These differences raise the question of whether the statue was meant to be part of the group, but because the base is lost and therefore any inscription is missing this is unknown. The work is also significantly larger than the other works, rising above them even without a base. Even though the work might not have been originally part of the group, someone considered it a suitable member of the group and placed it between them. Also, according to Susan Wood, “it must have represented a being who

2 Bigio Morato is a black marble with very fine spots. https://books.google.com/books?id=Di5NAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA290&lpg=PA290&dq=what+is+bigio+morato&sou rce=bl&ots=RGI9_E9_jP&sig=5axKPKApxNNgvHb8EQmrmtehrE8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjU29j5uKHS AhXHeSYKHVFADy44ChDoAQgZMAA#v=onepage&q=what%20is%20bigio%20morato&f=false

3 Susan Wood, "Women in Action: A Statue of Matidia Minor and Its Contexts,” American Journal of Archaeology,119, no 2 (2015), 28.

4 Idem, 26-27.

5 Idem, 27.

6 Idem.

could appropriately be larger in scale than the divine figures nearby.”7 This was due to the importance of the goddess to the city.

The location, the size, the material, and the composition of the work all contributed to the iconization of the goddess and at the same time to the promotion of Perge as a fixed force. By being placed among other statues that were similar to each other in material, size, and representation, the dancer immediately stands out. The setting caused the viewer to recognize the importance of the work because the eye of the viewer was immediately drawn to the work. This focus on the statue established a dominance of the work through its location. Beside the location, this superiority was also established through the significantly larger size of the work and the differing material. These aspects - the setting, size, and material - contributed to the iconization by allowing the goddess to be recognized in different forms and setting. The goddess was now placed in a different setting, made of different materials, and in an unusual composition for

Artemis Pergaea, yet it was immediately made clear to the viewer who she was. This new form of the goddess became a part of her iconization and allowed the viewer to connect to the deity through this new appearance.

The image of a dancing woman is not new. Many times the three graces as well as nymphs were represented in this manner. A famous terracotta statue shows a maenad dancing like Artemis Pergaea, picking up a part of her skirt while twirling (Image C.2). Her hair is also tied back and her shoulders are revealed. Thus, the sculpture of Artemis Pergaea does not appear out of the blue and is in line with other representations of dancers which contributes to the iconization of the goddess. Now rather than just being a cult statue in the form of a hybrid monument, the goddess has a body and a personality; she becomes whole through the offering,

7 Idem.

she is brought to life. Because of this work, more elements become connected to the image of the goddess and her entire being becomes an icon, rather than just the imprint of her face on the cult statue.

The iconization of the goddess goes hand in hand with the promotion of Perge as an unchanging force. The statue is in line with other ancient dancer representations and therefore connects itself to a rich past of Classical and Hellenistic sculpture. Even though the Romans control the area at this time, Greek traditions are still valued, used, and preferred to represent the goddess, linking her to the roots of the cult.

Another significant aspect that showed the promotion of Perge as a unchanging power in this statue is the fact that the work was a donation. Not only does the work represent worship of the goddess and her importance to the city, it also showed the richness and political situation of

Perge. During this time influential families dedicated many public monuments to the city to establish their family name and their importance. Through donations, the political power of the donor rose. Giving donations to the city occurred all over the Roman Empire and similar to other cities, Perge’s urban layout was formed by wealthy citizens who funded public monuments. The statue of the dancer had the same effect. By donating such a large statue, made out of an expensive material and sculpted in a difficult composition, the donor sets himself apart and contributes to the status of the city.

Thus, the work not only contributes to the worship of the goddess, it contributes to the entire political power of the city. Now, the exclusivity and luxury of the work is synonymous with the city. Also, the work references Hellenistic and Classical times through its composition, such as the terracotta statue of the dancing maenad, linking the power of the work and the wealth of the owner (and so the wealth of the city) to the roots of the cult and making them inseparable.

Social status through Donations

What makes Perge interesting socially is that some significant contributors to the city were women. Generally, men were held to be superior in the Roman world. However, in Perge some women used their financial power to lift their social status. This occurred especially during the second and third century. The female donors designed monuments reflecting their civic titles and public personas.

One of the most significant female donors in Perge was Plancia Magna. She belonged to the Plancii family and was the daughter of Marcus Plancius Varus. She was also the niece of

King Alexandros and the wife of C. Iulius Cornutus Tertullus.8 The majority of the wealth of the family came from commerce and income from land estates. Her father and brother made significant contributions to the city, but Plancia Magna’s contributions made her stand out. She oversaw the rebuilding of the Hellenistic gate, the courtyard of which was transformed into an enclosed space with an added ceremonial arch. “The gate turned into a ‘Court of Honor’ where the Emperor and his family together with the legendary founders and civic cults of Perge were commemorated.”9 Her actions and redesign of the gate, formed an integral and inseparable bond between this building and the civic, political, and religious activities of the city. Redesigning the gate also brought Plancia Magna fame and status. She also had at least five statues made in her likeness and a multitude of inscriptions, mostly in Greek, throughout the city. These inscriptions often named her ‘daughter of the city.’

Plancia Magna’s deeply embedded bond with Perge is highlighted in her monuments found throughout the city. Her impact can be seen even before reaching the gates of the city. Her

8 Aygun Kalinbayrak, “Elite Benefaction in Roman Asia Minor: The Case of Plancia Magna in Perge,” (Master thesis., Middle East Technical University, 2011), 68.

9 Idem, 81.

enormous tomb could be found outside of the city wall. Within the city, a wall with niches contained two large statues representing her. In her architectural monuments, Plancia Magna was able to showcase the roots of the cult while also honoring Roman traditions. She showed this duality by being a priestess for Artemis Pergaea and by being part of the Roman imperial cult.

The mix of these two religions formed her public image, using aspects of the local traditions of

Perge with imperial monuments. For example, the gate incorporated the old foundations of the gate and the monument was inscribed in both Latin and Greek. Plancia Magna’s family helped establish her public image by building an Artemis Pergaea temple in Rome.10

The architectural monuments and specific choices of design by Plancia Magna started a trend that inspired other wealthy females, one of them being Aurelia Paulina. She was born in

Syria and emigrated to Pamphylia. Also a priestess of Artemis Pergaea, she was inspired by

Plancia Magna’s example and donated a monument to the city as well.11 A large fountain, nymphaeum, was built in her name just outside the southern city gate by the southern baths.

Aurelia Paulina was part of a local family and showed this in her monument. Rather than dedicating the monument herself, as Plancia Magna did, the monument was dedicated by her family. Also, its text was only in Greek, not in Latin. The fountain was enormous, having a marble colonnade façade and statues displayed within niches. The monument was dedicated to

Artemis Pergaea and to the reigning emperor Septimus Severus, his wife Julia Domna, and their children.12 Two depictions of Artemis Pergaea could be found on the monument. One was a statue located in the well underneath the fountain. The other depiction, which unfortunately has

10 Barbara F. McManus, “Plancia Magna, Aurelia Paulina, and Regilla: Civic Donors,” accessed January 5, 2015, http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/women_civicdonors.html

11 Idem.

12 Idem.

been heavily damaged, was part of the pediment and showed the goddess next to the three graces.13 Both these images showed Aurelia Paulina’s dedication to the cult and the goddess and her use of public monuments not only to promote her own wealth but also to promote the city and its cult.

The Statue of Artemis Pergaea in the Well

The fountain was asymmetrical, which was unusual. It was built around a well, a pre- existing structure with, as mentioned above, the statue of Artemis Pergaea in it. Aurelia Paulina was able to combine the new Roman traditions with the old traditions of Perge, as did Plancia

Magna. Likewise, the statue was also located directly south of the wall holding the statues of

Plancia Magna and the western tower of her renovated Hellenistic gate.14

The statue of Artemis Pergaea in the well depicted the goddess standing upright, facing forward and holding something in both hands, perhaps a spear or torch and a bow (Image C.3).

With arrows in a quiver on her back, she appeared to be wearing a heavy garment that was tied around her waist. Her hair was divided into two sections down the middle and tied back on her head. This representation added to the iconization of Artemis Pergaea because, as with the dancer, through the statue, Artemis Pergaea comes to life, an entire image of the goddess is created and used to promote the city. Now the city is not only supported by just an imprint of a face; it has a full bodied image and therefore the presence of an entire goddess. In addition to a body, the goddess gained specific attributes that became associated with her in art works. These

13 Idem.

14 Grace K. Erny, “Constructing Gender: Female Architectural Patronage in Roman Asia Minor and Syria in the First through Sixth Centuries CE,” Classics Honors Projects, accessed January 14, 2017, http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/classics_honors/13, 26.

attributes were already part of the Greek goddess Artemis and often found on coinage, but had not yet been present in the representation of the deity in statues.

The statue in the well also establishes a strong relationship to the mix of Anatolian and

Greek traditions of Perge. The fountain is built around a pre-existing well memorializing the original structure and signifying the importance of the well. By having the statue of Artemis

Pergaea placed in the well, the goddess became the foundation of the building. The new structure was literally built on the roots of the cult. The statue of goddess supported the monument and therefore is a significant aspect of the appearance of the city. The monument was made in a

Roman design but carried the roots of the original cult within. Alluding to the enduring connection of the goddess to the city.

The Artemis Column

Besides the dedicatory statue of the dancing Artemis Pergaea and the statue in the well, another representation of Artemis Pergaea on a column helped the iconization of the deity and the promotion of Perge as an unchanging strength. Located on the main road, this Corinthian column was one of the hundreds of columns that flanked the sacred path. Artemis Pergaea was represented in high relief, carrying a bow and arrows in one hand and a torch in the other (Image

C.4). She was wearing a luminous crown and a half-crescent moon appeared to be behind her.

Next to the column with Artemis Pergaea were found two other columns with high reliefs, one representing the goddess of fortune, Tyche, and the other representing a mythical founder of the city of Perge: Calchas.

This specific representation on the column continued the iconization of the goddess.

Now, in addition to a body and the attributes found on the statue in the well, the goddess gained a headdress and the symbol of a half crescent moon. These two aspects were found on coinage

but not yet on statues and reliefs. Therefore, through the representation of Artemis Pergaea on the column, an element is added to the iconization of the cult statue.

Besides contributing to the iconization of Artemis Pergaea, the relief on the column continued the mix of old and new traditions. The main road became decorated with columns around the second or third century CE. During this time Perge was part of the Roman Empire and heavily influenced by it politically and architecturally. Having the columns along the road honored Roman traditions and represented them within the city. The representation of Artemis

Pergaea, however, is not in line with these traditions and actually links the work to the origins of the cult when Anatolian and Greek culture mixed. Therefore, through the relief, values are mixed and both Roman and Anatolian/Greek traditions are honored.

During the rule of the Romans, iconization of Artemis Pergaea continued through public and private art works. The statue of the dancer and the statue from the well created a body for the goddess and contributed to her iconization. Now, besides having a face, the goddess was recognized through her entire presence and being. The relief on the column has this same effect but adds attributes of the goddess to this, allowing Artemis Pergaea’s presence to be recognized just through the symbol of a bow or torch.

Alongside the iconization of Artemis Pergaea went the promotion of the city as a stable political force through the representations of the goddess. In the creation of public and private monuments by important citizens such as Aurelia Paulina, tributes were made to the Roman

Empire by being in the Roman architectural style and in line with their traditions of making donations to the city. At the same time, however, the roots of the cult remained intact and were honored in three main ways. The first was that the statue of the dancing Artemis Pergaea was the

largest offering of its kind made. The second was having a statue of the deity in an ancient well underneath, therefore forming the foundation of the structure. Finally, representing her on a column on the most prominent road of the city highlighted her importance and ties to the roots of the cult.

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION

When the Greeks took over Perge in the Hellenistic period, two cults merged the local

Anatolian religion worshipping Wanassas Prei and the Greek polytheistic system worshipping the goddess Artemis. Together these individual religions formed the cult of Artemis Pergaea and this goddess was worshipped as the main deity and protector of the city. Throughout the reign of the Greek and later the Romans, the mix of the established Anatolian traditions and the new

Greek traditions became the main source for the promotion of the cult This was done by iconizing the aniconic cult statue which allowed Perge to establish itself as a stable and powerful political force.

The main image of the city and the cult was the image of the goddess. By using this image on coins and on reliefs in the Roman theater, the cult statue became more than a singular object. It became a symbol of the cult, something that could be worshipped without seeing the actual object; therefore, iconizing it.

This iconization of the cult statue contributed to the promotion of the city as an unchanging power. The coins allowed the image of the statue to be conveyed throughout the

Mediterranean. By promoting Perge through the imagery of Artemis Pergaea, therefore, reminding the viewers of the home city of the cult. This same effect was also achieved by placing the image of the cult statue on the outside of the theater. It provides a visual key to the viewer, who would have recognized the roots of the cult and their importance.

Coins were not only minted with the image of the cult statue. Other images were chosen for their ability to iconize Artemis Pergaea and their ability to support the identity of the city.

The coins throughout time evolved to show more than just the cult statue. They had added imagery of the face or some her objects associated with the Greek deity Artemis. Doing so

allowed for the iconization of the goddess; Rather than just associating the goddess with the cult statue, the goddess gained attributes and facial features based on her Greek appearance. These attributes and features were placed on one side of the coins, while the other side bore the temple with the cult statue, linking the images together during the Greek period. During the rule of the

Romans, the Emperor was on the obverse side while the reverse side depicted one of the forms of

Artemis Pergaea. Therefore, throughout these periods, more depictions became associated with the goddess, allowing her to be worshipped through these different images and so become iconized in a different way.

Even though the city of Perge was taken over by the Romans in the first century B.C, the city kept in touch with its ancestral roots. As a provincial city rather than part of the actual

Roman Empire, Perge followed loser rules and the city had a lot of freedom to create its own tax system and laws. Because of this, the city did not change the name of their patron goddess

Artemis Pergaea to Diana Pergaea as most other cities did in Asia Minor. The city was seen as neither Greek nor Roman, having a unique civilization based on an Anatolian tradition that was slowly mixed in with Greek and later Roman traditions. This freedom was also possible because

Perge was able to establish a name for itself over the previous centuries, using coins to promote its cult and the wealth of the city, at the same time. Because of this fame, Greek writing and therefore the Greek name of the goddess, did not, alter and the city maintained the same image over decades. Lastly, the name did not change because the character of the Greek goddess

Artemis fit the image of the patron goddess of Perge better than did that of her Roman counterpart Diana.

Statues representing the goddess also contributed to the iconization of the goddess and the promotion of Perge as a fixed power. The statue named ‘the dancer’ that was found in the

southern bath houses, and the statue from the well underneath the fountain of Aurelia Paulina, both created a body for the goddess and contributed to her iconization. Now besides having a face, attributes, and features associated with the goddess on coins; the goddess was recognized through her entire presence and her more physical state. The relief on the column also shows this physical state and adds attributes to this. While this process also occurred on coins, it was the placement on the column that allowed the attributes to become icons of the goddess, allowing more viewers to see the image.

Alongside the iconization of Artemis Pergaea through these statues, the promotion of the city as an unchanging power through the representations of the goddess continued. Donations to the Roman Empire of public and private monuments were given by important citizens such as

Aurelia Paulina as tributes. Created in a Roman style, they contributed to the Romanization of

Perge. However, the roots of the cult remained intact and were honored in several ways. These offerings, such as a statue of Artemis Pergaea, were some of the largest. Others such as the statue of the deity in an ancient well underneath the fountain established the foundation of the structure.

Finally, the representation of her on a column on the most prominent road of the city was a sign to all travelers of her importance to the city and its unique heritage.

Thus, all these different representations allowed the iconization of the aniconic cult statue. By doing this, Perge was able to use this imagery to remind viewers of the roots of the city and the beginnings of the cult that would maintain its traditions throughout Greek and

Roman times.

APPENDIX FIGURES

Chapter 2

Figure A.1. As, Minted in Perge, 247-249 CE, Obverse; Philip II, Reverse; Distyle Temple with Cult Statue of Artemis Pergaea.

Figure A.2. Didrachm, Minted in Perge, c.a. 2nd – 1st cent. BCE, Obverse; Cult Image of Artemis Pergaea, Reverse; Quiver with Strap.

Figure A.3. As, minted in Perge, 50- 30 BCE, Obverse; Artemis Pergaea in Distyle Temple.

Figure A.4. Minted in Perge, 50 – 30 BCE, Obverse; Artemis Pergaea in Distyle Temple

Figure A.5. Minted in Perge, 177 – 192 CE. Obverse; Emperor Commodus, Reverse; Artemis Pergaea in Distyle Temple.

Figure A.6. As, Minted in Perge, 193 – 217 CE, Obverse; Emperor Septimus Severus, Reverse; Cult Image of Artemis Pergaea.

Figure A.7. Denarius, Minted in Perge, ca 208 CE, Obverse; Emperor Diadumenian, Reverse; Cult Image of Artemis Pergaea.

Figure A.8. Unknown Sculptor, Tyche holding the Cult Statue of Artemis Pergaea, c.a. 120 CE, Theater Perge.

Figure A.9. Unknown Sculptor, Relief of Cult Statue of Artemis Pergaea, c.a. 120 CE, Theater Perge.

Chapter 3

Figure B.1. Dupondius, Minted in Perge, 81-96 CE, Obverse; Emperor Domitian, Reverse; Artemis Pergaea

Figure B.2 As, Minted in Perge, 117-138 CE, Obverse; Emperor Hadrian, Reverse; Artemis Pergaea

Figure B.3. Tetadrachm, Minted in Perge, 255 – 240 BCE, Obverse; Head of Artemis, Reverse; Artemis Pergaea standing, holding wreath and scepter

Figure B.4. Follis, Minted in Perge, 198-217 CE, Obverse; Emperor Caracalla, Reverse; Artemis Pergaea

Figure B.5. Aureus, Minted in Perge, 270 – 275 CE., Obverse; Emperor Aurelian, Reverse; Artemis Pergaea in Distyle Temple

Figure B.6. Assaria, Minted in Perge, 275 – 276 CE, Obverse; Emperor Tacitus, Reverse; Artemis Pergaea in Distyle Temple

Figure B.7. Cistophorus, minted in Ephesus, 128- 138 CE, Obverse; Emperor Hadrian, Reverse; Diana of Ephesus

Chapter 4

Figure C.1. Unknown Sculptor, The Dancer, after 190 BCE, Bigio morato and fine grained white stone, Antalya Museum, Antalya.

Figure C.2. Unknown Sculptor, Dancing Maenad, 3rd cent BCE, Terracotta, Made in Taranto, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Figure C.3. Unknown Sculptor, Artemis Pergaea, after 190 BCE, Antalya Museum, Antalya

Figure C.4. Unknown Sculptor, Relief of Artemis Pergaea, after 190 BCE, Perge, Turkey.

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Abbasoğlu, Halûk., and David Parrish. “Urbanism in western Asia Minor: New studies on aphrodisias, ephesos, hierapolis, pergamon, perge, and xanthos.” Journal of Roman Archaeology, 45 (2001).

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Kyra Rietveld was born and raised in Zuidhorn, the Netherlands. She received her Bachelor of

Arts degree summa cum laude and with honors from Oakland University, Michigan, where she majored in Art History with a minor in Studio Art, drawing, while being a part of the Women’s

Swimming and Diving team. Ms. Rietveld continued her education and interest in Greek art at the University of Florida, and completed her Master of Arts degree in May 2017.