Roman Luxury. Carthage. Dr. Kristian Lorenzo, Dr. Kristian

Transcription

1 Roman Luxury Carthage Dr. Kristian Lorenzo, Dr. Kristian Lorenzo

2 Today s Plan Upcoming Important Dates 3rd Extra Credit Opportunity Part 1 Luxury Sumptuary Laws Antikythera Wreck Part II Antikythera Wreck (cont.) The Lake Nemi Ships

3 Upcoming Important Dates Tues. March 24th: Developed Bibliographies and Outlines Due by 1:30pm Thurs. March 26th: Paper and Presentation Conferences Thurs. April 9 Research Pres. #1: Caroline Smith Tues. April 14: Research Pres. #2: Olivia Romansky Thurs. April 16 Research Pres. #3: Jackie Palmer Tues. April 21: Research Pres. #4: Katherine Rutherford

4 3rd Extra Credit Opportunity Ancient Cypriot Limestone Sculpture and Self-Taught Sculptors in the Ancient World The island of Cyprus in antiquity is known for many things, among them an international reputation for concentrated religious activity, and quarries of soft limestone. These two features come together in the survival of tens of thousands sculptural offerings on the island: diverse in style and form, locally made and locally dedicated. This lecture will explore the unique experience of worship in ancient Cyprus with a particular focus on these dedications. I argue that the soft limestone was easily carved, so the sculptors required little training. By examining many works of limestone sculpture, we ll see the styles, techniques and themes of these artists reflect an environment similar to the selftaught artists working in more contemporary times..

5 Luxuria the Roman conception of luxuria, included unruly or willful behavior, implied excess, immoderation and disregard for moral constraints.1 This definition, embedded in the late republican milieu of Pliny, Cicero, Sallust and Livy, represents the elite discourse that saw unbridled extravagance as a threat to Roman morality. Offering Bowl with Bacchus, Hercules, and Coins (The Patera of Rennes), Roman, about A.D. 210; gold, The drinking contest between Bacchus and Hercules

6 Luxuria Luxuria s corrupting influence transcended the immediate social sphere of the elite, creeping into the political realm, capable of precipitating the demise of the Republic itself. Similarly, the proliferation of luxury to lower strata of society was threatening and, in the elite moral discourse that disparaged it, marked a destructive splintering of the Roman social fabric. Offering Bowl with Bacchus, Hercules, and Coins (The Patera of Rennes) (detail), Roman, about A.D. 210; gold, The drinking contest between Bacchus and Hercules

7 Luxuria The widespread disapproval of conspicuous consumption, itself an essential component of the phenomenon of luxury, was largely a function of elite Roman self-perception. For the vast majority of Roman society that did not participate in this discourse, conspicuous consumption was a channel for climbing upwards in society and making claims to new statuses and identities. Cup with Centaurs (detail), Roman, A.D ; silver and gold

8 Luxury: Sumptuary Legislation various laws passed to prevent inordinate expense in banquets, dress, etc. In antiquity it was considered the duty of government to put a check upon extravagance in the private expenses of persons, and among the Romans in particular we find traces of this in the laws attributed to the kings (ca BC) and in the Twelve Tables (ca. 450 BC). Perfume Flask with the Seasons, Roman, 25 B.C.-A.D. 50; cameo glass with a modern resin neck and enameled metal foot.

9 Luxury:The Twelve Tables (ca. 455 BC) is the earliest attempt by the Romans to create a CODE OF LAW; it is also the earliest (surviving) piece of literature coming from the Romans. In the midst of a perennial struggle for legal and social protection and civil rights between the patricians and plebeians a commission of ten men was appointed to draw up a code of law which would be binding on both parties and which the consuls would enforce impartially. V. 7 A spendthrift (i.e. a person who spends possessions or money extravagantly or wastefully) is forbidden to exercise administration over his own goods. X. 6a "Anointing by slaves is abolished, and every kind of drinking bout...there shall be no costly sprinkling, no long garlands, no incense boxes."

10 Luxury: Sumptuary Legislation The first sumptuary law, the Lex Oppia, was enacted in 212 BC, adjudicating against opulence in women s clothing and jewelry. Although this can be categorised as the first formal sumptuary law, anti-luxury mechanisms were not new to the Roman state being part of the Twelve Tables. Following that, officials within the Roman aristocracy, Censors in particular, bore the overt responsibility of monitoring the moral excesses of their citizenry.

11 Luxury: Sumptuary Legislation The precepts of the Lex Oppia against women s clothing and jewelry did not resurface in later laws. Instead, beginning with the Lex Orchia in 181 BCE, sumptuary legislation almost exclusively regulated expenditure at banquets and feasts.

12 Luxury: Sumptuary Legislation With increasing detail, the Lex Fannia, Didia, Licinia, Cornelia, Aemilia, Antia and Julia (Augustan period) reiterated regulations for convivial feasting, mildly modifying the exact numbers of how much expenditure was acceptable and how many guests were permitted.

13 Luxury: the Source The source of luxury, how and when it forcefully penetrated the Roman milieu and wreaked havoc with the mos maiorum, was a difficult issue for republican Romans to put a finger on. Some writers, such as Livy and Pliny the Elder, looked outward, identifying as culpable the booty of eastern conquests. Plin. Nat. Hist : It was the conquest of Asia that first introduced luxury into Italy, inasmuch as Lucius Scipio carried in procession at his triumph 1400 lbs. of chased silverware and vessels of gold weighing 1500 lbs Liv. 39.6: the beginnings of foreign luxury were introduced into the City by the army from Asia.They for the first time imported into Rome couches of bronze, valuable robes for coverlets, tapestries and other products of the loom Yet those things which were then looked upon as remarkable were hardly even the germs of the luxury to come.

14 Luxury: the Source Sallust, on the other hand, chose a more introspective explanation for the origin of luxury at Rome. In his treatise on the Catiline conspiracy, he postulates that the Roman resolve to fight Carthage kept the republic disciplined and bound to ancestral virtue. However, with the fall of Carthage in 149 BC, tendencies to vice,which had been bottled up by external menaces, were uncorked when foreign pressure on Rome was removed. Sal. Cat. 10: when Carthage, the rival of Rome s dominion, had been utterly destroyed, and sea and land lay every where open to her sway, Fortune then began to exercise her tyranny, and to introduce universal innovation. To those who had easily endured toils, dangers, and doubtful and difficult circumstances, ease and wealth, the objects of desire to others, became a burden and a trouble. At first the love of money, and then that of power, began to prevail, and these became, as it were, the sources of every evil.

15 Luxury: Part II The Antikythera Shipwreck The Lake Nemi Ships The Roman silver treasure dedicated to Mercury, found at Berthouville in 1830

16 The Antikythera Wreck: Imported Luxury The Antikythera Mechanism

17 The Antikythera Mechanism: Discovery Luxury: Sumptuary Legislation With increasing detail, the Lex Fannia, Didia, Licinia, Cornelia, Aemilia, Antia and Julia (Augustan period) reiterated regulations for convivial feasting, mildly modifying the exact numbers of how much expenditure was acceptable and how many guests were permitted. Crete In 1901, two sponge boats fleeing a storm find shelter in a bay of the island Antikythera.

18 The Antikythera Mechanism: Discovery After the waters calm down, a sponge diver, Ilias Stadiatis, goes for a dive and discovers a shipwreck. From a depth of ca. 42 m Ilias brings up the right arm of a bronze statue.

19 The Antikythera Mechanism: Excavation : Salvage of the shipwreck is undertaken by the Greek government In 1976, with the help of Jacques Cousteau, the shipwreck is excavated

20 The Antikythera Wreck: the ship Was on a Roman merchant vessel built between B.C., but which sank in ca. 1 st century B.C.

21 The Antikythera Mechanism 82 fragments remain, as of today

22 The Antikythera Mechanism: Analysis All the fragments have been digitally photographed, x-rayed, as well as Microfocus X-ray tomography (i.e. a CT scan) using a prototype highenergy X-ray machine

23 The Antikythera Mechanism: Analysis Full resolution digital surface imaging using Polynomial Texture Mapping (PTM). In this case showing the letter H on the surface of Fragment A.

24 The Antikythera Mechanism: Analysis Inscriptions giving the names of planets, astronomical cycles, months, festivals, etc. appear on many of the fragments.

25 The Antikythera Mechanism: Analysis Consisted of 37 gears each with the correct number of teeth for its purpose, with some teeth being as small as 1 or 2 millimeters