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• Apollo Propugnator, Diana Victrix: Erscheint die Militär und Siegesthematik bei den Darstellungen der Götter Apollo und Diana in der Münzprägung der Zeit der Soldatenkaiser (235-284/285 n. Chr.)?

  115–134

  Ferenc Barna

  Views:

  53

  The figures of Diana and Apollo are frequently represented in Roman coinage. Such is the case in the soldier-emperors’ era, when one finds different representations of them both. They are depicted in various poses with altered attributes, while the gods are often named differently in the legend on the reverse. My article focuses on those types where the gods are not only displayed with weapons (bow and arrow) but also with legends connected with fighting and winning: Apollo Propugnator, Diana Victrix. I took a closer look at the figure of Diana and realised that she is represented as the goddess of hunting: she does not fight but protects hunters and ensures the success of hunting. The Apollo Propugnator type is a version known from the local coinage of Eastern Greek cities; this type is appropriated temporarily by imperial propaganda, but does not have an enduring role. In the cases of Diana and Apollo the military theme is impermanent and secondary; nor does it have an important impact.

• The Gems in the Ustinow Collection, Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo

  101-141

  Tamás Gesztelyi

  Views:

  205

  Scientifically, the collection’s primary importance is its Middle-Eastern origin; collections of gemstones from the Middle East have rarely been published unlike those from European archaeological sites. Thus the possibility opens up to compare finds from the eastern and western parts of the Roman Empire with a focus on similarities and differences. While in the western provinces the gemstones typically spread during the era of the Roman Empire, in the eastern provinces the use of seals and gemstones goes back several thousand years. It follows that in the western regions, representations of the official themes of the age of the emperors, including the characteristic figures of gods of the state religion (Jupiter, Minerva, Mars, Venus Victrix), are the most common. In contrast, the eastern provinces saw the spread of representations of local gods (Zeus Ammon, Zeus Heliopolitanos, Sarapis) or the Hellenistic types of the Greek gods (Apollo Musagetes, Aphrodite Anadyomene, Hermes Psychopompos). However, there were figures of gods that were equally popular in both regions, such as Tyche–Fortuna, Nike–Victoria, Eros–Amor, Dionysos–Bacchus, Heracles–Hercules. Each of these became rather popular in the Hellenistic World, spreading basically spontaneously throughout the entire Roman Empire. There was a similar unity in the popularity of represenations of animals, too.
  The eastern region was, however, characterised by the relatively large number of magic gemstones. There is a piece among these which has no exact analogy (Cat. 69) and its analysis sheds new light on the previous interpretation of similar pieces. The popularity of magic gemstones is highlighted by the fact that some of their motifs became distorted beyond recognition in the popularisation process. Understandably, Sasanian gemstones and seals, which revived the Romans’ dying custom of sealing for some time, were also typical of the eastern regions. What is conspicuous is that the stone cameos (agate, sardonyx) so common in the western regions are completely missing from the collection, while there is a fair number of glass cameo pendants made in the eastern regions.
  From an educational and community cultural aspect, the significance of the Ustinow collection lies in the fact that it represents several historical and cultural eras between the fourth century B.C. and the fifth century A.D. for the benefit of the interested public, private collectors, and students of archaeology and the antiquities. The gemstones may be small, but the representations on them can be extraordinarily rich in meaning. With adequate enlargement and due professional expertise, which this catalogue aims to promote, all this information can come to life in front of us, allowing us a glimpse into the lives and thoughts of the citizens of a Mediterranean world two thousand years back.

• Die Haut des Satyrs: Marsyas und Apollo

  39–51

  Ágnes Darab

  Views:

  111

  The essay proceeds from the observation that out of the surviving literature of antiquity only one poet, Ovid pays significant attention to the tragic fate of Marsyas. Both the Fasti and the Metamorphoses relate the tale. The narrative in Metamorphoses only focuses on the naturalistic description of the punishment, the flaying of Marsyas. The interpretation of this account within even wider contexts leads to the proposition that Marsyas’s tale is the self-reflection of the elegiac poet Ovid, and as such it becomes a key narrative within Metamorphoses.