The Buildings and the Images of
the Imperial Cult
V Aphrodisias – Sebasteion
Aphrodisias
- south-western Asia Minor, the Maeander
river basin, province Caria, 150 kilometers
from the Aegean Sea
- it is situated at the center of the valley, 35
km up the river Morsynus from its confluence
with the Maeander at an elevation 500 m
- dominant feature – Kadmos – the source of
water
- the principal natural resources of the valley
are springs, fertile soils, potter´s earth andare springs, fertile soils, potter´s earth and
marble coming from several different
quarries
- the site has been known since the 18th
century – several expeditions – inscriptions
documentation (French, Italian, Istanbul
Archaeological Museum, Ismir Archaeological
Museum)
- free and autonomous city within the Roman
province of Asia, best known for the
Sanctuary of Aphrodite and marble sculptors
- relative isolation from the main roads
(medieval and modern) – well-preserved
Aphrodisias
- orthogonal planning – found by geophysics (1995-1998), 800 000 square kilometers, the
grid 120x162 Roman feet, streets were 12 feet wide
- medium-sized city, monuments documented in great detail – inscriptions who paid the
function, what the honored had done for the community
Greek features: central organization of the public buildings and places (the Agora and its
surrounding)
Roman features: rectangular shape of the basic city block
- some of the buildings do not fit the regular grid – four streets, stadium, Sebasteion and the
theatre
Chronology of the city’s evolution:
a)Earliest occupation: Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age (mid. 5th – 3rd millennium BC), small
agricultural settlement, pottery – fills the gap in Anatolia
b) Small settlement (1200 BC – 2nd century BC) – founding of the city – on the Theatre hill, stray
finds, 6th century BC – earliest evidence of the Sanctuary of Aphrodite
c) Hellenistic and Augustan (2nd century BC – late 1st century BC) – founding of the city, intensive
urbanization – Seleucid kings
- rectangular grid – equitable distribution of land to new settlers
- late 1st century BC – earliest buildings – houses of the residents
- at the conclusion of Roman Civil Wars – extensive building activity, public life: the sanctuary,
the Agora, the Theatre, the tomb of Julius Zoiolosthe Agora, the Theatre, the tomb of Julius Zoiolos
d) Early imperial (1st century AD)
- privileged relations with the Julio-Claudian family, massive urban building – Hellenistic plan,
local families – some with the Roman citizenship
New buildings: the Stadium, public square between the Agora and the Theatre, Sebasteion, Civil
basilica (Flavian emperors – finished mid. 90s AD)
e) High imperial (100 - 300 AD)
Tetrapylon, W end of S Agora – redesigned – new stoa,
Hadrianic Baths, Agora Gate, Bouleuterion,
the Theatre Baths
- Caracalla 212 AD – Roman citizenship to all freeborn
inhabitants, civic activity – inscribed marble sarcophagi
f) Late Antiquity (300 – 600 AD)
Long and prosperous second life, 7th century – urban collapse, abandoned
- reasons: Persian and Arab invasions, failure of the imperial government in Constantinopole
Small settlement around cathedral of St. Michael (the Theatre Hill)
- local notables – spend more on their houses - Atrium house, The North Temenos House, The
Bishop’s Palace
- 250 AD – stop to civic buildings, emphasis on maintenance, remodelling for new functions,
new building project – City Walls (spolia)
- adaptation of buildings (Stadium – Amphitheatre, The Temple of Aphrodite – Christian
Church, Sebasteion – defacing)
Excavations:
- the site has been know since the 18th century – several expeditions – documentation of its inscriptions
- systematic research: New York University – Kenan Erim, 1961 - 1990
- 60s – high-quality mapping, excavations on the Sanctuary of Aphrodite, theatre, baths, bouleuterion,
Christian basilica, odeion, porticus
- 70s – structures in the centre of the city – Sebasteion (1979), basilica, theatre, excavations at the
theatre, portico, basilica continued
- 80s - two main projects: Sebasteion, tetrapylon
- 90s – documentation and publication – sculptural decoration, archaeological works of minor extent –
the church with three apses
- the beginning of the 21st century
– mapping, documentation,
expositions in the museum,
excavations – overall characteristicsexcavations – overall characteristics
of the city plan, city wall and
the agora, conservation of
excavated structures and statuary
decoration
Sebasteion
- east of the city centre, out of the main street
running north-south, orientation east-west
(45 meters east of the Northern Agora, 200
meters south-east of Tetrapylon, 200 meters
north-east of the Theatre)
- clearly younger than the original town planning
(doesn’t fit the grid)
a) The complex was built around an
existing house, which is in the maps
showed by its late-roman plan, which
interfere with the temple
b) The propylon was intentionallyb) The propylon was intentionally
planned opposite the entrance to the
Agora and the direction was given by
the slope, where the temple should
have been placed
- the complex was paid for by two important
families:
a) Propylon and the northern portico –
Menander and Eusebeos (brothers)
b)Temple, southern portico – Diogenes
and Attalos (more probably his wife
Attalis, he was already dead)
- dedicated to the emperor, Livia, Theoi Sebastoi and Demos (worship of Aphrodite and the
emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty)
- 20 – 60 AD conceived by Tiberius (earthquake destroyed part of the building), second building
phase during the reign of Nero (absolute chronology – inscriptions and portraits)
- concrete representation of the special relationship with the Julio-Claudians
Excavations:
1979 - a surprising discovery of an architectural feature with a substantial amount of sculptural
decoration
a) Series of rooms – east-western orientation, form two porticoes, at least two
storeys high – Doric and Corinthian capitals
b) Panel reliefs – above each entrance to the room – mythological (meander on the
bottom of these panels), imperial, allegorical
c) Paved courtyard
1980 - further excavations – southern portico, attempts to reconstruct the façade, 3 storeys –
different columns in each of them – Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, length 100 meters
1981 - a full length documented, monumental entrance
- 4th century AD – market, 7th century AD some kind of a natural disaster ending the life of
the buildingthe building
- a circular structure found with images clipeatae (rotunda?)
1982 - the most intense and richest for findings
- a close study of the propylon – three staircases, 2 storeys, Ionic and Corinthian capitals
- rotunda closely searched – a room with an apsidal ending – busts, fragments of
statues, images clipeatae, at the end – smaller temple, close to the northern portico
(a residence of a rich family - marbles used in the decoration were expensive - used from
the 3rd to the 7th century AD – a residence of a priest) – bishop’s house
Following 10 years – not such a dynamic research, but systematic excavating and evaluating
- a complex analysis and detailed mapping, four bases with inscriptions and many pieces of
sculptural decoration,
90s - publication and minor field work, restoration, re-building of the porticoes
- understanding the situation in the Byzantine period – the first room of the southern
portico – a kiln for glass production, a staircase to the second floor and a low wall running
in the middle of the room – evidence of the occupation of the site in the late antiquity, a
hoard of coins from the 3-6th century AD
Early 21st century
- overall understanding of the situation in the site and its function, excavations in the area of
the temple (podium, fragments of two acroteria)
Characteristics:
- consists of 4 buildings: the propylon, the temple, two porticoes surrounding a narrow sanctuary
- a combination of Greek and Roman elements in architecture
a) Greek: axial placement of a temple in a complex, axial symmetry, BUT not a wide place so
that the temple could be visible from all sides
b) Roman: narrow courtyard – processional way, the attention of the visitor should have
been attracted by the temple in the eastern part, very similar to the roman forum (Caesar’s
and Augustus’ existing at that time)
c) Novum: 12 m height - local innovation, porticoes look like a combination of stoa and
a façade of a theatre building
- unique sculptural decoration, more than 90 panel reliefs documented (assumed number is
about 190)
- a combination of buildings, sculptural decoration and inscriptions showing a picture of the roman
imperial cult set in the Greek city
- a combination of buildings, sculptural decoration and inscriptions showing a picture of the roman
imperial cult set in the Greek city
Propylon
- a monumental, two-storey column entrance
gate, aediculated façade
- behind the entrance – long, paved courtyard
(14 x 90 m)
- built during the reign of Tiberius, it was open
to space in both floors
- every aedicule could hold two statues, one
facing outside, the other inside the complex,
- lower floor – Ionic columns
- upper floor – Corinthian
- divided by two pillars into three entrances with
three staircasesthree staircases
Statues of an imperial family and their ancestors
(also mythical to claim their powers)
- 10 bases with inscriptions
- 4 bases with inscriptions and fragments of
statues
- 1 statue and its base
Porticoes
- southern and northern porticoes
divided to rooms with the width of 3 intercolumnari
- the rooms not visible at the first sight, the main stress on
the aesthetics of the second and third floors, eastern part
of the northern portico – asymmetry in the plan (because
of reconstructions or earlier structure)
- Doric, Ionic, Corinthian style
- 190 sculptural reliefs (90 preserved and documented)
- the ground floor rooms – shops and workshops, only in
the 4th and 5th century, earlier no evidence of usage
- upper floors not even an evidence of a floor or pavement
- originally no practical function, only decorative- originally no practical function, only decorative
The relief panel have been carved from single blocks of
Aphrodisias sculputral marble (white and medium-grained).
They have been set with their sides overlapping the back of the
half-columns and the relief figures projecting forward between
them. They are slightly broader towards the top to match the
inward tapering of the columns
Northern portico
- less preserved than the southern portico
- pieces come from its both ends (more from the eastern end),
- the middle part collapsed after one of the earthquakes, the
debris used for the theatre reconstruction
Southern portico
- collapsed in late antiquity – a lot of
material found in the debris, it wasn’t
used again, so the most of the
sculptural decoration could be
collected
- panels: not evenly wide, wider is
flanked by two narrower relief panels
Eastern part of the complex
- the worst preserved part
- only a ground plan documented
- a roman style temple – podium with an entrance to the temple only from the front side,
Corinthian style, prostyle, hexastyle porch
- dedicated to Aphrodite and to the imperial family
- sacrifices in front of the temple
Panels: mythological, allegorical, imperial context
Sculptural Decoration in Sebasteion
There are two different kinds of sculptural decoration
in Sebasteion:
Panel Reliefs:
1. Mythological reliefs – south portico (S), 2nd
storey, (36)
2. Imperial reliefs – south portico, 3rd storey, (12),
north portico, 3rd storey, (1)
3. Traditional gods – south portico, 3rd storey, (14)
4. Series of personified nations (Ethné)– north
portico (N), 2nd storey, (6), bases (16)
5. Universal allegories – north portico, 3rd storey, (2)5. Universal allegories – north portico, 3rd storey, (2)
- two or three central elements in the panels,
according to the width
Individual Statues:
members of the julio-claudian dynasty, found in
front of the propylon (P) or in the Byzantine wall
near the theatre:
1. Statues (or fragments) and bases - 5
2. Bases (only) – 10
N S
P
Aemilia Lepida
Statues
Bases and statue (fragments):
1. Livia
2. Lucius Caesar
3. Drusus Caesar
4. Aemilia Lepida
5. Agrippina Maior
Bases:
1. Gaius Caesar
2. Aeneas
3. Aphrodite3. Aphrodite
4. Germanicus Caesar
5. Marcus Lepidus
6. Antonia Augusta
7. Tiberius Claudius Drusus
8. Agrippina Minor
9. Julia
10. Atia (Augustus’ mother)
Bases and statue (fragments):
Livia
- found in city wall near the theatre
- the head was originally carved in one piece with
the body, the Byzantine builders of the wall
selected only the blocks best-fitting the
incorporation into the wall, e.g. legs, bases
- bodies were left on the spot
- arms were separately worked – holding patera
in her right hand, the left one supporting the
palla
Lucius Caesar
- found in the north-western part of Sebasteion
- heroic nudity
Drusus Caesar Aemilia Lepida Agrippina Maior
- found near the propylon - near the Tetrastoon - east of the theatre
- heroic nudity - base in the entrance - base and head
- put together according to
the fitting holes
Bases:
Marcus Lepidus
Gaius Caesar
Aeneas
Agrippina Minor
Marcus Lepidus
Atia
Tiberius Claudius Drusus
Aphrodite
Germanicus Caesar
Antonia Augusta
Julia
Marcus Lepidus
Augustus, Nike and trophy
- the emperor carried a spear and has
an eagle at his feet
- winged Victory is crowning a military
trophy
- a barbarian captive with his hands
tied behind his back is sunk into the
plinth
- Prima Porta portrait type but wrongly
copied coiffurecopied coiffure
-Mistakes: hand, spear, naked emperor,
the shield on the trophy
-Imperial and Hellenistic royal
iconography, adapting elements of both
Imperial prince as Dioskouros
- the relief is one of a pair that
represented two armored princes
framing the Augustus relief
- the princes have short-haired portrait
heads and Roman armour, while their
symmetrical poses, each with a horse,
likens them to the Dioskouroi, sons of
Zeus
- probably Gaius and Lucius Caesar
- the three reliefs represented
Augustus as Zeus with his sons as theAugustus as Zeus with his sons as the
Dioskouroi
Empress sacrificing (Livia?)
- a draped imperial woman stands in
the centre (probably pouring a
libation), a sacrificial attendant
stands at her side with an offering
tray
- the attendant is a real figure with a
contemporary hairstyle, guarantees
that this is an imperial sacrifice, not
an Olympian or mythological (in the
south portico reliefs)south portico reliefs)
Unfinished Imperator (Tiberius)
- the naked emperor, Tiberius,
recognizable from his portrait,
occupies the centre of the relief. He
stands frontally, holding a spear and
a shield and wearing a cloak and
baldric
- the prisoner wears a cloak and
trousers and has his hands tied
behind his back
- portrait type: Basel
Germanicus with a captive
-an imperial prince holding an orb in
one hand and crowning the trophy to
his right with the other
- a small boy-captive in profile
standing between the prince and the
trophy
- portrait is a combination of all three
Germanicus’ portrait types: a)
adoption, b) Beziers, c) Gabii
- the scene also helps the
identification: the globe in the handidentification: the globe in the hand
means that the person is the heir, the
captive wears clothes typical for the
north (Germania)
Claudius with allegories of Land and Sea
-the emperor strides across the panel,
framed by a drapery indicating floating,
flying – here it indicates divine epiphany
- receives a cornucopia in his right hand,
and a steering oar in his left hand (both
mean prosperity of land and sea under the
emperor’s rule
- the Roman emperor is showed as a
powerful hellenistic-style divinity
- the portrait type: Kassel
Claudius and Agrippina
-the emperor Claudius stands in the
centre of the relief, shaking hands with
Agrippina
- Agrippina holds a bunch of wheat ears
in her left hand (assimilation to Demeter)
- both of them recognizable by their
portraits and distinctive hairstyles –
official portrait types (Hauptypus, Ancona
– both from Copenhagen)
- on the right – figure wearing a Roman
toga who crowns the emperor with a
wreath of oak leaves – a personificationwreath of oak leaves – a personification
of the People or the Senate
Nero and Agrippina
- Agrippina crowns her son Nero with a laurel
wreath, she carries a cornucopia
- Nero wears the armor and cloak of a Roman
commander, he held a spear in his right hand
and probably an orb in his left
- helmet lies on the ground
- both figures identifiable by their portraits
- the scene refers to Nero’s accession in 54 AD
and before 59 AD, when Nero had Agrippina
murdered
a) Parma b) Cagliari c) Thermen museum
Stuttgart type
Two princes
-two princes stand like statues, naked,
wearing cloaks
- the left figure is slightly taller and clearly
the senior, holds the orb of the world in his
left hand (a symbol of world rule) indicating
that he is the imperial heir, in the right hand
– aphlaston (ship’s stern ornament) a symbol
of naval victory
- the right figure is younger, doesn’t hold any
attributes
- clearly individual facial features and- clearly individual facial features and
hairstyle
- several possibilities of identification:
a) Gaius and Lucius Caesar
b) Drusus Younger’s sons (twins)
c) Nero Caesar and Drusus Caesar
d) Nero and Britannicus
Sometimes two members of the Imperial house appear together in the same relief. According
to the surviving panels, it seems that this happens only for the family of Claudius: the marriage
between Claudius and Agrippina, Nero and Britannicus, Agrippina crowning Nero.
Another arguments supporting the theory, that the two princes are Nero and Britannicus
Claudius and Britannia
- Claudius is about to deliver a death blow
to a slumped figure of Britannia
- Claudius wears helmet, cloak and a sword
belt with scabbard
- Britannia wears a tunic with one breast
bare – like the Amazon figures on which she
was modeled
- the subject is identified by the inscribed
base and the imperial portrait (Hauptypus)
- Tiberios Klaudios Kaisar – Bretannia- Tiberios Klaudios Kaisar – Bretannia
- the invasion of Britain in 43 AD
Nero and Armenia
- the heroic, naked figure of Nero wearing
cloak and baldric supports slumped figure of
Armenia by her upper arms
- Armenia wears a soft, pointed oriental hat,
and her bow and quiver can be seen in low
relief behind her to the left
- composition: a heroic group of Achilles and
Penthesilea
- the subject is identified by its inscribed base
and eastern iconography of the conquered
personificationpersonification
- Nero’s name was erased after his fall in 68
AD (damnatio memoriae)
One of the main themes – military triumph of the Julio-Claudian emperors – embodied by the
flying Victory, with a trophy on her left shoulder labeled Nike Sebaston (Victoria Augustorum)
-the reconstruction of position (between the panels with Claudius and Britannia and Nero and
Armenia) has two reasons:
a) they represent the farthest west and east of the Roman empire
b) they suggest that the Roman conquest involved not only submission but also
assistance to the conquered
Peter Scherrer suggested: panels are contradictions representing the politics – old, cruel
Claudius and his severitas, young, unspoiled Nero and his clementia.
Composition
- the two reliefs
complementing each
other
- they show crowning
of male and female
figure
- the portraits are
highly idealized, but
it is very likely that
the couple represents
Augustus and Livia,
Emperor and Roman people
- the emperor is crowned by a
personification of Roman People
wearing toga
- corona civica – saving citizens’ lives
- the emperor is setting up a battlefield
trophy beneath which kneels a female
barbarian captive
Aphrodite and Roma
- a draped goddess
(Aphrodite) is crowned
with a wreath by a female
warrior figure (Roma)
- the wreath – double tier
of laurel or bay leaves with
a central medallion
Augustus and Livia,
even though the
position is not so
close