Monument of Aemilius Paullus

Monument of Aemilius Paullus was erected in the Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi. Dating back to 167 BCE, the monument commemorates the Roman victory in the Battle of Pydna against King Perseus of Macedon. The partially completed pillar was intended to be a base for a portrait of King Perseus. It was originally created to make the Macedonian presence known in Delphi to remind the Delphians of the tradition of friendship existing between them and the royal family.[1] However, the monument was taken over by Aemilius Paullus to celebrate himself and Rome's victory noting that, "it was only proper that the conquered should give way to the victors."[2] The Monument of Aemilius Paullus stood in front of the Temple of Apollo along with two other commemorative pillars to Eumenes II of Pergamon and Prusias II of Bithynia. However, this pillar dominates over the other two. The completed monument was a bronze equestrian statue atop a rectangular pillar that soared over 9 meters high.[3] While the equestrian statue that was originally on top of pillar no longer remains, the cuttings in the plinth show that the horse would have been in a rearing position. An inscription near the base of the altar survived, which translated reads, "Aemelius, son of Lucius set this up from the spoils which he took from King Perseus and the Macedonians."[2]

The details and significance of the Frieze

Deployed on all four sides at the top of the rectangular marble pillar, is a relief frieze depicting the Battle of Pydna. The frieze runs 6.5 meters long and 0.31 meters high. The figures are carved in high relief out of white veined marble with a brown patina.[4] The frieze is the earliest known example of Greek sculpture in a purely Roman context.[4] Each of the four sides are to be read as a different episode.[2] The Hellenistic style reliefs are the first surviving sculpture that depicts a Roman historical narrative.[5] There is no landscape or context filling the space, but only the two armies on horseback and foot fighting one another. It is organized by groups of combatants with dead or dying warriors in between to fill the space. The battle scenes are lively with a lot of foreshortening and a strong attention to detail. The variance in details between the armor and weapons distinguishes the two sides. The Romans carry large oval shields while the Macedonians' shields are rounded.[2]

On one long side of the frieze, a riderless horse dominates the scene. This detail alludes to the start of the battle. Before the battle began, an oracle declared that whichever side started the battle was fated to lose. Due to this prophecy both armies waited to fight. Eventually, a horse crashed through the Roman lines across to the Macedonian army and as both sides were trying to capture it combat broke out. Since Aemilius was responding to Perseus's attack, Romans won the Battle of Pydna. Therefore, the riderless horse is a visual reminder of the start of the war. The scenes are depicted using Greek synoptic narrative which places various episodes together in the same scene rather than chronological order.[3] The Aemilius Paullus Monument set the pattern for Roman commemorative reliefs battle scenes in later periods.

It is speculated that a portrait of Aemilius himself can be found on one of the short sides of the frieze. The figure is not generalized like the other warriors, but rendered with great detail as if it were a portrait of a specific individual. The individual figures seemed to be based on or reminiscent of battle reliefs on the Temple of Athena Nike on the Athenian Acropolis.[3] He is on a diagonally depicted horse whose neck, shoulders, and head vanish into the relief plane. The figure extends his Roman sword toward an infantry man who is shielding his head. The spatial freedom with which the figure is depicted, unusual in relief sculpture, makes him stand out among the other figures.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Ridgway, B. (1997). Fourth-century styles in Greek sculpture. Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Pollitt, J. (1986). Conquest and its Effects. Art in the Hellenistic Age (p. 156-157). Cambridge University Press.
  3. 1 2 3 Tuck, S. (2015). Roman Wall Painting in the Late Republic. In A history of Roman art (p. 107-108). John Wiley & Sons.
  4. 1 2 Strong, D., & Toynbee, J. (1976). Roman art (p. 37). Harmondsworth: Penguin.
  5. ↑ Roisman, J. (2011). A Companion to Ancient Macedonia (1., Auflage ed., p. 531). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
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