CHAPTER IV. Period VI. Marcus Aurelius to Didius Julianus. the Continuation
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195. CH.IV: CHAPTER IV. Period VI. Marcus Aurelius to Didius Julianus. The Continuation. This Period is essentially one of transition, without much in the way of a distinctive character of its own, merging into the preceding and succeeding Periods, the innovations which adumbrate the latter hardly perceptible in the gentle flow from one to the other. Like its first century counterpart, Period III, however, it is also a Period where the response to the previous impositions and developments first becomes apparent, but this time the response is affirmative, and signalled in a highly paradoxical manner. This is not to say that there is not also a continuation of old pre-Roman forms which did not spread beyond their place of origin to become part of the Romano-Syrian milieu, or even a fresh recrudescence of older types. At Koryphaios (Gebel Seih Barakat) in the Dana plain, the Sanctuary of Zeus Bomos (A.D. 161) and the stylistically closely related Sanctuary of Zeus Madbachos^show a strong a-Classical architectural elements, particular ly in regard to the "lotus" capitals, which bear some resemblance to the late Byzantine-Umayyad capitals in Palmyrene, especially those from Resafa. The old cults themselves persisted with little sign of abatement or alteration - the cult of Zeus Belus at Apamea, for example, is attested by the reference to the prophecy which Septimius Severus received from this oracle during his 2 service in Syria, which should have taken place during this Period. And, despite the issue of coins with Latin legends at Antioch to commemorate the 3 arrival of Verus, Latin, too, continued to 'advance to the rear': its usage is attested only in official contexts, or where soldiers and officials are concerned, and, even so, on the milestone of A.D. 162 near Aelia, dedicated to Marcus Aurelius and Verus, it was deemed necessary to repeat the vital 4 part of the inscription, "5 miles from Col. Aelia Cap.", in Greek. By the same token of course, this also attests the use of Greek as a lingua franca in what was once, at least ostensibly, a non-Greek area, and from this point of view is in harmony with the general tone of the Period. As a whole, it was a matter of a steady continuation of earlier trends and developments, and those innovations which occurred were either themselves Romanizing, or elements which were destined to become part of the future Romano-Syrian milieu. The tendency towards uniformity continued. The implementation of programmes initiated in the previous Period CH.IV: 196. proceeded without interruption, both those of a purely local character, the build ing programmes of the various cities, now attributable in execution if not in inspiration to the local inhabitants themselves, and those overall programmes which can be referred to the Roman administration, provincial or otherwise. The Hadrianic road system in Judaea and the Decapolis area was expanded by the addition of the Damascus-Salcha-Gadara road, and the road from Aelia to Emmaus under Marcus Aurelius; the road from Jerash to Adra'a 5 was perhaps repaired at the very end of the Period, A milestone numbered XI, and dated to the reign of Marcus Aurelius, found between Byblos and the Nahr C el-Kelb suggests that the roads of Syria proper also received attention where needed, as does the inscription from Abila Lysaniae discussed below. Tn terms of cultural dynamics, this constitutes no more than superimposition, or reinforcement of the previous superimposi tions, but the continuing programmes of the various cities are now more a matter of response, whether to previous Roman superimpositions or to the spread of the Romano-Syrian milieu, which, it must be reiterated, the growth of the road system facilitated. At Palmyra, the building programme, with the extension of the east-west colonnaded street (the "decumanus"), the extension of the trans verse colonnaded street which had been initiated under Hadrian southwards towards the Ephca spring, the South-West Gate, and the organization of the eastern part or the town into a residential quarter with parallel streets, cut by the "decumanus", all continued/ So too did the new Palmyrene script, g developed, according to Starcky, under the influence of Greek. In the field of religion, it is obvious that the cult of Baalshamin-Zeus Hypsistos continu ed to gain support: an altar, dedicated to " A l l y ^ i c t o j k a i e i i h k o u )" (sic), Q dated to A.D. 163, was discovered close to the Ephca by Wood and Dawkins, the epithet "e i m k o g o " being characteristic of this new, compassionate aspect of Baalshamin.^ The imperial cult is more firmly attested at Palmyra in this Period: Bowersock^ notes that a Caesareum is explicitly referred to in an inscription of A.D. 171, as well as in one of A.D. 272, and wishes to ascribe an inscription of A.D. 166 from Kasr al-H@r ech Charqi, which perhaps mentions an imperial priest, to Palmyra itself. 12 It was in this Period, according to Ward-Perkins, that the 1 "5 Propylaea was added to the Sanctuary of Bel. As remarked earlier, this sanctuary, taking its core to be bounded by the four earliest colonnades, was almost square. The addition of the Propylaea was enough to tip the balance, and the long and short axes of the sanctuary were now reversed. CH. IV: 197. The sanctuary as a whole was now of the long-axis type, if it was not so before with some predecessor of the Propylaea, since the temple door lay on the axis of this entrance. The transitional nature of the Period means that the ascription of evidence dated by stylistic criteria is always doubtful, as the styles in question continue across the arbitrary chronological boundaries; so it is that the most pertinent new development in personal appearance at Palmyra may be assigned to this Period or the preceding one. Ingholt's Group II 14 Palmyrene sculptures are dated ca. 150-200 A.D. Two of the busts belong ing to this group, which he published in Syria 1930, depict bearded (and mustachioed) males, as opposed to the clean-shaven features of earlier busts, something which Ingholt seems to consider as an important chrono logical criterion. Both busts in question appear to date to this Period, and in both the beard is shown as short and curly, "avec des petites 15 boucles cr^pues" as Ingholt puts it (or, as Coll edge terms them, "snail curls"); in one case, that of the funerary bust of Vaballat son of Vaballat, this rendition is compared by Ingholt to that on a bust dated A.D. 154-155.16 These beards, as Colledge^points out, have Parthian relations, but it does not seem unreasonable to suggest, as too does Col ledge, that the change was inspired by one of the famous bearded Roman emperors, Hadrian or Marcus Aurelius - Verus, too, was bearded in the earlier part of his reign - particularly since the introduction of beards coincided 18 with the introduction into Palmyra of the Antonine male hairstyle. It is, however, uncertain which of the three emperors set the fashion . The two busts under discussion find their best parallels in Period VI, but both were funerary; the fashion presumably started earlier, while the subjects were alive, though how much earlier it is impossible to say. All three emperors visited the provinve, although Marcus' visit (A.D. 176) came too late to have initiated the fashion, but in any case the more likely inspiration would have been official portraits generally and 19 especially coin portraits. CH. IV: 198. Antioch displays a similar pattern of continuity, reiteration and the gradual development of types already established. The pottery, like the material of this Period as a whole, echoes that of preceding Periods, and foreshadows that of succeeding ones. The fine imported (or perhaps now locally produced) ware falls into the category which Waagg calls Middle Roman, a phase which he dates to the latter part of the second century and the early part of the third: Early Roman shapes die out, and a few new ones appear; he notes the decline in quantity, quality 20 and the variety of shapes. At the same time he mentions the occasional appearance of Late Roman B, a type which continues into the Late Roman 21 22 period proper, in Middle Roman deposits. The local moulded bowls (which show an unbroken development from Hellenistic times, and influenced local pottery as far away as Palestine, the decoration of which, in Roman times, included both the garland pattern which may have derived from Roman moulded bowls and the quatripartite rosette common on late mosaics under Sassanian influence) also continued, occurring in the later Middle Roman deposit in Sector 16-P; again, the most noticeable change is the decline in quantity and quality. The architectural picture is not so clear. There is some slight literary evidence regarding two of the most important types, those whose existence implies a concomitant institution or practice, but it is doubtful in the extreme. The implication of SHA Marcus VIII.12, et Verus quidem, posteaquam in Syriam venit Antiochiam et Daphnen vixit armisque se qladiatoriis et venatibus exercuit, is that the practice of holding gladiatorial games, first introduced by Antiochus IV Epiphanes and reinforced by Caesar, had endured, and was still acceptable. Some sort of facilities must have existed for these contests, and since we are not told that Verus built or rebuilt any amphitheatre - given that the statement is pejorative, and this would have aggravated the offence, it would almost certainly have been mentioned, had it been known to be so - it is possible that Caesar's was still in good repair; such maintenance itself in turn implies continuous local interest.