A sample of Caligula’s megalomania

Speaking of megalomania, I believe the Roman emperors of the first century AD excel in that domain with Caligula and Nero in prominent places.

The opulence that was common good to them goes beyond our most daring imagination and one such example is the two ceremonial ships which Caligula built for his eccentric pleasure on Lake Nemi, some 30 kilometers south of Rome. These ships were not meant for sailing as they were simply too big to maneuver for the size of the lake. But then, the lake was sacred to the Romans as confirmed by the presence of the goddess Diana Nemorensis and the god Virbius which were venerated in the towns on the surrounding shore.

Much speculation is shrouding these ships in mystery but it is thought that the largest vessel (73 meters long and 24 meters wide) served essentially as a floating palace with rooms whose floors and walls were covered with colored marble and lively mosaics. This residence had its own baths and pool equipped with the appropriate comforts of plumbing and heating. The other vessel was not much smaller with its 70 x 20 meters and seems to have been a floating temple for Diana. Both ships were built from cedar wood and carried sails made of purple silk. History further tells us that they were adorned with gold and precious stones as well as bronze reliefs. Somehow they even “grew” a number of fruit trees and vines on board. The example set by the Ptolemies in Egypt and the Hellenistic rulers in Syracuse certainly was not lost on Caligula!

It is known that Romans could make ball bearings out of lead and the story goes that this invention was used on the Nemi ships to move the windlasses and even to rotate the statues of the gods! Top notch technology was implemented like several hand operated bilge pumps that worked very much like modern bucket dredges. Piston pumps, in turn, supplied the hot water for the baths and the cold water for fountains and drinking water. It is hard to believe that this knowledge of piston pumps was lost in time until it finally was “rediscovered” in the Middle Ages.

Caligula’s pleasure vessels were short lived as he was assassinated about a year after they were launched and opposition parties soon stripped them of their precious content and intentionally sunk them. They remained at the bottom of Lake Nemi for almost 2,000 years during which time fishermen and treasure hunters regularly retrieved small treasures from the wrecks.

This is probably the origin of a square piece of inlaid marble which features a geometric pattern using green and purple porphyry, serpentine and molded glass that recently made headlines on the antique markets. The owners who acquired the piece in the early 1970s framed it and turned it into a small coffee table. The details of that story can be found in the New York Times of 19 October 2017.

The life of the two Nemi ships did, however, not end at the bottom of the lake. In 1927, Benito Mussolini (another megalomaniac) ordered to drain the lake in order to expose and retrieve the ships. The first ship was recovered in 1931 and the second one in 1932, and in 1936 he built a museum to host both vessels. Unfortunately, in 1944 fire destroyed the museum and its precious contents after several bombings. To this day, it is not clear whether the Germans started the fire or the allies caused it by their intense bombing. Today, a new museum can be visited on the site sheltering scale models of the ships and those rare artifacts that have survived. Let us hope that this “coffee table” will soon be visible at that museum also.

Lake Nemi, once hosting scenes of orgies, cruelty, music and sport is once again a place where the people of Rome can enjoy the clean air and cooler temperatures in the summer months. The lucky visitor may still witness the magical reflection of the Moon in the center of the lake during summer nights – a phenomenon the ancient Romans called Speculum Dianae, in other words, Diana’s Mirror.

[Pictures from New-York Times]

An original bronze by Praxiteles?

Who would not like to claim to be the owner of an original bronze statue made by Praxiteles?

Praxiteles of Athens, who lived in the 4^th century BC, made a name for himself during his lifetime as he was the very first sculptor ever to create a nude woman, and he made her life-size! To avoid a scandal, he labeled his lady Aphrodite, which was received gracefully by the people of Cnidos, who had ordered a statue of this goddess although they had not expected her to be in the nude! (see: Was Alexander the Great aware of Cnidos?). Sadly, none of his original works have survived, and all we have to go by are copies – yet what copies!

The most striking full-sized statue in marble is that of Hermes holding the infant Dionysus from the Temple of Hera and now exhibited at the Archaeological Museum of Olympia. Among the other masterpieces, we know the Diadoumenus and the Apollo-Antonius at the Archaeological Museum of Tripoli (Libya), the Venus (2^nd century AD) and the Apollo Sauroktonos (1^st century AD) at the Louvre, the Venus(2^nd century AD) at the Museo Capitolino in Rome, the Roman Satyr at the Altes Museum in Berlin, the head of Venus at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, the torso of Venus at the Cinquantenaire Museum in Brussels, the Bacchus or Satyr (2cd century AD) and the Tyche (early 2^nd century AD) also at the Cinquantenaire Museum in Brussels, the Apollo Lykeios from Epidaurus at the Archaeological Museum of Athens. There must be many more in other museums around the world.

Yet all these statues are made of marble, although the originals probably were created in precious bronze. Bronze, as we know, has been melted down time and again over the centuries, primarily for military purposes meaning that any bronze statue from antiquity is a scarce item.

Recently, the Cleveland Museum of Art has exhibited a statue of Apollo, claiming that it is an original Greek bronze made by the famous sculptor Praxiteles. You would expect this distinguished museum to base such a statement on solid grounds, but it raised many questions instead.

The Apollo in question is also known as the Apollo the Python-Slayer or Apollo Sauroktonos (Lizard Slayer), dated to about 350 BC. It is made of bronze with copper and stone inlay and stands 1.50 meters high. The statue is incomplete as it misses part of his right arm, the tree, and his left arm and shoulder resting on it.

But luckily, Apollo's left hand has been recovered, as well as a small reptile that looks like a lizard but is, in fact, a Python in reduced size. It seems that it was made for the sanctuary of the Pythian Apollo in Delphi, who, according to the myth, had to vanquish Python, the son of Mother Earth. It is thought that Apollo's victory of the Python translated Praxiteles' idea of the triumph of order (kosmos) over disorder (chaos). Emperor Nero is probably responsible for taking the statue to Rome, where Pliny the Elder described it as a bronze of the youthful Apollo about to stab a lizard with an arrow.

There are indeed several contradictory and conflicting stories that are circulating. One tells us how the mysterious Apollo was purchased in 2004 from Phoenix Ancient Art, an antiquity dealer, for 5 million dollars. Initially, it was recovered from an estate in Eastern Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The legal heir to this estate remembered having seen the statue on several occasions at his great-uncle's house. This heir believed it was an 18^th or 19th-century work not worth much money, and he sold the broken pieces. It was soon identified as ancient and appeared in 2003 at said art gallery, where the museum acquired it a year later.

France-Presse, in turn, reported in 2007 that Greek officials had discovered the bronze in the sea somewhere between Greece and Italy, but no clear evidence sustains this statement. Although the Greek government accepts that the statue comes from "somewhere in Greece," they refused to cooperate with the Louvre in their exhibition of the works of Praxiteles if they were to show this bronze Apollo. The Louvre complied.

Although there are international laws to prevent the trading of illegal and looted antiquities, there is no law to put the exhibition of objects from uncertain and undocumented provenance on hold till comprehensive research can confirm their authenticity and origin.

It may be wishful thinking to have an authentic bronze created by Praxiteles; it may be a commercial tool to attract visitors to the museum. After all, we may be very fortunate to have an original Praxiteles saved by the art market.

[Pictures from The Cleveland Museum of Art]

More news from Anticythera

The site of Anticythera remains a treasure trove for underwater archaeologists. In September 2016, they returned to the site of the shipwreck and brought back bronze limbs, the lid of a sarcophagus, parts of different marble statues and a mysterious bronze disk.

The ship, one of the largest for its time (1^st century BC) was nearly 40 meters long and transported a rich collection of artworks that was meant to decorate the houses of wealthy Romans (see also: The treasures of Anticythera’s shipwreck).

It is so exciting to be able to share the divers’ experiences under water as they handle a lost bronze arm belonging probably to a philosopher or an intriguing bronze disk that carries the image of a bull. Let’s enjoy this little video:

Anticythera made headlines when the famous mechanism was brought to light early last century and has kept scientists and researchers busy ever since.

The most significant find of this season may well be the human remains. This is a great opportunity to examine this skeleton’s DNA, hoping that the bones do indeed belong to one of the seafarers who died when the ship went down and not to a later shipwreck.

The Khyber Pass into India

On their return from Sogdiana (see: End of Alexander’s Campaign in Central Asia), the Macedonians spent a well-deserved rest of six months at Alexandria-in-the-Caucasus (Begram) in the heart of the Kabul Valley. Here, Alexander worked hard to reshuffle and reorganize his army.

[Map is from the Encyclopaedia Britannica]

His strategic phalanx was dismantled since it no longer served its purpose after the Bactrian guerilla wars. The mounted Lancers joined the Companion Cavalry together with the skillful horsemen from Bactria and Sogdiana, to which he added 2,000 horse-archers from Spitamenes’ nomads.

On another level, the commanding posts needed to be redistributed after the execution of Philotas and Parmenion and the murder of Cleitos. Their detachments were split between Ptolemy, Hephaistion, Perdiccas, and Leonnatus. The Royal Shield Bearers were promoted to the title of Silver Shields (Argyraspids), led by Seleucos and Nearchus, under the supreme command of Neoptolemus. The Royal Squadron of Companions remained under Alexander’s own command. These Cavalry Commanders and trusted squadron leaders enabled him to divide his army more freely between different locations at any one time.

That winter of 327 BC, the entire army was on the march again, with their forces divided in two. Hephaistion and Perdiccas are sent ahead to the Indus in order to prepare the crossing of that river with half the Companions and all the mercenary cavalry. The timing is well chosen to avoid the summer heat upon arrival in India. With the other half of the troops, Alexander starts his march up the Kunar Valley into the Swat Valley in modern Pakistan.

There is little or no information about the expedition of Hephaistion and Perdiccas as they head east. It is clear that to reach the Indus River, they must cross the Hindu Kush Mountains again. The obvious route this time leads over the Khyber Pass. Even today, the main road from Kabul to Peshawar runs over the same mountain pass.

The Khyber Pass is situated at an elevation of 1070 meters and is 53 kilometers long. The passage varies between 3 and 137 meters in width, meaning that the Macedonians had to cope with the inevitable bottlenecks. On top of that, the Khyber Pass is walled in by steep cliffs towering 200-300 meters above the men’s heads.

It is not known how long it took Hephaistion and Perdiccas to get across the pass, only that they marched to Peucelaotis and hence to the Indus. Their instructions, according to Arrian, were that they had to take all the places they encountered, either by force or by agreement.

Peucelaotis, however, resisted. Hephaistion besieged the town for thirty days, after which the defenders surrendered, maybe simply because their governor, Astes, was killed. The newly appointed governor was a certain Sangaeus who had deserted Astes some time before to join Taxiles. This made the man trustworthy.

Eventually, Hephaistion and Perdiccas reached the River Indus at Ohind/Hund (near modern Attock) in Punjab. Here, they built a fleet of thirty-oared galleys and a pontoon bridge of linked boats spanning the river, which at this point is at least 400 to 500 meters wide. This operation is not to be underestimated, for although the bridge was constructed far upstream in the Punjab region, the river is fed by snow and glacial meltwater from the Karakorum, the Hindu Kush, and the Himalaya Mountains, and its annual flow is known to be two times faster than that of the Nile or three times that of the Euphrates and the Tigris combined.

Even in antiquity, historians tend to focus solely on Alexander, but his generals also excelled in their missions, which were multiplied from Sogdiana and Bactria onwards. The War of the Diadochi that broke out after Alexander’s death certainly proves – if a proof is needed – how capable each and every one of his generals was. Well, they certainly had an excellent master!

[The Black&White picture is taken by John Burke, 1879-1880]

Two more bronze ship rams recovered

Underwater archaeology near the Egadi Islands west of Sicily has yielded several ships’ rams in recent years. The counter stood at eleven pieces, of which one was Carthaginian (see: Sicily and the Sea, temporary exhibition in Amsterdam). This year, two more battering rams named Egadi 12 and Egadi 13 were salvaged from the sea bottom.

Like the previous ones, these ship’s rams belong to the Punic Wars opposing Rome and Carthage during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. One of the newly recovered rams carries an antique Punic inscription, confirming that it belonged to a Carthaginian ship.

Besides these wonderful and unique rams, ten bronze helmets of the Montefortino type have also been recovered. One of these helmets displays a lion skin motif surrounding the central knob. Interestingly, the Carthaginian ships’ ram presented at the Sicily and the Sea exhibition mentioned above had the imprint of a Montefortino helmet.

These results are pretty promising for next year’s excavation season!

[The top picture is from La Reppublica Palermo presenting a slideshow of most of the finds]

Hellenistic gymnasium found in Egypt

After the death of Alexander the Great, his general Ptolemy became the ruler of Egypt and took the country into the Hellenistic world. As his empire grew, more and more Greek-speaking settlers moved to the newly founded city of Alexandria and generally to the entire Nile delta.

These newcomers mingled with the natives, and soon Greek sanctuaries arose next to existing Egyptian temples. Besides they also built monuments for their own comfort, like baths and gymnasiums. In the delta villages, these buildings were generally financed by wealthy Greek inhabitants and the men governing the institutions.

[Part of the gymnasium discovered at Watfa [Credit: Ministry of Antiquities]

In one such village, Watfa, situated five kilometers east of Qasr Qaroun in the Fayum area, the very first Hellenistic gymnasium in Egypt has been discovered. Well, this is what the media tell us. However, we should not forget that Egypt was much larger in antiquity since it also included modern Libya.  Over there, the city of Cyrene proudly shows its Hellenistic Gymnasium, also called Ptolemaion, in honor of Ptolemy VIII, who built it in the 2^nd century BC. When the Romans arrived in the 1st century BC, they paved the vast grounds and turned it into a Forum that was eventually called Ceasarion. (see: Cyrene, founded by the Greeks).

Watfa is the modern name for Philoteris, founded in the 3^rd century BC by Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who named the town after his sister/wife, Philotera. It is estimated that Philoteris counted approximately 1200 inhabitants in those early years, one-third of which were Greek-speaking.

The gymnasium of Philoteris is composed of the main building arranged around a courtyard, a large hall for meetings adorned with statues, and a dining hall. The running track met the standard racing distance of a stadium, i.e., about 180 meters. It is hard to imagine in this now desert landscape that the gymnasium was once surrounded by lush gardens. No measurements are given, but I assume they may come close to the impressive 85 x 96 meters of Cyrene.

In those days, such a grand building was a matter of prestige, for here, the young Greek upper class would meet not only to be trained in sports but also to learn to read and write and to enjoy philosophical discussions as was customary in their homeland.

Until now, the existence of gymnasia in the Egyptian countryside was known from inscriptions and papyrus documents only, but the find at Watfa is the icing on the cake. It also shows the considerable impact the Greeks had in the Egyptian countryside.

Ancient Theater unearthed in Thouria

The Greek Peloponnese seems to be a stepchild when it comes to archaeological discoveries and makes the headlines only occasionally.

Source: E-Kathimerini

 All Images Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports

This time the news comes from Thouria, which is to be found about ten kilometers northwest of Kalamata at the southern end of the peninsula where a theater from the 4^th century BC has been discovered. The remains do not look spectacular as only the orchestra and the first tiers of seats have survived. What is surprising are the three parallel groves running around the orchestra (with a perimeter of 16.3 meters) which suggest that the stage was movable.

The theatre faced the west, offering a great view over the plain of Messenia with in the distance the shimmering waters of the Messenian Gulf.

The site of Thouria was discovered about ten years ago and has been identified thanks to inscriptions found among the shards and architectural remains revealing the size of Thouria. Based on the descriptions left by Pausanias and Strabo, we know that Thouria possessed many sanctuaries like a Temple of Athena, a goddess who was especially honored since her image appears on Roman coins. More famous was the Temple of Atagartis, a Syrian goddess not unlike Venus located next to the fish tanks - it is not surprising that she was represented as a fish.

A citadel with parts of the antique wall including rectangular towers from the 4^th century BC is still commanding the city.

From the classical era all the way down to the Roman occupation, Thouria sided alternatively with the Messinians and with the Spartans although their coins bear the initials of the Spartans.

It will be interesting to follow further excavations in and around Thouria.

[For this picture and more, see Realm of History]

De Griekse Oudheid in Vijftig Levens (A History of Ancient Greece in Fifty Lives) by David Stuttard

Flipping through a book at a shop – in this case, the bookshop of the Archaeological Museum of Leiden (Netherlands) - is quite different from buying one via the Internet. Actually holding it in my hands and marveling at the pictures and the many familiar names made me fall in love with this book and I’m certain this would not have happened clicking through the page on the internet. There is that extra dimension like when holding a paper book as opposed to an eBook.

This is how I ended up buying this Dutch translation of A History of Ancient Greece in Fifty Lives by David Stuttard (ISBN 978-0500252055). Yet the language is not important, it all is about the book’s contents.

Stuttard starts with a chapter Of Gods and Heroes without whom Greece could not exist. Next, he tackles the many men (and one woman, Sappho) who made Greece great working chronologically and putting them in their own historical context: The Era of the Tyrants, Greece in Peril, the Age of Pericles, World War, Fallout, The Age of the Dynasts, In the Shadow of Rome and finally Lives in a Mirror.

Instead of relating history through battles and dates, he selects key figures from each era and through them projects Greece’s rich past using the views and contributions of politicians, philosophers, kings, artists, generals, etc. The result is a most comprehensive and easy-to-read history of Greece, taking it to a human scale.

Great care has been given to the presentation of this book, with occasional inserts and appropriate pictures. It makes very captivating reading.

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend the translation in Dutch, "De Griekse Oudheid in Vijftig Levens" (ISBN 9-789401-905725) where words have been mistranslated (speaking of Spaniards instead of Spartans, for instance) and sentences have been twisted to mean the opposite of what is intended. I discovered most of these errors in the chapter on Alexander the Great, which makes me wonder how much the rest of the book is trustworthy. 

David Stuttard has been informed of this unfortunate situation and is taking action.