A Hall for Hercules at Ostia and a Farewell to the Late Antique “Pagan Revival”

Boin, Douglas

doi:10.3764/aja.114.2.253

Cited by 29 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The function of the so-called sede degli Augustales building (5.7.1–2), once thought to have been the seat of the Augustales, also remains unclear, now that the statuary evidence used to identify it has been connected to the discovery of an early medieval lime kiln (Lenzi, 1998; Laird, 2000). Meanwhile, the temple once securely attributed to Hercules (1.15.5) has been called into doubt (Boin, 2009: 67–74; 2010a: 258–61), and a team of researchers has now proposed that the so-called Forum of the Heroic Statue, a large open space at 1.12.2, functioned as a late antique macellum (Gering, Kaumanns and Lavan, 2011).…”

Section: The Statuary Collection From the Campus Of Magna Mater At Ostiamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A closer look at the traditions associated with the cult of Magna Mater at Ostia is also warranted. This second topic is important because scholars have long surmised that the end of dedications reflects the death knoll of the cult in the face of triumphant Christianity (Boin, 2010a: 256–7, with bibliography). A more nuanced approach suggests exactly the opposite: that the traditions of this historic cult at Ostia were being engaged with quite visibly at the end of the fourth century.…”

Section: Statuary In Late Antique Ostiamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A late antique statuary collection at Ostia's sanctuary of Magna Mater: a case-study in late Roman religion and tradition

Boin¹

2013

Pap. Br. Sch. Rome

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Throughout the Mediterranean the study of the destruction, reuse, moving and preservation of statues has provided a window onto the transformation of Rome during a time of ascendant Christianity. The preservation of statuary collections is increasingly important in this regard. Archival research has revealed the discovery of one such collection at Ostia's Sanctuary of Magna Mater, a treasure trove of sculptures, reliefs and at least one bronze statue. All were well preserved, and several were found in the open spaces of the sanctuary. Together they span 500 years of history, stretching into the late fourth century. Unfortunately, the late antique significance of this group has never been acknowledged. This paper situates that collection within the social world of late antique Ostia, where many statues of both sacred and non-sacred subjects remained on display. The late fourth-century dedication, in particular, set alongside the earlier pieces, demonstrates that the ‘mood and motivations’ of traditional Roman religion, in Clifford Geertz's terms, also remained quite visible. The presence of this accumulated tradition, a hallmark of Rome's ‘civil religion’ for centuries, testifies to the high social status afforded one of Ostia's most historic sites, even during an increasingly Christian age.

show abstract

Section: The Statuary Collection From the Campus Of Magna Mater At Ostiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Statuary In Late Antique Ostiamentioning

confidence: 99%

A late antique statuary collection at Ostia's sanctuary of Magna Mater: a case-study in late Roman religion and tradition

Boin¹

2013

Pap. Br. Sch. Rome

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“… 128 Boin's dismissal (Boin 2013: 133–6, and see earlier Boin 2010a) of the attribution to Hercules of the cult practised in the sanctuary has been generally rejected (see e.g. Zevi 2012: n. 62; Pavolini 2014a).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Survey of Excavations and Studies on Ostia (2004–2014)

Pavolini

2016

J. Rom. Stud.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The paper is a bibliographical and critical survey of the archaeological research on ancient Ostia and Portus in the decade 2004–2014. The first part deals with some general themes, such as cults, architectural typologies and urban history, decoration: wall-paintings, mosaics and marble, the guilds and their seats, trades, etc. The second part is a survey of individual monuments and buildings which have been the subject of recent excavations and interpretations. The critical problem of late antique Ostia is treated separately, as well as the archaeology of Isola Sacra and Portus, with the Imperial harbours.

show abstract

“…Recent work by Douglas Boin has undermined the archaeological basis for Bloch's argument. See Boin 2010 and now Boin 2013: 133–9.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A summary of his work on Augustine, with discussion of Markus' own experience as a refugee in Britain in the War years, can be found in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography s.v. 'Markus, Robert Austin (1924-2010 Great (d. 395). Of course, the new visibility of religious legislation may be partly because our main source for the ever stricter heresy laws is the Theodosian Code, which gives pride of place to the laws of Theodosius and his sons (and preserves only limited religious legislation by the non-Nicene emperors who preceded him).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Long Shadow of Constantine

Cooper

2014

J. Rom. Stud.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The fifth-century Christian writer Sozomen of Constantinople preserves a story told by certain pagans about the philosopher Sopater of Apamea, whom the emperor Constantine put to death in a.d. 333 on the advice of the Christian Flavius Ablabius, then Praetorian Prefect of the East. Constantine had consulted the philosopher — so the story goes — in an attempt to redress his guilt at having ordered the murder of some of his nearest relations, among them his son Crispus. But Sopater replied that such moral defilement could admit of no purification. Afterwards, on meeting some Christian bishops, Constantine was delighted to learn that the sins of those who truly repented could be washed away in Christian baptism. It was this that led him to adopt the faith, and to encourage his subjects to do the same.

show abstract

A Hall for Hercules at Ostia and a Farewell to the Late Antique “Pagan Revival”

Cited by 29 publications

References 15 publications

A late antique statuary collection at Ostia's sanctuary of Magna Mater: a case-study in late Roman religion and tradition

A late antique statuary collection at Ostia's sanctuary of Magna Mater: a case-study in late Roman religion and tradition

A Survey of Excavations and Studies on Ostia (2004–2014)

The Long Shadow of Constantine

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About