Whose Head on the Bath Temple-Pediment?

Abstract

NOTES difficult to determine. Though the name suggests that it ought to have been focused on the Highlands of Scotland, or at least situated north of the Forth, knowledge of the Caledonian forest before the campaigns of Agricola implies that it may have extended into the Southern Uplands. 170 In conclusion, though the process was neither synchronous nor universal, extensive deforestation was well underway across much of north Britain by the late Iron Age. Those areas which still retained their woodland cover were probably largely cleared by the end of the Roman period. The process was a gradual and progressive one, and was linked more to the expansion of settlement and agricultural activity than to the particular demands of the Roman military. 171 University of Glasgow Whose Head on the Bath Temple-Pediment? John Hind writes: For many years, since its discovery in 1790, the central motif, comprising the shield-emblem of the goddess Sulis-Minerva (centre-piece of the pediment of the great temple at Bath), has been the object of much admiration and no little discussion. 172 It has been explained as a gorgon-head, and this would be a suitable attribute of Minerva; such a gorgoneion commonly adorned her breastplate (aigis) and, occasionally, her shield. But this head from Bath would be unique among gorgons of Hellenistic and Roman date. It is clearly male, having a luxuriant moustache and beard, as well as the more standard locks fanning out into a circle, which incorporate wings sprouting from either temple, and coiled snake-bodies, writhing most obviously beneath the beard. This apparent maleness of the 'Gorgon' has been explained by a mingling of the Classical and Celtic religious and artistic traditions. 173 But, as the whole ensemble at Bath, temenos, temple, quadrifrons, tholos, bath-buildings, and their architectural members and sculptural ornament (tritons, victories, orbs, parade-helmets, crests, goddess Luna, nymphs) is Classical and Roman in concept and execution, 174 perhaps another explanation may be sought for the iconography of this unique and prominent piece of sculpture. Even if Gallic sculptural traditions affected its style, the interpretation of its meaning should, I would argue, be sought in Classical mythology, just as is the case with the subsidiary sculptures of the same pediment. One personification of the mighty powers of nature has already been sought in this connection, and usually rejected. This is Oceanus, the sole surviving Titan to retain his power (over the great seas surrounding the land-mass of Europe, Asia, and Africa) after the war against the Olympian gods of the next generation. 175 At the time of Claudius' conquest of Britain, Oceanus was a prominent feature of the occasional poetry written to celebrate it. Clearly, to a Roman at the centre of the Empire, the crossing of ocean-stream and the joining of 'two worlds together' was a more remarkable feat than the accompanying conquest of the southern British tribes. 176 It might have seemed a nice conceit to place a frontal head of...

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“…31 There is a fragment of another shell canopy (95915), perhaps from the side of the 19 Krier and Henrich 2012. 20 However, see Hind 1996 for identification as the giant Typhoeus.…”

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“… 34 Hind (1996) suggests that it is the monster Typhoeus. However, Typhoeus’ story is known principally from Pindar, and is thus not only obscure but also very remote both geographically and chronologically from Bath. …”