Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-rvbq7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-10T14:30:05.641Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The changing funerary world of Roman Cyrene

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2014

Luca Cherstich
Luca Cherstich*
Affiliation:
Chieti, Italy
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper discusses the deep transformation of the monumental funerary culture of Cyrene during the Roman period. For the first time the problem is analysed in its complex entirety, identifying elements of Roman tombs and looking for possible dating clues. The quantitative data from a survey in the Southern Necropolis are used for a statistical analysis, looking for the relationship between portrait-busts/niches and other burial features. A chronological view of this period in the necropolis is attempted, together with a discussion of the evolution and the cultural significance of tomb-types. The picture is also contextualised within what we know of the socio-historical framework from other sources.

Type
Articles
Information
Libyan Studies , Volume 42 , 2011 , pp. 33 - 46
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Libyan Studies 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alcock, S.E. 2001. Vulgar Romanization and the dominance of elites. In Keay, S. and Terrenato, N. (eds), Italy and the West. Comparative issues in Romanization. Oxford: 227–230.Google Scholar
Al Muzzeini, A., Thorn, D.M., Thorn, J.C. and Reynolds, J. 2003. Newly discovered funerary verses at Cyrene. Quaderni di Archeologia della Libia 18: 165–172.Google Scholar
Bacchielli, L. 1977. Un ritratto cireneo nel Museo Nazionale Romano e alcune osservazioni sui busti funerari per nicchia. Quaderni di Archeologia della Libia 9: 77–92.Google Scholar
Bacchielli, L. 1987. La cultura libya in Cirenaica e la variabilità delle risposte al contatto culturale grecoromano (catalogue by Bacchielli L. and Reynolds J.). Quaderni di Archeologia della Libia 12: 459–522.Google Scholar
Bacchielli, L., Reynolds, J. and Rees, B. 1992. La tomba di Demetria a Cirene. Quaderni di Archeologia della Libia 15: 5–22.Google Scholar
Bacchielli, L. 1990. Il ritratto funerario in Cirenaica: produzione urbana e produzione della chora a confronto. Atti della Giornata Lincea sulla Archeologia Cirenaica, Roma 3 11 1987. Roma: 55–64.Google Scholar
Bacchielli, L. 1993a. La tomba cirenea del Buon Pastore. Rendiconti della Pontificia Accademia Romana di Archeologia 63: 3–21.Google Scholar
Bacchielli, L. 1993b. Pittura funeraria antica in Cirenaica. Libyan Studies 24: 77–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bacchielli, L. 1996. La tomba di Thanatos nella Necropoli Sud di Cirene. Libya Antiqua n.s. 2: 27–30.Google Scholar
Bacchielli, L. 2002. La tomba dei Ludi a Cirene: dai viaggiatori dell'Ottocento alla riscoperta. Quaderni di Archeologia della Libia 16: 285–312.Google Scholar
Bacchielli, L. and Falivene, M.R. 1995. Il canto delle sirene nella tomba di Asgafa El Abiar. Quaderni di Archeologia della Libia 17: 93–107.Google Scholar
Bailey, D.M. 1972. Crowe's tomb at Benghazi. Annual of the British School at Athens 67: 1–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beschi, L. 1972. Divinità funerarie cirenaiche. Annuario della Scuola Archeologica di Atene, 47–48, n.s. 31–32 (1969–70): 133–341.Google Scholar
Bonanno Aravantinos, M. 1998. La tomba dell'Amazzo-nomachia nella Necropoli Nord di Cirene. In Catani E., Marengo, M.S. (eds), La Cirenaica in Età Antica. Pisa and Roma: 83–95.Google Scholar
Brunt, P.A. 1990. Roman Imperial Themes. Oxford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burrell, B. 2004. Neokoroi. Greek cities and Roman emperors. Leiden and Boston.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butcher, K. 2003. Roman Syria and the Near East. London.Google Scholar
Callot, O. and Nenna, M.-D. 2003. Étude architecturale des tombes B9, B10, B11, B20 et B39, Secteur 2. In Empereur, J.-Y and Nenna, M.-D. (eds), Necropolis 2, Institut Français d'archéologie orientale, Cairo: 85–109.Google Scholar
Cassels, J. 1955. The cemeteries of Cyrene. Papers of the British School at Rome 23: 1–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chamoux, F. 2002. La Stèle funéraire d'Antonianos d'Ephèse à Cyrène. Quaderni di Archeologia della Libia 16: 321–5.Google Scholar
Cherstich, I. and Cherstich, L. 2008. Violent dialogues between the living and the dead: disfiguring facades in Cyrene. In Rakoczy, L. (ed.), The Archaeology of Destruction, Cambridge: 210–38.Google Scholar
Cherstich, L. 2005. The tomb S1 of Cyrene: from the Hellenistic phase to the Christian re-use. In Briault, C., Green, J., Kaldelis, A. and Stellatou, A. (eds), SOMA 2003: Symposium on Mediterranean Archaeology. BAR International Series 1391. Oxford: 33–38.Google Scholar
Cherstich, L. 2006. S4: la tomba di Klearchos a Cirene. In Fabbricotti and Menozzi 2006: 103–14.Google Scholar
Cherstich, L. 2008a. From looted tombs to ancient society: a survey of the Southern Necropolis of Cyrene. Libyan Studies 39: 73–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cherstich, L. 2008b. The role of Alexandria in Cyrenean Cemeteries from ‘Ptolemization’ to Romanization. In Menozzi, O., Di Marzio, D.L. and Fossataro, D. (eds), SOMA 2005: Proceedings of the IX Symposium on Mediterranean Archaeology, Chieti (Italy), 24-26February 2005. BAR International Series 1739. Oxford: 129–142.Google Scholar
Cherstich, L. 2008c. The Southern Necropolis of Cyrene. Unpublished DPhil Thesis. Oxford University.Google Scholar
Cherstich, L. and Santucci, A. 2010. A new discovery at Cyrene: Tomb S64 and its ‘Pompeian Second Style’ wall paintings. Preliminary notes. Libyan Studies 41: 33–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dent, J.S., Lloyd, J.A., Riley, J.A. 1983. Some Hellenistic and early Roman tombs from Benghazi. Libya Antiqua 13–14 (1976–77): 131–212.Google Scholar
Drennan, R.D. 1996. Statistics for Archaeologists. A com-monsense Approach. New York and London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Di Valerio, E., Cherstich, I., Carinci, M., Siciliano, F., D'Addazio, G. and Cinalli, A. 2005. Votive funerary niches in funerary architecture in Cyrenaica (Libya). In Briault, C., Green, J., Kaldelis, A. and Stellatou, A. (eds), SOMA 2003: Symposium on Mediterranean Archaeology. BAR International Series 1391, Oxford: 53–8.Google Scholar
Dobias-Lalou, C. 1994. Langue et Politique: À Quoi Sert la Dialecte dans la Cyrénaïque Romaine? Libyan Studies 25: 245–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fabbricotti, E. and Menozzi, O. (eds) 2006. Cirenaica: studi, scavi e scoperte. Parte I: Nuovi dati da città e territorio. BAR International Series 1488, Oxford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fadel Ali, M., Reynolds, J. 1997. New funerary Inscriptions from Cyrene. Libya Antiqua n.s. 3: 31–45.Google Scholar
Fulford, M.G. 1989. The East and West: the Mediterranean Trade of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania in Antiquity. Libyan Studies 20: 169–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gleason, M.W. 2006. Greek cities under Roman rule. In Potter, D.S. (ed.), A Companion to the Roman Empire. Oxford: 228–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gros, P. 2001. L'Architecture Romaine du début du IIIe siécle av. J.-C. à la fin du Haut-Empire. 2. Maisons, palais, villas et tombeaux. Paris.Google Scholar
Hingley, R. 2003. Recreating coherence without reinventing Romanization. In Merryweather, A.D. and Prag, J.R.W., (eds), ‘Romanization’? Proceedings of a post-graduate colloquium, held at The Institute of Classical Studies, University of London, 15 November 2002. Digressus Supplement 1: 11–9. Available on the internet address: http://www.digres-sus.org/articles/romanizationpp111-119-hingley.pdf accessed on 1st May 2007.Google Scholar
Hodder, I. and Hutson, S. 2003. Reading the Past. Current approaches to interpretation in archaeology. Third edition, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huskinson, J. 2000. Elite culture and the identity of empire. In Huskinson, J. (ed.), Experiencing Rome. Culture, Identity and Power in the Roman Empire. Routledge: 95–123.Google Scholar
Laronde, A. 1988. La Cyrénaīque Romaine (96 av. J.-C. -235 ap. J.-C.). In Temporini, H. (ed.), Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt 10.II, Berlin and New York: 1006–1064.Google Scholar
Martelli, M. 1975. Un aspetto del commercio di manufatti artistici nel IV secolo a.C.: i sarcofagi in marmo. Prospettiva 2, 10: 9–17.Google Scholar
Paci, G. 1994. Le iscrizioni in lingua latina della Cirenaica. Libyan Studies 25: 251–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pietrogrande, A.L. 1930. Sarcofagi decorati della Cirenaica. Africa Italiana 3: 107–40.Google Scholar
Preston, R. 2001. Roman questions, Greek answers: Plutarch and the construction of identity. In Goldhill, S. (ed.), Being Greek under Rome. Cultural identity, the Second Sophistic and the Development of Empire, Cambridge: 86–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, J. 1959. Four inscriptions from Roman Cyrene. Journal of Roman Studies 49: 95–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, J. 1962. Cyrenaica, Pompey and Cn. Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus. Journal of Roman Studies 52: 97–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, J. 1989. Twenty Years of Inscriptions. Libyan Studies 20: 117–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, J. and Fadel Ali, M. 1996. Numisius Marcellia-nus, proconsul of Crete and Cyrene. In Bacchielli, L. and Bonanno Aravantinos, M. (eds), Scritti di Antichità in memoria di Sandro Stucchi I. La Cirenaica; la Grecia e L'Oriente Mediterraneo. Roma: 259–64.Google Scholar
Romanelli, P. 1943. La Cirenaica Romana (96a.C. -642 d.C.). Verbania.Google Scholar
Rosenbaum, E. 1960. A catalogue of Cyrenaican portrait sculpture. Oxford University Press, London.Google Scholar
Santucci, A. 1995. La tomba cirenea N226: dal monumento ellenistico alla riformulazione architettonica romana. Quaderni di Archeologia della Libia 17: 53–61.Google Scholar
Santucci, A. 1997. La tomba del capitello a calice nella Necropoli Nord di Cirene. Libya Antiqua n.s. 2: 31–35.Google Scholar
Schmidt-Colinet, A. 1997. The tomb architecture at Palmyra and its Decoration. In Alcock, S.E. (ed.), The Early Roman Empire in the East. Oxbow Monograph 95, Oxford: 157–167.Google Scholar
Shennan, S.J. 1988. Quantifying Archaeology. Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Shennan, S.J. 1997. Quantifying Archaeology. Second edition. EdinburghGoogle Scholar
Spawforth, A.J. and Walker, S. 1986. The world of the Panhellenion II: three Dorian cities. Journal of Roman Studies 76: 88–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorn, J.C. 2005. The Necropolis of Cyrene. Two hundred years of exploration. L'Erma di Bretschneider, Roma.Google Scholar
Thorn, J.C. and Thorn, D. M. with a contribution by Cherstich, L. 2008. The tomb of Grenna, Cyrene. Libyan Studies 39: 95–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorn, D.M. and Thorn, J.C. 2009. A gazetteer of the Cyrene Necropolis. L'Erma di Bretschneider, Roma.Google Scholar
Veyne, P. 2007. L'impero greco-romano. Milano. Italian translation of L'empire gréco-romain (2005).Google Scholar
Venit, M.S. 2002. Monumental tombs of ancient Alexandria. The Theatre of the Dead. Cambridge.Google Scholar
von Hesberg, H. 1992. Römische Grabbauten. Darmstadt.Google Scholar
Walker, S. 1994. The Imperial family as seen in Cyrene. Libyan Studies 25: 167–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, S. 1997. Athens under Augustus. In Hoff, M.C. and Rotroff, S.I. (eds), The Romanization of Athens. Oxford: 67–80.Google Scholar
Walker, S. 2002. Hadrian and the Renewal of Cyrene. Libyan Studies 33: 45–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, S. and Bierbrier, M. 1997. Ancient Faces. Mummy portraits from Roman Egypt. London.Google Scholar
Wanis, S. 1978. Two funerary statues at Cyrene. Libyan Studies 9: 47–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woolf, G. 1994. Becoming Roman, staying Greek: culture, identity and the civilising process in the Roman East. Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society 40: 116–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar