This article takes its lead from research into the ‘language’ of Roman portraiture. More specifically, it explores a work that literalizes the idea of ‘reading’ a Roman portrait (to quote Sheldon Nodelman's classic phrase): a picture-poem by Publilius Optatianus Porfyrius — a much maligned poet active in the first decades of the fourth century ad — that purports, through its iconotextual form, to visualize the countenance of the emperor Constantine (uultus Augusti). After a brief introduction to Optatian and his œuvre, the article offers a close reading of his third poem, demonstrating the sophisticated ways in which it probes the latent iconic potential of written script. What particularly interests me about this case study is its underlying paradox: on the one hand, Optatian boasts that his painted page will outstrip antiquity's most celebrated painter (it ‘will dare outdo the waxes of Apelles’, uincere Apelleas audebit pagina ceras); on the other, the actual form of the picture seems to eschew mimetic modes of representation, rendering Constantine's ‘portrait’ a geometric pattern. So how should we make sense of this image? What does the poem reveal about ideas of portraiture in the fourth century? And how might we contextualize Optatian's abiding fascination with the limits of ‘seeing’ and ‘reading’?

Monte d'Irsi is located approximately 6·5 km. east-southeast of the town of Irsina and 4 km. due west of the village of Santa Maria d'Irsi in the region of Basilicata. The archaeological site sits on the crown of an irregularly shaped plateau at around 480 m. above sea level; the land drops away steeply in all directions and the hill-sides are heavily eroded by stream beds which feed into the two major rivers in the area, the Bradano and the Basentello (Figs. 1 and 2 and Pl. XXVII, a). M. d'Irsi lies about 7·5 km. north-west of the confluence of the two, and since it is the highest point for 6 or 7 km. round about, forms an imposing feature of the landscape. No doubt it is this fact, connected with the proximity of M. d'Irsi to the very important Bradano valley (3 km. distant) that made the M. d'Irsi plateau a prime candidate for settlement even in prehistoric times and presumably in times of stress.

During the winter of 1948–9, in the course of work undertaken to widen the Tal Liedna and the Ghajn Dwieli Roads, which from Pawla lead to Zabbar and to Cospicua respectively, thirteen rock-cut tombs were discovered (Fig. 1). These operations necessitated the complete clearing away of a layer of field soil, varying in thickness from one to three feet, to expose the surface of the underlying Globigerina Limestone formation. Blasting of the rock was also effected to attain the required level.

The discovery of rock-cut tombs in Malta is not of rare occurrence; but in the majority of cases they are found opened and rifled of all the material originally contained in them. The particular interest attached to the burials under consideration is that, when found, almost all of them were still intact and in a comparatively good state of preservation.

This paper aims to analyse how Christianity took shape and put down roots in Tuscia Annonaria (present-day northern Toscana) in the period from the 4th to the second half of the 8th centuries AD, both in urban and rural contexts. This theme has until now been analysed only rarely in a complex fashion. It will be thoroughly examined here, starting from a quantitative approach (based upon compiling material and written evidence), which will lead to a deeper understanding of historiographical problems and of new possible keys to the interpretation of phenomena that were complex and articulated in similar ways as were those which were tied to the transformation of towns and of Roman landscapes and which led to the shaping of what happened after the end of Classical Antiquity.

In 1971 a joint programme of research into the history, architecture and archaeology of the now ruined Abbey was organised under the direction of Dr. A. T. Luttrell, then Assistant Director of the British School at Rpme. The historical survey, by Dr. Luttrell with assistance from Miss Ishbel Adams, and the architectural study of the existing remains, by Dr. F. K. B. Toker, have already been published (Luttrell, Toker and Adams, 1972: cited below as Part I). The preface to that report sets out the aims of the whole project and its background. The archaeological excavations were planned to supply information about those parts of the Abbey's structure no longer visible above ground, the earlier stages of its construction, and concerning the life of its inhabitants; it was also hoped that from the pottery found in the excavations a local ceramic series might be constructed. The excavations were carried out on behalf of the British School at Rome, in 1971 and 1972 under the direction of Hugo Blake assisted by Tom Blagg, and in 1973 under the direction of Tom Blagg, who has been responsible for editing the present report.

The history of the relations of the Roman Republic with the kings, tribes, and cities of Illyria cannot at present be written, as the evidence does not permit the construction of a coherent and comprehensive account. This, perhaps, is why scholars have often tended to neglect the subject, and have thereby been led into serious errors in dealing with the history of Roman expansion and early imperial organisation. It is the aim of this paper to set out what conclusions can be reached on some important aspects of the subject, and to indicate the way in which these conclusions may be related to the general study of Roman foreign policy during its most interesting period.

In 83 b.c. L. Cornelius Sulla invaded Italy to face his political enemies in civil war. From Brundisium he moved quickly into Campania, defeated C. Norbanus near Capua, won over the army of the other consul, L. Scipio, near Teanum Sidicinum, and advanced some way northwards—possibly to Aquinum in the middle Liris basin. There followed a lengthy pause in operations, and a very hard winter.

Next year, Sulla beat the illegally youthful consul C. Marius somewhere in the upper valley of the Trerus (the Sacco of today), and pursued him and his routed forces into Praeneste, which he proceeded to besiege. It was vital not to leave this immensely strong site, which dominates eastern Latium and with it one of the through passages from Rome to Campania, in enemy hands. Marius' considerable forces had to be neutralised, lest they endanger Sulla's rear as he pressed on north of Rome against Carbo in Etruria, lest they effect a junction with Carbo, or lest they provide a focal point (and a base) for Italic peoples not prepared to accept Sulla, and likely to offer Marius ready recruits, if he were left unhindered. Besides, the town itself was anti-Sullan—and prepared beforehand for such a siege, it seems.

The fragmentary upper part of a Corinthian capital which is the principal subject of this note can be seen near the north-east corner of the Temple of Saturn, between it and the Basilica Julia. Until a few years ago the two surviving fragments were separated, one piece lying approximately where it now is, the other among the debris stacked against the base of the temple. It was through the kindness of the Superintendent of Antiquities for the Forum and Palatine that the two pieces were placed together, confirming the writer's suspicion that they were parts of the same badly damaged capital. To Professor Carettoni, to Miss Vanessa Wills (Mrs. P. Winchester) who helped in the initial study of the fragments, and to Dr. F. Rakob and Dr. D. E. Strong, the writer wishes to express his warm thanks. The drawings and many of the photographs here reproduced are the work of Miss Sheila Gibson, A.R.I.B.A.

The two fragments are of a white Carrara marble of which some of the surfaces have been badly damaged by fire. Together they constitute the greater part of one carved face and of half of an adjoining carved face of a large angle-pilaster or anta capital which, when complete, occupied the full height of two courses of the masonry into which it was built. In addition to the two carved faces there are substantial remains of the upper surface and of the two inner vertical faces, and a short stretch of the under surface. On the upper surface can be seen the seatings of an architrave block laid at right-angles across the carved corner. The overall dimensions of the block, when complete, were 1·71 m. long, 70 cm. wide and 68 cm. high (fig. 1).

L'articolo prende in considerazione tre particolari forme di ceramica da cucina: l'Hayes 23B, 196 e 197. Realizzati nella Tunisia settentrionale fin dal periodo flavio, esse rappresentano le forme più comuni tra i rinvenimenti africani nei siti del Mediterraneo occidentale. Comunque, ci sono problemi nell'interpretare i modi in cui erano usati. In questa sede suggerisco che le tre forme costituissero un set per la cottura a bagnomaria (con il recipiente più basso che andava riempito per metà d'acqua; uno superiore in cui veniva immesso il cibo; e un coperchio soprastante). Vengono discusse le origini di simili vasi e il loro ruolo nella cottura.

This article investigates an aristocratic domus located on the Arx, overlooking the better-known insula of the Aracoeli from the northern summit of the Capitoline hill. This domus was buried during the construction of the basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli in the thirteenth century and remained sealed until the 1980s. I have reconstructed its layout — at least three levels survive — relying on my architectural survey and on the Vittoriano archives. The original phase dates from the first century BC, but substantial restorations were made during the Flavian age, when the domus lost its fauces–atrium–tablinum pattern, and in the early third century AD, when it was expanded vertically by a deep cut into the tuff bank, received a new facade and was redecorated with frescoes. The domus of the Aracoeli must have been a residence of high status, and in the Severan age it was supplied by lead pipes bearing imperial stamps. Although the Capitoline was mostly occupied by public buildings, the Arx was a prestigious neighbourhood and not a sort of monumental acropolis. I discuss the development and the architectural design of the domus of the Aracoeli, including its underground residential spaces as well as its sculptural and painted decoration; finally, I examine the remodellings of the original atrium house from a socio-cultural point of view.

In December 1970 the British Museum acquired from the British School at Rome a small printed book, in quarto, undated and without title or imprint, and consisting of twelve leaves of text, with a number of woodcut ornamental borderpieces, and on the first three leaves two woodcut signs of the zodiac at the top of each page. The book is very rare, copies being known in the following libraries: Rome, Biblioteca Angelica; Vatican; Seville, Biblioteca Colombina; London, British Museum (formerly British School at Rome copy, acquired by Thomas Ashby from the Rome bookseller Silvio Bocca in 1924); Milan, private collection of C. E. Rava. Theodor Mommsen wrote in 1893 that another copy ‘nuper comparavit bibliotheca nostra regia’, i.e. the Preussische Staatsbibliothek: I have not ascertained whether this copy is still in Berlin. Sander describes the book as a Calendarium, and adds, without giving any reason, that it was printed before September, 1515. As will be seen later, it must have been printed before May, 1515. Rava, in his recent supplement to Sander, shows that as Sander had not seen a copy he makes a number of errors in his description. Rava rightly says that this little work ought to be described as ‘Calendarii et Fasti’, since it is not a calendar in the modern sense, but more precisely it reproduces the texts, partly fragmentary, of ancient calendars and Roman fasti engraved on slabs of marble, which the anonymous compiler had collected in various places.

The Roman road-system between Bolsena and Chiusi is for several reasons one of particular interest. It was detectably influenced by changes in the pattern of settlement; it was the scene of an ambitious engineering project under Trajan; and it covers three different types of country, the tufa hills of Northern Lazio, the clay and limestone ridges to the north of the River Paglia and finally the flood-plain of the upper Val di Chiana.

In the third century B.C. the importance of the Etruscan town on the site of Orvieto sharply declined and Bolsena became the leading town of the area. Orvieto is probably the site of Etruscan Volsinii. This identification, which goes back to K. O. Müller, has been assailed by R. Bloch in a series of articles on the archaeology of Bolsena. It is, however, supported by the evidence of both sites: the finds at Orvieto, notably the rich groups of sixth-century and fifth-century tombs recently excavated by Bizzarri in the Crocefisso del Tufo cemetery, easily outweigh the small quantity of early material which has emerged from the Bolsena site.

This article contains five notes on Roman topography. The first three briefly argue (1) that the uia Tecta supposedly to be placed in the Campus Martius has perhaps arisen from corruption of uia Recta; (2) that the temple of Juturna, placed by Ovid near the arches of the Aqua Virgo, could not have stood where Largo Argentina now is, but further north, perhaps in the grounds of Santa Maria in Via; and (3) that the rites of Anna Perenna described by Ovid in Fasti 3 took place near the Mausoleum of Augustus, and not at the recently discovered spring near Piazza Euclide. Note (4) exhibits the evidence for regarding the twin summits of the Capitol and the Arx as the duo luci between which the Asylum was set up, and goes on to suggest that Vergil and Ovid may have used the name Ianiculum to refer to the Arx; (5) demonstrates that in with the name of a hill can refer to any site from the foot up, and builds on this in arguing that the phrase Concordia in Arce refers to a temple constructed where the slope rises from the Forum.

This article is in two parts. The first part, in Italian, by Giuseppe Schinco, is a study of the typology and technical characteristics of a group of 225 lead slingshots found rather more than twenty years ago by a private metal detectorist on the hill of Botromagno near Gravina in Puglia. The second part, in English, by Alastair Small, is a review of the archaeological evidence for a possible siege of the site within the time frame suggested by the typological study of the slingshots. Since the site, which can be identified with the ancient Silvium, can be shown to have been abandoned around the end of the first quarter of the first century BC within that time frame, we conclude that the siege most probably took place during the slave war of 73–70 BC associated with Spartacus.