The Roman Triumph As Material Expression of Conquest, 211-55 BCE
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Engineering Power: The Roman Triumph as Material Expression of Conquest, 211-55 BCE Alyson Maureen Roy A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2017 Reading Committee: Sandra Joshel, Chair Eric Orlin Joel Walker Adam Warren Program Authorized to Offer Degree: History © Copyright 2017 Alyson Maureen Roy University of Washington Abstract Engineering Power: The Roman Triumph as Material Expression of Conquest, 211-55 BCE Alyson Maureen Roy Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Sandra Joshel, History This dissertation explores the intersection between the Roman triumph, architecture, and material culture. The triumph was a military parade that generals were granted for significant victories and represented the pinnacle of an elite Roman man’s career, engendering significant prestige. My interest is in the transformation of the transitory parade, into what I term “material expressions of power” including architecture, decoration, inscriptions, and coins. I assert that from the mid-third century BCE through the mid-first century BCE, material expressions of power became of central importance to elite expressions of prestige. More importantly, by tracing the process of bringing plundered material to Rome, constructing victory monuments, and decorating them with plundered art, I have determined that this process had a profound impact on the development of a luxury art market in Rome, through which elite Romans bought objects that resembled triumphal plunder, and on the development of a visual language of power that the Romans used to talk to each other about conquest and that they then exported into the provinces as material expressions of their authority. Acknowledgements I have many people to thank for making this dissertation possible, most importantly my committee chair Sandra Joshel, whose many meticulous readings of these chapters and thoughtful comments have profoundly shaped my work. My other specialist readers, Eric Orlin and Joel Walker, have been instrumental in helping me refine and craft my research and writing, while my fourth reader Adam Warren has contributed an incredibly useful outside perspective. Other members of the UW History community have been a continual source of support through this long process, particularly Charity Urbanski, Purnima Dhavan, and Robin Stacey. I also owe many thanks to my friends and family for their unending patience, support, and enthusiasm. Julie Osborn has faithfully read every chapter of my dissertation at least once, proving that just because you are a modern historian does not mean that you cannot help a Roman historian refine their work. My college Mira Green has spent many hours discussing or reading my work with an enthusiasm I have always appreciated. Christine Olson has been an ever-present voice in my head pushing me along since our college days. Most importantly, I owe thanks to my parents. My father, Rob Roy, has let me rant and rave about my graduate career over phone calls, lunches, and coffee dates for the past ten years. And to my mother, Ruth Roy, I offer a bittersweet thank you. Mom, you only lived to see me through my first year on this long path toward a PhD but you were always utterly convinced that I would make it. I hope, wherever you are, that you enjoy my dissertation as a gift on the ten-year anniversary of the last time we spoke. Table of Contents Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………....1 Chapter One: A Triumphal Landscape: The Development of Triumphal Architecture and the Transformation of Urban Space…………………………………………………………………18 Chapter Two: Triumphal Decoration and the Visual Language of Power………………………59 Chapter Three: From Triumphal Plunder to Consumer Goods: The Roman Triumph and the Creation of an Economy of Prestige……………………………………………………………..91 Chapter Four: Coins, Inscriptions, and Trophies as Material Expressions of Power…………..139 Epilogue………………………………………………………………………………………...194 Maps and Figures……………………………………………………………………………….202 Appendix 1: Triumphal Structures in the Republican Period…………………………………..226 Appendix 2: Chronological Table of Coin Hoards…………………………………………......252 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………255 List of Maps and Figures Figure 1 Map of the triumphal route in the Republican period Figure 2 Map of manubial temples and triumphal monuments in Rome, fourth through second centuries Figure 3 Map of Rome in the Republican period Figure 4 Author’s diagram of triumphal architecture built between 179 and 44 BCE Figure 5 Map of Forum Boarium showing triumphal temples in the Forum Figure 6 Plan of the Porticus Metelli showing the Temples of Juno Regina and Jupiter Stator, c. 145 BCE Figure 7 Plan of the Campus Martius including triumphal structures, drawn from Coarelli (2007) Figure 8 Alternative plan of the Campus Martius including triumphal structures, drawn from Bastien (2007) Figure 9 Diagram of select triumphal structures and nodes of the triumphal route Figure 10 3-D digital reconstruction of Pompey’s Theater Complex, c. 55 BCE Figure 11 Relief panels of the triumphal monument of M. Antonius, c. 102 BCE (also known as the so-called Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus) Figure 12 Statue base for a triumphal monument of M. Fulvius Nobilior, c. 180 BCE Figure 13 Roman denarius of Q. Pomponius Musa (66 BCE) depicting Hercules Musarum Figure 14 Temple B in the Largo di Argentina, identified as the Temple of Fortuna Huiusce Dei, c. 101 BCE Figure 15 Colossal head of the Goddess Fortuna from the Temple of Fortuna Huiusce Dei, c. 101 BCE Figure 16 Nile Mosaic from Praeneste (c. 120-100 BCE) Figure 17 Fresco of an amphitheater riot scene from Pompeii (first century CE) Figure 18 Fresco from the Tomb of Q. Fabius, c. 322 BCE Figure 19 3-D digital reconstruction of the Porticus of Metellus, c. 145 BCE Figure 20 Artist’s drawing of the Temples of Jupiter Stator and Juno Regina, c. 145 BCE Figure 21 Statue of the Muse Calliope from Pompey’s Theater Complex, c. 55 BCE Figure 22 Relief with triumphal imagery from the Piazza della Consolazione Figure 23 Roman denarius with Jupiter and Victory, c. 208 BCE Figure 24 Roman sextans with overstrike from c. 215 BCE Figure 25 Roman dextans with Victory in a quadriga, c. 211-208 BCE Figure 26 Roman denarius with Jupiter in a quariga, c. 214-212 BCE Figure 27 Roman denarius with Victory in a quadriga, c. 157/6 BCE Figure 28 Roman denarius depicting a triumphator in a quadriga, c. 101 BCE Figure 29 Roman denarius depicting a horseman, soldier, and captives, c. 55 BCE Figure 30 Map of the pre-Roman mines in the Sierra Morena region Figure 31 Map of the Roman mines in the Sierra Morena region Figure 32 Map of the mines and mints in Roman Iberia, second and first centuries BCE Figure 33 Map of the Roman military camps in the Republican period Figure 34 Map of the coin hoards in the Iberian Peninsula in the Republican period Figure 35 Coin from the city of Ebora, Augustan period Figure 36 Map of indigenous groups in the Iberian Peninsula, c. 133 BCE Figure 37 Comparative map of coin hoards and areas of conflict during the Sertorian Wars in the Iberian Peninsula, c. 82-72 BCE Figure 38 Local coinage of the Kese, Iberian Peninsula, c. 82-72 BCE Figure 39 Inscription of Scipio Africanus from Saguntum, c. 207-205 BCE Figure 40 Map of the coin hoards in Cisalpine Gaul in the Republican period Figure 41 Map of the coin hoards in Greece in the Republican period 1 Introduction In 146 BCE, the Roman general Lucius Mummius completed the conquest of Greece by looting and razing the city of Corinth. He returned to Rome the following year with his victorious army and gathered them together with the Senate and magistrates in the Campus Martius for his triumphal procession. Scattered along a triumphal route that stretched from the Campus Martius to the precinct of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill, spectators witnessed the exhibition of the myriad sculptures, paintings, gold and silver vessels, and other luxury goods that Mummius had seized on campaign.1 After the parade, Mummius set about enhancing his reputation by building temples, including the Temple of Hercules Victor in the Forum Boarium, decorating them with spoils, and dedicating many of the plundered statues in Italy, Greece, and Spain.2 Each sculpture highlighted the Greek artistry, while each accompanying statue base transformed the statue from a Greek votive object into a material expression of Roman conquest and reminded the viewer that Mummius, the destroyer of Corinth, honored the city and the gods with his dedication. While Mummius’ actions may seem commonplace when viewed from the perspective of late-Republican written sources, in actuality they represent a series of developments between the third and first centuries BCE that resulted in a sophisticated elite material culture that was rooted in the triumph. In this period, generals increasingly used architecture and material culture—art, luxury goods, coins, and inscriptions— to celebrate their military victories. Their actions and the patterns they established helped 1 Among the various objects Mummius seized and paraded in his triumph were a bronze statue of Zeus and twenty- one gilded shields (Paus. 5.24.4; 5.10.5), a statue of the Muses and another of Venus, as well as a painting of Dionysius by Aristiedes and another of Hercules being tortured (Strabo 8.6.23). Mummius took numerous Corinthian bronzes (Pliny NH 37.7.18; Vitr. 5.5.8). He also seized a statue of Hercules, which he made the new cult statue for his Temple of Hercules Victor (CIL 12.626). See also Edwards 2003: 50. 2 For a full list of the Greek and Latin inscriptions relating to Mummius, see Graverini 2001: 105-148.For Mummius’ Italian statue bases, see Imagines Italicae, vol.2, p.615. For Olympia, see SEG 44.410.