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An Imperial Image: The Bath Gorgon in Context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2016

Eleri H. Cousins
Eleri H. Cousins*
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge ehc35@cam.ac.uk
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Abstract

This paper attempts to put the Gorgon from the pediment of the Temple of Sulis Minerva at Bath into a wider provincial context, by arguing for links between the Gorgon and first- and early second-century imitations in Gaul and Spain of the iconography of the Forum of Augustus in Rome. These imitations, part of what might be called a ‘visual language of empire’, served to connect the urban spaces of the provinces to Rome; by linking the Gorgon to this trend and setting aside interpretations of the Gorgon which have focused on his perceived status as a ‘Romano-Celtic’ masterpiece, we can justify more satisfactorily his position as the centrepiece of a pediment dominated by imperial imagery.

Keywords

BathGorgonSulis MinervatempleForum of Augustusclipeus
Type
Articles
Information
Britannia , Volume 47 , November 2016 , pp. 99 - 118
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2016. Published by The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies 

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References

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