the provinces

Question 1

methodological issues of understanding romano-british art

Answer 1

difficult to compare with earlier artistic tradition because they utilised very different mediums/fulfilled very different purposes eg: no british tradition of carving monuments in stone with inscriptions/texts - difficult to determine deliberate stylistic choices vs limits of mediums etc

use of wood pre-roman britain also means the extant corpus is small - metals later melted down etc unlike in rome where there are stone copies of metal works

Question 2

example of traditionally roman artefacts in ‘british’/‘celtic’ styles

Answer 2

mercury votive from herefordshire: familiar roman imagery executed in a very different style.

traditionally roman use-case, votive relief sculpture set up in temple of sanctuary as gift to the gods

Latin inscription (abbreviated form of ‘deo mercurio’)

mercury holding wand with wings coming from his head - all quite typical but in sandstones - figure is very representative rather than naturalistic

Question 4

Sebasteion in Aphrodisias, Asia Minor

Answer 4

large temple and sanctuary complex dedicated to Aphrodite and the Julio-Claudian emperors (the Theoi Sebastoi) with a sculptural display of about 80 relief panels

showing military triumph alongside mythological scenes

Smith dates by the dedications to Tiberius (the temple) and to Claudius (restored south portico) - original plan and major building under Tiberius, major restoration or rebuilding under Claudius

Started under Tiberius, completed initially under Nero - relief detail of Nero with his dynastic connections stressed - in military uniform being crowned by his mother depicted in the guise of a goddess (concordia type figure) - like coinage depicting them face to face