Constructing reconstruction: claim and reality of Roman rebuilding inscriptions from the Latin west

Thomas, Edmund; Witschel, Christian

doi:10.1017/s0068246200009818

Cited by 85 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…See, similarly, Leone 2007; Rambaldi 2009. Arguing for keeping these data-sets apart: Eck 1999; Kleinwächter 2001: 10–18; Thomas and Witschel 1992: 136; Witschel 2004: 257. Very few inscriptions were found in situ.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Epigraphy and Ambition: Building Inscriptions in the Hinterland of Carthage

Hellström

2020

J. Rom. Stud.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Building inscriptions are not a good proxy for building activity or, by extension, prosperity. In the part of Roman North Africa where they are the most common, the majority of surviving building inscriptions document the construction of religious buildings by holders of local priesthoods, usually of the imperial cult. The rise of such texts in the second century a.d., and their demise in the early third century, have no parallel in the epigraphic evidence for other types of construction, and should not be used as evidence for the pace of construction overall. Rather than economic change, these developments reflect shifts in the prospects of aspirational local elites, for whom priesthoods served as springboards to more prestigious positions. These positions were linked to Carthage through administrative arrangements that made this city the metropolis for scores of dependent towns and their ambitious elites.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Epigraphy and Ambition: Building Inscriptions in the Hinterland of Carthage

Hellström

2020

J. Rom. Stud.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“… 44 Thomas 2007: 78; Thomas and Witschel (1992: 140–2) on the ‘fragility’ of a building as ‘signs for the memory’.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The reality of these situations is borne out in rebuilding inscriptions, especially rich from Italy; see Ward-Perkins 1984; see also Pobjoy 2000 for Republican rebuilding inscriptions. Thomas and Witschel (1992: 143–9) elaborate on the terminology of dilapidation, which they consider to be ‘notional’ (1992: 155) devices that served ‘to create something of a “historic monuments” mentality’ (1992: 169). Fagan (1996: 81–93) discusses the commonness of repairs and embellishments by other patrons but disagrees with Thomas and Witschel's idea of notional terminology.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Commemoration and Élite Benefaction of Buildings and Spectacles in the Roman World

2015

J. Rom. Stud.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Current scholarship on élite munificence in the Roman Empire often sees architectural benefactions as being at least partially driven by the élite desire for personal commemoration. I use juristic opinions from theDigestand other textual evidence related to building gifts to argue that there was an ancient understanding of the physical and symbolic ephemerality of architectural benefactions. In contrast, I present legal and epigraphic evidence to argue that there was an explicit expectation for gifts of spectacles and monetary distributions to be lasting memorials for their donors, and that the perpetuation of identity was also a motivating factor in the euergetic choice of a spectacle.

show abstract

“…I can add CIL XIV S 4721 (fourth-century Ostia). For the rhetorical nature of this language, which often served as part of the dedicator's self-presentation and not necessarily as an accurate description of the urban context at the time, see now: Thomas and Witschel, 1992; Saatsamoinen, 2010. Géza Alföldy (2001) took a more pessimistic reading of the evidence.…”

mentioning

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

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

Constructing reconstruction: claim and reality of Roman rebuilding inscriptions from the Latin west

Cited by 85 publications

References 17 publications

Epigraphy and Ambition: Building Inscriptions in the Hinterland of Carthage

Epigraphy and Ambition: Building Inscriptions in the Hinterland of Carthage

Commemoration and Élite Benefaction of Buildings and Spectacles in the Roman World

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

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About