☀️ The theater of Cartagena was discovered and excavated only 30 years ago. Altars, sculptures and dedicatory inscriptions of the theater were saved from destruction as it was first transformed into a macellum, and later buried under medieval and later constructions.
📜 Link to the post on Timetravelrome.com 👉https://www.timetravelrome.com/2023/12/17/roman-theater-of-cartagena/
The villa of the Emperor #Hadrian at Tivoli, called Villa Adriana, is even in ruined condition one of the most spectacular Roman gardens. This statue of a young warrior identified as #Ares used to overlook a lake as one of six statues in a single colonnade.
Diana sits in divine nudity with her cloak offering respite from the rock ledge she sits on. She sits before a garlanded altar with a small herm, her quiver nearby.
Intaglio from Roman Caerleon made of red jasper, depicting the Roman war god #Mars.
Mars was usually shown as a warrior carrying shield, spear, and sword whilst wearing armour and a created helmet.
Claudius makes no bones about being the top dog in Rome with this cameo. He holds Jupiter’s sceptre and thunderbolt and is joined by Jupiter’s eagle. The frame is a later addition from the C16th.
Sculpture of #Selene carved from a cylinder of coarse-grained marble. It shows no traces of reworking. The right hand, which may have held a torch, is missing. She probably adorned a sanctuary, perhaps a domestic one.
Full description in the alt text.
🏛️ Statue of Selene, white marble (Proconnesio), dated 250-300 CE
Servius Tullius was touched by fire in more ways than one.
First was his conception (rumour has it that his mother was impregnated by a phantom phallus that appeared in a fire). Then as a child, he was seen wreathed in flame while sleeping. This was interpreted by the queen, Tanaquil, to mean that Servius was destined for great things and must be protected at all costs.
"Where the milky region is set in a tranquil heaven, lay kindly Venus in her bower, whence night had but lately fled, faint in the rough embrace of her Getic lord [Mars]. About the posts and pillows of her couch swarm a troop of tender Amores."
Statius, Silvae 1.2.51
"As wind rises, golden Phoebe [Luna-Selene] ever blushes. But if at her fourth rising--for that is our surest guide--she pass through the sky clear and with undimmed horns, then all that day, and the days born of it to the month's end, shall be free from rain and wind."
Virgil, Georgics 1. 426
🏛️ Roman oil lamp decorated with the goddess #Luna
"Oh for a man mighty with the spear to deliver our house, an #Ares, brandishing in the fight the springing Scythian bow and wielding his hilted sword in close combat."
Aeschylus, Libation Bearers 160
🏛️ Ares-Mars statuette, Roman Empire, photo by Carole Madge @followinghadrian
This photo in no way does justice to how detailed and amazing this mosaic is, but it was the best I could find 😭 Depicted: Sol Invictus surrounded by the signs of the zodiac.
📍 Roman villa at Münster-Sarmsheim
🏛 Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Bonn
Detail of the ‘dancing figures’ from the so-called Villa of Cicero at Pompeii. The fluidity of the poses, as though floating in the air, combined with the arresting diaphanous material of their dresses is simply stunning.
Have a beautiful Day of Aphrodite aka Venus' Day aka Frigg's Day aka Friday 🌹
#Hera, #Aphrodite, and #Athena present themselves for the Trojan prince Paris to judge their beauty. Aphrodite is disrobing for him to show him the goods. #Hermes had guided them and apparently decided to stick around to sneak a peek.
🏛️ "The Judgment of Paris," 45-79 CE, Roman fresco
✨ Brand New Episode - Where in the World is Carventum? ✨
We dive into the years of 411 and 410 BCE. Tension is rife between Romans when the Volscians and Aequians team up to take the strategic stronghold of Arx Carventum...
This relief was found at Hadrian’s villa in Tivoli. The young man (Castor?) seems to be in a tousle for control with the horse while a dog watches on. Likely Roman in manufacture, but definitely inspired by the Greek style!
#Diana-Selene wears a crescent-moon ornament in her hair and a torch in her right hand, attributes characteristic of the moon goddess. The statue has been found near the Porta San Sebastiano.
🏛️ #Selene, 1st century CE, Musei Capitolini: Palazzo Nuovo, #Rome
Exquisite gold offering bowl engraved with the drinking contest between #Bacchus and #Hercules. We know this story from art but no written account of this myth has survived.
🏛️ #Dionysos and #Herakles, Drinking Contest Detail, Patera of Rennes, Roman bowl, ca 210 CE. Today in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, #Paris.