Lifting the Vaults of Heavenly and Earthly Peace

The Zodiac of Dendera, Ptolemaic Period, reign of Cleopatra VII, 50 BCE. Temple of Hathor at Dendera, Bas-relief, sandstone (Louvre, France)

This sandstone slab comes from the domain dedicated to the goddesses Hathor and Isis at Dendera. It was part of the ceiling of one of the chapels where the resurrection of Osiris was commemorated, on the roof of the great Temple of Hathor. The vault of heaven is represented by a disc, held up by four women assisted by falcon-headed spirits. Thirty-six spirits or "decans" around the circumference symbolize the 360 days of the Egyptian year. The constellations shown inside the circle include the signs of the zodiac, most of which are represented almost as they are today. Aries, Taurus, Scorpio, and Capricorn, for example, are easily recognizable, whereas others correspond to a more Egyptian iconography: Aquarius is represented as Hapy, the god of the Nile flood [and point of entry for Antinous into the pantheon of Panhellenic deities], pouring water from two vases. The constellations of the northern sky, featured in the center, include the Great Bear (Ursa Major) in the form of a bull's foreleg. A hippopotamus goddess [Tarwete, about whom we will have more to say later as she relates to Britannia and the northern lands of the empire], opposite Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, represents the constellation of the Dragon. (Source: Louvre Museum, Paris France).

In this installment of our ongoing series on Hadrian and the second century, my colleague and I shall attempt to more fully map some of the major aspects of second-century Panhellenic magic based on archaeological and primary source textual evidences.

Frequently in archaeology the style and method of field and excavation reports find their way into the narrative archaeologists write when they turn toward the broad cultural implications of the finds they have brought to light.  Thus, one finds excellent discussions of discrete elements of architecture, glassware, pottery, sculpture, and textual remains, etc., without necessarily finding all of these elements linked to a coherent system of cultural practice. Admittedly, this is the most uncertain aspect of the historical craft and it must rest on the bedrock of science.

During our discussions and research, we are continually impressed with the importance of astronomic observation, astrology, and the zodiac. There exists in the archaeological record numerous examples of vaults and ceilings, so to speak, containing a representation of the celestial realm represented most completely in Egypt (see Dendera Zodiac, supra).  However, it should be noted that these vaults, as archaeological structures, are always supported by some other architectural element.

In this post we first will examine some basic elements of the Hellenistic exedra and relate this architectural form to its general function in the Hellenistic division of public and private space.  Second, we will attempt to situate the exedra as an architectural form within the context of Hadrian's Antinous-Osiris cult and suggest its development within our hypothesized proto-Rabbinic Judaism prior to its split from proto-Orthodox Christianity.  Third, we hope to depict the exedra and vaults of this period as an organic component seamlessly connected with religious practice.  These practices should be understood to encompass a liturgy that itself left tangible remains in the archaeological record and contained materials connected to the trade and daily life of the empire and the cultures connected to it.

Throughout the records that have survived from the first and second centuries of the current era, philosophers and religious thinkers are frequently associated with building complexes that began as palatial quarters for a family or gens. Often these complexes comprised both baths and libraries. One of the most ubiquitous architectural expressions organizing Roman public and private space was the exedra. Ultimately, when one configures a site plan of four exedrae facing inwards at four cardinal points, one arrives at a cruciform structure capable of supporting a vault.

Modern divisions of public and private space within homes and libraries are now very clearly differentiated; there are few if any parallels between major modern architectural forms among this distinct class of building. In the ancient world and in the Roman Empire of the second century particularly, this was not the case. Wealthy mansions and libraries, indeed temples, all shared an incorporated architectural form that served to heighten discourse, declamation, and religious reflection. This form was the exedra.

In its basic exposition, the exedra is a recess or alcove that could be entirely free-standing or built into a structure dedicated to multiple uses and purposes. There are examples of first and second century exedra so numerous that they would quickly overwhelm this small discussion; however, we will touch on just a few for purposes of familiarizing our ground and argument. Jumping over the connection between political and religious discourse that clearly occurred within exedra spaces, it is perhaps important to state that as the Republican political institutions of Roman culture gave way before the imperial, both religious and philosophical declamation likely filled the void left by politics to some degree. In this movement, we also associate the public and private use of exedra.

Highlighting the religious and philosophical aspects of the use of exedra architectural forms was their use as free-standing funerary monuments. Oftentimes such funerary exedrae were situated to protect a traveler from the elements and provide a reflective space for quiet thought or discussion. Nevertheless, the monumental and religious aspects of these exedra, particularly as the first and second centuries progressed, was always clearly understood by the living passing by.

Porta Nocera Necropolis in Pompei.

Immediately outside Porta Nocera is the necropolis, of considerable importance, with its exedra and aedicula tombs. The funerary building, dating from the Tiberian period (14-37 CE) is architecturally imposing, build by Eumachia, priestess of Venus, for herself and her family members: the exedra stands on a high terrace, with the burial chamber and fence in the back. The structure, in opus caementicium, was covered with Nocera tufa and divided into niches with statues, separated by half columns and crowned with a decorated frieze. The tomb was inserted between two other previously existing aedicula burial sites, from the late Republican period, consisting of a podium supporting the cell containing the statues of the dead (source: official guidebook for the site).

Forum Novum

In contrast to the necropolis outside Porta Nocera with its numerous exedrae located on the outskirts of a prosperous and well-settled town, are other funerary exedrae types located in the countryside, proximate to villae and which represent the single such monument within a wide area encompassing several hectares. The British School at Rome excavated the remains of one such site at a small, very small, municipium known as Forum Novum in the Sabine hills, in which a free-standing exedra existed from the first-century through perhaps the third-century of the current era. 

The British School field work summary reads as follows:

The funerary exedra

The georadar results had showed that the exedra was situated in a vast triangular or diamond-shaped precinct, formed by two large enclosure walls. These walls also continued behind the exedra, and excavation revealed that they converge at the north towards the river, meeting at a point some 15 metres behind the podium. The walls seem to be of one build and are in a form of masonry that is either superior opus mixtum or opus quasi-reticulatum. All had been reduced to foundation level with the exception of two areas of the exedra wall which survived to a height of two courses. No trace of any flooring was found, though a fragment of possible floor preparation was found near the southern corner of the entrance to the exedra. Unfortunately the podium wall, which was still visible prior to 2002 (approximately 1.5 metres in height), has since been destroyed.

Pottery from the foundations indicate that the exedra was built in the period of Augustus (c. 30BC – 10AD). Coarelli has suggested that this was a funerary exedra of the type in use during the late Republican and early Imperial period, various examples are known, in particular at Pompeii. These have a semi-circular wall, at the centre of which is a podium topped by a column, supporting a stone urn for the ashes of the deceased. Set around the wall are benches for passers-by to sit and rest (all Pompeian examples are situated along roads). However, unlike the Pompeian examples which are set amongst many others, the Forum Novum monument was intended to be the sole focus, and to dominate totally its setting.

It is not unreasonable to think in terms of a wall and podium some 2.5metres high, and assuming that there was a central column, that this may have risen some 4 metres above that. This monument must have been the focal point of the north of the town and would have commemorated a person of considerable importance and perhaps the owner of the adjacent villa.

The end of the monument’s use seems to be marked by a large quantity of pottery of the late second/early third century AD scattered throughout the exedra area. This corresponds to the date of the pottery which fills the destruction/demolition levels of the baths and may indicate that this whole area passed out of organized use at that time. Numerous burials covered with tiles (“a cappuccino”) were noted against the walls in the exedra area, suggesting that in late antiquity this area, like parts of the villa, was used as a cemetery.

Right: The exedra outside the villa at Forum Novum (near modern Vescovio, Italy) demarcated by chalk and members of the famed British School at Rome. The survey rod at the center of the exedra enclosure represents the podium (2.5 m in height) that held the urn and ashes of the deceased notable. This particular configuration echos elements related to solar worship and associating the deceased with the sun.  This particular relationship of exedrae with podia and columns was greatly expanded during the imperial period and, after the Ptolemaic fashion, incorporated at times obelisks as we shall discuss later.

Just to emphasis some architectural relationships, the aedicula, here associated as small shrine (aedicula as a Latin lexeme denotes a small house or temple. Below we see the use of the aedicule within the architecture of a library, the famous and often noted library of Celsus.   In the photograph can be seen the seven remaining aediculae.

Briefly, the identifiers between the sacred and secular, political, and religious, the familial and clientele, are frequently bridged by architectural symbolism and the spaces created by these forms. Following is the equally-cited donation inscription for the library of Celsus, which is worth pondering for a moment:

To Tiberius lulius Celsus Ptolemaeanus, consul and proconsul of Asia. Tiberius lulius Aquila Ptolemaeanus, consul, his son, built the Celsian library out of his own funds, with all the building decorations, the statues and books. He also left 25.000 dinars for its equipment and for the acquisition of books, 2000 dinars of which were spent in one year, so that from the annual interest of the remaining 23.000 the library will be kept and its attendants will be paid 18001 dinars, which shall be paid to them on the birthday of Celsus for all times. And also according to the will of Aquila new books shall be bought every year. And also his [Celsus's] statues shall be hung with wreaths thrice a year. And also all other statues shall be decorated every year on the [birthday]feast of Celsus. After the same heirs had commissioned the equipment of the library with the 2000 dinars taken (from the capital], the library was officially opened on the feast of Celsus HI, so that… on the seventeenth on the month… according to the wording of the will, no demand nor deduction nor expenditure shall be put up to them from the stated funds, for the heirs of Aquila have wholly completed the work. Executor of the will was Tiberius Claudius Aristion, three times asiarch.

Two detailed inscriptions on the cheeks of the stair banisters, which used to bear two equestrian statues of the honoured patron, state all offices in the career of Tiherius Julius Celsus after the Roman fashion, in Greek in the south, in Latin in the north. Thanks to the keen perception of old historians, especially that of Josef Keil, it has been possible to assign the offices to certain years.

Celsus was born probably in Sardeis. His father was a Roman knight, hence rather wealthy. Celsus read the law and began his military career 68 CE as military tribune in Alexandria, in the legion that was to proclaim its commander Titus Flavius Vespasianus emperor in the next year. After the latter had triumphed over his rival Vitellius, he made his loyal liegeman Celsus senator about 70. After this, Celsus was in his first office as a civilian as aedilis in Rome. In the mid-seventies he was praetor, supreme judge in Rome. From 78 to 85 he was first sent to Cappadocia as legatus iuridicus, then was commander of a legion in Syria and after that governor in Bithynia and Pontos. About 85/87 he was in charge of the pension fund for veterans in Rome, from 89 until 91 he was a legate in Cilicia. In appreciation of his services the emperor Domitianus made him consul suffectus in Rome in 92. After these honours, he was able to be elected into the noble council of priests of the quindecimviri sacris faciundis.

In the following years, he was curator aedium sacrarum et operum locorumque publicorum populi Romani in Rome for an unknown length of time. In this office he was responsible for the finances and organization of imperial building projects in the capital, which had reached enormous proportions in the reign of the emperors Domitianus (who reigned 81-96) and Traianus (r. 98-117). The culmination of Celsus' successful career was, as for every consul before him, the office of proconsul (governor) of the rich province of Asia, with the seat in Ephesus, given to him in 105/6.

After this last office he seems to have stayed in Ephesus and died there before 114. His son, Tiberius lulius Aquila, continued the library project as a burial gift for his famous father.

He himself, born 70-75, had been suffect consul in Rome in 110 after a career hitherto unknown to us. After the gigantic Traianus forum was formally opened in 112 and the Caesar's forum completely restored in 113, architects and building guilds must have become available whom Aquila could hire for his Ephesian project, thanks to his own and especially his father's good relations to the building industry of the town of Rome.

On the Celsus library (left), the construction of which began about 113/4, there appeared a relief style cultivated on the Traianus and Caesar's fori, and ornamental motives from the city of Rome which had been unknown unti! then in Asia Minor. The construction must have lasted only three to four years, but Aquila died shortly before the building was completed (source:Volker Michael Stroka, The Celsus Library in Ephesus (Sonderdrucke aus der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, 2008) p. 40.)

Apollo Radiant and the Sacred Muses

The connection between the library and the tomb now has a deep meaning, for it was believed in antiquity that taking part in the spiritual world, which was embodied by Apollo and the muses, made that person immortal. Thus Romans of the second and third centuries of this era liked to decorate magnificent sarcophagi with the figures of philosophers and muses or Apollo and muses, and the deceased hold book rolls in their hands which document their spiritual interest. This symbolism is directly related to ritual aimed at mastering and understanding the astrology and zodiac under the solar vault of heaven, so to speak.

Exedrae as an architectural form provided a representational space where both liturgy and learning were actively performed before an audience of the living, the dead, and perhaps most importantly, the divine. Thus, the use and assignment of space within the library of Celsus should be viewed in some ways as a foreshadowing of the use and assignment of space within ecclesiastical structures of later centuries. Although the library of Celsus is not often cast in this light, it is nevertheless a building that was sacred and like a church, dedicated to the divine word.

The library of Celsus contained a burial. Given that the library and burial were within the precinct of the civitas, this represents a noteworthy exception to the Hellenistic and Roman practice of burial outside of the precinct (itself also sacred) of the civitas. Here again the Celsus library foreshadows the use and assignment of space within the emerging architecture of Imperial Roman Christianity.

The use of exedrae in the Celsus library in association with the written word links it architecturally to Hellenized Judaic proseuche or synagogue. However, the placement of a monumentalized burial within the edifice itself distances the architectural form from Jewish architectural arrangements.

Above is a site plan of the Library of Celsus. Of course the library is classified as a classical secular structure; however, throughout the literature treating the architecture of the building, the exedra in the rear of the edifice is habitually referred to as an apse; be that as it may, the large interior exedra or apse of the library is unusual:

That the apse was intended for a colossal statue is only supposition; in any case, it's clear that no such statue was ever placed; the floor of the apse is roughly finished, and there is no suitable base prepared for such a statue. But there may well have been an altar and a painted portrait (source: W. Wilberg, et al. Forschungen in Ephesos V 1 (Österreichischen Archäologischen Institut Wien, 1953). Report of the original excavators)

It is therefore an open question as to what precisely was represented on the exedral vault of this interesting building and what purpose it served with respect to the layout and use of space.

At Ephesus, we may therefore ponder whether or not we have evidence of a special theological shift emerging within the Roman elite classes, particularly those with roots in Egypt and the Hellenized Jewish Diaspora as the second Jewish Revolt (Kitos) unfolded. The use of exedrae was cross-cultural within the empire and are archaeologically attested within Jewish contexts, particularly those areas of the empire where Judaism was highly Hellenized. The use of exedra is also therefore associated with the architectural spaces of proseuche (synagogues):

[I]t will indeed have been annexed to the proseuche,, and the proseuche might well have been accessible through it, but it will also have been important in its own right. Is use for discussion, …, could be envisaged as including judicial and teaching sessions, and would fit Philo [of Alexandria]’s emphasis (e.g. Leg. 156) on the proseuchae as places of education in ancestral philosophy. (source: William Hornbury, David Noy, Jewish Inscriptions of Graeco-Roman Egypt: with and Index of the Jewish Inscriptions of Egypt and Cyrenaica (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), p. 50)

We thus see that the exedra defined an unusually-important place architecturally as it transitioned between uses within the context of power, religion, literacy, and the trans-generational transmission of knowledge in the Helleno-Judaic world of the second century. The Hadrianic battle for religious mastery of the empire was fought with more than words and texts, it was fought within the very configurations of architectural space before live audiences. As these spaces were organized, so followed organization of the philosophic and religious mind.

Related posts:

1. An army of divine men and the secret army of Mithras
2. Romans at Stonehenge: from standing stones to cosmic pillars
3. The Gospels of Hadrian Part II: Death on the Nile
4. The Gospels According to Hadrian, Part III: The Aelian Canon and the Main Hand of God
5. The Pantheon: Hadrian’s giant sundial
6. Augustus: the Roman Messiah
7. The Gospels According to Hadrian (part one)
8. Archaeology of a first-century wizard
9. The Royal Library of Alexandria in the first century
10. Acts of the Chresmologoi: the Role of Oracles and Chronicles in the Creation of Divine Men