Latina et Graeca, Vol. 2 No. 37, 2020.
Stručni rad
Marble in imperial Rome: privata luxuria, publica magnificentia
Josip Parat
; Hrvatski institut za povijest, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
Archaeological, epigraphic, and literary evidence attests to the use of marble in antiquity. Different approaches have been used to address the importance of marble in the Roman imperial period. This paper aims to provide a general outline of the types, quarrying, distribution, and costs of marble during the 1st and 2nd centuries CE. The main conclusions can briefly be summarized as follows.
The use of marble is deeply rooted within the Classical and Hellenistic tradition. Initially used in the private sphere (some writers raised objections to its excessive use), marble has become an important part of major public works in the Augustan era and enjoyed a wide distribution in the early imperial period. Different types of marble have been abundantly attested in the form of wall and pavement slabs, columns, pillars, statues, furniture, and funerary monuments. These objects not only indicate the high social position of their owners, but also illustrate technological and artistic changes of the imperial era. Ancient marble, granite, and limestone quarries provide useful information about the process of stone extraction and shed some light on the methods of the quarries management. The Roman shipwrecks testify to ancient maritime trade routes used for the commercial transport of marble cargo. Judging from epigraphical and archaeological evidence, the stone cutters and marble merchants expanded their activities from the Eastern Mediterranean by the end of the 1st century CE. Important stylistic features are particularly discernible on elaborate marble sarcophagi. Produced in Attica and Prokonessos, they were frequently exported westwards as half-finished products, but were also fabricated in Italy (Ostia). Approximate calculations of the price of white and colored marble are mainly based on epigraphic evidence from the late antiquity.
Ključne riječi
marble; stone; Rome; Roman Empire; classical archaeology
Hrčak ID:
250478
URI
Datum izdavanja:
30.6.2020.
Posjeta: 2.138 *