The Wesleyan Undergraduate Journal of \ Classical Studies Graciously funded and warmly supported by the Wesleyan Volume 2: 2010-201 Department of Classical Studies_— METIS ‘The Wesleyan Undergraduate Journal of Classical Studies Editorial Board Christina Burkot Chris Kalstas Susie Howe Fotini Xenidis Volume 2: 2010-201Mission Statement Métis was a Greek titan and the mother of Athena by Zeus. She was the god of wisdom and deep thought but was also a trickster. Her name in Greek means “wisdom” and “cunning’, highly desirable qualities to the Athenians. The goal of the Métis editorial board was to draw on the abilities and creativity of Wesleyan students and showcase their talents and knowledge in Classics. In this second edition, we have selected six written works and several photographs that we think best exemplify the spectrum of approaches and passions in the Classics at Wesleyan, Peruse and enjoy. ~The Editors Acknowledgements The Métis editorial board would first like to thank the wonderful Debbie Sierpinski, without whom we would have no clue what we were doing or how to go about it. The Classical Studies Department faculty are also due our deep gratitude for supporting us, encouraging us ané assigning us many of the assignments that directly led to these articles. ‘Thanks go also to the authors of our selections and all those who made the effort to submit their work to us, Thank ycu again to everyone who made this second volume of Matis a reality. gover Puro: PARTHENON FRIEZE, LONDON, SARAH SHACHAT 1 TABLE OF CGONTENTS The Lens of History Susie Howe What Is Proper? Ellie Damaskos Banning the Bacchantes Lindsey Davis Photographs The Roman Agora Andrea Ruiz-Lopez Persephone’s Song Beth Goldgar Monumental Propaganda Susie Howe 15 25 28 40THE LENS OF HISTORY Susie Howe For those who wonder what can be done with a classics degree. Currently, there are protests happening across northern Africa, primarily focused around Tunisia and Egypt. The populations in both countries are demanding an overhaul of the ruling administrations, demanding the resignations of their leaders, and at least in Tunisia, have succeeded. These types of revolutions seem to follow a pattern and have done so for centuries. There is generally an incident that sparks agitation amongst the people, followed by demonstrations and. then a reaction from the government. This reaction can proceed several ways, but itis generally either to capitulate to the protesters with concessions and reforms or esvalate the situation by responding with force. In Tunisia, disquiet over unemployment and political limitations was brought to the surface when a Tunisian man made-a demonstration with his self-immolation in December of 2010. ‘Then, in January of 2011, protests erupted over the issue of President Ben Ali’s administration with unsatisfied Tunisians demanding his resignation. The government initially resisted these demands and tried to control the rioting spreading across portions of Tunisia. This resulted in clashes between police and rioters with casualties numbering near 200. In the end, President Ben Ali resigned and went into exile leaving an interim unity government in control. A situation like this played cut in Rome in the first century CE, when a brawl between the slaves of Publius Clodius Pulcher and Titus Annius Milo left Clodius mortally wounded, The Clodian supporters blamed Milo for the murder and carried the body of Clodius into the senate house where they cremated h's remains using the benches, tables and anything else at hand. In the process, the senate house also burned to the ground. This sparked unrest in the late Republic and led to a trial of Milo defended by the orator Cicero. ‘The consul Pompey was forced to admit the rampant corruption in the Republic and enact changes to ameliorate the conflict between the populares, those siding with the needs of the people, and the optimates, those dedicated to the interests of the upper class. Had President Ben Ali been more aware fo | of these political patterns, his choices may have been different and the Political turmoil in Tunisia may have had different results. In just this one set of events there are many lessons to be earned, but also lessons that might have been leaned long ago. It is this combination of historical and political analysis that is an essential element to properly understanding the international and intra-national relations in our modern world. Augustyn MirysWHAT IS PROPER? AN EXPOSITION OF LOVE EXPRESSION IN ANCIENT GREECE ELUE DAMASKOS The concept of “propriety” does not lend itself to a cohesive definition, especially not when it concems expressions of love in Ancient Greece. I would like to examine this complex notion in order gain a better understanding of the diverse and meaningful relations involved in homoerotic and heterosexual relationships in Athens and to determine through the use of positive or negative treatments of such relationships, their acceptability in Ancient Greek society. The difficulty of answering such a question as “what is proper?” suggests that we examine this topic more closely through entry points into Athenian society via Plato’s portrayal of love in the Symposium and Euripides" treatment of love in the Alcestis, as well as other supportive commentary regarding pederastic relationships and prostitution, Our first task is to entertain e working definition of proper, as it can relate to several regulatory societal realms in conventional society. Itis misguided to attempt to paint a coherent portrait of “propriety” “free of ambiguity, ambivalence, or conflict” (Cohen, 136). However, in ancient Greek society there existed definite delineations between what was legally permissible what was societally recommended, and between what was ideal and what not legally reprehensible. We find through examining demonstrations of sexual transgression in legal cases of Against Neara and Against Timarchus the law often reinforced societal views of proper presentations of sexuality. We must consider two caveats when approaching this subject; firstly, the ancient Greeks did not have a defined concept of “sexuality —the notion of sexual taste as a basic formative element in one’s personality” as we often impart retrospectively (Blundell, 103). Secondly, that the concept of erds was multifaceted an¢ could be interpreted based on one’s aims and the context with which it is used, but is usually associated with passionate love, with sensual desire and longing. For our purposes, I will use erds and love interchangeably. Ideal expressions of love and affection differ based upon the context in which it is discussed. In different arenas, like the theater or 5 the assembly, we see divergent pertrayals of women denoting differences of reality. Women are, particularly in comedy (See: The Women in the Assembly) depicted as sexually voracious, and at other times as modest and chaste to suit male invention in a particular sphere. As Helene Foley has recently emphasized, although women play no public role aside from a religious one, “Greek writers used the female—in a fashion that bore little relation to the lives of actual women—to understand, express, criticize, and experiment with the problems and contradictions of their culture” (Halperin, 145-146). This notion supports Zcitlin’s claims that female characters were used, t0 a great extent, as a foil for relevant male-centered issues (Zeitlin, 69). Thus, if we interpret plays equipped with the notion that at least a semblance of reality is being performed, we may be able to gain insight into what type of wife was “proper”. When we consider that “proper” might equate with “ideal” we begin to grapple with the differences between reality and fantasy, a liminal division theater is often apt to address. The genre of Drama, as a medium of communication social commentary, was driven by a didactic ai so, the playwright could convey ideas about social and political i by appealing to commonly held conceptions like reverence, honor, loyalty and love and invoke theatrical devices to manipulate them (Zeitlin, 68). For example, the playwright may specifically invoke portrayals of relationships that resonate with their audience, thus shaping their characters in order to convey and manipulate societally specific characterizations of “propet” femininity and masculinity through erotic and sexual interactions. If we focus on a Euripidean play for example, we can gain greater insight into the ideal forms of love expression, particularly between heterosexual couples. Through an examination of the Aicestis we can gamer an image of the ideal wife. Through this play we observe, “tragedy’s only significant depiction of a loving relationship between husband and wife... in which the heroine agrees to die in place of her husband” (Blundell, 143). To fully contextualize Alcestis’ sacrifice, we must have an understanding of how Eurizides seems to define what it means to be a woman in ancient Greek society. However, “it would be wrong to ascribe to the Athenians a unitary, let alone a consistent, notion of ‘women—a single discourse of the “feminine” (Halperin, 129) and so we may look to representations of women in plays, in order to decipher a particular notion of female as it is pertinent to Athenian and suessociety. Influences such as social norms of honor and shame “linked the woman's sexual modesty to the honor of her husband and other male relatives” as a woman was always possessed by a male throughout her lifetime, which is a quality of Athenian womanhood entrenched in theatrical representation of women (Cohen, 133). Additionally, “According to one Greek stereotype, women are less able than men to resist pleasures of all sorts; they enjoy sex too much, and once initiated into the delights of sex they become insatiable and potentially treacherous, ready to injure their own children—if necessary—or ‘o introduce a suppositious child into their husband’s household. According to a second stereotype, women do not possess (as men do) a free-floating desire that ranges from one object to another, stimulated i cach case by beauty, nobility, or other cultural values advertised by the object; rather their desire is conditioned by their physical nature, which aim at procreation and needs to fulfil itself by drawing off substance from men.” (Halperin, 129-130) ‘Women were ofien seen as procreative beings who were governed not by the desires of the mind, but rather by “physiological economy of the female body” (Halperin, 137). This conception of women as integrally linked to procreation, as incessantly under the protective and possessive care ofa male guardian and involved in the sustenance of the oikos, was invoked in both the Alcestis and the Medea. Alcestis' resolution to die in place of her husband, Admetus, is repeatedly characterized as “noble”, and itis through such commendation that we can interpret the “propriety” of her actions: in regards to her husband. She is noble becanse she held her husband first in honor (Euripides, 177-178) and honored him with both her words and her actions (Euripides, 361); her death becomes her greatest accomplishment and demonstration of love for her husband. It can be said that, “Alcestis’s heroism proceeds from her active erds” (Halperin, 133). In a demonstration of love antithetical to the filicide of Medea, Alcestis® last plea to Hestia is in regards for her “motherless children” Euripides, 162-167), as she becomes a vessel of honor and erés through her self-sacrifice. Here we can infer her “propriety” through her unyielding portrayal of commitment to the oikos, her kurios Admetus, and during her evanescence, a final portrait of the paragon of motherhood. She utilizes “wise-restraint” as well, as a key feature of sacrifice that makes her actions so commendable Euripides, 183). She exercises such restraint by lamenting only as much as was appropriate, and for admirable reasons; when she prepared herself for death however, her eyes were dry. Important to the notion of “propriety” in ancient Greek culture is the public/private dichotomy as it relates to “the normative application of honor and shame” (Cohen, 139). Spaces reserved for women consisted, to a great extent, of the household and religious ceremonies, so the dominion of where one can judge the proper actions of women are limited and enhanced by their restricted public sphere. Women’s limited spheres of identification allow their transgressive actions clearer delineation than such actions perpetrated by Athenian citizen males. Because her space was markedly in the private sphere and because this sphere in turn was central to her recognition in the Athenian state, transgressions relating to the oikos were particularly reprehensible for Athenian women, For example, if one examines the social transgression of adultery, we observe that, “The effet of the Atheniar regulations on adultery was to give official sanction to double standards of morality. An Athenian man was certainly not free to make love wherever he might, but there was no legal or apparently moral bar on sexual relations with concubines, prostitutes, slaves or resident aliens” (Blundell, 126) There was no classical Greek term for “adulteress”; she is always the object, always the passive participant in the violation of marital bonds (Blundell, 99). So, although the wize is the passive object in sexually deviant acts, she, more than her husband, is thoroughly defined by sexual monogamy, as well as her protective and procreative existence in the oikos. Here we see that males were not confined sexually to one partner, whereas it was uncommon, but impossible to know with certainty, for wives to even meet males outside of the family circle, never mind contravene in such a way (Blundell, 126). Women were vested with the responsibility of meintaining the oikos, as Alcestis attempted to do in her capacity as wife, and uphold the honor of such an integral institution of Athenian society." The characterization of proper love expression for one’s husband that we gather from Alcestisseems to be: to bear heirs, act in accordance with social expectations, surrender oneself fully to one’s husband and emulate the qualities of nobility; modesty, wise-restraint, ard loyalty. In Against Timarchus the prosecutor states: “We have courtesans (hetaerae) for pleasure, concubines to take care of our day-to-day bodily needs, and wives to bear us legitimate children and to be the loyal guardians of our households” (Blundell, 121-122). As an interesting marker of how well Alcestis, “the noblest of all wives” performs her sexual and social role, we look to a quote from Thucydides; “The greatest glory of a ‘woman is to be least talked about among men, whether in praise or blame” (Blundell, 128). If we take such an opinion and conflate it with our previous definition of “proper”, then Alcestis, even when giving her life for her husband, has still not attained the epitome of “propriety”, as her greatness is extolled profusely by everyone (excluding Pheres) in the play. The demonstration of proper love expression is contextually and gender based, and as we observe through Aleestis’ portrayal of the perfect wife, the importance of her éctions allows us to glimpse into a possible mentality of ancient Greek culture and society through a theatrical and didactic arena. If we turn to examine the pederastic relationship we can hegin to breach the central ideology of sexual and erotic sanctions as it pertains to the most important members of Athenian society; the citizen male. If we address the relationship between erastes and eramenos we may be able to better understand this “crucial element in the ‘social reproduction of male culture” (Halperin, 144) and within that culture, the pervading notions of proper expressions of love between males. Athenian citizen males can be defined as an extension of the state. Such a definition constitutes a social and often legal consideration for the welfare of the state as it is demonstrated through the male body as evidenced through laws regarding civic male prostitution (See Against Timarchus). The power dynamics involved in resistance and in active/passive and teacher/student rcles typify the pederastic relationship. The eramenos and erastes reflect resistance and restraint through the societally regulated practice of courtship, which includes gift giving. The eromenos, the young boy, is traditionally supposed to resist the advancements of the erastes, the older man, in incidences of erotic interaction. The depictions we see in Attic vase painting make it clear that acceptance/rejection were an integral feature of the courtship process and symbolize the emphasis placed on restraint and resistance. Proper conduct in this relationship would constitute a demonstrated erés on the part of the erastes, but not reciprocated (anterés) for: “It was clearly unacceptable. After all, for the future rulers of Athens to exhibit eagerness or desire to submit themselves to anyone, especially to their (eventual) peers” (Halperin, 130). The power play unmistakably involved in such a relationship must be cautiously addressed, as the sanctity of the condition of the polis must be protected and preserved by each male citizen. The active/passive stipulations are also socially clear: the erastes is the suitor and the “eromenos is in the role of the prey in the pederastic relationship” (Lear, 39). The asymmetry of the relationship helps maintain the virtue of the polis in he social hierarchy of male induction into the state. The active pursuer, the erastes, is purportedly the wizened older member of the assembly, and as the embodiment and extension of the state should rever submit themselves to the passive role in the impartment of affection, Predilection for passivity in erotic relations is considered “disease like or as a result of habituation” (Halperin, 133). The educational aspect of the relationship is asymmetrical as well, and further supports the characterization of the pederastic relationship as an induction into civic society. The sexual component of the relationship was socially delineated as well, in terms of educational aspirations. As Pausanias argued “a youth who is eager for moral self-improvement may legitimately, even laudably, choose to gratify the sexual passion of an older and wiser male in exchange for obtaining from his lover the edifying instruction he desires” (Halperin, 116). The act of consummation must be intererural, however, in order to be considered acceptable, not penetrative. For his part, the eramenos, as the beloved, must not take any part in the pleasure the erastes enjoys, for, to enjoy the passive role in intercourse is to liken yourself to a woman and volitionally submit physical vulnerability (Halperin, 130). The reproduction of masculinity involved in this relationship makes it especially edifying in our attempts to understand the nature of the ancient Greek corception of proper love expression, From the pederastic relationship we are able to deduce the strong social parameters placed upon homosexual/homoerotic relationships. There was a definite acceptability of such relationships, permissibility of consummation and vehement disparagement of 10penetrative intercourse, Resistance is also an important demonstration of the youth's ability to protect the virine of the state via the protection of his body and affections. We can also gather that age is a major factor in the appropriateness of pederastic relations from Attic vase poetry depicting pederastic scenes and commentary indicating as such in Against Timarchus [49]. These qualities will help elucidate the acceptability of adult male homosexual relationships as discussed in Plato’s Symposium. First we should contextualize Plato’s Symposium by addressing the aims of philosophy. Socrates’ elenchus is entered into as a persuasive and educational endeavor in order to espouse some philosophical truth. His interlocutors become pawns in this didactic process and often become convinced of Socrates’ argument. Philosophy, however, is not performative, nor is it inherently concerned with thinly veiled social commentary as Drama perpetually is, The Symposium however, is unigue in the Platonic canon as it contains several theatrical components, including its heavy descriptions of the non-philosophical interactions of those in attendance. It may help us to contextualize Socrates’ commentary on homosexual relations if we examine how Alcibiades is characterized. ‘Alcibiades enters the symposium tardy and drunk, after Socrates’ /Diotima’s speech about love, demonstrating a lack of self restraint especially as everyone present at the symposium was sober. He arrives with an entourage of other inebriated men and is later chastised by Eryximachus for his ravenous thirst for wine, further supporting his characterization as indulgent (Plato, 214B), Additionally, he, although much younger than Socrates and yet still not a youth, acts the pursuer, defying the resistance required in the pederastic relationship. Socrates’ reaction as contex-ualized by his philosophic view on er6s is especially elucidatory of proper love expression between males. Socrates rebuffs him sexually but continues to seek out his companionship (Plato, 217B, 2190) He fully counters the eramenos/erastes relationship as he pursues Socrates and even exclaims “So what I did was invite aim to dinner, as if were his love and he my young prey!” (Plato, 217c). Yet, he simultaneously evokes a semblance of that relationship through the overtly educational aspects of their interactions. Alcibisdes claims that he is attracted to Socrates, an unaesthetic man, for his mind, Socrates’ view on love as a cea male procreative experience of ideas in the presence of beauty redefines their relationship from one sexual in nature to one of reciprocity, “it is not acquisitive but creative” (Halperin, 130), However, we must keep in mind taat these views are that of Socrates, and most likely would not have been representative of a larger sphere of ancient Greek society. His rebuff of Alcibiades’ erotic advances yet his persistent continuation of their companionship demonstrates a cleat acknowledgement of proper male comportment. Whether or not Socrates intended to follow such social regulations bears less importance than his acknowledgement of them in context of Alcibiades’ characterization. The ideal and proper demonstration of love between males, would be a reciprocal, and erotic but not physically able to be consummated, “because erés, on the Platoni view, aims at procreation, not at possession, and so cannot be sexually realized...” (Halperin, 132). Itis Alcibiades’ unyielding attempts at seducing Socrates that create the problematic relationship, and unbalance the socictally accepted arrangements of education and pleasure between the erastes and eramenos. We can see how unacceptable homosexual relations between adult male citizens were through Plato's Laws: “Possibly, should God so grant, we might forcibly effect one of ‘two things in this matter of sex-relations,—either that no one should venture to fouch any other noble and freeborn save his ‘own wedded wife, nor sow any unholy and bastard seed in sodomy—or else we should entirely abolish love for males, and in regard to that for women, if we enact a law that any man who has intercourse with any women save those who have been brought to his house under the sanction of Heaven and holy marriage, whether purchased or otherwise acquired, if detected in such intercourse by any man or woman, shall be disqualified from any civie commendation as being really an alien—probably such a law would be approved as right” (Plato, 167-169) Homosexual e76s, although extolled by Socrates as the only way to gain access to the form of Beauty, did not include a sexual component, As described by Plato’s laws homesexual penetrative acts were not condoned between adult male citizens, but male relationships, as evidenced by Socrates in the Symposium and Aristotle in Nicomachean 12Ethics all eulogize adult male camaraderie and friendship, Socrates with a more erotic element. We find with both heterosexual and homosexual relationships a striking difference between what is proper and what is ideal. Alcestis, for all of her self-sacrifice, could he considered by an ancient audience to be foo great, as is evidenced by Thucydides’ commentary on “the ‘greatest glory of women.” So, although she was an exemplary wife, the ideal was still intangible, Masculinity, as defined by its fundamental connection to the state, and femininity as defined by its connection to men, paint a portrait of “propriety” that concerns itself with expressions of maintaining power within ancient Greek society. ‘Through Dramatic context we are able to understand that what is “proper” is merely a mildly concezled social commentary, with points of possible realities but no definite actuality. ‘Through the pederastic relationship we can understand that what is proper concerns itself chiefly with protecting the state. Laws against civic male prostitution, adultery and rape are all instituted with protective motivations of power and a continually definite ard defined masculinity. The importance of examining conceptions of proper love expression in ancient Greece becomes clear after investigating such diverse examples of er6s: itis to gain a clearer understanding of the complex social/legal regulations of expressions of love and power which guided social relations. Regulations of soc.al and sexual norms and expressions manifest themselves through delineated spaces of controlled conducts and expectations of decorum. These spaces and practices must be maintained in order to protect the virtue of the polis and the power of the Athenian male citizen. Bibliography: Blundell, Sue. Women in Ancient Greece. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995, Pzint Euripides, "Alcestis." Alcestis, Medea, Hippolytus. Trans. Diane Arson Svarlien. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company, 2007. Print. Euripides, "Medea." Aleestis, Medea, Hippolytus. Trans. Diane Amson Svarlien, Indianarolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company, 2007. Print. Halperin, David M. One Hundred Years of Homosexuality: and other essays on Greek love. New York: Routledge, 1989. Print. Lear, Andrew, and Eva Cantarelle, Images of Ancient Greek Pederasty: Boys Were Their Gods. Ist. ed. New York: Routledge, 2009. Print. Plato, "Symposium." Symposium. Trans.. Alexander Nehmas & Paul Woodruff. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company, 2007. Print. Zeitlin, Froma L.. "Playing the Other: Theater, Theatticality, and the Feminine in Greek Drama." Nothing to do with Dionysus? Ed. John J. Winkler and Froma I. Zeitlin, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992, Print. 14BANNING THE BAGGHANTES TRADITIONAL ROMAN MOTIVES OF THE SECOND CENTURY B.C.E i LINDSEY Davis The Senatus Consultum de Bacchanalibus of 186 B.C.E, documents a rare moment in Rome's history wherein the state violently repressed the formerly accepted Bacchic cult, Rome’ previous treatment of foreign religion found no precedent for thi event. State policy had always been marked by relative religious toleration, dating back to Romulus’ establishment of the Aventine Asylum. Yet in their itemized bill of 186 B.C.E., the Roman senate reduced the widespread Bacchic cult to shreds of its former practice. Only an urgent danger or an unstable government would typically provoke such an unprecedented action. The Bacchanalian affair was instead driven by the influence of conservative Republican forces, Moral issues validated the senate’s acts in the eyes of the public, while social tensions fed both moral and political motives. Ultimately, though, the senate’s desire to retain and augment state power was the strongest impetus for its action. By examining the justifications behind the Bacchanalian affair, the potency of Roman Republican forces is revealed. In second-century Rome, traditional values had the power to provoke sudden changes in state behavior under the guise of maintaining the status quo. Moral Issues Aside from the record of the Senatus Consultum, Livy's Ab Urbe Condita contains the only extensive ancient description of the Bacchanalian affair. While the Consultum document lists the conditions of the senate’s repression, Livy’s account is rife with moral commentary, suggesting that Roman mores had an effect on the state’s action, Livy depicts the early second century B.C.E. as the start of a Roman moral decline brought on by foreign luxuries (Walsh 190). He believed that the Bacchanalian affair, which uncovered the debaucheries of the Bacchus cult, triggered the onset of this, deterioration. The cult is said to have dealt in promiscuity, human sacrifice, crime, and obscenities between men and women, the horrors Bi of which are laid bare in the story of Aebutius and Hiispala Fecina (Livy 39.13, Thatcher). According to Livy, the Bazchanalian event began when a Roman male youth named Aebutiis, at the bequest of his mother, was to be initiated to the Bacchanalia. When Aebutius revealed this intention to his courtesan Hispala, she begged him not to join, telling him of the cult’s repulsive practices, threatening to “[one’s] chastity, [one’s] character, [one’s] hopes, and [one's] life” (Livy 39.10, ‘Thatcher). Urged by Aebutius to divulge what she knew, Hispala informed the senate concerning the cult’s dangers and the senate then urged the consuls to take action. Through speech and narrative, all the moral dangers of the Bacchanalia were in turn exposed. ‘Yet despite Livy’s criticisms, the Bacchic moral failings were most likely not a legitimate state concern; rather, they were evoked to aggravate public opinion against the cult. The inaccuracy of the senaie’s slander encourages this theory. Although the state asserted that the Bacchanalia was “corrupt and foreign,” records reveal instead that Bacchic worship may have existed in Rome in the sixth century B.CE (Livy 39.15, Thatcher; Tiemey 95). At the very least, the cult can be definitively dated to the early Republic, and its age thus marked it as an ancestral religion (Tierney 95). Neither was the Bacchanalia a new and unknown danger. Livy’s account affirmed that the populace knew of “the nightly noises and horrid yells” of the Bacchic rites (Livy 39.15, Thatcher). Romans would have been quite familiar with the cult and aware of some of its practices (Walsh 196). Still, by stigmatizing the Bacchantes as immoral and un-Roman, the senate was able to carry ut its repression with the support of the populace. The public was willing to allow extreme persecuticn so long as the corrupt Bacchantes would no longer pose a threat to Roman values. ‘The moral stigmas attached to the Bacchic cult were reprehensible because they violated the mos maiorum, a key guideline of Roman morality (Edwards 4), Encompassed within this concept were the rites of the established Ronan gods, the role of dignitas in governing Roman behavior, and the tendency to follow practices of family tradition (Liebeschuetz, 40). In light of this, one of the first attacks levied against the Bacchantes contrasted their practices with those of traditional Italic gods (Livy 39.15, Thatcher). The reverence paid to native gods was particularly strong in the period surrounding the Bacchanalia, so that in the early second century, a public vote was 16required to approve each temple’s dedication to a god, and all four of the major temples built were to Latin deities (Beard, North and Price 88-89). By designating the Bacchanalia as foreign, the cult was not only disassociated from Roman gods, it also became negatively connected with effeminacy, luxury, and excessive pleasure (Walsh 194), Livy’s account attributes effeminacy to the Bacchantes in a number of ways. The first is through its foreign reputation, since the Easter vice of lavishness was associated with women (Edwards 80). As the weaker sex, women were thought to be susceptible to the attractions of luxury; the wealthy Eastern zones were intimately associated with such luxuries, and so became regarded as feminine (Edwards 80). Yet the Bacchic cult had a more direct link to effeminacy. Its vast number of female followers was “the source of the [Bacchic] evil” and its primary corrupting influence (Livy 39.15, Thatcher). This female power so dominated the cult that, despite its ancient roots, the Bacchanalia could never have been masculine enough to be regarded as Roman. Manliness was an essential quality of Roman virtus (Edwards 95). For any group to be truly Roman, it had to maintain this masculine link to Roman morals (Edwards 20). The fixed stigma of effeminacy alsc burdened the Bacchantes with a reputation for sexual excess and promiscuity (Edwards 85; Livy 39.8, Thatcher). These qualities were not unduly threatening to the public, but their perpetuation could result in a more serious concern. Pursuing individual desires meant neglecting public service, so that members of the Bacchic cult would be unable to perform their civic duties (Edwards 85). Effectively, the effminacy of the cult could result in a collapse of Roman work ethic. Association with sexual indulgence dictated that, in addition to neglecting public obligation, the Bacchantes participated in lewd behavior. Cult followers were said to indulge in “Wine, lascivious discourse” and that “...night, and the intercourse of the sexes... debaucheries of every kind” were what “extinguished every sentiment of modesty” (Livy 39.8, Thatcher), Roman gods disapproved of base conduct and, siding with their deities, the Roman people clearly outlined what was unacceptable to Republican modesty (Liebeshuetz 43). “Nocturnal meetings [carried] sinister and suspicious overtones,” while overindulgence was associated with eastern excess rather than Roman conservatism (Gruen 47, 71), Livy's vivid language 7 made the distastefulness of these acts clear, but his slander was aided further by a deeper implication. In Livy’s account, the consul Postumius insinuated that the indulgences of the cult would pollute potential soldiers, who would be thus unable to defend the chastity of ‘women and children (Livy 39.15, Thatcher). If initiates had consisted only of slaves and freedmen, this would not have been an effective tool of defamation (Gruen 61). Yet the fact that Bacchie worship was spreading to respectable citizens made this threat much more immediate in the public mind. Moralizing was a common practice in Roman history writing, and, despite Livy's vehement words, moral concerns did not strongly affect the senate’s decision (Takes 305). Magistrates were officially responsible for the “enforcement of moral rules,” and it is possible that the senate repressed the Bacchanalia in fulfillment of this role (Edwards 31). Yet it is unlikely that moral issues were the most pressing concem of the state. The lack of any moral issues mentioned in the Senatus Consultum and the quick escalation of senatorial action against potential violence repudiate morality as a prime motive (Walsh 194). However, moral slander was important for its role in swaying public opinion. In the consular speech of Livy’s account, the Bacchanalia activities are labeled as coniuratio (conspiracy) a term that would have blacklisted the cult in the public mind (Gruen 47). The plays of Plautus had already assoc'ated the Bacchantes with the “raging, irrational, and insane,” so that any moral accusations against the Bacchanalia would have been quickly accepted (Gruen 50). Neither did the senate luck possible accusations; as Livy's list of vices demonstrates, the senate had a full stock of offenses to invoke (Livy 39.15, Thatcher). These slurs were repeatedly promoted because they effectively controlled the public attitude. All of these moral preferences, then, were strongly set in the peoples” minds in 186 BCE. Social Issues Matters of morality and social order were often closely tied within ancient Rome, and both were well defined in the Republican period. Yet while moral values existed largely in the minds of the populace, social structure was a tangible feature of everyday life. For this reason, perceived threats to social order were perhaps a more rational justification for the Bacchenalian affair. Based on 18condemnations of the Bacchanalia, some of the bigger concerns of the early second century revolved around female dominance, male subjugation, the corruption of the upper class, and the disordered stratification of Bacchic followers. These issues had a great effect because they all directly conflicted with the traditional social expectations of the Republic. Initiates of foreign cults detived prineipally from non- threatening classes of people, suchas slaves and women (Beard, North and Price 246,308). This was not the case with the Bacchic cult, which ‘was originally restricted to women, but had begun to initiate men by the time of the Bacchanalian affair (Livy 39.13, Thatcher). Many of the male recruitments were initiated through the persistence of boys? mothers, as in Livy’s account. This mother-son practice, wherein women were actively converting men, would have been a more serious concern to the senate than male initiation alone. The purported age of the initiates was a factor in this anxiety. According to Livy, the Bacchic cult had recently begun to allow only people twenty and under to join the cult (Livy 39.13, Thatcher). Women on their own had little political power, but women did have the opportunity to influence the decisions of men, especially young and impressionable men. If the senate had never before feared the Bacchic women, their role in producing male followers certainly was a cause for concern (Gruen 61). The unease over this practice originated with the Roman distaste toward female dominance. In Roman society, good women were inactive and accepting of their inferiority to men (Edwards 79- 80). The Romans believed that men were innately more composed and in control of undesirable temptations, so naturally men were meant to make all critical family decisions (Edwards 87). The all-male senate, in tun, led the community of Rome just as each father led his family. Yet within the Bacchic cult, women were usurping this role, assuming the job of both the pater familias and the city (Takées 306). By bringing men into the cult and turniag their loyalty to cult practices, Bacchic women were determining what values these men would hold. From the senate’s perspective, this was especially threatening, as it was a father’s duty to ensure that offspring were obedient to the state (Beard, North and Price 96). Despite the fact that secular and religious institutions were governed by the same social and legal rules, women 19 faithful to the cult would not necessarily place state loyalty over individual beliefs (Licbeschuetz 30). Since women, slaves, and lower-class plebs usually populated foreign cults, they did not often pose a threat to the social structure. Real power resided with upper-class men, who were usually more concerned with public reputation than with the rites offered by religions not governed by the state (Edwards 85). However, Livy records that “among [the members of the Bacchic cult] were many men and women of noble families” (Livy 39.13, Thatcher). To the senate, this indicated that the power holders of Roman society were devoting their interests to religious rather than political issues. No noble-class senator wanted the actions of influential men directed away from the state, and they wanted even less to have their own actions called into question (Gruen 59). Accordingly, the Bacchanalian affair may have been sparked by the senators’ desite to clear their own reputations, Each of these factors could have influenced the senatorial decision, for they all show how the Bacchanalia subverted traditional social practices. Yet the most not’ceable social indiscretion of the Bacchic cult was its disregard for the traditional Roman hierarchy. By drawing from such an array of social groups, the Bacchanalia denied the stratified nature of Republican Rome. Initiates of the cult included slaves and freedmen, “Romans, Latins, and allies, men and women, country people and city-dwellers, rich and poor” (Beard, North and Price 94). It was typical of foreign cults to organize their members into # hierarchical system, one that was sometimes completely divergent from the typical Roman order (Takiies 306). However, the Bacchic cult was not isolated to a specific group of people, as were other foreign religions. It had the capacity to sway the minds of all Rome’s population, and so the threat of the Bacchic social system overturning the traditional order was much greater. Yet none of these social dangers could have seriously threatened if the Bacchanalia had not attracted such a vast number of initiates. Since followers came from all social backgrounds, the number of members was theoretically unlimited, and the Bacchic followers were “almost a second state in themselves” by the time the Bacchanalian affair commenced (Livy 39.13, Thatcher). These immense numbers transformed the Bacchic cult from a social threat into a political one (Beard, North and Price 95). Any organization that 20circumvented the Roman state was worrisome, but with so many initiates swelling the Bacchic ranks, the cult’s ability to disrupt the Roman order was much greater. The senate’s choice to strike out against this cult, given its large following, shows its determination to maintain the traditional social order at any cost. For this reason, the senate termed the Bacchic order a conspiracy and compiled political justifications for its attack. Political Issues , ‘While moral concerns publicly validated the senate’s action and social issues began to shake the state’s composure, political ‘concerns were the critical motivation for the Senatus Consultum de Bacchanalibus. The state’s authority over the Roman people was a fundamental feature of the Roman Republic and the senate felt that to maintain this authority was to ensure the stability of Rome. In 186 B.CE., Rome had finally reached a period of peace and harmony with its eastern neighbors (Gruen 66). The state turned instead to intemal ‘matters and, with the Second Punic War still fresh in the public mind, an expected distaste of foreign influence was working against foreign cults like the Bacchantes (Beard, North and Price 93). At the same time, Rome was attempting to solidify its unions across Italy and preserve the relative calm it had ackieved (Beard, North and Price 95). To do this, the senate had to keep irdividuals in check, defend against possible coalitions, and assert its own power in a prominent fashion. “The senate’s greatest concem, as always, was maintaining stability at home against subversion by individuals or any non-state entities. In the early second century B.C.E, this senatorial endeavor ‘was visible in the constraints imposed on self-glorification (Gruen 67). ‘The reason for these restrictions was simple: generals celebrating triumphs put on lavish displays in the city, increasing their own popularity at a cost to the senate’s authority (Gruen 70). To discourage the growth of any individual’s repuration, the senate thus denied senatorial seats to the most expressive patricians (Gruen 71). The same constraint is visible in the Bacchanalian affair, although individual _ power here was punished with death rather than with political slighting (CIL P.2.581). By focusing their wealth and power on personal religion, Bacchic nobles had committed the same political infraction as overindulgent generals. Both groups of men directed their influence toward non-state matters, and could consequently be viewed as threats. 24 ‘The Bacchanalian order, as a private organization, posed the same concern. With its large membership, internal organization, and religious fervor, the Bacchic cult could potentially have overridden the senate’s control and invoked a disturbance of normal state affairs. The senate could not have known whether the cult intended to take action against the state, but it was clear that its influence had begun to subvert senatorial power (Walsh 194). The “strong movement” of the Bacchic cult was “not canalized into official channels,” and the senate would have had no knowledge of potential sinister motives (Tierney 94). To alleviate this concern, the provisions of the Senatus Consultum assured that the cult’s mass and organized power was destroyed. The document forbade that an individual be put in any leadership position in the cult, that there be any common treasury, or that members “exchange oaths, vows, pledges, or promises, nor were they allowed to pledge faith to each other” (Takacs 308). Moreover, no more than five Bacchantes could meet together af any time, and those meeting were to be governed by a certain ratio of men to women (CIL I?.2.581). By invoking these laws, the senate destroyed the potential for any sort of intemal hierarchy or social organization. The Bacchic cult would have found it impossible to formulate a plan of attack: ‘To maintain stability, though, this assurance was not enough. ‘The senate took pains to ensure that its authority was absolute and the ultimate success of its campaign confirms the state acceptance of traditional senatorial rule. The Republic, after all, was founded on the principle of state dominance. The people assembled “when the standard was crected on the Janiculum, and the army led out on occasion of clections,” congregatirg only at the desire of their magistrates (Livy 39.15, Thatcher). In this way, the state had always overseen public gatherings and dictated what forces drew the populace together. Against this current, the Bacchie cult collected great numbers of people for the purpose of religion and secret interests. The Bacchanalia occurred without any official present, and so the senate had no measure of control over the cult’s actions. The senate, then, could easily justify the Senatus Consultum as a necessary means to ensure that religion was under state control. Their intense restrictions only reinforced the traditional bonds between the leader and the led (Takacs 302). In spite of the senate’s severity, itis important to note that while the Bacchic cult was restricted in 186 B.C.E,, it was not entirely 22destroyed. In fact, leniency showed by the state led to the enhancement of the senate’s reputation and its legal powers. The first increase in status came with the senate’s new designation as moral defender. Since the Bacchantes could only carry out obscenities in secret, by publicizing their affairs the senate ensured the morality of Bacchic actions. Senatorial control thus checked Bacchic revelry for the good of the state, allowing certain rites to continue so long a3 each case was presented in front of at least 100 senators (Gruen 48; Takécs 308). This action was seen as duly diligent rather than repressive and served to legitimize the cult’s practices (Gruen 77; Takes 302). In addition to indirectly boosting senatorial reputation, the Senarus Consultum allocated major judicial powers to tke senate (Gruen 73). It was granted “exira ordinem powers” based on the level of the threat that the senate publicized (Tiemey 305). Whether or not these new rights were necessary to defend Rome, they were certainly desirable, since greater senatorial power allowed the state more freedom in its actions. ‘The Bacchic cult, then, provided a strong motivation for the senate to increase its control. In serving its own self-interests, the senate was concurrently protecting the state and supporting the conservative principles of the Republic. ‘The Bacchanalian affair was motivated by Roman principles and for the protection of Roman principles at a time when the state was defined by its conservative past. The people wanted a morally traditional state, consistent with the ways of the Roman gods and ancestors. Roman social hierarchy favored male aristocratic power and state interests, while the senate sought to maintain the authority it had held since the early Kepublic. Although the repression of the Bacchanalia was sudden, violent, and extensive, the justifications against the cult were all supported by the conservative ideology of second century Rome. The accusations pitted against the Bacchic cult may not have been entirely accurate, but they appealed to Roman traditionalism, and were thus easily accepted. In this way, the Senatus Consultum was carried out successfitly. So long as the Roman senate drow from established values, even amovement as strong as the Bacchanalia was effectively powerless. The state was able to subdue a growing social movement, reassert its own authority, and keep public opinion on its side, thanks to its acute understanding of the traditional forces driving the Roman Republic. 23 Works Cited Beard, Mary, John North and Simon Price. Religions of Rome Volume 1: A History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Print. Edwards, Catherine. The Politics of Immorality in Ancient Rome. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. Print. Gruen, Erich 8. Studies in Greek culture and Roman policy. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1990. Print. Liebeschuetz, J.H.W.G. Continuity and Change in Roman Religion, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979, Print. Livy. Ab Urbe Condita XI Books XXXVII-XXXLX. Lommatzsch, Cura E. ed. Inscriptiones Latinae antiquissimae. Berlin: Akademia der Wissenschaften, 1947, Print. ‘Takacs, Sarlota A. “Politics and Religion in the Bacchanalian Affair of 186 B.C.E.” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 100 (2000): 301-310. JSTOR. Web. 7 April 2010. Tierney, J.J. “The Senatus Consultum de Bacchanalibus." Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature 51 (1945-1948); 89 117. JSTOR. Web. 7 April 2010. Thatcher, Oliver J. ed. “Livy, History of Rome, Book XXXIX.” The Library of Original Sources, Ancient History Sourcebook, 1907. Web. April 2010. Walsh, P.G. “Making a Drama Out of Crisis: Livy on the Bacchanalia.” Greece and Rome 43.2 (1996): 188-203. JSTOR. ‘Web. 7 April 2010. awPHOTOGRAPHS “Temple of Antoninus and Faustina in the Afternoon”, Via Sacra, Forum Romanum, Rome, Italy - Alex Ray “Opus”, Foundation of the twin temples near the forum, Archaeological Site of Carsulae, Italy - Susie Howe 5 “Pots”, Corinth, Greece - ing through the Arch of San Damiano, Archaeological Site of Carsulae, Italy - Susie Howe ie ven Christina Burkot“Mosaic”, Dion, Greece - Christine Burkot 27 THE ROMAN AGORA A MELTING POT OF TRADITION AND ROMAN INFLUENCE ANDREA RUIZ-LOPEZ Ten graffiti have been found in Athens’ Roman Agora which represent the convergenceof ancient Greek tradition with Roman influence upon the common citizens. The graffiti are four Christian symbols, four topoi of a commercial nature, one erotic curse graffito, and one pornographic sketch. The Christian symbols and the topoi are evidence of the effects of Athens’ relationship with Rome and the cultural exchange that occurred which trickled down into the everyday lives of ordinary citizens. This new influence (and, sometimes, even invasion) converged with well-2stablished Greek traditions such as binding spells and erotic graffiti which can be traced well into the fifth century BC. This confluence of tradition and influence manifested in the life of the common Athenian citizen in the form of the construction of the Roman Agora, linguistic exchange, and conversion from paganism to Christianity while still keeping the traditions of erotic binding spells and immature inscriptions. The history of the Roman Agora begins with the complex political/economic relationship between Athens and Rome at the end of the first century BC. Before this time, Michael Hoff believes that there was an open-air market in the same place where the Roman Agora would eventually be built in the late second century (Hoff 1989, 1). From a dedicatory inscription on the architrave of the Doric propylea on the west side dating to either 11 or 10 BC, it is clear that the funds for the Agora came fiom Julius Caesar and Augustus and is dedicated to Athena Archegetis (Camp, 193). Despite the fact that the funding for this project was proposed by Athens and given by Caesar and Augustus in 50/51 BC (Hoff 1989, 4), Athens still continued her support for Pompey, the first of many political mistakes the city would make concerning allegiance and Rome. Despite Athens’ mistaken allegiance, Augustus favored her. After the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and until 22/21 BC, however, relations between Augustus and Athens were cold to say the least. Athens was also required to pay reparations many times to various invaders that 28drained the finances of the city, making it difficult to pay Agora (Hoff 1989, 5). In 19 BC after his Parthian Geena Augustus and Athens were once again on good terms. It is during fi, Visit in this year that Hoff believes the funds to build the new Avon Were granted (Hoff 1989, 4-5). It is clear now that the very existene of te Roman Agora is due indeed tots namesake, Rome “ : he place in which the ten graffiti were fox its construction deeply entrenched in the his of Rene pola and economic influence in Greece, and Athens in particular. Indect the very need for a new center of commerce and the lack of funds to make it happen is especially intertwined with the effects of Rory Polities on Athens and her economy. Between Sulla’s sack of Athos in 86 BC and the plethora of punishments propagated by Rome in the following years in which Athens was increasingly treated as x province of the empire, the coffers of Athens were being drained and the ei [aofen suffered damage, including the destruction ofthe old Greck creating an it c fc rome ten 2m immediate need fora new centr of trae nd The four topoi inscriptions found in the Ri the stylobate and columns of the south exterior colonnade ere voor for commercial purposes, and are prime examples of the day.to-dey existence of contemporary Athenian citizens. Hoff argues that these Braffiti marked the teritory of specific merchants who would ply thet Wares from that exact place in the Agora habitually (Hoff 2001-176), There is also historical evidence that the Agora was not only a market for retail trade but also built for the storage and sale of wholecale ae oes merchants afer the sack of Delos in 69 BC during the 2 latic War. However, there is e for us ‘Agora for whose transaction inthe form of Hla donee oe Was inseribed on an inner pier within the Athena Gate regulating the fale of olive oil (one-third of the cultivator’s total harvest) whose rovisions deal specifically with large wholesale transactions and do not refer to retail sales” (Hoff 1989, 7), Evidence for this could by a in the construction of the Agora itself. Along the east side of fe colonnade there are a row of permanent stalls across from which ne topoi graffiti were carved. Hoff argues that these stalls were th areas where the large wholesale transactions took place, while the rest of the unstructured market within the Agora was for temporary tnd 29 mobile retail vendors (Hoff 1989, 7). It would be a logical conclusion, then, that the four topoi inscriptions would serve to mark the location of retail vendors in the market. Since the actual set-up of the goods would be impermanent, it would be necessary to ensure that no other merchant set up in the same spot. Although this is a fascincting insight into the daily lives of the ancient Greeks, the merchants themselves could not see that their environment was a product of forty years of a turbulent political and ‘economic relationship between Rome and Athens that ultimately led to the creation of the place where their livelihood took form. Even their language was influenced by Rome’s ever reaching arm, as can be seen in one of the four topoi which reads, “ EkagnBo/Miov témog / xowvolajvyou” (Koumanoudes, 17). While the original topoi was most likely just establishing that this was the place of Elaphebolios, it appears that later the word konnolingos was written (perhaps spitefully) by someone else. The Roman influence is revealed in the word choice of the later inscriber who “used a transliteration of the Latin word instead of a more commonly used Greek term, such as ‘delyew” (Hoff 2001, 182) from -he verb Aetyo, meaning “to lick up.” The carver’s choice of the Latin transliterated version of a common Greek word only further amplifies the synthesis of Greek and Roman cultures in Athens during this time. Rome’s political and economic influences in Athens also opened the floodgates for the new religion of Christianity into the city with Constantine’s conversion in 312 AD, which dramatically increased the spread of Christianity throughout the empire and made legal under the Edict of Milan in 313 AD. The slow conversion from paganism to Christianity in Athens transformed the city in many ways, but it also left its mark in the Roman Agora, in the middle of which a church was built in the seventh century AD, presumably after the market had fallen out of use as the main commercial center for Athens (Hoff 2001, 176). There are also four graffiti of Christian symbols that were inscribed in the Roman Agora around the sixth or seventh century AD: a fish, a dove, a fig leaf, and a Chi-Rho monogram (Frantz, 71). Each of these symbols is frequently associated with Christianity and “is often found carved on old buildings to denote the new religion” (Hoff 2001, 176). The fish was often used as a secret symbol amongst early Christians. During the years of their prosecution by the empire, it was used to secretly identify oneself as a Christian 2while testing the faith of another by drawing one half of the fish in the ground with the foot and then seeing if the other Person completed the single arch to create the now well known Christian fish, ‘There are alse ‘many stories in the Bible that feature fish prominently and the twelve apostles were originally fisherman causing Jesus to say to them follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Mathew 4:19). ‘The dove is found in later Christian art, but there is also evidence of its appearance early in Christian history, such as in the eatacomb of Saint Sebastiano, Rome, where a graffito of a dove with an olive branch fe inscribed next to a Chi-Rho monogrem, a basket, and the inscription of Bicentia (Dove as a Christian Symbol). It can also be found on grave markers of early Christians and is thought to represent the peace and happiness of the soul. The fig leaf has a more ambiguous definition but has strong ties with Christianity and the Bible. It is mentioned in the Bible frequently, is the feature of many of the Bible's more famous Parables including the barren fig tree; and the budding fig tree and is now popularly believed to be the forsidden fruit in the story of Adams and Eve. Last but not least of the Christian graffiti found in the Ages EO Chi-Rho monogram whichis filly Christan in nature: the fst letters in “Xprot颔 superin cl ‘ coal or nos” supemimsed upon eich other, it is a It is little wonder that Christianity was able to gain such z foothold in Athens inthe sixth and seventh centuries considering the desolate state of Athens at that time. Between the savage attack in 267 AD by the barbarian Heruli and the decimation of the countryside between Athens and Megara in 396 AD, the economic state and morale of the city were extremely low. This gave way to widespread abandonment of the old gods and an embrace of the new growing power in the empire, Christianity, which had full legal power over Imany aspects of individuals lite sine 400 AD (Frantz, 188-190). Rome gave Christianity its central role in the lives of the empire thet would eventually lead to the transter of power when Rome fell It wos largely due to Rome that Christianity enjoyed such widespread growth and power in Italy and the provinces, such as Greece. Once again the actions of an empire affected the lives of common Athenians for centuries after they were made. - The carving of these four Chrstion Braflt| in the Roman Agora, as probably nevly-converted Christians carved symbols of thee faith, was the culmination of hndreds of years 31 Simultaneous with the development of the repercussions of the political/economic relationship between the Roman Empire and Athens was the continuation of ancient Greek traditions that helped the Athenians through these turbulent changes in their society, including magic spells. On the fourteenth column northward from the south-east comer of the Agora is a graffito of a curious nature, Approximately 0.50 meters above the stylobate (just below eye level) is an inscription of two figures facing each other: “the head of each is formed as a large, bulbous nodule with a single frontal eye and an arched brow... a pair of incised dots at the lower part of the body apparently indicates nipples” (Hoff 2001, 179). While the sex of each figure cannot be determined by the drawing alone, the carver was kind enough to label the figures as Eucharis on the left and Xanthippos on the right while above the figures is inscribed Kparnua/yiov and below them is inscribed ug}. Both of these names are attested in Athens, with Eucharis being female and Xanthippos being male (Hoff 2001, 180). However the inscription above the figures “at first glance could read ‘Kratema of Chios’, but not only is the name Kratema unattested, the following toponym in the genitive would be difficult to support” (Hoff 2001, 180). Instead Hoff offers the interpretation that it is the name Kratemachios, and in combina:ion with +)vr, below the figures can be taken to mean “(this is) Kratemachios’ carving”. Around their mouths they are connected by an object that is two bars, one horizontal and one vertical, which are crossed and are terminated by four circles and is often referred to as a chiasma (Hoff 2001, 6). This is a symbol that is commonly seen in ancient spells, and binding spells especially. While there is no other known example of this particular combination of chiasma between the mouths of two figures, there is an Egyptian lead tablet which is now in the Bibliotheque Publique et Universitaire in Geneva, dated to the second century AD which is similar to the graffito (Hoff 2001, 180). As can be seen in the lead curse tablet from the Geneva Public Library (Hoff 2001, 180), there are two figures in the middle left side of the tablet that appear to be facing each other and connected by a horizontal bar at the lips. Also on the tablet are chiasmas, which is unsurprising since the tablet is meant as a binding spell. While binding spells have many common victims such as athletic competitors, political rivals, businessmen, orators, and lovers, they were also used to bind anger, or as Faraone argues, passion (Faraone, 145). While there are usually words and 2 eee ee eee ee eee eee eephrases that either have to be said or written down to go along with the drawings, even the drawings themselves share this chiasma symbol; examples can be found in the Magical Greek Papyri. While Hoff argues that the chiasma between the mouths of the figures on the graffito in the Agora is intended to impede communications between Eucharis and Xanthippos (Hoff 2001, 6), there is enough evidence to suggest otherwise. First, the chiasma, although a general magic symbol used in many of the Greek magical papyri, can almost always be found in spells meant to bind anger and only sometimes in those ‘meant to bind lovers; for example, “Charm to restrain anger” includes many chiasmas (Betz, 149), but “Another love spell of attraction” does not include any chiasmas (Betz, 88). However Faraone argues that the word that is most commonly used in spells, thumos, should actually be representative of primal passior. in general, not just anger (Faraone, 150), Based on this evidence, it is not a big jump in logic to say that the chiamsa is not binding the communication between the lovers, but rather passion, since the chiamsa is most related to spells binding “anger”. The Greek magical papyri date to the second century BC, and are reptesentative of the Greek tradition of spells and magic, particularly those used to bind others physically or emotionally. The carver of this graffito in the Roman Agora was most likely not any sort of witch or spell caster, but rather just a jealous Athenian who knew of the general purpose of the chiasma as a magic symbol of prevention and binding as part of a long-standing Greek tradition. The last grafiito in the Roman Agora is on the same column as the graffito just discussed, only forty centimeters above the binding spell. This graffito continues the erotic theme of the column since it is of a figure depicted as “engaged in an act of fellatio with a disembodied phallus” (Hoff 2001, 181). There is some light chiseling around the end of the shaft which indicated that it was considered offensive sinee someone attempted to remove it unsuccessfully (Hofl 2001, 6). Also, the words ‘Exgpsavvos "A@nyeoc’ are inscribed above the figure. Euphrosynos is a very common name in Athens according to the LGPN, however “"A@nveos, a rare form, is probably a simple locative nominative, ‘the Athenian’, rather than a patronymic genitive’ (Hoff 2001, 181). While all of the graffiti so far were presumably made without any sort of official authority, it appears that this graffitc in particular was distasteful to the local authorities or perhaps even jus a fellow citizen taking initiative. There is nothing else around thi B section of the column, so there is no reason to suspect this is also a spell or curse, but rather simply pomographic immaturity. It is also possible that there are two different authors to two different parts of this graffito, There is a graffito in the Roman Agora of a human head in profile, with this precedent set it seems possible that this pomographic graffito was originally just a facial profile, but later the phallus and words were added with malicious intent. While there is no other known erotic graffiti on walls or columns in Athens, there is a plethora of erotic inscriptions and allusions in Athenian writing of the comic poets of the fourth and fifth centuries BC as well as Athenian pottery since the fifth century BC (Hoff 2001, 181). A vivid example of this is a graffito on a pottery sherd from the fifth century BC depicting a wolfish animal sodomizing what is presumably a young man who is described as ‘beautiful’ (xah6c). While this pottery sherd was intentionally sold with the erotic imagery, there is also a lamp sherd from the fourth century BC which someone apparently thought ‘was of a phallic nature and drew a phallus to emphasize the point. ‘There is also a word inscribed above the phallus on the lamp that could either be the name of a woman or an abbreviated from of a word for testicles (Lang 1974, G45). Clearly Athens has a long history of lascivious graffiti and themes in pottery and poetry which makes this fellatio graffito almost expected in the central place of commerce and trade where so many Athenians would be there to create and appreciate such raunchiness. ‘These ten graffiti, then, can be proxies for understanding @ number of issues central to the cultural exchange between Rome and ‘Athens after the building of the Roman Agora. The confluence of tradition and foreign innovation affected the common Athenian citizen in the building of the Agora, influences on the local language, and widespread conversion from paganism to Christianity, all while still Keeping the traditions of erotic binding spells and drunken dirty doodles. This can be considered a true sampling of the common ‘Athenian citizen because these graffiti were not official edicts being carved or read aloud, they were not inscriptions on a monument describing its dedicators and date, or funerary inscriptions or labels on pottery. ‘These were not meant to last or to necessarily be used as a message for a specific person (or even group of people) but rather were carved for personal pleasure. Whether to solidify the presence of ‘one’s new religion, or to mark the territory of a market stall or even 3hjust to portray jealousy and immaturity that can be appreciated even well over a thousand years later, these graffiti were created by real people with lives not so different from our own, While we may never know exactly who these graffitists were, the speculation of their lives and exact purposes in carving these images and words are best left to the imagination. Works Cited Betz, Hans Dieter. The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation : including the Demotic Spelis. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Chicago [u.a.: Univ. of Chicago, 2007. Print, Camp, John McK. The Archaeology of Athens. New Haven: Yale UP, 2001. 183-257. Print, Farone, Christopher A. "Thumos as Masculine Ideal and Social Pathology in Ancient Greek Magical Spells." Ancient Anger. By Susanna Braund and Glenn W. Most. Vol. XXXII. New York, NY: University Cambridge, 2003, 144-62. Print, Yale Classical Studies. Frantz, Alison. "From Paganism to Christianity in the Temples of Athens." Dumbarton Oaks Papers 19 (1965): 185-205. Print, Hoff, Michael. "Some Inscribed Graffiti in the Roman Market in Athens." Zeitschrift Fur Paptrologie Und Epigrapgik (2001): 176-82. Print, Hoff, Michael. "The Early History of the Roman Agora at Athens." The Greek Renaissance in the Roman Empire: Papers from the Tenth British Musewn Classical Colloquium. By Susan Walker and Averil Cameron. London: University of London, Institute of Classical Studies, 1989, 1-8. Print. Lang, Mabel. Graffiti in the Athenian Agora. Princeton, New Jersey: ‘New Jersey: Amer. Sch. F Classical Stud. At Athens, 1974, Print. Wilson, Ralph F. "Dove as a Christian Symbol -- Early Christian Symbols of the Ancient Chueh." Bible Study -- the JesusWalk Bible Study Series. 2010. Web. 1 Dec. 2010. <. 35 Appendix A: Images icineDrawing of graffit (rom Figure 2. From Hoff2001. Figure curse (below). From Hoff 2001.24-35 rears asada ote inn og ae as eee eee ee ifrraun |e Rok ee veLT be ‘ ERAREL BY NISINAD off [aR or ang = |e oes Hew be png of eapan frig oa en Sd Fyn in. (Gre ear, vcs mor acing ware ego “ele Ct bones RANG RIE Daes™ MER oes sds ole x cig ssl x tang Ths 3 30 PERSEPHONE’S SONG BETH GOLDGAR Kore is gone, o chisel-men, Kore is gone where dead skin blows, beyond the dreams of gods and men, and yet you see her standing still to be born from marble in smiling modesty of fragile curls and broideries of stone, all that girl is when she is most goddess, and you make no statues of me. Kore is gone, o singing girls, Kore is gone where you have not yet come, but may (secret of secrets) yet follow, and yet you sing her song in silent spring and dance her dance on new-grown grass and weave flowers for her living crown and laugh for her and weep for her, and you sing no songs to me. Kore is gone, o tall Achaeans, Kore is gone where you do not see her more, to the land of being other than you were, and yet in your heart she remains as pure and unsullied as the day she was taken, ‘as young and unknowing as a child, with the taste of milk still on her lips, and you pour no wine for me. You do not hear me speak, o my people, ‘out of the dead land where no man dwells, out of the silence where no breath sighs, and yet you may, if you should learn to hear, listen ages gone and find the echoes still in the space between your heartbeats of what I tell you in the long-ago, and so I speak to thee. know you love me little and fear me much, and I who am goddess born and wed know more: ay BeI know why, I break the pattern you were born to sec, I who am all and none of what I should be, Twho weave into and out of the weft of the world more defily and smoothly than the shuttle on the loom that was my sister-cousin’s gift to you. Tam a daughter whose father did rot protect her, though he had all the power in the worl. Jam the girl who is woman and not woman, who cannot be made half-man like the others. Tam a wife who is and cannot be a mother, while I sit upon a throne and am yet beloved. Tam a woman who lives half in life and half in death, ‘who is neither child nor matron but both and neither. Tam the spring in whom are the seeds of winter, and the winter in whom are the seeds of spring. Tam the blurring of the lines and the end of order. Tam the empty womb, and more, fer more, far worse for the pattem you so cherish, Tam the empty womb content to be empty. Thave enough of birth in the sunlit months when I return to the home of my childhood to feel the world born beneath my feet. What I bring to birth I bring from my hands, from my feet, from my lips. Tam the woman whose labor is not Hera’ who holds no man’s spear or shield, who is not one of you nor one of them, who gives and takes and holds her power out of the hands of mortal men. No half-divine son shall ever bear it, no mortal lover shall ever touch it, what I am, T own, not you, Only he has ever touched the heart of me, he whom you fear less than you fear me, for he is in your order, however dark, and one who can be spoken of. ‘You do not like to speak of me. at The taste of milk left my tongue long ago. The juice of the pomegranate is thick, red and sour and rich and full and strong, red and strong as the wine you never gave me, sour and rich and full as the blood you grudge me. ‘The taste on my tongue is the taste of the world, I know the feel of it as you do. A seed once eaten grows in the heart forever. Sing for me, o my women, when the day is come that you hear me, sing for me, 0 my warriors, when the day is come that you understand, sing for me, o my people, when the day is come that you know the song, sing my song back to me.MONUMENTAL PROPAGANDA THE ARCHES OF TITUS AND SEVERUS Susie Howe Modern connotations of the word ‘propaganda’ often include the Fascist regimes of Germany and Italy in the early 20% century, Napoleonic France or Revolutionary America, but in truth, all of these examples of pervasive propaganda use have their roots in Republican, and to a greater degree, Imperial Rome. Whereas more modern propagandists have employed posters, television ads, speeches and radio broadcasts effectively, the Romans used monumental structures and public displays as some of the main ways to disseminate the ideals central to their political agendas. Examples of this type of propagenda include victory columns like that of Trajan and Marcus Aurelius; temples, basilicas and fora dedicated to specific purposes by specific people; and monumental arches, erected by triumphators throughout the Republican and Imperial eras in Rome. Specifically, the Triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus and the Arch of Titus exemplify the deployment of architecture and relief sculpture to forward the objectives of those commissioning their construction. The design of each arch is influenced by the ways in which each emperor ascended to power. The agendas of each dedicator are reflected in the architecture and scenes chosen for the relief imagery, particularly the degree of use of military imagery. Each arch is also unique in its relationship to the man who cedicated it and in the way its designers wished it to be viewed by contemporaries and what it was supposed to achieve in its ccnstruction. Despite sharing the same basic structure and mediums, each arch is very distinct in all these areas, providing insight into the practices associated with Roman monumental commemorative structures. One of the most salient differences between the namesakes of each arch is the way in which they each came to power, but there are, at first, some similarities in the stories, namely that Septimius Severus and Vespasian, Titus’s father and predecessor, both claimed the throne from the provinces from a position of a military power}, Both men also had two sons with which they hoped to establish dynasties, much as Augustus had. Augustus was indeed a model for both these men. Severus most likely even modeled his arch on the Parthian Arch of Augustus, which was situated diagonally across the Forum Romanum from the Arch of Septimius Severus (Fig. 1)*. Beyond these comparisons though, the stories begin to diverge. Severus embraced his role as “military usurper” and played up the martial creation of his dynasty as much as ; possible®’, One of the panel reliefs on the arch shows the battle o Ctesiphon (Fig, 2) at which Septimius Severus’s son, Caracalla, became co-Augustus, his “battlefield coronation” as it was known. In contrast, the case of Vespasian and Titus varies in that Titus never ruled alongside his father in the same manner and because Vespasian won the throne from a fellow Roman. ina civil war, which he needed to downplay in order to retain the trust and devotion of the people of Rorie. His major addition to the city of Rome was the Templum Pacis, furthering his focus on the peace and stability he could bring to Rome after so much unrest, and so therefore had no need to celebrate overt scenes of battle, indeed, it would have been counterproductive®. Because the circumstances of the reign of each Titus and Severus were 50 different, their monuments are accordingly disparate. For the Flavians, a more controlled and simple design was chosen by Domitian to represent his brother when he ' Susann Lusnia, "Battle Imagery and Politics on the Severan Arch in the Roman Forum," Representations of War in Ancient Rome, ed. Sheila Dillon and Katherine E, Welch (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2006) 295. ? Tusnia 294, : * Richard Brilliant, Th of Septimius Severus in the Roman Forum (American Academy in Rome: Rome, 1967) 87. * Lusnia 274, * Lusnia 296. © Lusnia 295.constructed the arch sometime after 81 CE: : 'E7. Referencing old architecture helped to legitimize the new dynasty ofVespasian Creation by showing the new emperors’ consideration for tradition . On the other hand, the location for th was on land at the edge of the Forum on rovand by. ‘ I once used by Nero, and bullainga public monument on i Domitian was returning Grae tothe people af Rome by throwing off the remnants of the past. ing had been done w:th the Flavian Amphit n itheat the Baths of Titus both built on frmer Neronian proper. The as conservative in style with engage limit : iged columns and a limited amount of ele sculpture (Fig, 3 butts placement atthe highest point ofthe Via Sacra where every triumphal procession entering rum would have to pass was ostentatious, o say the least” : here the Arch of Titus has a quiet power, the Arch of : everus, erected in 203 CE is much more elaborate and conspicuous, This difference may also be due to the spirit in which each arch was dedicated. The Arch of Titus is a Consecration arch, dedicated only aftr his death by hs bother, ch of Septimius Severus is a very defini 1 ‘The Arch of Septimus ry definite triumphal archi, so ina newer style (Fig. 4), having thr bays, a style developed inthe Augistan Period. This style was ised by Augustus, and by deploying it in his arch, Severus v making a clear allusion to his sor The placement orth predecessor. The placement oft arch, too, significant, n that itis squeezed between the Rostra and the Curia, Ielooms over the Senate house, and in so doing may ve served as a warning to the senators who disa 3 proved of hi claiming Marcus Aurelius as his adopted father and consecrating ” James H. S. McGregor, Rome From the Gr u 5. , Ron the Ground Uy P of Harvard UP: Cambridge, Ma, 200) 39 hadtip Gein Press ana Kleiner, Roman Sculpture (Yale UI Diana Kleiner, R ulpture (Yale UP: New Haven, 1992) Michee! Grant, The Roman Forum (Macmillan Company: oe 1970) 163. it McGregor, 43. Kleiner, 189. ” Lusnia, 275. 45 Commodus", Its proximity to the Rostra was important also, because it dominates the space and incorporates the “traditional center of triumphal monuments" into its architecture. After the construction of a propylon by Caracalla, the two spaces were connected physically and completed the “adhesion of Rostra ‘Augusti and Arcus Triumphalis'™, The arch is also not on the Sacra Via and not easily traversable by anything but pedestrians due to a set of stairs from the level of the Comitium up to the central bay. ‘This relative isolation would have promoted the idea that this was an independent but important monument’. The architecture of each arch accomplishes something different for the purposes of the propaganda machines of the two dynasties, but both reinforce their own importance. “The more artistic part of these arches is the relief imagery present in either panels or friezes. ‘The subject matter on the Arch. of Titus is focused on the victory over Judea and the sack of Jerusalem. The frieze running around the cornice shows a sacrificial procession, and the panels on the inside of the bay show the procession of spoils from Jerusalem on one side and Titus in his four-horse chariot surrourded by deities on the facing side (Figs. 5 and 6). The whole theme and emphasis of the imagery is peace and stability, established and protected by Titus and his family. For this reason there are no overt images of battle, only of victory and celebration during the triumph. In the relief with the spoils, there is a litter being carried with sacred objects taken from Israel, including the silver trumpets of the sons of Aaron, the golden table of the 12 loaves of Shewbread and the golden Menorah, taken from the Temple in Jerusalem. These objects were then taken to the Temple of Peace to be displayed after the triumph, serving the Flavians multiple times not only to show the Romans the military strength of the Empire against a foreign enemy, but also to represent the peace finally achieved by Titus after his eastern campaigns’, The arch also emphasizes Titus’s © Lusnia, 292. ¥ Brilliant, 90. ‘5 Brilliant, 85. "6 Grant, 169. 46divinity with a metopic image of his apotheosis at the apex of the vault in the bay (Fig. 7), almost like a window looking up through the arch to see the apotheosis actually happen’”. ‘The panel with Titus in his chariot during the triumph also shows him separated from other humans, surrounded by deities including Roma or Virtus, Victory and the genius ofboth the Senate and people of Rome!®. The arch is the first state-sanctioned monumental relief where mortals and deities coexist in a scene" ‘The relief work on the Seyeran Arch also represents an eastern campaign, but here the military aspect is played up, comprising most ofthe scenes on the structure, There is no interaction between divinities and mortals, but instead each of the four major panel reliefs on the outside of the arch depicts a different victory over the Parthiens®®, There is a focus on military prowess, which is to be expected when Septimius Severus’s claim to Imperial power is legitimized by his military campaigns, so it follows that he would want to advertise those events that made him emperor. Not only does the subject matter of the reliefs differ, but also the ways in which they are presented are distinct. The Arch of Titus uses selected, isolated scenes, each self-contained depicting one action each- a snapshot of whatever is being depicted. The figures are very individualized and classical, presented in an isocephalic perspective with varying levels of relief that make the scenes lively and promote a sens2 of movement through shadow", The scenes on the Arch of Severus are complex tales, vignettes of batties, reminiscent of the prolonged military narratives like that found on the Column of Trajan. In fact, the great relief panels have three sceaes each, read from bottom to top "’ Niels Hannestad, Roman Art and Imperial Policy (Jutland Archaeological Society Publications, Aarhus UP: Denmark, 1986) 'S Hannestad, 128-129, ” Hannestad, 188. Grant, 172. 2! Grant, 172. * Hannestad, 132. 47 and left to right, separated by groundlines, just as in column. reliefs, For all the scenes are more complex, they are not executed as delicately as thos on the Arch of Titus. The figures are squat, insignificant and anonymous, grouped in masses rather than presented individuals. It has been suggested that the insignificance of the people in the reliefs is a symptom of Severan authoritarianism and vanishing private liberties, but it is more likely that the sculptor needed to portray more figures in each scene than the artist on the Arch of Titus had to and so had to sacrifice detail for a scene more evocative of battle*. The perspective is a faux bird’s eye view, being frontal and from above at the same time, itis awkward, but readable’. The panels on the Severan Arch serve the purpose of conveying that the creation of the new dynasty and the Parthian campaigns are inextricably linked, thus the scenes are crucial to the propaganda of the arch as awhole2s, The arches use differing techniques to present their messages, but in the end they are both effective at either promoting peace or glorifying war, whichever served their respective dynasties more powerfully. ‘The Triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus was erected by Severus himself to emphasize his dynasty and establish himself and his sons as the legitimate rulers of the Roman Empire, but the ‘Arch of Titus was erected after his death by Domitian in honor of his deified father and brother. In so doing, Domitian was promoting the fact that he was related hy blood to two divi of the Empire, emphasizing his own semi-divinity and supporting his claims to be called “Dominus et Deus” while still living, something unprecedented in the Roman world. Domitian forwarded his own agenda through the lens of Vespasian and Titus, manipulating the propaganda and images of his father and brother to legitimize his own reign. ‘Though the arches of Severus and Titus are very different entities, they share the same main goal of promoting the agendas, 3 Grant, 172. > Grant, 176. > Kleiner, 331. * Lusnia, 295.Of the men who commissioned them, What each arch was meant to signify was very different, one war, the other peace, depending on the ascension of the emperor in question. To achieve this goal, the architecture and art of the arches were deployed to their fall Potential to broadcast the intentions and ideals of the dynasties of the emperors of Rome. Monumental structures in highly trafficked areas of the city were some of the best ways to disseminate information in Rome and so the arches are essentially monumental political billboards, 49. in Susann Lusnia, "Battle Imagery 1. Map of the Forum Romenum, in i n tnd Poles onthe Severan Arh in Roman Torn” Repeats of War in Ancient Rome, ed. Sheila Dillon and Katherine E. (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2006) 276. Lusnia, 278. DFigure 3. Arch of Titus, in Diana Kleiner, Haven, 192) 186, SLWorks Cited Brilliant, Richard. Forum. Roi +h of Septimius Severus in the Roman ican Academy in Rome, 1967 Grant, Michael. The Roman Forum. London: Macmillan Company, 1970. Hannestad, Niels. Roman Art and Imperial Policy, Jutland Archaeological Society Publications, Aarhus UP: Denmark, 1986. Kleiner, Diana, Roman Sculpture. New Haven: Yale UP, 1992. Lusnia, Susann, "Battle Imagery and Politics on the Severan Arch in the Roman Forum." Representations of War in Ancient Rome. Ed. Sheila Dillon and Katherine E. Welch. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2006. 272-99. McGregor, James H. S. Rome From the Ground Up. Cambridge, MA: Belknap P of Harvard UP, 2005.55