Opuscula is published by the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome, with the aid of a grant from the Swedish Research Council. Distributed by Eddy.se AB. View journal at ERIH PLUS. All content available with open access. Johan Niklas Byström and the so-called Venus of Stockholm. New research on a presumably lost sculpture By Christian Klose Abstract The inventory books of the Skulpturensammlung (Sculpture Collection) in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (Dresden State Art Collections, SKD) mention a plaster cast of a Venus sculpture, moulded from the marble so-called Venus of Stockholm. In the first half of the 19th century this statue—always considered an ancient artwork—had been owned by the Swedish sculptor Johan Niklas Byström, before it was sold to an English art collector. From that time on, the sculpture has been considered lost and it has remained unregarded by research. By contextualizing the Dresden plaster cast with other ancient Venus sculptures and textual sources, this article aims to show that the Venus of Stockholm was most likely an elaborate and mirror-reversed imitation made in its entirety in the 17th or 18th century. As such, the Venus of Stockholm was exceptional, because post-antique mirror-reversed copies of ancient sculptures are very rare. In…

Opuscula is published by the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome, with the aid of a grant from the Swedish Research Council. Distributed by Eddy.se AB. View journal at ERIH PLUS. All content available with open access. Hieronymus Odam, engraved gems and antiquarianism By Paweł Gołyźniak Abstract This article is designed to recover and reconstruct the antiquarian, collecting, and documentary activities of Italian artist Hieronymus Odam (c. 1681–1740) in respect of engraved gems. Odam is primarily recognized as a painter, while his contribution to the development of antiquarianism and collecting of antiquities remains virtually unknown. Odam’s speciality was intaglios and cameos. The recently discovered drawings of gems in the Princes Czartoryski Museum in Kraków, the Kunstbibliothek in Berlin, and the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, as well as archival sources—Odam’s correspondence and two dactyliothecae (those of Pier Leone Ghezzi and James Tassie)—prove that he possessed a considerable number of engraved gems and was one of the experts in this particular field. But above all, Odam documented thousands of engraved gems, notably for Philipp von Stosch, in a very accurate and innovative way, straying from the traditional antiquarian approach. The co-operation between Odam and Stosch resulted in illustrations that were designed to show techniques…

Opuscula is published by the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome, with the aid of a grant from the Swedish Research Council. Distributed by Eddy.se AB. View journal at ERIH PLUS. All content available with open access. New Greek inscriptions from Akmoneia and its territory By Hüseyin Uzunoğlu & N. Eda Akyürek Şahin Abstract This paper publishes nine new inscriptions copied during the archaeo­logical surveys conducted in the Phrygian city of Akmoneia and in its territory between 2014 and 2017. Even though there have been no systematic excavations to date, the city is remarkable due to its rich epigraphic documentation. The new finds make a notable contribution to this. Of the nine inscriptions published here, one (No. 1) concerns the erection of the statues of Koros, the goddesses, as well as of the sacred council, by a certain Hierokles, the priest and the agonothete of the Great Asklepieia. In another inscription (No. 2), a woman called Flavia Hedeia, the daughter of Flavius Montanus of consular rank and the wife of Sallius Aristainetos of consular rank, is honoured by her foster-parents. We attempt to identify Flavius Montanus through some related inscriptions already published from the city and thereby propose a dating in the…

Opuscula is published by the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome, with the aid of a grant from the Swedish Research Council. Distributed by Eddy.se AB. View journal at ERIH PLUS. All content available with open access. Statuettes of pregnant sows from Knidos. New light on the cult of Demeter By Linda Talatas Abstract Four marble statuettes of pregnant swine were found in the sanctuary of Demeter at Knidos over 160 years ago, but have been largely overlooked in previous research, even though the connection between pigs and Demeter has long caught the attention of scholars, especially in relation to the piglets required for the celebration of her Eleusinian Mysteries. The statuettes raise several questions. Why make sculptures of pregnant sows? Who dedicated those offerings, and in what context? Are they related to the sacrifice of pregnant sows? And ultimately, why pregnant sows for Demeter? The article starts with a presentation of the four marble sows from the sanctuary of Demeter at Knidos, followed by a more general examination of the archaeological evidence for pig, piglet, and pregnant sow representations at Greek sanctuaries. I will then explore the epigraphical evidence for pregnant sow sacrifices, all of which is in connection…

Opuscula is published by the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome, with the aid of a grant from the Swedish Research Council. Distributed by Eddy.se AB. View journal at ERIH PLUS. All content available with open access. The humans of ancient Hermione. The necropolis in the light of bioarchaeology By Anna Tornberg Abstract Bioarchaeology has the potential to substantially inform about ancient lifeways through osteological analyses of the remains of the once-living individuals. This article provides insights of the demography and health of the people of ancient Hermione (Geometric–Roman period). A minimum number of 85 individuals from the Hermione necropolis was osteologically analysed. Although the analysis was limited by taphonomic processes and the long period of use of the necropolis, the results point towards a population affected by urban hazards, such as infections, high child mortality, and, possibly, decreased opportunity to survive into senescence. Further, stunted growth, evidence of general stress primarily in the juvenile skeletal assemblage, and a possible case of child abuse informs of the hardships experienced by children in ancient Hermione. The osteological analysis also confirms that the two individuals buried in the “Warrior Tomb” were of both sexes. The skeletal remains were unfortunately too poorly preserved…

Opuscula is published by the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome, with the aid of a grant from the Swedish Research Council. Distributed by Eddy.se AB. View journal at ERIH PLUS. All content available with open access. An overlooked 2nd-century BC decree by the polis of the Orthieians, Thessaly By Robin Rönnlund Abstract The National Archive of Monuments in Athens contains a dossier with documents regarding complications relating to road construction works in 1905 at the then-unknown archaeological site of Kedros in Western Thessaly. Among the documents is a paper copy of a fragmentary inscription of the 2nd century BC, reportedly found at the site. The preserved text of the inscription indicates that it was an honorific decree set up by the polis of the Orthieians to a benefactor from the nearby city of Gomphoi. Bibliographical information Robin Rönnlund, ‘An overlooked 2nd-century BC decree by the polis of the Orthieians, Thessaly’, Opuscula. Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome (OpAthRom) 16, Stockholm 2023, 113-131. ISSN: 2000-0898. ISBN: 978-91-977799-5-1. Softcover, 268 pages. https://doi.org/10.30549/opathrom-16-05

Opuscula is published by the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome, with the aid of a grant from the Swedish Research Council. Distributed by Eddy.se AB. View journal at ERIH PLUS. All content available with open access. A preliminary report on sculptures and figurative terracottas found at the site of Vlochos, region of Karditsa, Thessaly By Stelios Ieremias & Robin Rönnlund Abstract The existence of an ancient city at Thessalian Vlochos was first established by the discovery in 1964 of several inscribed stelai at a quarry at the site, which in turn prompted its declaration as a protected archaeological zone. A large spoil-heap with mixed soils and quarry debris had been left after the closure of the quarry, and this was examined and removed as part of the ongoing Greek-Swedish archaeological collaboration at the site. Apart from quarry debris and rubbish, the soils of the heap yielded considerable amounts of pottery and tile, and also architectural members, terracotta figurines, stelai, marble statuettes, and votives. The mixed nature of the soils made all finds ex situ, but the composition of the material provides a transect of the chronology of the site at Vlochos, as well as strong indications of cult, including evidence…

Opuscula is published by the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome, with the aid of a grant from the Swedish Research Council. Distributed by Eddy.se AB. View journal at ERIH PLUS. All content available with open access. Memorial sculpture in the Protestant Cemetery at Rome.  New discoveries and an inventory of identified works By Nicholas Stanley-Price Abstract The funerary sculpture in the Protestant Cemetery in Rome, the heart of Catholicism, has been little studied. A new inventory of monuments lists over 130 works for which the sculptor, architect or bronze foundry, either Italian or non-Italian, has been identified. Many new identifications, often based on previously unrecorded inscriptions, have brought to light the work of well-documented foreign sculptors who had settled in Rome either temporarily or permanently. Several elaborate monuments were evidently commissions from wealthy relatives or friends of the deceased, but a greater number were contributed by artistic family members or by other fellow artists. In these frequent cases, a desire to commemorate a relative or personal friend, rather than financial gain, would have been the primary motivation. Bibliographical information Nicholas Stanley-Price, ‘Memorial sculpture in the Protestant Cemetery at Rome. New discoveries and an inventory of identified works’, Opuscula. Annual…

Opuscula is published by the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome, with the aid of a grant from the Swedish Research Council. Distributed by Eddy.se AB. View journal at ERIH PLUS. All content available with open access. The Basilica Sempronia and the Forum Romanum By Henrik Gerding & Nicolò Dell’Unto Abstract The authors of this paper reinvestigate the remains of the Basilica Sempronia, situated below the Imperial Basilica Julia in Rome. By combining the information from the original excavation with a new 3D digital documentation, new observations are made and previous interpretations reassessed. The present remains are discussed in relation to the contemporary built environment, as well as to preceding and following phases. It is argued that the Basilica Sempronia was an elongated hall with closed lateral walls and interior supports. It was erected on a podium that raised the building above the surrounding streets on all sides except the west. The Augustan renewal of the Basilica Julia entailed vast foundations works, which had a huge impact on the site. However, evidence of an intermediate phase indicates the existence of a building complex that merged the previous basilica with the Tabernae Veteres, partly preserving their original dimensions and orientations. This…

Opuscula is published by the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome, with the aid of a grant from the Swedish Research Council. Distributed by Eddy.se AB. View journal at ERIH PLUS. All content available with open access. Late Etruscan tripod thymiateria By Örjan Wikander Abstract This article is a further development of questions raised in my review of Laura Ambrosini’s magisterial Thymiateria etruschi in bronzo (2002), and it is mainly based upon material gathered by her. Whereas I mostly agree with Ambrosini’s conclusions, the discussion includes some dissent concerning production centres (Chiusi and Tarquinia in particular), chronology (beginning and end-date of production), and the function of the censers. Otherwise, a series of case studies clearly confirms the basic correctness of Ambrosini’s division of the thymiateria by different production centres. The article also expands my earlier views on the varying modes of production and the possible importance of Roman leges sumptu­ariae for the southern limit of thymiateria diffusion. Except for that, the investigation reveals no traces of influence from the Roman wars and the contemporaneous romanization, but perhaps of the importance of the stands for family status and cultural identity. Bibliographical information Örjan Wikander, ‘Late Etruscan tripod thymiateria’, Opuscula. Annual of…