A Myth for a Smith: A Meleager Sarcophagus from a Tomb in Ostia Author(s): Eve D'Ambra Source: American Journal of Archaeology,

Vol. 92, No. 1 (Jan., 1988), pp. 85-99 Published by: Archaeological Institute of America Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/505872 Accessed: 19/11/2010 06:30
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A Myth for a Smith: A Meleager Sarcophagusfrom a Tomb in Ostia*

EVE D'AMBRA
Abstract This article focuseson the relationshipbetweenthe exteriorand interiordecorationof two second-century tombs in the Isola SacraNecropolisoutsideOstia. Terracottareliefs depictingthe occupationsof the deceasedwere placed on the tomb facades while the chambers were adorned with mythological sarcophagiand paintings. The selection of mythologicalsubjectsis shown to complementthe professionsof the deceased,and evidence of a decorative programemerges for both of the tombs. The social backgroundof the deceased,the differencesin theme and style of the decorations, the audienceforthese workswithin and and without the tomb are also discussed. The tombs of the Isola Sacra Necropolis outside Ostia provide evidence for the artistic patronage of the class of artisans, tradespeople, and professionals of Rome's port in the second century A.C.1 Questions of taste and social class in Ostia have been discussed by Kampen in her book on the portrayal of one group, working women.2 Several Isola Sacra tombs are, however, decorated with depictions not only of occupations but also of mythological subjects. Two tombs in particular indicate that reliefs representing the deceased's occupation decorated the tomb facade while mythological scenes adorned the tomb interior. The relationship between the exterior and interior decoration of these tombs is the focus of this article. * I would like to thank Diana E.E. Kleiner for her criticism and encouragement. Susan B. Downey was responsible for my initial interest in this topic. Research for this article was supportedby the Samuel H. Kress Foundationand the American Academyin Rome, where I presentedthis material in an abbreviatedform as a shop talk. Russell T. Scott, Karin Einaudi, and Shara Wasserman helped me acquire of photographs,which the Soprintendenza Ostia kindly provided. Franc Palaia, Carole Paul, Brian Rose, BarbaraKellum, Minott Kerr,and Paul Harvey discussedvariousproblems with me. The following abbreviationshave been used: Calza, La necropoli G. Calza, La necropoli del Porto di
Roma nell'Isola Sacra (Rome

This topic has not been addressed before in the literature on Ostia. Although the tomb facades may remain intact, it is often impossible to reconstruct the interiors that have been stripped of paintings and sculptural ornament. Wrede has examined the programs of the tombs of non-elite patrons in the city of Rome. These programs, however, frequently comprise mythological portraits which allude to the apotheosis of the deceased.3 The second-century Tomb of Claudia Semne on the Via Appia, for example, displays a unity of motifs and style which is lacking in the decoration of the Isola Sacra tombs.4 The social context also differs: Claudia Semne's husband was an imperial freedman of Trajan in the capital while the Isola Sacra patrons earned their livelihoods from the seagoing trade of Portus, the town which prospered in the second century after the construction of Trajan's harbor.' Imperial freedmen in Ostia were active in the annona, yet the trade collegia provided opportunities for public service and the social advancement of the entrepreneurial class.6 The Isola Sacra Necropolis is located between the city of Ostia and Portus, and is traversed by a road which connects the two centers.' From a sample of about 200 tombs excavated at the necropolis, the dominant type in the second century is the columbarium, G. Zimmer, "Rimische Handwerker,"ANR WII.12.3 (1985) 205-28. Calza, La necropoli267. 2 See Kampen,Image. 3 H. Wrede, "Stadtr6mischeMonumente, Urnen und Sarkophagedes Klinentypusin den beidenerstenJahrhunderten n. Chr.," AA 1977, 395-431. H. Wrede, "Die Ausstattung stadtrimischerGrabtempelund der Ubergang zur RM Korperbestattung," 85 (1978) 412-33. H. Wrede, Consecratio in formam deorum: Vergittlichte Privatpersonen in der r6mischen Kaiserzeit (Mainz 1981).
4 H. Wrede, "Das Mausoleum der Claudia Semne und die biirgerliche Plastik der Kaiserzeit," RM 78 (1971) 125-66, esp. 156, on the influenceof officialart and its style. The works of this ensemble may include those executed in an archaizingstyle (136-37), but this does not detractfrom its general stylistic unity. 5J.M.C. Toynbee, Death and Burial in the Roman World(Oxford 1971) 82. 6 R. Meiggs, Roman Ostia2 (Oxford 1973) 311-36. 7 Toynbee (supra n. 5) 83.

Zimmer, RH

1940). Kampen,Image Zimmer, RB

N.B. Kampen, Image and Status: Roman Working Women in Ostia

(Berlin 1981).
G. Zimmer, Rimische Berufdarstel-

lungen (AF 12, Berlin 1982). AmericanJournal of Archaeology92 (1988) 85

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with the tombs arranged in rows adjacent to one another.8 Although a home for the dead, the cemetery also provided amenities for the living: gardens, benches flanking the tomb doors, and precincts with wells and cooking facilities.' The last was necessary for the rites and banquets celebrated at the tomb to honor the deceased.10 The prestige of the family was also enhanced by the size and decoration of the tomb.11 The size of the tomb indicates its cost and consequently its value as a status object. Many of the Isola Sacra tombs have cellae or interiors ranging in size from about 4 to 12 m.2, approximating the size of those of the contemporary tombs in the necropolis under the Vatican.12 Data collected from Italy and the provinces suggest that the costs of burials with funerary monuments, stelai, and tombs typically vary from 100 to tens of thousands of sestertii or more, with the median cost in Italy being 10,000 sestertii.13 The desire to commemorate oneself or a loved one was evidently not beyond the reach of soldiers, the artisans of Ostia or Portus, and the low-level clerks and administrators in public service such as those buried in the necropolis under the Vatican.14 Within the Isola Sacra Necropolis, less costly memorials were in the form of small tombs in the shape of chests or trench graves covered by tiles.15 The lowest rung of the social order, the non-imperial slaves and the freeborn poor, is represented by the burials marked only by amphorae set in the ground.16

-;1

--L

Fig. 1. Restoredfacadeof Tomb 29, Isola Sacra Necropolis. (After Calza, La necropoli65, fig. 18)

Marble inscriptional plaques on the facades of the columbaria identified the owners.'7 In some cases, terracotta reliefs depicting the deceased's trade were placed on either side of the inscription. About 13 surviving terracotta reliefs depict the occupations of a miller, tugboat operator, innkeeper, doctor, midwife, and smith.18

352-53. Toynbee (supra n. 5) 50-51, 61-64. 11See Petronius,Satyricon71, for a descriptionof Trimalchio's elaboratetomb and his pride in it. 12 For example, see Calza, La necropoli 285-369, for the tomb dimensions.Calza omits the dimensionsof some cellae. M. Cebeillac, "Quelquesinscriptionsinedites d'Ostie:de la Republique ial'Empire,"MEFRA 83 (1971) 102-105, on the inscriptions which give the dimensions of tomb plots, and 104, for a table which gives tomb dimensionsin frontage and depth and the percentage found in each category.The seviri Augustalestend to have the largest tombsafter those of the governing elite, and other wealthy freedmen also commemorated themselves with substantial monuments. The average measurementof frontageis between 20 and 30 Roman feet; the average for the depth is the same. For the tombs in the necropolis under the Vatican in Rome, see J.M.C. Toynbee and J.B. Ward-Perkins, The Shrine of St.
Peter and the Vatican Excavations (London and New York

10Lucian, Dial. Mort. 9. F. Cumont, Recherches sur le symbolismefuneraire des Romains (repr. New York 1975)

458-59. 9 Toynbee (supra n. 5) 136.

8 Calza, La necropoli 63, 69-76.

Meiggs (supra n. 6)

evidencecomes from the late first centuryA.C. The sum of 20,000 sestertiiis also a commonburial expenditure.In the Italian sample, the freedmen'stombs range from 100,000 to 3,000 sestertii. This correspondsin some sense to income. On the lower end of the scale, it should be recalled that Nerva instituted a burial allowance of 250 sestertii for the Roman plebs. A. Degrassi, "Nervafuneraticiumplebi urbanae instituit," in Scritti vari di Antichit'i 1 (Rome 1962)

697-702. Funerary collegia also defrayed expenses for the urban plebs. 14 R.P. Saller and B.D. Shaw, "Tombstonesand Roman Family Relations in the Principate:Civilians, Soldiers and Slaves,"JRS 74 (1984) 124-56, esp. 124-39, on the funerof ary commemorations lower-class Romans. Urban dwellers of relativelyhumble social positions are frequentlyrepresentedin the sample of inscriptions.The dedicationsindicate the strength of the nuclear family: many of the commemorationsare between husbands and wives or parents and children. See also infra n. 22. Toynbee and Ward-Perkins (supra n. 12) 105-106, and 108.
15 Calza, La necropoli 63, 76-80.

1956) 63, 70, on the tomb dimensions.The tombs tend to be more compactin the Vatican cemetery.
13

Calza, La necropoli 63, 80. Toynbee (supra n. 5) 87. Meiggs (supran. 6) 464. I. Baldassarre,"Unanecropoliimperiale romana: proposte di lettura," Annali dell'Istituto
Universitario Orientale 6 (Naples 1984) 147. 17 Calza, La necropoli 263. 18 Calza, La necropoli 251-57. See infra n. 21.

16

QuantitativeStudies (Cambridge1982) 127-33. Most of the

R. Duncan-Jones, The Economy of the Roman Empire,

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O O

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Fig. 2. Plan of lower (left) and upper (right) floors of Tomb 29. (After Calza, La necropoli77, fig. 27) The smith's tomb, no. 29, is a late Hadrianic-early Antonine columbarium.'" The brick-faced, barrelvaulted columbarium proper, the facade of which was crowned by a pediment, was preceded by a walled enclosure. The enclosure was probably added after the initial construction because it extends beyond the frontage shared between this tomb and the two adjacent to it.20 The tomb consisted of the columbarium chamber and a space with a second story above (figs. 1 and 2). The enclosure facade was interrupted by the tomb entrance, a low portal set between two of three engaged brick pilasters surmounted by terracotta Corinthian capitals. To one side of the entrance were two terracotta reliefs depicting the smith at work (figs. 3 and 4).21 The reliefs flanked the marble inscription plaque22 giving the smith's name as Verrius Euhelpistus and that of his wife as Verria Zosime, and stating that they had provided for the inclusion of their freedmen and freedwomen as well as their descendants in the tomb: D M VERRIA ZOSIME ET VERRIUS EUHELPISTUS FECERUNT SIBI ET LIBERTIS LIBERTABUS QUE POSTERIS QUE EORUM Verrius and Verria were slave owners who had freed their slaves, perhaps, as was commonly the case, in order to manage their shop.23 In fact, the freedmen may be depicted in the terracotta reliefs. The couple may also have been libertini because their cognomina seem to be similar to those given to slaves.24 Both Eu-

19Calza, La necropoli 303-304, on the basis of brickstamps. 20 Calza, La necropoli304. Toynbee (supra n. 5) 85. The three adjacenttombs-nos. 29, 30 and 31-were probably erectedat the same time; their facadesare aligned. 21 G. Calza, "Artemestieriin Ostia antica,"Capitolium11 (1935) 413-23, figs. 3, 4. Calza, La necropoli251-53, figs. 150-51, 303-304, and 65, fig. 18. M. Floriani Squarciapino, "Piccolocorpus dei mattoni scolpiti ostiensi,"BullCom 76 (1956-1958) 186-87, pl. 2.1-2. Meiggs (supra n. 6) 271, pl. 27a. Kampen, Image 142-43, nos. 13-14. Zimmer, RB 183-84, nos. 117 and 119; Zimmer, RH pl. 4.1. W. Gaitzsch, "Werkzeugeund Gerdtein der r6mischenKaiserzeit: Eine Ubersicht," ANRW II.12.3 (Berlin 1985) 170-204, fig. la-b. Ostia, Museo Ostiense, Magazzini. Dimensionsof the relief in fig. 3: H. 0.42; W. 0.41 m. Dimensions of the relief in fig. 4: H. 0.42; W. 0.41 m. 22 Calza, La necropoli303. H. Thylander, Inscriptionsdu port d'Ostie (Lund 1952) 197-98, no. A274, pl. 80.2. The inscriptionis on a marble plaque, 0.62 x 0.57 m., locatedin

situ on the tombfacade.Thylanderdates it within the reigns of Hadrian and AntoninusPius, i.e., contemporary with the erection of the tomb. It would seem that the enclosurewas built soon after this. 23 S. Treggiari, Roman Freedmenduring the Late Republic (Oxford 1969) 87, and 95-98. Meiggs (supra n. 6) 224. J.H. D'Arms, Commerceand Social Standing in Ancient Rome (Cambridge,Mass. 1981) 132. Verriusmay also have freed his slaves upon his death. 24 L.R. Taylor, "Freedmen and Freebornin the Epitaphs of ImperialRome,"AJP 82 (1961) 121-22, notes the decline of the use of libertusin inscriptionsof the late first and early second centuries. Taylor 127, on the Greek cognomenas a sign of freedmanstatus. P.R.C. Weaver, "Cognomina Ingenua: A Ncte," CQ 58 (1964) 315, on the difficultyof distinguishing between slaves and freebornin the secondcentury on the basis of personal nomenclature.A. M. Duff, Freedmen in the Early Roman Empire (Oxford 1928) 55-56, on the servile status indicatedby Greeknames. Duff 57-58, on the sons of freedmenwho often receivedLatin names. Treg-

88
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EVE D'AMBRA

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alle Fig. 3. Smith at work. Relief from enclosurefacadeof Tomb 29. (CourtesySoprintendenza Antichitadi Ostia, neg. B702) helpistus and Zosime are derived from Greek nouns which suggest the beneficial qualities desirable for slaves.25 Although the Greek derivation of the cognomina need not indicate the servile status of the couple, Zimmer has found that the majority of those commemorated by work scenes are freedmen.26 Moreover, patrons who opened tombs to their freedmen were often freedmen themselves.27 After viewing the two reliefs and the inscription on the enclosure facade, one would have passed through the tomb precinct paved with a geometric mosaic. Unfortunately, the mosaic is not extant; it is, however, included in Calza's plan of the tomb (fig. 2). The only other decoration here was a third terracotta relief placed to the left of the columbarium entrance (fig. 5).28 Like the other reliefs, this also depicts a figure at work. A space above the columbarium door indicates that another inscription plaque, no longer extant, was once inserted. A stairway which rested on the enclosure wall in the tomb precinct led to the second floor. The black and white pavement mosaic which decorated the upper story is also no longer extant, but is illustrated in Calza's plan of the tomb (fig. 2).29 The mosaic represented an apparatus which is similar in appearance to that seen in two of the reliefs (figs. 3, 5). The interior of the columbarium chamber measures about 5 m.2 while the adjacent space is about 10 m.2.30 The chamber was articulated with three niches on each wall for the cinerary urns and with three arcoso-

giari (supra n. 23) 5-7, on the problemof determiningthe origins of freedmenfrom their names. 25 M.L. Gordon, "The Freedman's Son in Municipal Life,"JRS 21 (1931) 76, on the popularity of names suggesting good luck, and 77 on the possibilityof the indiscriminate use of Greek names among the slave and freedpopulation. H. Solin, Die griechischen Personennamenin Rom. Ein Namenbuch 1 (Berlin 1982) 60-61; 3, 1351 on Euhelpistus; and 2, 823-25 on Zosime. These cognominaappear frequentlyon inscriptionswhere servileor libertinestatus is indicated.

26 Zimmer, RB 6. Accordingto Zimmer, about 70% belong to libertiwhile 30%belong to freeborncitizens. 27 Treggiari (supra n. 23) 216. D'Arms (supra n. 23) 132. 28 Calza, La necropoli253, fig. 152. Kampen,Image 142, no. 12. Zimmer,RB 183-84, no. 118. The geometricmosaic is neither describednor fully illustratedby Calza. 29 Calza, La necropoli304, and 77, fig. 27. 30 During a visit to the Isola Sacra Necropolis in January 1986, I estimated these measurementsbecause it was not possibleto enter the tomb.

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lia under these for sarcophagi. Although inhumation was gradually replacing cremation as the leading practice in the second century, both types of burial were represented in the tomb.31 This is typical of the columbaria in Isola Sacra as well as of those in the necropolis under the Vatican.32 Most of the sculpture from the tombs was removed before or during Calza's excavation of 1930. Some of the finds were deposited in the garden of the offices of the Opera Nazionale dei Combattenti, the veterans' organization whose agricultural work prompted the discovery of the cemetery in 1923.33 A sarcophagus lid from this group (fig. 6) is inscribed with the cognomi-

entrance Fig. 5. Man at work. Relief to left of columbarium of Tomb 29. (Courtesy Soprintendenzaalle Antichita di Ostia, neg. B697)

na Zosime and Euhelpistuswhich were also foundon

the tomb's inscription:34 D M

BERRIA ZOSIME
FECIT SIBI ET

BERRIO EUHELPISTO COIUGI SUO Bloch first observedthat the inscribedsarcophagus lid must have belonged to the smith's tomb because
these identical names appear together on no other tombs.35 Thylander confirmed the provenance of the Sarzionale dei Combattenti.G. Koch, Die mythologischen kophage, Meleager (ASR 12.6, Berlin 1975) 126-27, no. 130.D, pl. 114f. 35Bloch (supra n. 34) 216-17. Thylander (supra n. 22) 196-97, no. A273, pl. 80.1, for an inscriptionfromTomb 15 which mentions a Veria Zosime and her husband Verrius Eucharistus.Although Veria is probablya shorthandform of Verria, this person is to be distinguishedfrom the Verria Zosime of Tomb 29 because of the presenceof a different date in the periodsof Hadrian husbandand a contemporary and Antoninus Pius. There are no other examples of inscriptionswith the names of Verria Zosime and of Verrius Euhelpistusfromthe Isola SacraNecropolis.G. Ricci, "Ostia. Sculture rinvenutenell'Isola Sacra,"NSc 1939, 70-73, figs. 14-16, published the sarcophaguslid with other finds from Isola Sacra including a fragment which he suggests may have belongedto the sarcophagusbody. The sarcophagus fragment of Luna marble measured0.66 m. in height and 0.32 m. in width.

Fig. 4. Smith at work. Relief from enclosure facade of Tomb 29. (CourtesySoprintendenza Antichitadi Ostia, alle B699) neg. Sar31 H. Brandenburg,"Der Beginn der stadtr6mischen der Jdl kophag-produktion Kaiserzeit," 93 (1978) 277-327. 32Toynbee and Ward-Perkins(supra n. 12) 30. 33G. Calza, "Ostia. Rinvenimenti nell'Isola Sacra,"NSc 1928, 133-75, esp. 166. Calza published a preliminaryreport of about 15 tombs;some of the materialwas kept at the Casa Nazionale dei Combattenti.In 1938, he discovered43 additionaltombs. See Calza, La necropoli369-78. Actually, several tombs were first uncoveredin 1790. See Thylander (supra n. 22) 2. E. Gatti, "Porto.Frammentiepigraficirinvenuti nell'Isola Sacra,"NSc 1910, 291. E. Gatti, "Fiumicino-Avanzi di antiche fabbriche scoperte nell'Isola Sacra, presso S. Ippolito,"NSc 1911, 410-16. Gatti excavatedthe area near Trajan's canal. 34 H. Bloch, AJA 48 (1944) 213-18, esp. 216-17. Ricci (infra n. 35) 71. Thylander (supra n. 22) 198, no. A275, pl. 80.3. The sarcophaguslid measures 0.18 x 2.08 x 0.36 m.; and the inscriptionaltablet is 0.185 x 0.375 m. Beforeit was stolen in 1963, it was kept in the gardenof the Casa Na-

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Fig. 6. Lid of sarcophagusof Zosime and Euhelpistus,with scenes from the myth of Meleager. (After Ricci, NSc 1939, figs. 14 and 15) sarcophagus lid on the basis of the nomenclature.36 The lid's inscription informs us that Verria Zosime survived her husband. She had the sarcophagus made for herself and for him. The "V"s in both Verria and Verrius are inscribed as "B"s on the lid, however, a variant ultimately deriving from the Greek alphabet and usually indicative of a lower-class background in Rome and environs in the first and second centuries A.C.37 Another variant spelling in the inscription is coiugi for coniugi. Different workshops were probably responsible for the facade inscription and that of the sarcophagus lid. Koch assigns a mid-Antonine date to the lid while Thylander prefers a date in the Hadrianic or early Antonine period, contemporary with the tomb's erection.38 The former date is preferable to account for the style of the figured relief and for the gap between the couple's construction of the tomb and Verria's dedication of the sarcophagus for her late husband.39" The lid is of Roman or western type and shows two scenes from the Meleager myth, the preparations for the banquet after the boar hunt and the banquet itself (fig. 6). A fragment from Isola Sacra (fig. 7) may have

belonged to the sarcophagus body because of its similar theme and context.40 The fragment depicts two figures who can be identified as participants in the Calydonian boar hunt by comparison with other sarcophagi of this type.41 On the basis of this evidence, it is likely that Verrius's sarcophagus represented scenes from the myth of Meleager in a conventional format. The sarcophagus was probably produced on consignment and the inscription was carved when Verria purchased it for her husband.42 The smith's tomb provides the opportunity to determine whether an Ostian tomb with such different exterior and interior decoration can comprise a thematic program. The mythological theme of the sarcophagus

Fig. 7. Fragment of sarcophagus with Calydonian boar hunt. (CourtesyDeutschesArchiologischesInstitut, Rome, neg. 56.404)

36Thylander (supra n. 22) 198. of the commis37 The spelling may indicatecircumstances sion. The inscription was the work of a Greek (or nonLatin) stonecutterwho was not familiar with the Latin alphabet. The Verrii were of non-Latin backgroundthemselves and not fully literate. Either or both of these factors could have resulted in the orthographicvariations.I would like to thank Paul Harvey for pointing this out to me. AA 38G. Koch, "Nachlesezu den Meleagersarkophagen," 90 (1975) 542, on the good quality of the lid's workmanship and the chisel-work which is datable to the mid-Antonine period,A.D. 150-170/80. Koch (supra n. 34) 127. Thylander (supra n. 22) 198. 39 The sarcophaguslid was stolen in 1963. Koch (supra n. 34) 126. 40 Ricci (supra n. 35) 70-72, figs. 14-16. Koch (supra

n. 34) 97, no. 35, pl. 36f. AlthoughKochstatesthat the fragment is from Isola Sacra,he doesnot associateit with the lid. He prefersto date it to the late Antonineperiod,althougha slightly earlier date in the mid-Antonineperiod would not be out of keepingwith the figure type. 41 Koch (supran. 34) 79, for a table of the frequencyof the representation of individual scenes. R. Brilliant, Visual Narratives (Ithaca and London 1984) 146, fig. 4.4, on the schemesor arrangementof scenes which representthe Meleager myth on sarcophagi.The motif of the boar hunt was the most popular (147, 158). in 42 J.B. Ward-Perkins,"The Role of Craftsmanship the Formation of Early Christian Art,"Atti del IX Congresso internazionaledi archeologiacristiana1 (Rome 1978) 64849, on the marketingof sarcophagi.Toynbee (supra n. 5) 273.

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is conventional while the terracotta reliefs of working scenes are rare. Only about 13 of the latter are extant in Isola Sacra. The context of these reliefs on tombs with traditional funerary imagery raises the question of whether there are correspondences between the decoration of the facade and that of the chamber. As Bloch has observed, "it is not without interest to learn that a toolmaker in Portus in the second century chose to have himself buried in a sarcophagus with scenes from the myth of Meleager."43 Although the Meleager myth was extremely popular in funerary art because of its themes of the vicissitudes of fortune and the inevitability of fate, elements of the narrative or its standard motifs may have had special significance in this case. Considering that the most visible works, the facade reliefs, identify the deceased in terms of his trade, it remains to be seen whether the sarcophagus representing the Meleager myth was chosen because of its relevance to the smith's profession or for its customary message of consolation. Verrius Euhelpistus and Verria Zosime were familiar with the trappings of Classical mythology and its symbolism although they were not of the cultivated elite. The exterior and interior works address different audiences: the sarcophagus was seen only by the family members who entered the tomb for the rites in honor of the deceased while the facade reliefs were visible to the public, including those passing the cemetery on the road between Ostia and Portus.44 Evidently Verrius Euhelpistus and Verria Zosime ordered the decoration for the tomb, and assigned or, at least, approved the ensemble of works and the arrangement in the chamber and on the facade. Wall paintings and stucco reliefs in the vault may have completed the tomb's decoration although none of them is extant. The Tombs of the Valerii and of the Pancratii on the Via Latina outside Rome as well as that of the Nasonii on the Via Flaminia offer examples of elaborate decorative ensembles representing traditional mythological scenes on the walls and vaults.45 These tombs, which date to ca. A.D. 160,

were erected by private citizens on a grander scale than those of Isola Sacra.46 Yet, even in the more modest milieu of the port's cemetery, the arrangement of the works in the smith's tomb may prove to be significant: the sarcophagus with its mythological theme is reserved for the interior while the reliefs illustrating an ordinary trade, the source of the deceased's income and status, are in public view. The works on the interior and exterior differ in style as well. Frontal and profile views, hierarchic scale, and the lack of any overlapping forms distinguish the style of the terracotta reliefs. The style of the sarcophagus lid with its crowding of fleshy figures approximates a more naturalistic model. Although there may be a gap as great as 40 years-from about 130-170-between the manufacture of the terracotta reliefs and the sarcophagus, the discrepancy in style can probably be attributed to the different types of monuments to which they belong. Reliefs depicting occupations, and mythological sarcophagi conform to their own standards of representation or generic style.47 A closer look at the style and the iconography of the tomb's facade reliefs and the sarcophagus lid is necessary. The decoration which is the most informative about the deceased's occupation is located on the tomb enclosure. The two terracotta reliefs indicate that the smith, a faberferrarius, was more precisely a ferramentarius who made small objects, mostly tools (figs. 3 and 4).48 In composition both reliefs resemble catalogues of the goods made in the smith's shop. The one on the left (fig. 3) portrays a male bearded figure with individualized features standing in profile before an apparatus and perhaps making a tool. He wears a long apron, probably made of leather, over his tunic, and sandals on his feet. The attentive modeling of his face and hair is lacking in the rendering of his body as an elongated, tapering cylinder with impossibly long arms. The toolmaker stands before an apparatus which is similar in shape to a millstone but without its scale and proportions and the various attachments for the mule or horse which usually turns it.49 The smith's

43Bloch (supra n. 34) 216-17. Toynbee (supra n. 5) 51, 61-64. J.P. Oleson, The Sourcesof Innovationin Later Etruscan Tomb Design (ca. 350-700 B.C.) (Rome 1982) 41, on the inherently public nature of the tomb facade. 45 E.L. Wadsworth, "StuccoReliefs of the First and Second Centuries Still Extant in Rome," MAAR 4 (1924) 69-72, 73-78. W. Dorigo, Late Roman Painting (London 1971) 23-74. H. Joyce, The Decorationof Walls, Ceilings, and Floors in Italy in the Secondand Third CenturiesA.D. (Rome 1981) 75-77. 46 B. Andreae, Studien zur ramischen Grabkunst (RMEH 9, Heidelberg 1963) 88, n. 2, for the bibliographyon the
44

Tomb of the Nasonii. B. Andreae, The Art of Rome (New York 1977) 228, on the size of the chamberof the Tomb of the Nasonii which was about 30 x 15 ft. The painted stuccoes of the Tomb of the Pancratiimay be comparedto those of the Domus Aurea. 47 0. Brendel, Prolegomena to the Study of Roman Art (New Haven and London 1979) 133-37. Kampen, Image 87-88. 48 Zimmer, RB 15. H.C. Mercer, Ancient Carpenter's Tools (New York 1975) 283-88. 49 K.D. White, Greek and Roman Technology (London 1984) 65-67.

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equipment consists of a slab set into the top to create a flat surface rather than the open cavity of the millstone. The same apparatus is also depicted in the pavement mosaic on the upper story. Meiggs and Zimmer have considered it a grindstone although the evidence for this implement in antiquity is sparse.s0 A similarly shaped apparatus is depicted in a thirdcentury relief.5" The relief may represent either a metalworker or a stonecutter who is making a grindstone. The only other evidence for the Roman grindstone is an engraved gem of doubtful authenticity.52 The gem depicts Cupid sharpening his arrow on a revolving grindstone mounted on a cart.53 Horace describes a similar scene of a Cupid honing his arrow but the Latin term cos may indicate either a stationary whetstone or perhaps a revolving grindstone.54 The depiction of the apparatus in the third-century relief representing stone- or metalworkers indicates that it is either a grindstone or a worktable." The object which the figure grasps may be the handle of a tool which he is working. Most likely he is sharpening or polishing an unfinished tool like those which surround him. The tools are shown in exaggerated sizes. A row of enormous instruments-two sickles, a broad triangular knife, and a cleaver-and below this, two axheads and a drill, fill the right side of the relief ground.'6 They are shown in profile without any overlapping for maximum legibility. An incised "X" is represented on the middle of the larger ax-head which, in fact, is almost as tall as the figure."' Chisels and a plane are placed below the platform on which so Meiggs (supra n. 6) 470. Zimmer, RB 183, identifiesit as a grindstonein the form of a millstone (catillus).Gaitzsch (supra n. 21) 201, also considersit to be a grinding implement although documentationfor this is lacking. 51 Chieti, Museo Nazionale, Coll. G. Pansa. H. Gummerus, "Darstellungen aus dem Handwerk auf r6mischen Grab- und Votivsteinenin Italien,"Jd128 (1913) 72-73. G. Pansa, "Illustrazionedi un bassorilievoromanorappresentante un'officina monetaria dell'impero," RM 22 (1907) 198-206, pl. 4, considers the relief to show the striking of coins. Zimmer, RB 155-56, no. 78, identifiesthe figure as a stoneworker making a grindstone or catillus. The provenance of the relief is Rome, although its precise findspotis unknown. 52 B. de Montfaucon, Monuments of Antiquity Explained and Representedin Sculptures,trans. D. Humphreys (repr. New Yorkand London 1976 of 1721-1722 ed.) III, pl. 58.7. A. Rich, Dictionnaire des antiquites romaines et grecques (Paris 1861) 199. 53 F.M. Feldhaus, Die Technik der Vorzeit (Leipzig and Berlin 1914) 953-61. Feldhaus gives no reason for his suspicions about the gem, and its present location is unknown. 54 Hor. Carm. 2.8.13-16. H. Bliimner, Technologie und

he stands. Rather than a glimpse into the smith's shop, the focus of the relief is on the tools which he makes. Another relief commemorating a smith from La Beligna near Aquileia also represents a group of tools shown in exaggerated sizes.'8 A huge pair of tongs, a hammer, a file and a lock are displayed as emblems of the trade on the right half of the relief. In the center, a smith sits before an anvil at which he hammers a piece of metal. A smaller figure (perhaps a slave or freedman) works the bellows at the fireplace to the left. The display of the tools and two figures engaged in different activities is similar in conception to the second relief from the Isola Sacra tomb. This accompanying relief, on the right side of the enclosure, portrays two figures superimposed in different registers in a similar setting dominated by the display of the iconic tool (fig. 4). Again the bearded figure on the upper register is shown in profile clad in a tunic and a leather apron. Fewer individual features can be seen in his face than in that of the figure in the other relief but the gestures of both figures are similar. Although a forge is not represented, the display of the tools, which includes an anvil in the lower left corner, suggests that the figure is finishing, polishing, or grinding a tool. The emblematic motifs of a hammer, tongs, and anvil frequently represent the smith's profession in funerary reliefs.59 The smith stands before a solid chest, ornamented with a dog's head and a handle, which Zimmer identifies as a container for a grindstone.60 Floriani Squarciapino has suggested that a dog's skin is stretched

Rbmern 4 (Leipzig 1887) 54, n. 4, on the gem of doubtful authenticity. 55 See infra n. 70, on the baker Eurysace'stomb. s6Gaitzsch (supra n. 21) 201. 57 Zimmer, RB 183-84, and RH 211, although I had difficulty seeing the design during a visit to the magazzini of the Museo Ostiensein January 1986. The detail lavishedon the tools can also be witnessed in the careful renderingof the grindstonewith a slab set in the catillus. 58 Aquileia, Museo Nazionale. Zimmer, RB 186-87, no. 122. Kampen, Image 94, fig. 70. G. Brusin, Aquileia (Udine 1929) 118, no. 18, fig. 71. A. Calderini, Aquileia
romana (Milan 1930) 315. S. Panciera, Vita economica di

Terminologie der Gewerbe und Kiinste bei Griechen und

Aquileia in eta romana(Venice 1957) 29. The relief is dated to the late first or early second century. 5"Zimmer, RB 39. The common emblem of the smith's trade is a hammerand pliers symmetricallyplacedto either side of an anvil. 60 Zimmer, RB 39 and RH 210, also suggests that it conhens bei den Rdmern (Basel and Stuttgart 1972) 39, pls. of 58-59, illustrates a reconstruction a Roman lathe which
tains a grinding lathe. A. Mutz, Die Kunst des Metalldre-

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across the top of this instrument which was perhaps used to polish the blade or to collect filings.6' The smith's position and gesture indicate that it is a worktable. An elaborate assortment of huge tools-clippers, cleavers, surgical instruments or nail irons, ax-heads, hammers, shoemakers' knives or awls, pliers, an anvil, and two frame saws-covers the left side of the relief ground and extends from the top to the bottom without observing the division between registers.62 The collection of tools dwarfs both figures, particularly the smaller, bearded figure below. He is depicted seated, probably at an anvil, fashioning a tool.63 His pose and equipment recall that of the central figure in the relief from Aquileia. Behind him stand two tall upright containers or amphorae.64 The man may represent a slave, freedman, or free worker of the larger figure, perhaps Verrius, above.65 Rather than two floors or rooms of the workshop, the relief probably represents two different processes of the craft: the figure working at the anvil below and Verrius or his manager finishing a tool above.66 The figures are, however, subordinated to the display of goods. The oversized tools are emblems of the occupation. The third relief from the smith's tomb (fig. 5), which was located on the tomb facade,67 provides evidence that the terracotta reliefs were brightly colored. Traces of blue paint were found on the background of this relief and dark red was used for the figure's skin.68 In composition it differs from the other two in its unarticulated background. A figure in a long tunic, belted at the waist, is working at an apparatus similar in shape to that seen in the first relief (fig. 3). This cylindrical object tapers in the middle and has a solid upper surface. It supports an object which the does not resemble the object on the relief at all. Gaitzsch (supra n. 21) 200, identifies it as a work table or a grinding apparatus. 6' Floriani Squarciapino(supra n. 21) 186. 62Zimmer, RB 183-84. Gaitzsch (supra n. 21) 200-201. objectas a stool and the figure's activityas cutting a piece of
iron. W.H. Manning, Catalogue of the Romano-British Iron Tools, Fittings and Weapons in the British Museum 63 Zimmer, RB 184. Calza, La necropoli 252, describes the

figure is working or molding. Although the figure is shown in the same attitude and gesture as the figure in the first relief, he had been initially identified as kneading dough for bread.69 If this were the subject of the relief, however, there ought to be other indications of the baker's profession such as sacks of flour or sieves.70 Zimmer has identified the man as a toolmaker sharpening an implement because of the figure's position and gesture." On close examination of the relief, one notices that the smith is holding two objects. His hidden left hand seems to be holding a rectangular object (little more than a corner of it is visible) next to the roughly semicircular shape in his right hand. He is probably rubbing the rectangular object, perhaps the edge of a blade, against a whetstone and, therefore, is finishing a tool. This relief may represent a simplified version of the former relief without the display of the iconic tools. Even the grindstone becomes an abstract shape, a sloping hourglass form lacking detail. Perhaps this work was the first to be placed on the tomb facade while the other two followed when the enclosure was added.72 In this way, the basic scheme of the toolgrinder was elaborated by the representation of the stock in trade in the reliefs of the enclosure facade. The modeling of the figure relies on the reduction of organic forms to a simplified scheme: the hair is shown as a fringe encircling the scalp, a frontal eye is set in a profile face, the torso swells above the belt, and the foot is a triangular wedge at the base of the leg. Rather than giving an individual likeness, the relief focuses on the toolmaker's craft with this representation of a man sharpening an implement. The decoration of the tomb chamber differs markedly in the mythological subject matter of the Meleager sarcophagus. The evidence of the sarcophagus lid son becauseno childrenare mentionedin the inscriptionon the tomb. 66 C. Pavolini, Ostia (Bari 1983) 264, implies that the same figureis representedtwice in the panel in a continuous narrative.I preferthe interpretationthat the figure above is the patronusand the one below is his slave or freedman. no. 12. Zimmer, RB 183-84, no. 118. Dimensions:H. 0.47 m.; W. 0.44 m. Ostia, Museo Ostiense, Magazzini. 68 Zimmer, RB 183-84, no. 118.
69 Calza, La necropoli 253.
70

67 Calza, La necropoli 253, fig. 152. Kampen, Image 142,

Oxford 1980) pls. 1-3, 69, no. 314. 64 Zimmer, RB 184, suggests that it may be two anvils or the iron from which anvils are made. Gaitzsch (supra n. 21) 201, considersthem to be human figures, apprenticesto the smith. 65 Zimmer, RB 15. It is less likely that the small figure is a

Eiserne r6mische Werkzeuge (BAR International Series 78,

(London 1985) 1, on a similar type of anvil. W. Gaitzsch,

P. Ciancio Rossetto, II sepolcro delfornaio M. Virgilio Eurisace a Porta Maggiore (Rome 1973) pls. 26-37. Zimmer,

For example, on the frieze of the bakerEurysaces'tomb:

RB 106-109, no. 18. supra

71 Zimmer, RB 183-84. 72 See n. 20.

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Fig. 8. Sarcophaguswith Calydonianboar hunt, Villa Aldobrandini,Frascati. (CourtesyDeutsches ArchaologischesInstitut, Rome, neg. 67.2560) and the fragment which may have formed part of its body suggests that it depicted the hunt of the Calydonian boar.73 Both panels of the lid flanking the central inscription portray two consecutive narrative moments which occur after the boar hunt, the preparations for the banquet and then the banquet itself (fig. 6). Prominent in the former panel are the servants cutting and chopping the boar's flesh. The same theme is found in the lid of another sarcophagus from Ostia now in the Villa Aldobrandini in Frascati (fig. 8).74 The lid of the Frascati sarcophagus, which is dated to ca. A.D. 160, shows a kneeling figure stoking a fire below a pot, a figure at a table trimming the boar meat with a cleaver, and two others carrying meat and bread on a tray. In the Isola Sacra lid, however, three figures instead of one seem to be involved in dismembering the animal (fig. 6, top). The figures on the Isola Sacra lid are short and stocky, and appear compressed in the narrow band of the lid. Props such as tables are omitted. In the Frascati lid, however, where there is ample room for the full height of standing figures, the figures also tend to have large heads and round limbs. The Isola Sacra lid may have derived from the type represented by the Frascati sarcophagus.75 There are other examples of the banquet scene in representations of the Meleager myth, yet the arrangement of figures and their activities in these two works more closely resemble one another than those which also depict additional equipment such as amphorae or hunting nets.76 An Ostian workshop was probably responsible for both the Isola Sacra and the Frascati sarcophagi. Perhaps this particular scene was developed for the clientele of the port; only slight changes in the grouping of figures and their attributes were required to create this type. The center tablet is not inscribed in the Frascati sarcophagus, suggesting that it was a workshop piece inscribed at the time of purchase and perhaps never used. As suggested above, Verrius's sarcophagus may also have been purchased ready-made." The scene to the right of the inscription on the Isola Sacra lid shows five figures, a bearded man who is perhaps Theseus, the two Dioscuri as harbingers of victory, and Atalanta and Meleager, all reclining at the banquet and eating the meat which was prepared

73See supra ns. 34 and 40. 74Koch (supra n. 34) 87, no. 7, pl. 4.5g-h, 114e, 118a-b. P. Kranz, "Zwei Fragmente einer Thiasos-Lenos auf dem Celio-mittelantonisch oder frtihseverisch?"BullCom 84 (1974-1975) 178, n. 2, consideredthe Frascatisarcophagus to be a moderncopy. This opinion, however, is unfounded. See Koch and Sichtermann(infra n. 76) 161, n. 9.

75J.B. Ward-Perkins,"The Dionysiac Sarcophagiin Baltimore,"RendPontAcc48 (1975-1976) 215, on the combination of establishedfiguresor groupsto createnew types of motifs for standardmyths. 76 G. Koch and H. Sichtermann, Rbmische Sarkophage (Munich 1982) 163. Koch (supra n. 34) pl. 114. 77See supra n. 42.

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in the pendant scene on the left.78This is a standard banquet scene which appears with minor variations on many sarcophagi.Besides its significanceas a celebration for the end of the terror inflicted by the ferocious boar, the banquet also represents the turning point in Meleager's fortune. During the banquet MeHis leager's fate was sealed.79" uncles tried to take the which Meleager had given to Atalanta, and in spoils the courseof the struggle Meleager killed them. When Meleager's mother, Althaea, heard of her son's deeds, she lit a brand which the Fates had assigned as the measure of the length of his life. When the brand burned away, Meleager died. For viewers familiar with the myth, the banquet signaled the moment of Meleager's changing fortune. The Meleager myth, like other myths, was popular because it allowed the patron to identify with the hero through analogy.8"The couple Atalanta and Meleager may also stand for Verria and Verrius, especially because Verrius, like Meleager, died before his beThe sarcophaguslid with the banquet of Meloved.81 and Atalanta was placed in a tomb where the leager family members came to feast on the anniversaryof the deaths of Verria and Verrius.82At the same time that it reflectsthe ritual enactedat the tomb, this scene is also appropriatebecause it representsa gatheringof heroes, the larger-than-life mythological characters who now may accompanyVerrius. Besides the evocation of contemporary funerary practice, the banquet scenes may also foreshadowthe tragic outcomeof the myth. As Brilliant has observed, the motif of the servant stoking the fire recalls Althaea's burning of the brand.83 The hero'svulnerabilis intimatedin the scene of his triumph. Sarcophagi ity representingthe death of Meleager frequently depict a scene of Althaea burning the brand with the Fates
present.184

The reversals of fortune, the necessity of fate, and

the transience of life are all themes which make the Meleager myth appropriate for funerary art. Yet there may have been other reasons for Verrius and Verria to select this myth for the sarcophagus.The decorationof the tomb facadeclearly indicatesthe importanceof Verrius's professionfor his image to posterity. One may be tempted to draw an analogy between the lid's motif of the servantstokingthe fire and the smith at his forge. Yet, the facade reliefs do not depict the processof forgingbut focus on the tools, the finely honed knives and cleavers, which the smith grinds and polishes. In fact, the butcheringof the boar shown on the sarcophaguslid requires these utensils, and at least one cleavercan be seen on the Isola Sacra lid as well as on the Frascati lid. Although the body of Verrius's sarcophagusis no longer extant, it can probably be reconstructedfrom the fragmentmentionedabove (fig. 7) and by comparing it to works such as the Frascatisarcophaguswhich constitutethe establishedtypes for the depictionof the The fragmentmay depictthe CalyMeleager myth."5 donian boar hunt. It shows two hunters who carry spears, one of whom is seen fromthe back;the disposition of the figures is similar to that of an analogous pair representedin the Calydonianhunt. A Meleager sarcophagusfromthe Palazzo dei Conservatoridating to ca. A.D. 190 is typical in its division of the panel with groups of figures to indicate the moment before the hunt and the hunt itself."6The figures move from left to right; the action culminates with the hero Meleager plunging his long spear into the boar on the right side. In this typical compositionthe Isola Sacra fragmentwould belong to the upper registerof the relief's right side with its two figures identifiedas those attackingthe boar from the rear, with the animal encircled and trapped.A figure analogous to the hunter seen from the back is also depicted on the Frascati sarcophagus.

78 KochandSichtermann (supran. 76) 163-64,on thedivisionof the banquetscenein two halveswith the inscriptionaltabletin the center.Boththe Frascatiand the Isola Sacra lids show this arrangement. Koch (supra n. 34) 126-27,no. 130. II. the 79 Hornm.9.527-99.Ov.Met.8.260-525,emphasizes weaponry. Apollod. Bibl. 1.8.1-4. 80 Brilliant (supran. 41) 150. that 81 Brilliant(supran. 41) 159-61, on the possibility Atalanta Meleager partof a romantic and are tradition derivingfromVenusand Mars.A third-century sarcophagus in the PalazzoLepriGalloin Romerepresents Atalanta and of Meleagerwith individual features, portrait perhaps the it. couplewho commissioned See Wrede(supran. 3) 228, no. 95, pl. 5.4.

served in the Municipal Collections of Rome 2: Palazzo dei

servatori,see H. StuartJones, The Ancient SculpturesPre-

Brilliant (supran. 41) 152-54. Ricci(supran. 35) 72, fig. 16. Koch(supran. 34) 87, 85 no. 7, pl. 4.5g-h, 114e,118a-b. 86 Forthe Meleager in dei sarcophagus the Palazzo Con84

83 Brilliant (supran. 41) 157.

82 See supra n. 10.

donische Jagd in der Antike (Hamburg and Berlin 1966)

Conservatori(Oxford 1926) 33-34, no. 17, pl. 10. Helbig4, II, 206-209, no. 1402 (B. Andreae). Koch (supra n. 34) 89-90, no. 12, pls.16b, 17c-d. The sarcophagus'sdimensions are H. 0.67 and W. 1.85 m. Cf. G. Daltrop, Die kaly-

in 28-31, for representations general.

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Like the banquet theme on the lid of Verrius's sarcophagus, the Calydonian boar hunt also has implications as a symbol appropriate to the occasion of death."7 Of course, the popularity of the Meleager myth indicates that it held meaning for many on a basic level.88 Yet this motif may have had a particular significance for the smith Verrius. The Frascati sarcophagus (fig. 8), cited above for its similar lid, was also decorated with a relief of the boar hunt on its front panel.89 What distinguishes the hunt scene of the Frascati sarcophagus is the careful delineation and accumulation of weapons, spears, javelins, arrows, axes, and so forth, wielded by the hunters.90 The clarity with which these objects are represented in the upper register of the relief recalls the display of similarly sharp-bladed instruments on the reliefs of the tomb facade. Note the central grouping, the confrontation between Meleager and the boar with Atalanta assisting, the focus of which is the boar's head as the target of three projectiles-Meleager's long spear, Atalanta's arrow, and a shorter spear held above. Two other spears, held upright, with pointed heads, frame the group. One figure identified as Ankaios or Orcus, who regularly is depicted in Calydonian boar hunt scenes, carries an ax. This kind of ax is found in one of the tomb's facade reliefs (fig. 2). Given the resemblance between the carved lids of the Frascati and Isola Sacra sarcophagi, it is likely that the relief on the front of the latter sarcophagus was similarly composed. As with the lid, the body of the Frascati sarcophagus also seems to diverge slightly from the format of the established types. The weapons appear more prominent because of the spacing of the figures and the absence of figures in the background or of any large elements such as horses which appear in other representations."9 The composition could have resulted from the copying of other models or from pattern books: the original gradually became simplified
87 J. Aymard, Essai sur les chasses romaines des origines a' la fin du siecle des Antonins (BEFAR 171, Rome 1951)

and non-essential figures were omitted. This composition may have appealed to the taste of clients such as Verrius and Verria, and perhaps was determined by them. The facade reliefs emphasize inanimate objects as symbols of an occupation, and it is likely that in selecting a sarcophagus Verrius and Verria favored a scene representing such objects as props. The common denominator of the reliefs on the exterior of Tomb 29 and the Meleager sarcophagus within is the emphasis on sharp objects: the sharpening apparatus and the implements with blades exhibited on the exterior reliefs, the grindstone represented in the mosaic of the upper story, the cutlery used by the servants or slaves depicted on the sarcophagus lid, and the hunters' weapons shown on the front relief panel of the sarcophagus.92 The tomb reliefs indicate the smith's pride in making a variety of precision instruments requiring finely ground cutting edges, from vineyard clippers to surgical knives. The Meleager myth provided a story in which the hero's weapon was a spear with a sharp point, and other sharp spears and tools were prominently displayed in the reliefs of the sarcophagus and its lid. By illustrating the utility of razor-sharp blades and points, this representation of the myth of Meleager is appropriate to commemorate Verrius. Other myths depicting hunts would have been less appropriate. Adonis, for example, is killed by a boar and Hippolytus rides on horseback, motifs which tend to obscure the heroes' weaponry. The particular type of the Isola Sacra and Frascati sarcophagi-only one tradition for representing the Meleager myth93 -may have been popular at Ostia because of its appeal to purchasers who selected the myth for the emphasis on its secondary elements, the weaponry and cutlery, as well as for its general theme. Other Ostian tombs furnish similar evidence for a relationship between the decoration of the facade and
91 Koch (supra n. 34) pl. 16, no. 12; pl. 24, no. 17; pl. 24, no. 20; pl. 56, no. 67, among other examples. 92 It may be arguedthat the Meleager myth is appropriate for the smith becausethe burnedbrandservesas a metaphor for a life extinguishedprematurely.A brandis of particular use to a smith becauseit transmitsfire, and the loss of such a valuable implement could signify the end of a productive career for a smith. As Barbara Kellum has pointed out to me, however, the facade reliefs do not portraythe smith at his forge (where he may requirea brand)but at a grindstone where he whets the bladesof the tools. The idea of the burning brand may still be implicit in the selectionof the Meleager myth for Verrius'ssarcophagus,but in this case the symbolism is more direct.I would like to thank BarbaraKellum for her insights. 93See supra n. 91, for examples.

hunting motif as exemplifying virtus and representing an activity from the deceased'slife (which was not the case for
Verrius). B. Andreae, Die ramischen Jagdsarkophage (ASR J.K. Anderson, Hunting in the Ancient World (Berkeley

printed in Z. Stewart ed., Essays on Religion and the Ancient World2 2 (Oxford 1972) 606-41, esp. 627, 633, for the

513-16. A.D. Nock, "Sarcophagi and Symbolism," re-

1.2, Berlin 1980) 134-39. Brilliant (supra n. 41) 157-58.

and Los Angeles 1985) 83-122, on Roman hunting. 88 Brilliant (supra n. 41) 145. 89Koch and Sichtermann(supra n. 76) 161. Koch (supra n. 34) 87, no. 7, pl. 4.5g-h, 114e, 118a-b. 9oComparedto other representationsof the boar hunt, the Frascati example shows a less compactarrangementof the figures which allows the weapons to be seen more clearly.

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the interior. Of those tombs with extant facade reliefs depicting trades, the smith's tomb is unique in providing evidence of the sculptural work housed within.94 There are, however, other tombs with professional reliefs on the facade which were decorated with paintings of common mythological themes in their cellae.95 It is possible that these mythological themes were also chosen because of their relevance to the deceased's occupation. Calza has described the painted interiors of these tombs. Tomb 78 is a brick-faced, barrel-vaulted columbarium with a facade crowned by a pediment, which stands in a row of four adjacent tombs.96 It lacks a walled enclosure and opens immediately to the path between the rows of tombs. The tomb can be dated to the late Trajanic period on the basis of a brick stamp.97 A marble inscription98 set above the door states that Tiberius Claudius Eutychus erected the tomb for himself, his wife, their children, his freedmen and freedwomen, and their descendants: D M TI CLAUDIUS EUTYCHUS CLAUDIAE MEMNONIDI CONIUGI BENE MERENTI ET SIBI

LIBERISQUE SUIS FECIT LIBERTIS LIBERTABUSQUE POSTERISQUE EORUM ITU AMBITUM H M H N S IN FRONTE P XV IN AGRO P XV
The cognomen Eutychus appears frequently in contexts that suggest that Tiberius Claudius Eutychus

and Claudia Memnonis are probably also of the same social position as the Verrii, i.e., freed slaves.99 The inscription also typically gives the dimensions of the frontage and depth of the tomb's plot. Its size--15 Roman ft.2-places it in the lower median range for Ostian tombs.100 This tomb, like many others, does not provide space for family members over several generations.101 On either side of the inscription is a terracotta relief, one of which depicts a small boat or lenunculus manned by four men (fig. 9) and the other a millstone operated by a man and a horse (fig. 10).102 In both, the figures are reduced in scale in comparison to the boat and to the millstone. Zimmer, however, has observed portrait features on the head of the standing figure manning the rudder in the boat relief.103 The prow, stern, rope, and mast of the tugboat are clearly rendered, and the three figures of the crew are shown throwing their weight forward as they pull the oars. The scene's realistic detail is enhanced by the modeling of forms rather than the use of contour lines to delineate the figures. In the accompanying relief (fig. 10), the figures are rendered in a simplified, cursive style which flattens the forms against the neutral background. The horse appears to float against the relief ground as if it were an appendage of the millstone, rather than the source of the energy which drives the machine.1'04 In an attempt to portray the animal in the act of turning the millstone, its hindquarters are simply not shown at all. The symmetrical arrangement of the horse and the figure on either side of the central millstone recalls an

94 G. Calza, "Ostia. Isola Sacra. La necropoli del 'Portus Romae',"NSc 1931, 510-42; and Calza, La necropoli187262, on the sculpture from the Isola Sacra Necropolis. The finds were relatively scarce. G.M.A. Hanfmann, Classical Weekly 35 (Dec. 8, 1941) 90, on the contrastbetween the "primitivistic" quality of the terracottareliefs and the imported sarcophagifound in some of the tombs. 95 Calza, La necropoli336-37. 96 Calza, La necropoli336-37. 97Thylander (supra n. 22) 64-65, no. A61, pl. 20.3. 98 Thylander (supra n. 22) 64-65, no. A61, pl. 20.3. 99Thylander (supra n. 22) index 478, with otherexamples of the cognomenEutychus. Gordon (supra n. 25) 73, 76, on the servile or libertine connotationsof the cognomenEutychus. Solin (supra n. 25) 2, 801-806. Solin includes no examples of the cognomenMemnonis but Memno and Memnonia appear in epitaphs (1500-1501).

10'K. Hopkins, Death and Renewal (SociologicalStudies in Roman History 2, Cambridge1983) 205. 102 Calza, La necropoli 254-55, figs. 153-54. Meiggs (supra n. 6) pl. 28a-b. Kampen, Image 143, no. 15, on the relief of the millstone. Zimmer, RB 208-209, no. 156; 113-14, no. 24. Dimensionsof the relief of the boat: H. 0.40;

Cebeillac (supra n. 12) 104. o00

W. 0.58 m. Dimensions of the relief of the millstone: H. 0.40; W. 0.40 m. Ostia, Museo Ostiense, Magazzini. 103 Zimmer, RB 66-67, 209. He also points out that the figure is wearing a subligaculum,either a kind of loincloth or a pair of trunks. 104 Meiggs (supra n. 6) captionto pl. 28b, describesthe figure with whip in handas a slave becausethey were knownto performthis menial task in antiquity.The verticalbeam on the left side struck a stationarybell each time the stone revolved.In this way, the ringingprovedto the mill owner that the work was proceeding.The triangular fitting above the upper part of the mill, the catillus, may representa hopper for feeding grain into the mill. The oval objectin the upper right section may be a sieve. L.A. Moritz, Grain-Mills and Flour in ClassicalAntiquity(Oxford 1958) 74-90. For comparative scenes of molae asinariae, see: W. Amelung, Die Skulpturen des VatikanischenMuseums 1 (Berlin 1903) 778, no. 685, pl. 84 (the reliefof P. Nonius Zethus);A. Mau, Pompeii. Its Life and Art, trans. F.J. Kelsey (New Yorkand London 1904) 390, fig. 222 (relief in Museo Chiaramonti, Vatican Museums); Ciancio Rossetto (supra n. 70); and Kampen,Image 157, no. 54, pl. 89 (the calendarmosaicfrom Saint Romain-en-Gal, Saint Germain-en-Laye,Mus&edes AntiquitesNationales, Inv. MA 1334).

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above, and it has been suggested that these depicted the personifications of the Four Seasons as seen in the vault of the adjacent Tomb 79.'10 The extant medal-

Fig. 9. Lenunculusrelief from Tomb 78, Isola Sacra Necropolis. (Courtesy Soprintendenza alle Antichita di Ostia, neg. B701) emblem of the baker's craft. Emblems also are characterized by this schematic economy of form as well as by the frontality of figures and objects. The columbarium interior (3.45 x 3.20 m.) is articulated with a large semicircular niche in the rear wall, two rectangular niches on the side walls, and 20 small semicircular niches arranged around the chamber. On the right wall Calza reported seeing a damaged painting of Hercules.105 The hero lacked his head, but held his club in his left hand and perhaps the apples of the Hesperides in his right. Although no reproductions of this painting exist and the original has long since disappeared, examples of similar themes from Pompeian wall painting aid in reconstructing the lost tomb painting. One example from the Casa della Regina Margherita in Pompeii shows Hercules observing the three Hesperides at an altar.106 The figures are set in the middle ground of a rocky, mountainous landscape with a tree and a corner section of an enclosure marking the sacred site. A figure of Neptune or Poseidon was painted in a corresponding niche on the left wall. When Calza viewed it, only the god's feet were visible along with the trident in his left hand and his right hand resting on a dolphin.1'7 Medallions were painted in the vault
105Calza, La necropoli 118, 337.

lions of Tomb 79 portrayheadsof the personifications with appropriateattributessuch as hoods and marsh reeds for winter, or floral garlandsfor spring. A conventionaldecorativeschemeemergesfromthe fragmentaryevidenceof Tomb 78. Both Neptune and Hercules with the Hesperides represent voyages on the sea or to the ends of the earth. The motif of the with that of the quest, commonly voyage,compounded death.'09Also the watery depths of Nepsymbolizes tune's realm evoke the dissolution of life, and in mythology the Underworld was usually reached by crossingwater."10 A more specificlevel of symbolismrelates the interior paintingsto the facadereliefs. The significanceof a sea god to a port town cannot be discounted.Neptune protectsseagoingvessels like the boat depictedon the facade relief."'1For one who earned his living by

Fig. 10. Millstone relief from Tomb 78, Isola Sacra Necropolis. (Courtesy Soprintendenza alle Antichitaidi Ostia, neg. B698) great rivers. I'I The Italian god of water also governedthe sea through his identificationwith Poseidon. W.H. Roscher, Ausfiihrliches Lexicon der griechischenund r6mischenMythologie 3.1 (Leipzig 1898) 201-207, s.v. Neptunus, esp. 205 (G. Wissowa). W. Warde Fowler, The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic (London 1908) 185-87. Meiggs (supra n. 6) 345-46, on a dedicationto Neptune, Castor and Pollux found near the centerof the city althoughit probably once stoodin the temple area.

C.M. Dawson, Romano-Campanian Mythological LandscapePainting (YCS 9, New Haven 1944) 89, no. 22, pl. 7. 107 Calza, La necropoli118, 337. 108 Calza, La necropoli 118, 337. For a related image, see 141, fig. 67. 109 Rostovtzeff,JRS 13 (1923) 206, on the motif of the M. last journey in funeraryart. 110 Lucian, Dial. Mort. 2-3, for a contemporarysource on beliefs about death. Hades was thought to be surroundedby

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A MELEAGER SARCOPHAGUS FROM A TOMB IN OSTIA

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ferrying cargo or towing large ships in the harbor in Portus, Neptune was a crucial deity who required frequent propitiation. It is likely that Neptune was represented in the tomb painting because of his influence over one of Claudius Eutychus's businesses.112 Hercules, the deified hero who undertook a series of labors, was an appropriate choice because he was a god of luck to the Romans.113 More particularly, the fortune of Hercules benefited those in trade or business, and the Temple of Hercules Invictus in Ostia was the focus of an important and wealthy cult.114 The labors of Hercules are depicted in a stucco frieze in another tomb at Isola Sacra, and perhaps either these heroic tasks or his acquired immortality or both merited his popularity."'5 The Four Seasons probably depicted on the vault are a standard motif in funerary art because of their evocation of the passage of time, of the cyclical return of the seasons.116 The seasons also serve as a metaphor for the ages of man.117 In Late Antique and Early Christian art, they are personified by figures engaged in tasks typical of each season.118 Milling grain, as shown on the other facade relief, fits this tradition of depicting seasonal agricultural work.119 The relief may be an emblem of life's ceaseless toil through its depiction of the monotonous activity of the slave and the horse. Only death offers an escape. In one sense, the tomb paintings of Hercules, Neptune, and the Seasons suggest the triumph of Tiberius Claudius Eutychus over mortality. The immortal hero and the god of the sea reflect his achievements while they imply a favorable reception in the next world. Medallions of the Seasons on the tomb's vault continue the theme of eternal life. The decoration of

the tomb interior focuses on the concerns of the deceased and the promises of an afterlife. The facade reliefs of the boat and of the millstone ostensibly depict the deceased's transport business and his bakery under the protection of Neptune and Hercules. The relief of the boat may, however, also symbolize the last journey while the millstone relief evokes life's labors through its depiction of a routine, menial task. In this case, the professional scenes seem to share the symbolic content of the mythological works of the interior, although they emphasize the equipment of the trades-the millstone and the boat-and indicate the sources of Eutychus's wealth and his identity in the port community. In the two examples discussed above, there is evidence of a decorative program uniting the tomb exteriors and interiors, although the scope and extent varies in each case. The interior paintings of Tomb 78 portrayed deities, Hercules and Neptune, and personifications, the Seasons, who govern the occcupations shown on the facade reliefs. The decoration may be seen to be directed to different audiences: that of the tomb chamber to the relatives who celebrate rites in honor of the deceased and that of the facade to the public who is reminded of the deceased's accomplishments. The smith's tomb, no. 29, offers a more extensive program because of its rich decoration of three terracotta reliefs, one figured black-and-white mosaic, and a marble sarcophagus. The choice of a mythological sarcophagus for the smith did not depend upon a patron deity such as Vulcan, but on a myth in which the smith's products, the finely ground cutting blades, were prominent.120 The Meleager myth was visually appropriate and immediately appealing to Verrius,

BullCom 67 (1939) 37-60, on the importanceand wealth of this cult in Ostia and on a curious relief foundin the vicinity of Ostia. 115Calza, La necropoli108-10, on the HadrianicTomb 95, decoratedwith a stucco frieze in 12 rectangularpanels, disposed with six panels on two facing walls in the tomb cham-

culto di Ercole ad Ostia ed un nuovo rilievo votivo,"

112 Zimmer,RB 15. Tiberius Claudius Eutychusmay have owned both a bakeryand a boat which were probablyoperated for him by slaves or freedmen.See Meiggs (supra n. 6) captions to pl. 28. 113 J. Bayet, Les origines de l'Hercule romain (Paris 1926) 397-401, 420-21, 471. 114 G. Dumezil, La religion romaine archaique (Paris between Hercules' travels 1966) 424, on the correspondence to the ends of the earth, especially with the purpose of acquiring goods such as the apples of the Hesperides, and the activities of a trader. Cebeillac (supra n. 12) 39-125, esp. 65-70, on Herakles' role as the patron deity of businessmen. Wrede 1981 (supra n. 3) 99, on Hercules and Mercury as Roman gods of trade and business, and the 12 Labors as signs of virtus. Also, 238-53, nos. 121-58. G. Becatti, "I1

ber. M. Floriani Squarciapino,"Fatiched'Ercole:Ercole e le stalle di Augia in un emblemaostiense,"ArchCl 10 (1958) 106-15. 116 G.M.A. Hanfmann, The SeasonSarcophagus Dumin bartonOaks 1 (Cambridge1951) 129-41. Ov. 117 Met. 15.179. 18 D. Parrish, Season Mosaics of Roman North Africa (Rome 1984) pls. 8a, 15, 17b, among other examples. 119 E.g., see Kampen,Image 157, no. 54, pl. 89, for a thirdcentury mosaic from a villa in Saint Romain-en-Gal. The mosaic depicts a woman milling grain, and she is shown holding a whip aloft to drive the mule which is emerging from behind the millstone. Cf. supra n. 104. 120 A. Burford, Craftsmen in Greek and Roman Society (London 1972) 72. The traditionalpictureof Hephaistosor Vulcan as a lame buffoon or a laughingstock,even though he was a god, disqualifies him from being depicted in this context. For example, F. Brommer,Der Gott Vulkanauf provinzialromischenReliefs (Cologne 1973) pls. 7-10. F. Brommer, Hephaistos, Der Schmiedegottin der antiken Kunst (Mainz 1978) 172, pls. 53.3, 56.1.