Dispersed sculpture

Hundreds of pieces of sculpture from the harbour can be seen in many museums: in Ostia, in Rome, and in ten other countries. Private collections contain an unknown number of objects. The exact findspot of a limited number of pieces is known. Often we only know that Ostia is the origin, sometimes with a rough indication of the place of discovery. But even if we know the details, this does not mean that the original location of the object has been established.

The problems begin in antiquity. Ostia was never sealed, by an eruption of a volcano like the Campanian cities, or by a mudslide like the villa near Piazza Armerina on Sicily. When the city was slowly being deserted, people started moving objects around. Marble was often reused, inscriptions from tombs even in the floors of houses. Surely Christians dumped the "demonic" statues of pagan gods, after hacking off the noses. In the Middle Ages and until the early 19th century most of the marble was burned in lime kilns. Marble objects were dragged to the kilns, where the remainder was sometimes found. Popes gave permission to use Ostia as a quarry, for bricks, but also for columns and capitals to be used in churches. Statues were taken to the Vatican Museums. Permission was also given to antiquarians to dig large holes in "promising" ruins, in search of statues, later also of inscriptions. The discoveries ended up in museums and private collections, especially in the United Kingdom. Some objects from private collections were eventually auctioned without recording information about the provenance. The Italian excavators of the early 19th century showed little interest in the buildings. The only thing that gave some protection to the site was malaria, making the area most unhealthy during the warmer months.

For us this sequence of events is astonishing, and criticism lies around the corner. It would not be fair however to detach the early diggers from the era in which they lived. Many of them were very familiar with ancient literature and art, often more than we are, and they were slowly laying the foundations for historical studies. For them Roman objects from daily life were nothing special, but similar to the objects they saw in their own houses. Archaeology as a discipline emerged only in the second half of the 19th century, although often called an auxiliary science. It was also in this period that German scholars compiled scientific publications of inscriptions and consulted all the old manuscripts they could find. Today this detective work is still going on, greatly helped by the large-scale digitisation of old books and manuscripts.

Excavation in 1913 of the relief of a priest, near a little Shrine of Jupiter (II,VIII,4) next to the theatre.
A togate man with senatorial footwear is about to sacrifice on an altar, taking incense from a box in his left hand.
Second half of the first century. Notizie degli Scavi 1913, 81. Scavi di Ostia V, nr. 71. Photo: Parco Archeologico di Ostia.

The antiquarian harvest in and around the Baths of the Marine Gate was phenomenal, even though four lime kilns were found nearby. Those who wish to see the sculptures and inscriptions must embark upon a Grand Tour of many European locations: the museum in Ostia, the Vatican Museums, the Capitoline Museums, the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire in Geneva, the Antikensammlung in Kassel, the Louvre, the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen, the British Museum, Bowood House to the east of Bath, and an unknown private collection with a statue that was once in Marbury Hall to the south of Liverpool. The precise original location of the objects is at best hypothetical, but at least the portraits and statues give us a good idea of what could once be seen in the large niches in beautiful buildings along the beach. Below is a selection.

A number of Imperial portraits was found, some mutilated: of Trajan, his sister Marciana, and his wife Plotina; of Trajan's adopted son Hadrian; of Hadrian's adopted son Antoninus Pius. A portrait of Sabina, Hadrian's wife, may also have been found in the area, but this is disputed.

Top left. Map of the Baths of the Marine Gate and an unexcavated villa. Top right. Trajan. Photo: ICCD F014593. Centre left. Hadrian. Photo: ICCD F005726. Centre right. Antoninus Pius. Photo: ICCD F005905. Bottom left. Marciana. Photo: Wikimedia, Sailko. Bottom right. Plotina. Photo: Musée de l'Art et d'Histoire, Geneva.

Several statues were found in the area, usually restored shortly after the discovery. Hygieia, daughter of Asclepius and goddess of health, may well come from baths. Thalia, the Muse of Comedy, is perhaps not to be expected there. It is in the British Museum, like two statues of Venus. A statue of the discobolus (discus-thrower) was restored as if it represented a hero from the Trojan war (Diomedes carrying the palladium). A statue of Antinous, the famous favourite of Hadrian who drowned in the Nile, disappeared in an unknown private collection on an auction by Sotheby's in 1974.

Top left. Thalia. Photo: British Museum. Top right. Hygieia. Photo: Antikensammlung Kassel. Centre left. Venus. Photo: British Museum. Centre right. "Townley" Venus. Photo: Eric Taylor. Bottom left. Discobolus. Photo: E. Angelicoussis in Apollo 173 (2011). Bottom right. Antinous. Image: Clarac, Musée de sculpture, Planches V,946.

In the Sala degli Animali of the Vatican Museums are four statues of Hercules, showing him with Cerberus, the mares of Diomedes, the cattle of Geryon, and the Delphic tripod. From the area also comes an elaborate marble tripod, now in the Louvre. It was dedicated to Apollo, because acanthus leaves form a lyre around a snake and a quiver. Is there a link with one of the statues of Hercules, the Delphic tripod?

Marble tripod dedicated to Apollo in the Louvre. H. 1.20 m. Photo: Ministère de la Culture.