HESPERIA 76 (2007) THE BUST-CROWN, THE Pages 365-390 PANHELLENION, AND ELEUSIS A New Portrait from the Athenian Agora abstract A marble portrait found in 2002 near the City Eleusinion, just outside the a man Athenian Agora, depicts the head of wearing a crown adorned with eight small busts. The busts appear to be imperial portraits representing male members of the Antonine and Severan dynasties, the latest of which is prob was ably Caracalla, during whose reign the portrait presumably carved. The face crown or and beard, but not the hair, show signs of having been later reworked. a an The portrait may represent delegate to the Panhellenion, institution an or an closely associated with Eleusis. Possibly archon agonothetes of the Pan hellenia, he may have been honored for his service with a statue inAthens. INTRODUCTION summer a was In the of 2002 well-preserved Roman portrait head (Fig. 1) on discovered in the vicinity of the City Eleusinion the northern slope of the Athenian Acropolis, just southeast of the Classical Agora.1 The a man a crown portrait depicts wearing large decorated with eight tiny busts. Although bust-crowns of this type are known from other contexts, this is the first such portrait to have been found in Athens. Nearly every a comes other example with recorded provenance from Asia Minor.2 A few 1. to ex to Landon for his Agora S 3500.1 would like special thanks Mark Hausmann, and Wegner 1966, p. 110, to II press my thanks John McK. Camp superb editorial contributions. pi. 39:c, d; Schwarz 1978, p. 188; Berg to 2. a few of mann for permission publish this portrait, Only representations and Zanker 1981, p. 388; Zanker and to the Solow Foundation for a bust-crowns are known from other 1982, p. 310; Rumscheid 2000, pp. 127 me to come to of the Roman world. in no. as as grant that permitted parts They 128, 27, pi. 17:1,2), well rep in summer 2003 such as a head of in a Athens the of and clude sculptures, resentations other media, including study it firsthand. Iwould also like to Antinoos from Ostia (Rome, Museo mosaic from Aquileia (Aquileia,Museo thank those who read earlier versions Nazionale Romano 341:Meyer 1991, Nazionale 53 269: Rumscheid 2000, no. I no. a of this article: John Camp, Catherine pp. 74-75, 53, pi. 63; Aurenham pp. 118-119, 11, pi. 6:1) and bronze and the anon mer an deGrazia Vanderpool, 1996, p. 390; Rumscheid 2000, example of actual bust-crown from reviewers for Their no. and a inv. ymous Hesperia. p. 130, 31, pi. 20:1) portrait, Thera (Thera Museum [no no.]: from suggestions and advice strengthened probably of Nerva, Cyrene (Lon Aurenhammer 1996, p. 390; Rum of the article. British Museum 1404: no. many parts Finally, my don, Daltrop, scheid 2000, p. 139, 57, pi. 23:12). ? The American School of Classical Studies at Athens 366 LEE ANN RICCARDI 1 Portrait head of portraits wearing wreaths that include medallions decorated with busts in Figure (opposite). a man a bust-crown. relief have been found in Greece,3 but none wears the distinctive type of wearing Agora S 3500. Photos C. crown found in the present towhich the busts are attached, Mauzy, courtesy Agora portrait, direcdy Excavations without medallions and without the full profusion of leaves that would as a new characterize the headdress wreath. The portrait from the Agora is therefore unique in Athens, and nearly unique in all of Greece.4 a Although the archaeological context cannot provide date for the Agora portrait, stylistic analysis (presented in detail below) suggests that it was originally carved in the early 3rd century A.D., and probably underwent some a or two or reworking generation later, in the late second third quarter are more of the century. Other questions, however, puzzling. Whom does was a the portrait represent? Why he depicted wearing headdress other earn a wise unknown in Athens? What did he do to the honor of public was statue in the heart of the city?5Why the portrait reworked after its answer initial creation? I attempt to these questions, first by establishing a date for the portrait and presenting the evidence for its reworking, then by discussing the significance of bust-crowns and myrtle wreaths and their relationship to the Panhellenion and to Eleusis. This in turn will suggest a possible public role for the subject of the portrait. THE PORTRAIT a man The portrait- depicts bearded with thick curly hair. The head is over m slightly life-size, measuring 0.37 from the edge of the neck to the top of the crown, 0.21 m from the hairline to the top of the neck, and m across 0.235 the cheekbones. It is broken irregularly at the neck in such a way that its original setting cannot be determined. A small fragment of drapery is also visible along the right side of the neck. Because the top of the head ismuch less detailed than the rest and the back of the crown is only roughly finished, it is clear that the sculptor expected that these areas would be above the eye level of most viewers. The head, therefore, a or a probably belonged to complete statue, at least to bust that would on a or a have been placed high base herm pillar. The central vertical axis on of the head and the remaining indications of musculature the right side of the neck suggest that the head was gently turned to the right. The surface of the eyes, nose, and much of the lower face, including the or entire mouth and chin, has been damaged destroyed, leaving original on a surfaces visible only the forehead, neck, left cheek, and small por tion of the right cheek. The upper portion of the eyes, including the up as as are per lids, well the brows, forehead, hair, and bust-crown largely intact. 3. a of kou in it remains was E.g., portrait the emperor Kynouria; unpub 5. Although the portrait found lished. Another from in a it is to Trajan from Dion: Pandermalis 2001. possible example disturbed context, unlikely mainland is a now in I thank Alexis Castor for bringing this Greece portrait have traveled far from its original loca to attention. a in or near portrait my Paris (LouvreMA 4705), forwhich tion, somewhere the public 4. A a inMacedonia has been I portrait wearing bust-crown provenance space of the Agora. argue below that is to this see was a rumored have been found recently alleged. On portrait, below, the City Eleusinion particularly in villa of Atticus at Lou 373-374 and n. 11. the Herodes pp. appropriate spot for it. THE THE PAN H E L L E N IO N AND ELEUSIS BUST-CROWN, , 367 a b 368 LEE ANN RICCARDI The marble is almost certainly Pentelic. Its color is yellowish white, some over with medium crystals and sparkling the surface caused by small runs across bits of mica. A vein of schist the top of the sculpture (faintly visible in Fig. l:c); it passes through the broken head of the seventh bust was no was over from the right, which doubt weakened because it carved this flaw in the stone. The most remarkable feature of the portrait is the crown, which consists a or of three parts. The lowest is thin, undecorated round band, strophion, on which sits directly the curls above the head and terminates in the back or onto in two thick-ridged ribbons, taeniae, that hang down the neck. A partially preserved knot is visible above the left ribbon, but it is broken and crown the original surface is now missing. The second tier of the consists one of another thin, round band, this decorated with three overlapping rows of tiny, pointed, single-lobed leaves, all pointing toward the top of crown the head. The leafy portion of the is carved in relatively flat relief were and the leaves lack any sort of internal detail. As I suggest below, they probably intended to represent myrtle leaves. Finally, the upper portion of a narrow the crown consists of flat band, at the back but widening abruptly above the ears as itwraps around the front of the head. are ex Decorating the front and sides of this band eight small busts are not ecuted in relief (Figs. 1, 2). The busts equally spaced, but instead are a so crowded little to the right, that the fifth bust from the right is over nose. centered approximately the bridge of the The position of the crown some cm so on is also skewed by 3 that the rightmost bust is lower the head than the leftmost. The busts on the crown were given individual characteristics. The one were artist clearly intended to distinguish from the next, and they as probably meant to be recognized members of the imperial family, de are spite their small size. All male, and each is depicted wearing Roman military dress, although the details of the costumes vary. Unfortunately, one much of the head of the fifth bust from the right, the occupying the as central position above the forehead, ismissing, is all of the head of the even on are are worn. seventh bust, and the heads that preserved, the faces Nevertheless, it is clear from the shapes of the heads and the treatment of the facial features that they were not intended to be identical. The busts are described here from right to left, with the letters a-h referring to the on designations Figure 2: a a a.Male, wearing cuirass with thick, squared neckline and shoul der straps.