With this analysis of Sol images, Steven E. Hijmans paints a new picture of the solar cult in ancient Rome. The paucity of literary evidence led Hijmans to prioritize visual sources, and he opens this study with a thorough discussion of the theoretical and methodological issues involved. Emphasizing the danger of facile equivalencies between visual and verbal meanings, his primary focus is Roman praxis, manifest in, for instance, the strict patterning of Sol imagery. These patterns encode core concepts that Sol imagery evoked when deployed, and in those concepts we recognize the bedrock of Romes understandings of the sun and his cult. Case studies illustrate these concepts in action and the final chapter analyzes the historical context in which previous, now discredited views on Sol could arise.
This is volume II of a two-volume set.
List of Figures
Abbreviations
Volume I
Introduction
1 Art and Sol: Some Parameters for an Analysis of Images of the Roman Sun
1Two Sun Gods?
2Reading Roman Art The Problem of the Greek Norm
3Greek Art and Etruscan Art
4Greek Art and Good Taste
5The Iconographic Toolbox
6The Semantics of Roman Art
7Matters of Methodology
8The Interpretative Process Understanding Manners of Meaning
2 Recognizing Sol: The Three Main Image Types
1Introduction
2Criteria
3Divine Radiance
3 Understanding the Image Types for Sol: Main Definitions
1Introduction
2Chronological Evolution and Meaningful Patterns
3Sol as a Deity
4Sol in Mythological Scenes
5Sol as a Minor Figure
6Sol-and-Luna 1 Architecture and Liminality
7Sol-and-Luna 2 Attributes of Aeternitas
8Sol-and-Luna 3 Cultic Reliefs
9Sol-and-Luna 4 Sarcophagi
10Sol-and-Luna 5 Alone, without Context
11Sol-and-Luna 6 Early Middle Ages
12Sol Alone, as Minor Figure or in Complex Scenes
13Intaglios
4 Understanding the Image Types for Sol: Specific Cases
1Sol and Alexander
2Sol in the Synagogue
3A Divine Kiss on the Lips
4Funerary Altar of Julia Victorina
5Mithras
6Preliminary Results
7Sol: The Planet
The Images: Catalogue and Discussion
1Table of Contents
2Introduction
3Catalogue
4Discussion
Volume II
5 Temples and Priests of Sol in Rome
1The Origins of the Cult of Sol in Rome
2Early Temples of Sol in Rome: Circus Maximus and Quirinal
3The Porticus Solis a Misidentified Temple of Sol
4Priests and Others Involved in the Cult
5Sol and the Roman Notions of Divinity
Appendix: Inscriptions Cited by Palmer and Chausson
6 Solar, Divine, or Imperial? Understanding the Radiance of Gods and Emperors
in Roman Art
1Introduction
2A Hint of Sol
3A Statue in Raleigh
4The Sternenstreit
5Circe
6The Imperial Radiate Crown
7 The Emperor as Sol?
1Nero as Sol?
2Other Depictions of the Emperor as Sol?
3Constantine as Sol?
4Conclusions
8 Sol-Luna Symbolism and the Carmen Saeculare of Horace
1Introduction
2The Sign Sol-and-Luna
3Horaces Carmen Saeculare Another terminus ante quem
4Mommsens Criticism and Its Aftermath
5Horaces Hymn Rehabilitated
6In Conclusion
9 Image and Word: Christ or Sol in Mausoleum M of the Vatican Necropolis?
1Introduction
2Mausoleum M
3Interpretation and the Diachronic Aspect
4Parallels
5With Roman Eyes
6Visual Impact, Meaning, and Atmosphere
7Visual Meanings versus Verbal Ones
8In Conclusion
10 From Aurelian to Julian: Sol in Late Antiquity
1Sol Invictus and Christmas
2Pagans, Christians, and Cosmic Divinity
3Pagans, Christians, and Solar Theology
4Sol as Supreme Deity?
5Beliefs, Ambiguities, and Imagery
6Constantine and Purposeful Traditionalism
7In Conclusion
11 The Invention of Sol Invictus: An Analysis of Previous Research on Sol
1The Republican Sun God
2The Orient and the Imperial Sol
3Classical Studies and the Western Elite
4The Tenacity of Paradigms and Ideology
Conclusions
Bibliography
Concordances
Plates
ISol: A Viewers Typology
IICatalogue
Index
Dr. Steven E. Hijmans, Professor of Roman Archaeology at the University of Alberta in Canada, studied Classics and Archaeology at Groningen University. He has published numerous articles on Sol, other aspects of Roman religion, and visual meanings.
