Asseria, Vol. 1 No. 1, 2003.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
NEW STELLAE WITH PORTRAITS FROM ASSERIA
Dražen Maršić
; Sveuèilište u Zadru, Odjel za arheologiju
Sažetak
The paper reports on two monumental stelae with portraits recently discovered in Asseria. Both are made of local limestone quarried in Benkovac area. One was found in 1996 while clearing the Holy Spirit church demolitions at the forum of Asseria (Fig. 1). The stele was re-used as the altar slab of the church and, on this occasion, the parts of it that did not fit into this new function were cut off. Its preserved
dimensions are 128 x 72 x 21 cm.
A division in three main fields is the main feature of this stele’s internal structure. A classic titulus with “S” profilation and plain beams occupies the bottom part. The inscription itself is carved in four lines (Fig. 3), obviously due to the fact that it mentioned only two portrayed deceased. A little can be read from preserved parts of
the text though there are no particular ambiguities concerning either their restoration or place in the structure of the inscription. Commissioner was named by the characteristic early Imperial onomastic formula of tria nomina that included filiation and tribus. Tribus indication proves that he possessed Roman citizenship while the filiation proves that his father was probably a Roman citizen, too, so, it is obvious that he was a freeborn person (ingenuus). The other man must have been named by the same onomastic formula; however, his relationship with the commissioner remains unclear. Wide, and originally deep, arched niche decorated the central part of the stele. Two male half-figures were portrayed in it (Figs. 1-2). Their fragmented heads are now lost, but were rescued after the church demolition. The men were dressed in civilian clothes: toga draped in the early Imperial fashion (a diagonal balteus over chests, and the U-shaped umbo) over tunica. Niche has an architectural frame. In its lower right corner, one can discern modest remains of a plinth, a base, and plain body of a pilaster. There is no doubt that the upper part of the stele ended with an architectural crown, that is, with a freestanding triangular gable and its acroteria, and there are some elements to support this. [...]
Ključne riječi
STELLAE WITH PORTRAITS FROM ASSERIA
Hrčak ID:
9020
URI
Datum izdavanja:
26.2.2003.
Posjeta: 1.739 *